Everyone is equally precious and has their own unique contribution to make. Through education, they should be able to realise their fullest potential so as to use their skills and knowledge to benefit our country, and lead a satisfying life. Thus, we argue that education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also to preserve our cultural roots, equip people with the right values and attitude and acquire various skills for life long learning. 

Firstly, education is valuable to preserve our cultural roots. It helps us understand our cultural heritage and understand different races, religions and cultures. For example, students have the chance to learn more about the various culture of the different races in Singapore during Social Studies lessons, teaching them to embrace and respect one another despite their differences. This is very much important as we can avoid misunderstandings and conflicts of different races and make our country a democratic society.

Hence, we can all live together as one and face obstacles together. Thus, education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also to preserve our cultural roots.

Secondly, education is valuable to equip us with the right values and attitude. Schools are communities of virtue in which responsibility, hard work, honesty, and kindness are modeled, taught, expected, celebrated, and continually practiced. Moral values will help in developing positive social attitudes in new generation which prompt them to raise their voice against social evils. It will help the individual to resolve value conflicts and fix the standard of his behavior. It is needed to give direction to one's social, moral and spiritual development, thus to bring quality to life. For example, it is compulsory for students to complete at least 6 hours of Community Involvement Programme (CIP) annually. It provides students a platform to participate in meaningful activities that contribute to the community and aims to nurture a sense of social responsibility, helping the students understand that everyone can play a part in bettering the community. It also instills positive values and attitudes in the students such as caring for the needy people and responsibility in making a contribution to the society. We need to have firm moral values to give us strength in the world of shifting values so that  everyone has individual positive moral characteristics. Thus, education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also to equip students with the right values and attitudes. 

Thirdly, education is also valuable for us to acquire soft skills. These skills include critical thinking skills, creativity and life long learning. Life long learning is a skill that involves an effort to learn to be independent or self-regulated learning in acquiring skills and new knowledge. The ability to find and manage relevant information from various sources is also a criterion of this soft skill. Besides this, students are also expected to develop an inquiry mind and crave for knowledge. As mentioned earlier, this is important in order for an individual to be media literate and consumer knowledgeable. Life-long learning will enable individuals to accumulate as much knowledge and skills over the years. The ability to manage information well will allow an individual to distinguish between good and bad, to adopt the best practices and to make sound decisions. Also, many Singaporeans perceive creativity as a value that is less important, and it is just a by-product of the rote-based learning education system in Singapore. This should not be the case as creativity is a necessary soft skill that we should acquire and various art and crafts classes and drama classes in school can allow students to develop their creativity. Students can also acquire communication skills through public speaking workshops. These skills are important traits as employers seek applicants well equipped with them so that they will help come up with innovative and fresh ideas for products that can attract consumers, increasing revenue for the company. A main complaint of local employers is that Singaporean graduates cannot practically apply their knowledge that they have gained. A piece of paper does not guarantee that one is good at their job and various soft skills are most definitely necessary. Thus, education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also for us to acquire soft skills such critical thinking skills, creativity and life long learning. 

Some may argue that education is only valuable when one has a successful career as most high paying jobs nowadays require certain education certificates. For example, a job with salary higher than $5000 such as Computer and Information systems manager, academic credentials needed are good IT degrees, for example in Computer Science or Computer Engineering as these software knowledge are vital in managing the vital backbone of the company. Education should grantee a successful career in which ensures a steady income for our families. 

However, recent statistics have shown that graduates from the universities in Singapore holding a degree, despite obtaining high levels of education, are unable to find a stable and secure job that offers a relatively high pay. In fact, Singaporeans with tertiary education – the unemployment rate has shot up to be the highest among all the high-income countries. Even official statistics reveal that unemployment among graduates has risen from 3.3% to 3.6%, whilst diploma holders unemployment has shot up from 3.4% to 3.9% in the first six months of 2013. These figures are very much higher than the official national unemployment figure of 2.1%.

In conclusion, meaningful education aims at the all-round development of the learner. The optimal development of the moral, spiritual and aesthetic aspects of personality needs enrichment and refinement in the form of value education. Therefore, education is not only valuable if one has a successful career. 

Christine Yep and Wu Anping (4C)

Is the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation, an acceptable one for today’s world?

No, we disagree that the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation is an acceptable on for today's world. In BNW, the D.H.C disapproves of any relationship that is long drawn or intense, which is a far cry from what our society believes in. As the often heard phrase 'abstinence till marriage' goes, our society is one that regards sex as something intimate and something that should only be done with the love of your life, who has sealed his or her vows with you, and is willing to stay by your side for the rest of your lives, till death do you apart. In other words, sex is a sign of your love for another, and doing it with others just shows that you are not devoted to one only. In society's eyes, sex brings along with it a sense of commitment, and that if anything happens, both of you would be responsible. Furthermore, society believes In putting a lot of thought before engaging in this act, as procreation is highly possible during sex, and thus the couple must think carefully about the consequences , and that the child they bear in the end would be their responsibility, to care for and love. Yet, there are those who take sex as just a game, and engage in it flippantly and frequently, with no regard of the consequences. There are also those who do it in the spur of the moment,deluded by the intense passion they feel for their partner at that point of time. However, many of this results in them being shamed and humiliated by their peers or disowned by their parents, and more often than not leads to abortion of the unborn child or abandonment of the young child, or even single parents who are left to bear the responsibility of the choice made by the couple. Therefore, we strongly disagree that BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation is an acceptable one for today’s world.

Christine Yep and Wu Anping (4C)

Marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time. Do You Agree?

