Is getting straight 'A's important ?

[yy]

I am so glad that somebody can finally put into words what's the problem with our education nowadays. I agree that not all teachers are poorly trained but some really make my blood boil.

Last year my daughter encountered a very inconsiderate teacher. My daughter was a bit shy when reading out aloud in class; instead of gentle prompting, the teacher shouted at her and poke her face with a cane. And that was in Standard 1!

That experience really traumatised her. Luckily she had a very good class teacher who slowly brought her out from her fears and encouraged her to be more confident in class. I am so thankful to this teacher.

Now, my girl is managing quite reasonably well in school.

My kids don't attend tuition, I teach them myself and in this process; I have reach a conclusion that teachers nowadays don't do much foundation teaching. They give the students a lot of homework which the students cannot do on their own because there is no prior explanation and preparation. I find myself having to do a lot of explanation to help my kids to understand their lessons.

That's the reason why tuition classes is so popular, students simply isn't given enough explanation in class.

[tach]

the education system has been all the while emphasized on left-brain teaching - where students are 'force' to memorize rather than teaching the rational behind it...

I am in training and consulting business. A lot of times, in my class, I see 2 different types of participants (engineers / managers). First typed, educated, graduated locally - they seems to be happily taking notes / orders from me, without asking questions or challenging me.
Second typed, overseas educated, graduated - they are totally different. They are vocal, and dare to express their opinions even if they know is a mistake...

Even nowadays I see that pre-school education are emphasizing on whole brain teaching - left and right brain..

Yes - the temptation of sending the children to private school is high, but again the you may have to consider the higher fee. I know of most parents who have the money, will definitely make the switch to private schools..

Our government should be proactive to do a study on how to close the gaps and encourage parents to send their children to gov school. Rather spending money on developing more teachers (which I believe is the main objectives why parents lost their interests to send their children). Sometimes, I see a lot of gov school teachers themselves seems to be not 'qualified'.
Being a trainer myself, I know that it is important to motivate the class to learn - it is the job of the trainer / teacher to stimulate and create a learning climax. But again, a lot of times, I do not see this in the gov. school classroom.

Note : Sorry, the above observations are not for all gov. school teachers. I know of few good, dedicated gov. school teachers. My point is most of them, and also the school / learning / curriculum structure itself have 'moulded' our children into what they are today...
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[buzybee]

i'm with you...but it's not easy to convince others

they say, it's a good competition in order to make ur kids excell in academic...personally i dun agree with them because education takes more than a competition...it involves learning and exploring oneself, it takes long-term process to cultivate the thinking...it offers more possibility to our kids in the future...it's a platform to instill good habits and cultivate strong characters ....

parents are too busy with IQ matter because they can subcont. the task to others...they just pay and get result ... whereas EQ needs more attention from the parents...

[tach]

I read in newspaper, more and more students getting straight As in their government examination...and even that students are comparing how many As they achieved.....they might felt bad even if they scored less one 'A' than expected, or compared to their friends...

Tuition centres and parents seems to be putting the emphasis on getting 'A', A and A...

It's great to see your son or daugther excel in their studies, but I think the emphasis nowadays is wrong...in fact, with all the tuition and priorities of getting 'A's, the stress and pressure is on the children....It is not fair..

Moreover, if we look back, is 12 A's or 13 A's or even 20 A's in your PMR, SPM, STPM etc etc important if you cannot perform well during employment or lack of business acumen ?

Look around you, where are those top scorers in your class last time ? Are they all holding high positions in organization, earning big money or are they successfully running their own business ?

Developing their social skills is more important...but normally we do not really pay attention to this...

My 2 cents...
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