Are students over-burdened with schoolwork?

As students in Singapore trudge back to school at the end of the month-long June holiday, many youths and parents alike ask in unison, “Holiday? What holiday?”

The Straits Times Forum page has recently been abuzz with complaints from angry parents about their children being “burdened” with work during their June vacation. One concerned mum, Ms Kelly Kishore, was especially unhappy about having to cancel a family vacation because her daughter was too busy with assignments and projects.

“Many of her classmates faced the same situation. One enterprising mother outsourced the entire (holiday homework) job to a tutor, while another carried a laptop with her to enable her daughter to continue working while overseas,” wrote Ms Kishore, who has a 13-year-old daughter enrolled in a top school.

“While the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) is campaigning for ‘family time’, the Ministry of Education (MOE) seems to be working at cross-purposes,” she adds.

Another reader, Jonathan Tan, reveals that in many junior colleges, the common practice is to place mid-year examinations right after the June holidays. This results in students being forced to study during the mid-year break to do well in exams on top of the extra classes and tests held during the holidays.

He writes, “We need to get away from the mindset that slogging without rest is the only way to compete. Adequate rest can increase performance significantly; without it, even the strongest-willed students will succumb to burnout.”

Another concerned reader, Mr Tan Chwee Seng, urged the government to act so that ”our children are not systematically robbed of their childhood”.

The Education Ministry’s Director of Schools, Wong Siew Hoong, recently addressed the issue in the Forum page when he said schools were adopting a “balanced approach”. He agreed schools should avoid conducting compulsory lessons or tests during school vacations. They do, however use part of the holidays to conduct remedial or enrichment classes and co-curricular activities to “give additional support or enrichment” for students who need it.

“The Ministry of Education (MOE) will remind schools to be judicious in planning class activities during school vacations,” he adds.

Yet others like Madam Jacelyn Ong also feel that parents “cannot have it both ways”.

“On one hand, (parents) they burden their children with tutors and extra tuition, adding to their children’s stress. On the other, they complain about spoilt vacation plans when schools introduce extra lessons during the school break,” she wrote in another letter.

At the end of the day, it seems to me that it all boils down to competition and the “pursuit of excellence”. Schools push their students to do well because the school’s reputation – and hence the principal’s credibility — are at stake.

This dog-eat-dog mentality reflects a greater pattern of Singapore life. In a small city-state like Singapore, people are our only single, most valuable resource. It would seem like the best way to make the most of what we have is to increase productivity by studying harder, getting the best grades, going to the top schools and eventually getting a high-paying job.

All this contributes to a huge vicious cycle that ultimately takes its toll on the population — stress, lack of basic courtesy in certain aspects of daily life and even rise in divorce rates/low birth rates are but mere symptoms of this all-consuming rat-race.

Perhaps, it is really all about striking a balance between work and play. But just how we can go about achieving that “balanced approach” is the real elephant in the room.
(Taken from yahoo)

Comments:
Personally, I agree that students are over-burdened with schoolwork. For Poly students, they have to do their projects during holidays. Some may also needs to attend their CCA. I feels that teachers should not give students homework during holidays. Holidays are meant for the students to relax and enjoyed but not rushing their homeworks and projects during holidays. CCA should be cancelled during holidays too. Many students still have to study for their exams during holidays as they will be having exams after holidays. In conclusion, I feels that it is ironic that students are over-burdened with schoolwork during holidays when they should be resting.

An MRT train parked in a sprawling Changi depot last month was hit with garish graffiti in what constitutes a serious security breach in a restricted area.

The Straits Times reports that the vandal is believed to have sneaked into the depot by overcoming a series of barriers, including fences topped with barbed wire. Once inside, he spray-painted elaborate graffiti on one side of the train across a carriage.

The culprit is believed to be a 33-year-old Swiss national who cut his way through a fence along Xilin Avenue.

He spent several minutes spraying the graffiti before slipping off undetected. He was eventually arrested about a week after the incident was first reported to the police on May 19.

It is not known if MRT staff spotted the graffiti-painted train, but it plied its route for some time in full view of commuters on the day of the incident.