No , we do not agree that marriage is a universal institution , as it produces no end of problems, and it does not always last forever. The Straits Times has reported that the number of divorces within 5 years of marriage has increased drastically amongst Singaporeans, proving that marriages do not last forever. Marriage requires time, commitment, and also the supporting if your marriage partner both financially and emotionally, and thus buried one with stress and pressure to be able to meet up to the needs of their partner. Many people view marriage as the sealing of vows and the permanent commitment to one another, and get married when their love for each other is perhaps at its peak. However as time passes, love might die, as it is , as quoted by by John Green, 'a shout into the oblivion' and might in the end amount to nothing as people go their separate ways after losing that original love for each other. Some might argue that there are marriages that stay on 'till death does them apart', but it is evident that many a times , what appears on newspapers is the amount of divorces and scandals amongst married couples. Thus, we believe hat gradually, people might start being afraid of marriage because they refer to the end of a marriage as an imminent and unchangeable destiny, and thus prefer not to get married. Therefore, we do not agree that marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time.

Lucia (4C) assignment 4

Qn 1: Is the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation, an acceptable one for today’s world?

We believe that the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation is not an acceptable one for today’s society. In BNW, Fanny accuses Lenina by saying that, “It's such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man.” Also, Fanny says “And you know how strongly the D.H.C. objects to anything intense or long-drawn. Four months of Henry Foster, without having another man–why, he'd be furious if he knew …” This shows that the society in BNW gives no thought for any form of emotional attachment, to the point of criticizing it. It is clear that to them, sex is only to fulfill their desires and nothing more. However, in today’s world, commitment is still very much valued and adultery is still frowned upon. Relationships still has a significant hold in today’s society. The BNW model will not be morally right in today’s world as it goes against values that have been taught since young, like commitment, loyalty and responsibility. Sex without strings attached will only cause the next generation to lack responsibility. Today’s world will frown upon such a model. Thus, we feel that the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concerns about procreation is unacceptable in today’s world.

Ryan Teng, Tang Fanxi, Lim Xinni , Wu Anping

Some claim that schools are not doing enough in preparing young people for the future as mainstream schools are too focused on academics. Schools focus on imparting knowledge for national examinations and they have very limited activities that are not academically-oriented. Upper levels in secondary schools now do not have musi.c or art lessons during their curriculum time, and most of the time in school is dedicated to studying in classrooms. However, most of the information required in National Examinations are not applicable to many of the careers of the young people in the future, making the time used to study these subjects to be in vain. This is extremely wasteful because not only did the young did not learn much information that would help them attain a good job, it also caused them to be unable to acquire life skills which may actually be more useful for their future careers in their own aspects, therefore, some think that schools are too focused on academics that they are not doing enough in preparing young people for the future. Albeit all that, we still believe that schools are doing enough to prepare Singaporeans for the future.

Although mainstream schools do focus excessively on academics, however Singapore also has schools which specialise in non-academic programs for students to excel in their field of talent to find jobs that suit them. Schools such as Institute of Technical Education, School of the Arts and more allow students to find their ideal life of path. This schools do not mainly focus the students' education on academic but emphasise greatly on pursuing their talent instead. In ITE, the students who can't excel well in academics will be able to explore and discover their talents in other aspects such as culinary, technology, aerospace and more. They are given a chance to get a certificate that allow them to find their ideal job and not destined to get a low pay job or a rigid job. This allow our society to have enough manpower in the different aspect. Even though most normal schools focus on academics but it is so that the students will be able to acquire a job more easily. Students who do not do well in academics are also given a chance to find jobs that are not academic related more easily and also suit their interest. Singapore did gave a thought about the students who need extra help in finding the right job. All Schools in Singapore does not only focus on academic aspect but also give sufficient opportunities for students to explore other aspect.

Schools increasingly find the need to develop the character of students and their moral quality, through means such as introducing programmes like extra curriculum activities allows students to have access to opportunities to develop their character, such as allowing them to take up leadership positions in their respective CCAs and building leadership and character development by giving them a responsibility. These opportunities allow students to also develop their interpersonal skills as they meet more new people through various initiatives and events planned by the school, engaging them in conversations with strangers and building confidence. This helps prepare them for future interactions with potential business partners or colleagues, and enables them to think more flexibly. Other programmes such mentor ship programmes also prepares the students by giving them an image of what the future has in store for them, and allows them to exposed to working with different types of people, and also guides them to develop morally upon seeing how professionals who are invited over to their schools speak about dealing with life, stress and other aspects on life, helping them build up their personal qualities such as perseverance ,confidence and many more.

Schools impart life skills through courses. In the YLead camp where different schools go to RVHS & learn about leadership skills. Students will engage in various seminars and conferences with leaders of different organizations and get to learn more about being a capable leader and more knowledge of the world. In the Model United Nations, students are exposed to global events and learn about the world they live in. They are trained to think and see things from different perspective, a global perspective and develop their thinking abilities to higher levels. All the skills that the students learn are not taught in textbook. The courses allow the students to pick up these skills and learn them themselves. It nurtures them in a holistic way and make them a person with better character.

Some schools focus too much on academics and does not give the students the opportunity to develop other talents. However there are schools who focus non-academic aspects and develop students talents. Moreover, all schools have programmes such as courses and CCA( co-curriculum activities) which gives students opportunities to build up on their character and train their leadership skills. Thus, schools are doing enough to prepare young people for the future.

Lee Si Yun and Chng Jiu Hui 4C

We feel that the BNW model of no strings attached and no concern of procreation is unacceptable for today's world, because it teaches young people to be impulsive and irresponsible. From the excerpt "everywhere exclusiveness, just too narrow a channelling of impulse and energy." It shows that in this model of society people act impulsively and instinctively without thinking about the consequences, and feel that they do not have to take responsibility for their actions. From "and you know how strongly the DHC objects to anything intense or long-drawn. Four months of Henry Foster, without having another man - why he'd be furious if he knew..." We can see from this excerpt that the the people's mindsets are shaped to think that everything is replaceable hence relationships are not cherished and are in fact changed regularly when he or she gets bored of their partner or if any disagreements arise. Instead of solving the problem and working towards improve their relationships, they choose to avoid the problem. In today's world, sex should be between people with close or long term bonds/relationships and should not be just an act of impulse or pleasure, as this will foster irresponsibility and impulsivity in today's people, leading to generations of people that are unable to work through problems but instead escape from them, and this will not help any society to progress.

4C Cheryl and 4B Shernice

Qn 2 : Marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time. Do You Agree?

