you know, i think our education system is just one jumbled mess right now.
no streaming for primary school. no O'levels for some. no EM3. massive reduction in Chinese Syllabus (no more ting xie, zao ju). sports school. arts school. no CCA grade requirement for university entry.
somehow, i'm beginning to think that MOE is nothing but a confused kid who doesn't know whether he wants. or like a reckless teenager who acts on impulse and takes on a new identity everyday. perhaps the Minister (whatever his name is - i only remember teo chee hean) just has a case of amnesia and forgets the decisions he makes the day before. and you end up with a severely erratic and inconsistent education system whereby everyone has a say in everything (esp the nosy parents), and teachers not allowed to even shout at the students when all they really need is a good spanking.
what happened to education, the straight-laced good ol fashioned way? why are some students allowed to choose whether or not to take chinese? aren't they chinese? why no need to take O levels? you sure you can pass your As in the end and go to uni?
speaking of going to uni, i've just about had it with this particular Very Different University with a advertisement campaign so propaganda-ish and effervescent i was beginning to suspect if the government was behind the whole thing.
actually, i'm okay with them wanting to be different, really. go ahead and be different. proclaim it to the whole world all you want about how different you are. but isn't it ridiculous that any ah mao ah gou can get into the university with less-than-stellar grades like D-E-E? it makes me wonder if we even need the A levels at all.
afterall, all they're askin for is a "competitive spirit". and that's why the former national runner whose name reminds me of a chimpanzee got into the school. he was competitive. cos he ran competitively. cos he ran competitively in SEA games. cos he didn't even get thru the heats. DOH.
you haven't seen true "competitive spirit" until you check out Mango outlets nationwide during the annual Mango sale.
the last time i checked, getting into a university isn't supposed to be easy. you're obliged to study. HARD. if grades are not everything (as so S*U declares), i say let that ITE boy who can run faster than Mr Chimpanzee, play a neat game of soccer and is really dexterous with his hands get into university. no need to set academic standards. (then i wonder what you do in university. play competitive chess?)
that same school also infuriated me when they sent complimentary Zouk passes to fresh A level graduates who signed up online with the S*U website (or something like that). so you're trying to say that if my sis went to your school, she'll be able to be really hip and cool and go clubbing every wednesday, friday and saturday? i rest my case.
a school is a school is a school. we don't need superficial gimmicks, fancy advertising, glossy brochures and daring (how dare you indeed) statements. we don't need empty vessels who speak so loud in order to drown out the rest. we also don't need students who take on the identity of the Ideal S*U student and retort "i'm from S*U" at every chance they've got, as if they've got nothing else to say about themselves.
of course, this is not a generalization of the entire S*U student body. i know of people who aren't like that at all. like my cousin and rugger frens who are in S*U. it's just... annoying, sometimes. the way this school just pushes itself in everybody's faces like that. right now, i'm just annoyed.
then again, if you happened to screw up your As and begin to wonder if you have no choice but to go to NUS Arts cos all the myopic hobbits deem it as a dumping ground, do take heart. at least the new kid on da block is more than willing to take you in. just be really confident, talk your way thru those interviews, and be extremely competitive. shove your way to the first in the queue or something. better still, queue up 3 days before. that'd be pretty impressive.
right. back to Bacteriology.