One commuter even recorded video footage of the train pulling out of Kembangan station and posted it on Youtube.



The practice of spraying trains can be traced to New York in the 1970s, when modern graffiti artists broke into subway yards to “hit trains”, usually on the sides of the cars.

Vandalism aside, the issue has raised serious concerns about security in a restricted area. This is especially so in light of recent reports that Orchard MRT station was a target for terrorist attacks.

The station was circled on a map of the Singapore MRT network that was found in the home of an Indonesian terror suspect who had been killed by security forces.

Dr John Harrison, a specialist in terrorism research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the incident served as an important wake-up call to review existing security systems.

“It could have been a (potentially) very serious situation. An individual with knowledge of the system and intent to disrupt or damage it could do much, much worse,” he adds.

Singapore authorities have stepped up security on public transport networks in recent years. More cameras and are going up at bus interchanges and train stations and videos urging commuters to report suspicious items have also been screened.

Last August, a new police department was set up to secure Singapore’s public transport network against criminals and terrorists.

And yet, the breach of security at Changi depot definitely raises questions about the level of security in Singapore’s public transport system and how vulnerable we might be to a potential threat.

26-year-old Samuel Lee told Yahoo! Singapore, “If even an amateur graffiti vandal could break through security barriers at the depot, it’s definitely going to be a piece of cake for someone planning an attack.”

Retirement at 60: No longer possible?




About two weeks ago, Yahoo! Answers Singapore asked: “Do you think you will be able to retire by 60?” Majority of the 623 who posted replies were quite pessimistic about their prospects. No way, unless one marries rich or wins the Toto, was an oft-cited response.

A good number of posters pointed out that life in the city-state is all about debt – Singaporeans will have to work until they die to pay off their obligations. This perception might be exaggerated, but the argument that debt may hold back retirement at 60 is hard to discount, especially now that prices of HDB flats have risen, and wages haven’t exactly caught up.

“Singaporeans are all ‘paper rich.’ Almost everyone is in debt: Housing, Car, Study, etc…” said one poster that earned agreement from fellow posters. Another poster noted that Singaporeans incur debt starting from the time they study in university to the time they have to buy a house and car.

The increasing cost of living in Singapore is frequently mentioned as a major constraint to achieving retirement goals. “With exorbitant prices of HDB flats… I doubt Singaporeans can even think of retiring,” one poster said. Inflation is high and medical expenses are rising, observed another. A poster said that if Singaporeans went by current estimates of financial planners, he would need to have at least a million dollars to retire at 60.

A fair number thought that retirement at 60 might be possible – if they spend their post-job years in a lower-cost country. “If I take all my money and go abroad I can survive a long time,” asserted one user. Another poster believes Singaporeans with lower incomes will have to “migrate to a third world country” for their retirement. The popular view is that the average-income family cannot enjoy retirement by age 60, believing only the “only the rich can do that.”

Nevertheless, a significant minority said retirement by age 60 is doable, with some posters explaining how they managed to do it through frugal living or key investments.

“Trick is to make your money work hard and not you, work hard,” said one user. Downgrading to a smaller HDB flat will free up funds for retirement was another option mentioned.

Others underscored the importance of lifestyle choices: “I’ve retired at 40…. It’s a lifestyle choice.” “It’s a matter of whether you are disciplined or not.”

One user offered this formula: “Investing + saving + Start early = Retire early.”

Pessimism Or Preparation

Many Singaporeans, however, have not started to plan for retirement though they profess it is a goal. A recent survey of more than 500 fully-employed Singaporeans aged between 35 and 55 revealed that 60% of Singaporeans want to retire by the time they reach 60, but only 40% have made, or intend to make, a retirement plan.

More than half of the respondents fear they will retirement savings not last long enough and run out, and around 70% believe they are “very likely” to turn to part-time employment when they retire.

Simply being pessimistic about the future, however, will do nothing to change it. Ultimately, as some posters recognise, being able to retire at 60 (or when you want) will depend on how you handle your situation now. The higher your income and the lower your household and other expenses, then the more room to save. The earlier you start to prepare and plan, the earlier you can retire.

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