No, we disagree to the statement as marriage is a burden to many and it will not sustain in the long term. This is because marriage requires a lot of thoughts and planning and it requires a high cost of living, so people would rather work than to concentrate on relationships and get married, as this will increase their amount of stress and worry. Pope Francis said, "Marriage today is often considered a form of emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. Unfortunately this vision also influence the mentality of Christians, causing them to resort easily to divorce or de facto separation." Many people in the modern society are losing faith in marriage. In the near future, more and more people will cease to believe in marriage. Thus, we feel that marriage is not a universal institution that will stand the test of time.

Renise Ngo, Ong Shi Qing - 4B

Is the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation, an acceptable one for today's world? 

We feel that having sex with no strings attached and no concerns about procreation is unacceptable in today's world, as it will not instil in the next generation's children the right moral values and teach them the right way of behaviour. This model will not be taken as the norm by most of the people in the world. First and foremost, having sex with no strings attached is, in our opinion, morally unacceptable in the first place. Doing this only teaches the next generation that they do not need to be responsible for or be faithful to their own partners. It will only result in irresponsibility towards others whom they do not care for at all. The mindset that anyone who are not themselves do not have to be cared for or be shown concern to. Having no concerns about procreation as an add-on to having sex without any strings attached will only cause each generation to love less and less. Not caring about conceiving and feel anything for another new life born into the world will disallow them to sympathise or empathise with others, and even disallow them to feel any emotions for anything at all. They will in turn not have any concerns about anything other than themselves and pleasure. After all, the world right now mostly accepts monogamous relationships as the norm, and polygamous relationships might not be widely accepted by many in our world. In Brave New World, Fanny tells Lenina that four months is too "long-drawn" and "intense", and that the D.H.C. would not approve. She said that "four months of Henry Foster, without having another man- why, he'd be furious if he knew..." This shows the way the children are taught in Brave New World- that at a young age they do not need to show faithfulness to anyone, and that they can just play around with people as they like. This is wrong, for no matter how young a person is, he or she needs to realise that faithfulness towards someone is very important. If the children in our world were brought up like this, with the adults teaching them that they do not need to care for anyone at all, the world would be completely changed, and not positively. There are many who feel that this model from Brave New World is morally unacceptable and will not be taken as the norm, and therefore we do not feel that the Brave New World model of sex without strings attached and no concerns about procreation is unacceptable in today's world.

Cheryl (2), Cherith (7) 4B Assignment 4

Is the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation, an acceptable one for today’s world?

No, the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation is unacceptable for today's world. From the excerpt, "Everywhere exclusiveness, just too narrow a channelling of impulse and energy." by Mustapha Mond and "And you know how strongly the D.H.C. objects to anything intense or long-drawn." In BNW, sex is not regarded as something emotional between the two partners and are seen as not a big deal and long lasting relationships are being objected and rare. In contrast, sex in today's world holds a very important significance, it is the ultimate bonding, even on a spiritual level for the two partners. However, some may argue that people get engaged in sex due to various reasons such as for their own personal pleasure and for fun. Yet in today's world, the majority of people regards sex of utmost significance in all relationships and helps both individuals to connect and strengthen their bond at a deeper level. Expression of care and trust is also exhibited. Those that have sex without regarding it as an emotional attachment between the two and not treat it seriously are the minority of this society and many are being judged for the lack of respect for this important emotional process which is essential in a relationship. Therefore, the BNW model is unacceptable in today's world as majority still see sex as important as it holds emotional significance, unlike sex in BNW where it is for various reasons and is not treated seriously.

Kaiting (5) & Roxanne (12) 4B

 Qn 1: Is the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation, an acceptable one for today’s world?

No, it is not. In this model, sex is but a way to satisfy sexual desires, without concern over its implications, nor the emotional factors involved. In today's world, even though prostitution exists, sex is still largely treated as an emotional connection between two partners, and a representation of their love and promise to each other, inevitably leading to procreation and the starting of a family. All of this requires commitment, which is condoned in BNW - "too narrow a channeling of impulse and energy", as quoted from Mustafa Mond. "And you know how strongly the D.H.C. objects to anything intense or long-drawn. Four months of Henry Foster, without having another man-why, he'd be furious if he knew." It is evident that the world of BNW does not care for emotional attachment, and even frowns upon it, which is all very well in a world where the duty of procreation does not fall in the hands of the human population, and long term plans of settling down and starting a family just isn't on the agenda. However, in today's world, what the next generation turns out to be like is very much reliant on the current population, and relationships still hold much importance in many people's lives, where sex is the representation of love and usually with the intention of starting a family. In today's world where planning for the future is essential and emotions and relationships play a big role in human wellbeing, the BNW model is absolutely unacceptable. 

Andrea and He Ying 4C

In our opinion, the idea of a soulmate is useful in the psychological aspect of our well being. In contrast, the book describes "The past ..Family, monogamy, romance. But now every one belongs to everyone else" This suggests that soulmates are outdated or unncessary However we disagree and believe that one's emotional and psychological health is a correlated to an individual's performance in other life aspects such as work and school. Research conducted by Martin Seligman, who later went on to give a presentation based on his finding, concluded that positive relationships are important to positive psychology. Soul mates bring each other up, and help each other to grow by having a positive and intimate relationship with each other, while also having each other's best interests at heart. They offer comfort when their other half is grieving or in pain and push them back on their feet. Having two people share a particularly deep and meaningful connection is simply a rare, strong bond gives both parties a constant source of reassurance and support which gives them motivation and strength to perform in other aspects. Notably, many successful figures depend on their soul mates for the exact sources of connection mentioned. Such an example would be President Obama, who has related his success to the woman behind his back, Michelle Obama's support. In conclusion, it is evident that the idea of a soulmate is definitely a useful one as it is beneficial even in non-psychologically related aspects of life, giving us a value and meaning to our life.

Felicia and Leandra 4B

QN 2 : Marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time. Do you agree?

