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.