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.
No comments:
Post a Comment