We believe that marriage is a universal institution that will not stand the test of time. Although it is true that if a couple truly loves each other, and they would want to get married and be together, society’s attitude towards marriage has been increasingly flippant. In Brave New World, Fanny tells Lenina that “ you know how strongly the D.H.C. would object to anything intense or long-drawn. Four months of Henry Foster, without having another man -  why he’d be furious if he knew..” The Brave New World is set in the future and gives an insight as to what the future might be like. In the book, Fanny was shocked to hear that Lenina has been dating a guy for four months - which seems like a very long time for them. There are similar trends in the way we live such as a very mechanized workplace. Also, in the U.S., the marriage rates have also dropped drastically, from 92.3% in 1920 to 31.1% in 2013. It would not be surprising if our take on marriage starts to be like theirs, if it already has not.  Moreover, in today’s society there are sites such as Ashleymadison which promote affairs, with “Life is short, have an affair” as their slogan. It encourages married couples to cheat on each other and commit adultery. With such websites that disregard marriage as something that should be treasured, as well as marriage rates already decreasing drastically, it is unlikely that marriage will stand the test of time. 

Ying Xin and Jodie 4B

 Qn 1: Is the BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation, an acceptable one for today’s world?

The BNW model of sex without strings attached and no concern about procreation is not an acceptable model for today's world. In this model, sex is reduced into an instinctive behaviour without emotional attachment or any intention to build a family. This reduces humans to become animal like. Although this model is sometimes practiced in our world today too, it is still not acceptable as most of us still have the concept of the importance of human relationships, procreation and the building up of a family. In Brave New World, Fanny criticised Lenina for being with a man for four months, claiming that the D.H.C will be furious when they find out she had been with only one man for four whole months. This is very much not acceptable in our world as it defies our concept of the importance of human relationships etc. In today's world, it is essential that we take procreation into consideration and to build up a family as the future generation is needed to continue improving and developing our world. In Singapore, there has been a declining population these few years as fewer couples have decided to procreate which resulted in the government needing to let foreign workers come to Singapore so as to sustain Singapore's economy. Thus the BNW model is not acceptable in today's world as most of us have the concept of the importance of human relationships, procreation and the building up of a family.

Alicia & Qi En (4B)

Qn 2 : Marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time. Do You Agree?

I do not agree that Marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time. Instead, marriage is something that is very fragile, and both the husband and wife have to take a lot of effort to keep their marriage  intact. In our modern society, there are many people who will get divorced only after a few years of marriage due to many problems. In the book Brave New World, Mustapha Mond once said that romance is a type of exclusiveness and that it is a narrow channelling of impulse and energy, and i agree with his statement. Marriage is indeed a very exclusive institution that requires a lot of energy. Nowadays, there are couples that would marry on impulse only to regret it afterwards. Moreover, there are also couples who realise that their personalities clash only after marrying because they have yet to see their partner's true colours. This could lead to many serious conflicts between them and even if they put in a lot of effort, it is not guaranteed that all these conflicts will be resolved so that they can continue on with their marriage. Thus, I do not agree that marriage is a universal institution that will stand the test of time.

Lee Si Yun and Chng Jiu Hui 4C

1. IS CONFORMITY IN SCHOOLS A CURSE OR A BLESSING ?

Although conformity in schools might be seen by some to be a blessing, in our opinion, we feel that it is a curse.

This is because conformity in school have resulted in students not knowing their true talents and hence not being able to achieve their full potential.
In "Education as a Path to Conformity", it is mentioned that the obedience system produces a herd instinct. Children end up wanting to stick with safe state jobs, instead of venturing to different careers based on their interest. From "the learning revolution" Sir Ken Robinson states that human community depends on a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability, which is the result of a conformed education system that produces batches of people with a herd mentality of doing only certain jobs. A range of talent is needed in every community, and everyone is different and is capable of doing different things. As Sir Ken Robinson said, Children should be given the opportunity to discover and nurture their own talents but they are being forced into a linear road to "success" when indeed they are not truly passionate or happy. From "standardised testing and its victims" it is said that schools are cutting back or eliminating programs in activities and materials that will not appear on the standardised tests, so as to let the pupils completely focus on what is "necessary" and raise scores. This is also one reason why students do not discover talent and passion in what they do and simply have no choice but to follow the predestined road to their future. They cannot discover themselves what they want to do, because ultimately they do is what is expected of them. This is not achieving their true potential.
However, conformity can be seen as a blessing because it is easier to control the masses, and it is fair.
It streamlines the process. Everything is faster and easier when everything is the same, thus requiring less effort to control the students. Moreover, there is the underlying fallacy that fair means the same for all. If everyone is exposed to exactly the same facts the same way, then no one can claim bias. Conformity ensures that everyone will be on the same starting point, and thus make it fair for majority of the masses. However, after being through a long period of conformity, it results in students refusing to step outside of societal norms for fear of rejection or reprisal. It shapes their personality into one who blindly follows the crowd to be "safe", they are not willing to step out of their comfort zone, and does not dare to venture out to explore new things. They become afraid to try out new things because they feel that it is "unsafe". It is those who were non conformists and willing to step out of those boundaries who made inventions which moved society forward technologically. Hence, we still feel that conformity in schools is a curse.

Joycelyn and May Chie

Some say that examinations are a blessing as it triggers us to remember and be able to utilise the knowledge that we have learnt. It also brings about friendly competition between peers, pushing students to strive to do better each time. For example, there will be class rankings of grades after a particular test and students will work and study harder in order to be placed higher in the rankings. 

However, we believe that examinations in our education is a curse. The education system is too exam-orientated and brings about more negatives impacts than positive ones. 

An exam-orientated system kills independent thoughts and creativity. Students are made to memorise various information everyday and rarely does one have any chance to develop his creativity or have his own thoughts. This rigid way of teaching has killed the excitement of learning and made it nothing but a chore. An education psychologist at the University of Oregon, Ron Beghetto said " The current focus on examinations in schools, and the idea that there is only one right answer to a question, may be hampering development of creativity among kids. There's not much room for unexpected, novel, divergent thought."  

