PISA is a test designed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It is a test designed to uncover whether our education system is helping students to acquire knowledge and skills that are essential for participation in modern societies.
The results were tabulated in 2012, and Singapore came in second. An achievement we should be proud of; nonetheless, there are still questions to be asked, such as are our children having lesser hours of sleep in order to reach such academic achievements?
Are they having more hours spent on tuition? I don’t believe there is a definite answer for this. As children and young adults have different pace in school, their varying levels of needs then exist. In the event they can not catch up with school work, they might seek the help of school teachers or private tutors.
Amanda Ripley is the author of “The Smartest Kid in the World.” Due to the results of the PISA test, she decided to follow three American exchange students in Korea which came in fifth in the Ranking, in Finland which came in twelfth and Poland which came in fourteenth in the Ranking repsectively. She was trying to compare and evaluate American students whom came in thirty-sixth and wondered what went wrong since America is supposedly a developed nation.
How did Finland do it?
Amanda concluded that it will be wise to copy methods from Finland. The Finns decided that the only way to get serious about education was to select highly educated teachers, the best and brightest of each generation, and train them rigorously. So, that was what they did. It was a radically obvious strategy.
In Finland, all education schools were selective. Getting into a teacher-training program was as prestigious as getting into medical school or law school. The rigor commenced in the beginning, not using an initial pay to attract the potential teachers, nor a bond to guarantee them a place in the teaching society after they graduate.
A teacher union advertisement from the late 1980s began with a boast: “A Finnish teacher has received the highest level of education in the world.” Such claim could never have been made elsewhere.
All Finnish teachers were required to undergo six years of studies as well as a Master’s degree. Stara, a Finnish teacher, trained one year in a public school for her Master’s degree. She had three teacher mentors, and she observed their classes closely. When she taught her own classes, her mentors and fellow student teachers took notes of which she received feedback, where some were harsh. Nonetheless, she learned how to motivate her students better, and even collaborated with her fellow student teachers to design lessons that integrated materials from all their subjects.
Conclusion
What if Singapore has such a system in place? If being a teacher is as prestigious as being a Doctor, Lawyer or Banker, would more people take up the challenge? Assuming if Singaporean teachers are as proficient as the Finnish teachers, wouldn’t the children of Singapore spend less time in a tuition centre or with a private tutor? All their learnings can be done in school efficiently. The core skills mandated for modern society can be achieved without the expense of children having inadequate sleep as well as paying tutors to assist in the students’ homework.
Yes, I do understand that it is not as easy as it seems due to the competitive mindset of Singaporeans. I believe we are also afraid that our child might fall back academically compared to their peers when no tutitions are given. Therefore, should we apply the Finnish education system in Singapore, our children will then have additional time on hand to pursue other subjects of interests more intensely.
