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Schools, tuition centres, book publishers trying toVOICES outdo one another in setting tough questions, say teachers
TODAY WEDNESDAY MAY 2, 2012

Primary school maths: A vicious circle

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I SAY

NG JING YNG
jingyng@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE As a recent letter to this newspaper re-ignited a debate over whether the standards of primary school level mathematics are realistic, some educators pointed to a vicious circle where schools, tuition centres and assessment book publishers try to outdo one another in terms of setting questions that stretch childrens abilities. Among the 11 teachers and former educators Today spoke to, almost half of them felt that tuition is no longer a luxury, but a necessity they argued that these days, teachers are saddled with multiple responsibilities and do not have enough time to cater to the learning pace of every student in the class. One of the teachers said: We deal with a class of 40 and it is difficult to give equal attention to all. Our role is not only teaching and planning lessons. He added that he would recommend weaker pupils to go for enrichment classes to catch up with their peers. Nevertheless, all of them reiterated the need for higher ability questions in exams to stretch the more academically inclined pupils and differentiate them according to

An MOE spokesperson Today reiterated that the level of difficulty of the PSLE mathematics has not increased over the years.
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Standards are unrealistic

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their abilities. The practice is in line with the principle of meritocracy and allows students to learn at a pace they are suited for, they said. Even so, such questions make up only a handful of questions in the entire test paper. In response to Todays queries, a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson reiterated that the level of difficulty of Primary School Leaving Examination mathematics has not increased over the years. The spokesperson added that the ministry reviews the subject syllabi regularly based on widespread consultation with teachers and experts. In fact, the content in the mathematics syllabus was reduced in 2001, she added. A primary school teacher, who had taught for more than a decade, pointed out that parents would question why schools are not giving questions as difficult as those set by tuition centres and found in
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he primary school system here has been a point of much debate among educators and parents for a long time. As a product of the system in the 80s and now a father of two children in lower primary, I fear that the system has become one of irrelevant, unrealistic standards. And I come from the perspective of someone who excelled within the old system, yet always questioned the relevance of the education content to realworld settings. Sadly, the situation has gotten worse. Take primary school mathematics as an example: Why are pupils being asked to solve questions of higher level logic at such a young age? Does it make them more creative in problem solving? Does it help them when they are faced with heuristic problems that even adults do not have to deal with in the

workplace? No, it only leads to more rote learning of, ironically, heuristic methods. The vast selection of assessment books and tuition centres that teach heuristics is testimony to this. Another observation is that teachers sometimes do not have the opportunity to reinforce the basics of simple arithmetic and are forced to make their pupils do sums that are more useful in sifting for maths geniuses than genuinely imparting knowledge. Within the crammed periods of each school day, it is impossible for teachers to cover all the bases in todays punishing curriculum. It is no longer a matter of excelling in class; to simply pass maths today, it is mandatory to have tuition to fill the gaps that teachers sometimes struggle to fill. If so many pupils require tuition, it means our education system has failed in its basic goal of imparting the correct skill sets.

My wife, a university honours graduate, quit her job to coach the children at home, but is herself exasperated at the standards required of pupils today. I have yet to observe any beneficial effects of pushing children so hard in primary school, apart from high stress levels and sapping of intellectual curiosity. Besides removing the joy in learning, another side effect of todays education system is that my children hardly have time to enjoy childhood. They have less time to play outdoors, to read their favourite books (which is a great way to improve ones English), to explore new hobbies or to learn about the world around them all because of so much homework. The scenarios are the same with other subjects. The schools are not teaching less, nor are the pupils learning more. The writers children are in Primary 1 and 3.

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assessment books. It is a vicious circle, the teacher added. Today reader Ian Tan recently expressed his concern that the primary school system has become one of irrelevant, unrealistic standards. Citing primary school mathematics, he felt that children have little choice but to turn to tuition to fill the gaps that teachers sometimes struggle to fill. He added: Why are pupils being asked to solve questions of higher level logic at such a young age? Does it make them more creative in problem solving? Does it help them when they are faced with heuristic problems that even adults do not have to deal with in the workplace? No, it only leads to more rote learning of, ironically, heuristic methods. Mr Tans letter, which was published on May 2, has since received more than 5,900

likes and sparked more than 70 comments online. Other readers also weighed in on the issue. A primary school teacher with eight years of teaching experience told Today that while pupils might not need the algebra skills when they enter the workforce years later, the skills of analysis and looking at problems in different perspectives will help them in future. The MOE spokesperson said that a primary school education here would lay the foundation for a childs future learning. She added: During these formative years, the focus of schools must be to build his confidence and desire to learn, while providing him with a good foundation in literacy and numeracy for him to access secondary education. The spokesperson revealed a new primary mathematics syllabus will be implemented next year but it involves only minor changes to the Primary 1 syllabus. Accordingly, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board will review the format of the examination paper. Care will be taken to ensure that these changes do not increase the level of difficulty of the paper, the spokesperson said.