Christine Yep and Wu Anping (4C)

We feel that exams in our education system is a curse. Exams were meant to measure students' understanding of the subjects and to allow teachers to aid them in their weaknesses for future learning. However, the intent of having exams changed and now students are having tests so frequently. They limit the ability of one's critical and creative thinking. An example in the article, "education as as path to conformity", Mr Qian questioned about why China is able to produce so many clever people yet so few geniuses. This shows that because schools actually encourages us to memorise all the information taught without really understanding what it means. Students then lose their ability to think critically as they only care about the "politically correct" answer, thus not being able to think out of the box. Studies have shown that students in America who have less tests, have more flexible thinking equipped with ingenuity compared to the average students who go through a series of tests. Education involving exams makes people be obsessed with the conical narrative that education is about going to college and getting straight As, instead of being a platform for people to discover and develop their talents. If this is the case, it contradicts the actual meaning of education. 

Some might argue that examinations give students and equal access to higher education, by separating the more academically able students from the less able ones so as to give teachers a clearer image of who to focus more of their efforts on. This thus will help slower students be on par with faster ones, and be able to access an equal level of higher education just like the more able students. 

However, these examinations tend to affect the child socially. With the high frequency of tests occurring in schools, the less able students will feel disappointed upon constantly receiving lower grades, causing their self esteem and confidence, and even their love for learning to slowly disintegrate. Teachers who try to help them might also give the wrong impression, making the student feel even more pressurised that he has to be specially watched over by the teacher, and might lead him to feel even more disheartened and unwilling to improve. Classification of the students into the "smart class" and the "slower class" through examinations , tests, and results may also lead to tension between students, increasing the animosity and uncomfortable atmosphere in schools, thus making 
learning less conducive and unproductive for students.

Examinations will provide us with a good report card, and maybe land us in a good job, but whether we can stay in the job, depends not on examinations which brings a lot the lack of sleep, the mindless memorisation of facts, or the good grades; instead it depends on life and interpersonal skills, something that we cannot gain simply by taking exam after exam. It requires time to cultivate and develop these skills, and cramming for examinations are taking away much time from that segment of our lives. Therefore, tests have been contorted into a curse.

Kai Ting (5) & Roxanne (12) 4B

Examinations - a core component in the education system, and the monster in many students' lives. Some might say that exams are beneficial in measuring one's strengths and weaknesses, allowing improvement and learning from mistakes, with the regulation providing structure for evaluation of the abilities of both students and teachers. But behind this idealism, what benefits do exams truly beget? No two people are the same, and different people have different interests and purposes in life. As Sir Ken Robinson had said: education, in a way, dislocates very many people from their natural talents. Human resources are like natural resources; buried deep, not found on the surface, and you have to create the circumstances for them to surface. Education is supposed to be one such platform, yet it does not do as such, instead forcing them into moulds that they may or may not fit in, restricting them within the boundaries of education, limiting their potential and their chances of finding their true calling. Examinations are simply one enforcement of this flawed system, and this regimentation and standardization is but trying to measure different beings with the same marker, and simply test students in stoic memorisation as opposed to critical thinking and creativity, and perhaps the spending power of parents in their ability to pay for tuition. Hence, examinations are a curse. 

Yu Ling (2) and Cherri (3) 4C

​Exams in our education system are a cursing. Exams in our current education nowadays are also being used as a way to determine the quality of a school, their teachers and also judge whether a student is capable or not. Exams in our current education now are prospective. Teachers are rethinking whether they want to begin a career in which high test scores matter most, and in which they will be pressured to produce these scores. Writer Alfie Kohn wrote that norm-referenced tests were never intended to measure the quality of learning or teaching. The main objective of these tests is to rank, not to rate; to spread out the scores, not to gauge the quality of a given student or school. The presence of exams changes their mindset about the purpose of exams, which is actually to, according to writer Melissa Kelly, identify the strengths and weaknesses of students, and provide a basis for eligibility for higher levels of education. This forces them to think that exams are important assessments in which they must excel in. As a result, this induces stress on students, affecting their psychological health. Despite that, some people say that exams are a blessing. Through exams, students of a higher ability are able to stand out from the rest which allows them to receive opportunities beyond the norm. Tests nowadays are being used as a factor to determine students who will receive awards, better opportunities and recognition. For example, the PSAT is often given in the 10th grade to students across the nation. If a student is a National Merit Scholar due to the results on this test, they are offered scholarships and other forms of recognition. Also, for example, the SAT and ACT are two common tests that form part of a student's entrance application to colleges. Additionally, students might be required to take additional exams to get into special programs or be placed properly in classes. 

Shernice Phuah assignment 4

Some may argue that exams are a curse as weaker students may be easily discouraged if they do not do well in exams. This is because they will feel inferior to the rest and slowly widen the gap between their friends and themselves, due to the lost of motivation to study. Daveson Beron was found with a gunshot wound in the right temple after receiving failing grades. A laptop was found with a message written on its screen: "I'm sorry, I quit." However, what people fail to notice is that these exams should serve to motivate students to do better instead of bringing them down. If a student did badly in an exam, they should not be demoralized, rather they should be paying more attention in class so they can do better for their next exams. Thomas Edison once said "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Having bad results does not serve to bring oneself down but rather to remind one that there are always room for improvements. Academically weaker students should be working towards a goal of improving instead of being down just because of bad results. Only when one puts their heart to it and strive to achieve their goal with perseverance can they succeed in achieving it, and this will in turn motivate the teachers to help them achieve the goal as well. Therefore, exams serve as a blessing because it allows one to be motivated despite their results and for both teachers and students to work towards a common goal.

Ri Zhao (23) 4c

Conformity in schools is a curse in my opinion.

Conformity in schools results in the students' loss of individuality. In a conformed eduction system, students are taught to obey rules set and listen to instructions given. This develops students to think and act in ways in accordance with social standards and conventions of their social group. As the article "Education is a Path to Conformity" in the New York Times states "The obedience system produces a herd instinct".  Students do not dare dare to think in unconventional ways that may deem them as social misfits. This gradually leads to students being too used to following general opinion such that they lose the ability to have individual ideas. Individuality in each student is lost.

