Sad Case Of The Perfect Singapore Education System
It was with disgust when I read about the case of a very good American teacher, Ms Susan Elliot, being disinvited from the Teachers' Conference 2010 to be held in September. This was due to the fact that a "very-concerned" and "very-objective" staff at MOE HQ, Ms Lynn Koh, who sent out the invitation and disinvitation, or her subordinates/associates found out that Ms Elliot is hearing-impaired. Must we always be so perfect?!?! When people emailed MOE regarding this issue, when Ms Elliot emailed MOE for a clarification, she was informed that she was persona non grata. Even though Ms Sucillia Sukiman, secretary of the Teachers' Conference Organising Committee, has since replied to some of the bombardment to MOE and said that Ms Elliot has been informed of the mistake and that she is still invited to the conference, the damage has already been done. Can I stab you in the stomach with a knife and then just say sorry, expecting you to forgive and forget? The hypocrisy that we live in. Sigh.
I was once in the Education system but got flushed out because I did not concur with the politics of the staff room and got brought up on my many shortcomings. Although I still very much want to be a Teacher again, it is incidents like this that makes me cringe. What are we doing with the students of today? Have we forsaken the holistic growth and well-being of the student for the academic-meritocracy that we as Singaporeans are so famed about? Is the term holistic growth and well-bring just a dream or even just plain lip-service? Has our Honors-conscious society become so perfect that the Teachers of today and tomorrow cannot accept any form of mistakes at all?
Sigh. I know I was, and still am, not the perfect teacher. I had students who did not listen to me in class. I had students who did not submit their homework on time. I had students who had difficulty in understanding the concepts. But never, not once did I ever give up on any of them, not even the ones labelled as problematic by the other teachers. I do not believe I am being naive. Rather, I am being the professional that is expected of me. To treat everyone equally and fairly, regardless of any background, behavior or academic performance. My question then to the battle-hardened and the weary teachers still in the system, are you being the professional that is expected of you?
I was once in the Education system but got flushed out because I did not concur with the politics of the staff room and got brought up on my many shortcomings. Although I still very much want to be a Teacher again, it is incidents like this that makes me cringe. What are we doing with the students of today? Have we forsaken the holistic growth and well-being of the student for the academic-meritocracy that we as Singaporeans are so famed about? Is the term holistic growth and well-bring just a dream or even just plain lip-service? Has our Honors-conscious society become so perfect that the Teachers of today and tomorrow cannot accept any form of mistakes at all?
Sigh. I know I was, and still am, not the perfect teacher. I had students who did not listen to me in class. I had students who did not submit their homework on time. I had students who had difficulty in understanding the concepts. But never, not once did I ever give up on any of them, not even the ones labelled as problematic by the other teachers. I do not believe I am being naive. Rather, I am being the professional that is expected of me. To treat everyone equally and fairly, regardless of any background, behavior or academic performance. My question then to the battle-hardened and the weary teachers still in the system, are you being the professional that is expected of you?
posted by Prosage at 12:01 am
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