On the other hand, conformity may be seen by some as a blessing as it reduces bullying in schools. Less students are willing stand out from from the others in a conformed education system. Differences between students is hence reduced. Students would hence less likely discriminate each other because of their differences. Bullying which is mainly caused by discrimination to one is thus reduced.

However in a larger picture, conformity causes the loss of individuality of students will lead to the loss of creativity and reluctance to venture and take risks. These weaknesses will greatly impact the future society led by this generation of people. These inabilities of them will create huge difficulties in solving problems of the society. Therefore conformity is a curse in my opinion.

Ong Shi Qing (9), Renise Ngo (11) - 4B

Are Exams In Our Education System A Curse or A Blessing?

We feel that exams in our education system is a curse rather than a blessing.

Tests do not allow students to develop other interests of their own as well as they should. From the article The Purpose of Tests, it is said that the root intention of examinations are to identify student strengths and weaknesses. Although this may be true, the modern education system is largely devoted to subjects like science, mathematics etc. that may not be students’ strengths. There are many youths who are diversely talented in many areas yet education systems often do not provide enough platforms for them to showcase their talent. Instead, tests are used to gauge how well students perform in these standardised subjects and not on their actual strengths. For example, students who are exceptionally well versed in art, yet get terrible grades are written off as “useless” just because they are unable to do well academically and probably cannot attain a well-paying job in the future. Quoting Sir Ken Robinson, “human talent is tremendously diverse” and “people have very different aptitudes”. According to fact 7 of Standardised Testing and Its Victims, "The time, energy, and money that are being devoted to preparing students for standardised tests have to come from somewhere." Many leisure and co-curricular activities are being sacrificed just so students can focus on getting good grades for their test. This causes students to neglect their own passion and talents because they focus too much on their academics. The idea of pursuing one’s dreams and following your heart has all become distant in a student’s mindset, restricting students’ ability to be able to think for themselves, and do what they want to achieve in the future. Rather than identifying strengths and weaknesses, examinations are constricting the talents of students, making them unable to follow their passions and achieve what they would like themselves to be doing. However, some may argue that tests allow students to gauge their abilities, be it in the arts or the academics. Exams do not necessarily prevent them from pursuing their dreams as they could be doing so and yet still have examinations because they need to know where they stand among the other students. Nonetheless, we still feel that students do not learn to think critically through standardised tests and examinations. These only teach them to memorise and learn through rote learning, in which case they do not really learn anything useful for life at all. As quoted from Let's Teach Students to Think Critically, Not Test Mindlessly, "memorization is the easy part; applying academic thought to real-world problems is the greater challenge." Tests do not allow students to practise what actually matters in the real world: being able to solve problems and make use their creativity to make the world a better place. These standardised tests only make the students focus on grades, grades, and more grades, as if it could feed them for life. People think that students who can ace any test will bring them prosperity in the future, but in fact it will only bring about their downfall, if there is a lack in people for other areas.

4C TRAVIS TAN AND YEO YONG LIANG

ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING ?

I feel that exams in our education system are a curse.
High-stakes tests are frequently used to assess progress and move students through the academic pipeline towards graduation. In order to prepare the students for these tests, schools are cutting back or even eliminating programs in the arts, and other activities intended to promote social and moral learning. What use is there to mindlessly memorize facts for a test when such knowledge are very likely not to be applied in the future when it comes to dealing with real world problems? Memorization is the easy part; whereas applying academic thought to real-world problems is the greater challenge. In other words, exams in our educations system are encouraging memorization at the expense of cognitive-processing skills. Creativity in thinking is halted due to the fact that creative thinking would not help us do well in tests, which is a major problem in our society now as doing well in tests are far more important than thinking out of the box which could create an idea that would help invent something that would benefit mankind or solve social issues.

Ryan and Jun Han

Are exams in our education a curse or a blessing?

Exams are not a curse. There is a high weightage on national examinations and students who are not used to it might underperform or succumb to the pressure. Frequent exams in our education system enable the students to cope emotionally and get used to the examination mood and environment. In singapore, schools have countless number of tests  for each subject during the school terms. These tests act as revision to ensure students are adequately prepared for major exams such as GCE 'O' and 'A' levels which largely determines their future.
However, I feel that there are many other methods to bring about the same benefits without brining uneccessary stress to the students, which will greatly kill the student's love for learning.

I believe exams are a curse. This is because, the main purpose exams is to rank the students, ironically, the standards of the exams are very high because it is very hard to rank students if their scores are around the the same level. Also, exams force students to be machines, memorising long strings of letters, numbers and facts temporarily for the next exam, and not truly understanding what they are actually memorising, thus the students arent learning, they are just absorbing like a sponge. Schools are now cutting back on lessons like arts to have more funds and squeeze out more time to prepare students for academic exams, this leads to students not being able to find their passion in different areas outside the academics sector, and many of their talents are not developed and are wasted.

Xin Ni and Lucia (4C)

In our opinion, exams in our education is a curse. The purpose of having tests and exams are to identify how much the student understands and their strength and weakness. However, in the current century, tests are instead used to determine one's ability on memorizing information. Schools have been giving students materials and resources to memorise and score well for the test instead of explaining and making sure the students understand what they are learning. Education should not only be about memorising skills but should emphasise more on problem solving and creativity skills that can be used in the working society. Exams then creates the lack of the ability to apply academic thought to real-world problems. Also, education should be a way of closing the gap between low-income students and their wealthier counterparts. However, the exams today are doing the exact opposite. Low-income students are unable to afford the resources needed to actually have the enrichment they need. Without enrichment, they lose out to the wealthier students academically, especially in exams. This gap between the two will not close. Exams should be given to see how well the students can apply the skills they learned for life, and not to see how well they memorize.

Cheryl (2) & Cherith (7) 4B

Are exams in our education a curse or a blessing?

Some may argue that exams are a blessing because it identifies what students have learnt, and what are their strengths and weaknesses. It allows them to focus on the areas that they are weaker on and be able to improve their skills on that particular subject. However, we think that exams in our education is a curse. Standardised tests only measure superficial learning as the tests are short and the answers need to be standard. It is a test to see our memorisation skills, but problem solving, creativity collaboration are not tested. Studies have shown that students in America who have less exams, have more flexible thinking equipped with ingenuity, compared to average students who undergo a series of tests on a regular basis. Students can only think in a straight line accordingly to what they have been taught, but they cannot apply what they know in real life. If that is the case, what is the point of having tests? In today's education system, tests have been contorted into a curse as they only measure superficial learning and limits one's real potential.

Wei Qing and Tiffany (4C)

2. ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING ? 

In our very own opinions, exams in our education system are definitely a curse.  Although exams have its own pros, it also had cons that affect most students.

Exams are a curse as they focus too much on knowledge than arts. To achieve a good reputation for schools, schools will choose to concentrate on good academic results. Thus, resulting in the sacrificing time used for arts, which is an important element for life. Arts have been known to create the world we live in. From Shakespeare to Beethoven, ranging from plays to music, they have given us much insights that no odinary textbook could. However, schools have chosen to neglect it. leaving it in the dust where nobody touches it. Students' life has been now more and more inclined towards shaping the society into a knowledge-based society instead of a arts and culture one. Where is arts' position in students' life? Knowledge is just secondary factor in being able to survive in this society. Arts promote the crativity, beautifies the culture and unites people. Thus, with the current education system neglecting it, schools are a curse more than a blessing.

However, people argued that rather than being a curse, it is more of a blessing in disguise. Education provides the knowledge for us to create something. In a way, the education system is building foundation for creativity to grow. For example, inventing are considered as a form of creativity. Without any knowledge, how can one invent something useful for the society? Thus, instead of blaming the school for neglecting arts, why not think of it as building foundation for arts.

Therefore, exams in our education system are a curse.

CHUA ZHENG QIAN (18), THADDAEUS TAN (21) 4C

Are exams in our education system a curse or a blessing?

We feel that exams in our education system is a curse, as it diminishes the cognitive-thinking ability in children and supresses their creativity, and provides an inaccurate gauage of an individual's learning potential. Firstly, exams in our education system are straying off their initial objective of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of our pupils, and are instead used as measures of effectiveness and intelligence of schools and pupils. From the article " The purpose of tests", it has been stated that exams are being used to measure a teacher or school's effectiveness, and that exams are being used to judge a student based on merit, to provide entry into internships or college. From the above information, we can infer that schools are now gearing students solely for the sake of examinations so that teachers can obtain raises in merit, while schools can access higher funding if they produce students capable of excellent results. The SAT and ACT are common tests used to form part of a student's entrance application to college. As such, students are now prepared by teachers to approach such tests in an efficient manner for both their personal achievement and future, and the future and status of the school and its educators. They lack a well rounded education which brings forth their creativity, instead, their innate ability to be creative is suppressed due to pressure of conforming to the norms, whereby memorisation is seen as the most efficient way of studying for an exam.  Even if students are willing to deviate from the norms and think out of the box, they are not encouraged to, as mentioned in article "Standardized testing and its victims", high stakes exams are being introduced or already taking place in most states, and the ones who tend to excel at such tests are those who rely on superficial and shallow learning. Even the schools are cutting down on enrichment programs and acitvites meant for the promotion of social and moral learning, and even lessons regarding other subjects,for the sake of solely focusing on the subject being tested. If schools are that desperate to raise the scores they produce, it is no wonder students raised in such an environment would undoubtably follow suit and choose superficial memorisation over unnecessary creativity and thought processing skills. From article "Against mindless testing- what do we really test?", Superintendent Josh Starr maintains that a relentless focus on high-stakes testing is, at best, misguided and, at worst, may limit the ability of future generations to solve society's problems. Along with him, many have come to fear the detrimental impacts of memorization at the expense of cognitive processing skills, and ability to evaluate decisions and analyse situations. Yet, most schools continue to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing students for the high stakes tests, via loads of practice papers and specific test preparation materials. This is already a mindset set into the place of educational institutes and leaders, that scores on tests are relative to the success of an individual and prosperity he or she might bring. Therefore, students are shifitng from creative thinkers to mindless memorisation robots, but given our environment, we are mostly helpless and left to conform to society's norms. Also, schools across the country are cutting back or even eliminating programs in the arts, recess for young children, electives for high schoolers, class meetings (and other activities intended to promote social and moral learning), discussions about current events (since that material will not appear on the test), the use of literature in the early grades (if the tests are focused narrowly on decoding skills), and entire subject areas such as science (if the tests cover only language arts and math). Anyone who doubts the scope and significance of what is being sacrificed in the desperate quest to raise scores has not been inside a school lately. This makes students 'studying machines', and students only go to school just to prepare for tests rather than building up character. Over time,this will have an impact on society as some people may have poor moral values, which may lead to increased crime, sexism, racism, etc. Therefore, we find that exams in our education system is a curse, as it rids us of opportunities and ability to perform cognitive thinking and express creativity, and instead focuses on superficial learning methods which ensure high examination scores to the benefit of schools, teachers and the assessment of students themselves and gives less time for social and moral learning of the students. 

Jodie Suwe and Hew Ying Xin 4B

ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING? 
Exams in our education has many negative effects thus making it a curse. Exams in schools happen so often that it has become such a prominent role in schooling, and students as young as 8 years old have to take these tests. For example, in Singapore, secondary students have at least one test almost every week before the final exams at the end of the year. Even in primary school, exams happen 4 times a year for the students even in primary one.  Because of all these tests, students are not taught practical skills and classes like arts are cancelled at many schools just because of the heavy focus on grades. In China, most students excel on tests, including international assessments in reading, writing and mathematics, but lack in thinking critically or creatively. These are negative effects as students are not taught essential life skills like critical thinking which are needed when they enter the workforce.All the information that we learnt in our daily life of school is hardly put into use when we grow older as now bosses look less at qualifications and more for skills like flexibility and critical thinking.In addition having test as young as the age of 8 results in unnecessary stress which will rob them of the happy childhood that they should be having at that age and not bombardment of exams which do not teach practical life skills.Therefore, exams are a curse as they happen too often and students are not able to learn practical skills.
However,some people may argue that tests are a way to evaluate value of a programme and a teacher's ability.This is because if there is no presence of tests,they would not be able to identify the ability of each student since every students ability is different and then we are able to give appropriate guidance to each and every student according to their ability.An example is consultation for results,they will ask a selected few people with not so desirable grades to go for consultation for certain subjects and "assume" that those people with desirable grades can handle themselves.Even though some people may think that way but there are other ways to evaluate a person's ability and not only exams for example the school can give a more practical test rather than theory.Therefore,exams in our education system is a curse.

Ling Xuan & Fan Xi ( 4C )

2. Are exams in our education system a curse or a blessing?

We believe that exams in our education system are a curse because they contradict the purpose of education. The goal of education should be to teach our children how to think, not what to memorise in order to get a good grade in an examination. The Huffington Post supports our thesis, stating that "students are flooded with isolated facts that are forgotten once the pencil is put down, never again revisited as curriculum and instructional focus shifts to the next test". The above emphasizes the fact that curriculum in our education system revolves around throwing students material to memorize, and scoring well every test is all that matters, instead of learning how to solve problems and think critically, which is what education should be about. Also, in " Standardized Teaching and Its Victims", it is mentioned that standardized-test scores often measure superficial thinking. This means that exams assess students on shallow learning, not on whether education has fulfilled its purpose. Hence, we believe that examinations are a curse because they contradict the purpose of education.
However, exams in our education system might be a blessing because they serve as a feedback mechanism for teachers. For example, if there is a specific topic that students do poorly on, teachers will be able to tell from their exam results, and place more emphasis on what the students are weak in, thus aiding their improvement. Without examinations as a form of assessment that evaluates students' learning and understanding, there is no gauge that exists for teachers to know the progress of their students. Hence, examinations might also be a blessing. 

Andrea and He Ying (4C)

Some may choose to argue that exams in our education is a blessing, as it provides a standard entry to higher level of education and it is a standardise way to determine a student's capability. For example, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is a gauge as to how capable the students are in studies, and hence giving them the aid to choose the school which is more suitable for their academic abilities. Such a form of assessment is also perceived as a fair method of judging a student's ability. As it provides everyone an equal platform to further their education, it is argued that exams are a blessing. However, we believe that exams in our education system is a curse, as exams focus more on short term skill acquisition rather than long term implementation. As mentioned by Sir Ken Robinson, our education system is based on a "linear concept", and a single path to a fixed definition of success has been designed and is being tirelessly imposed on students. This implies that the education system that we have adopted only aims at the ultimate success at profitable sectors of the students, and rarely do they care about factors, such as whether do students really understand what they are teaching and are able to execute them in the future or are students only learning it for the sake of exams and forgetting it after the exams. Hence by having this "linear concept", students only focus on doing well for the exams and not learning as a life long skill that they can use. This point is further supported by a quote from the Huffington Post: "We are encouraging memorization at the expense of cognitive-processing skills that enable people to ... evaluate the consequences of their decisions". Additionally, standardized exams are major determinants of a child's future and career choices, regardless of his passion or ambition. This means that all students have to undergo this exams based education system, which often does not ensure them a career in the future, since it might not be what students dream to be. For instance, all students even if their ambition is to become an artists, have to learn math and science formulas, which no doubt will not give them any aid in the art field. Further more, in a study published by Journal of Educational Psychology, it was observed that high test scores were achieved by students who exhibited the superficial approach to thinking. Such students do not further analyze what they are being taught and simply accept the facts, memorize them and regurgitate them to obtain remarkable scores. Hence, exams are no doubt a curse in our education system since they often do not care about whether students really acquire the skills that they are trying to impose, or students memorize facts for the sake of exams.

Alicia & Qi En (4B)

Is Conformity in schools a curse or a blessing?

In our opinion, Conformity in schools is a curse.
Standardised testing, often focused on high-stakes, may limit the ability of future generations to solve society's problems. This is because many students are being taught to take a test, and not to think critically. In our recent society, many schools are cutting back or even eliminating programs and activities intended to promote social and moral learning, as well as materials and subjects which will not appear on the test. This prevention is implemented to ensure that the student would not have any excessive and unnecessary knowledge that will hinder the absorption of the knowledge of the test subject. All these actions trace down to one main motive, which is to have a higher score in order to get into a renowned college. This only trains students to become only exam smart and not have a flexible mindset.

However, conformity provides a conducive environment for studying because conformity influences students to have the same goal in mind and they would not want to stray from the "right" path to their own goals. With the same goal in mind, there would be a constant pressure in the study environment which would motivate them to reach the same goal. On the other hand, the pressure may cause a build up of stressful studying environment for students and make them more anxious about whether they are able to achieve as much as their peers which will negative impact on their mental health and academic achievements.

Therefore, conformity in the form of standardised testing, may trigger the effect of having few problem-solvers in the future as many educated youth are taking the current education system of having to solely study for the exam topic and not learn any social or moral skills, which contradictory can help students view learning with curiosity and be more creative, for the prosperity of their country in future.

Felicia Yee & Leandra Nair 4B

2. ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING ? 

People supporting the view that exams are a blessing might state that tests are designed to close the poverty gap between the low-income students and those from a wealthier family. In exams, every student gets an equal chance to do well and students from low-income families might be able to get scholarships for further education, which they might not have been able to attain given their financial situation.
However, we feel that exams in our education system are a curse as it widens the poverty gap instead of bridging it. It intensifies the disparity between the two groups. Children from wealthier families would have more finances to guide their learning while low-income families might even struggle to pay the school fees and would have little finances for things like tuition. Poverty rate is one of the variables that account for 89% of differences in test scores in a study of math results in the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Hence in conclusion, tests are a curse as they are an unfair judgement of a students' progress and do not bridge the poverty, widening it instead.