Re: Singapore international school in Cebu Philippines ?

I could be wrong. But given the money-face PAP-piss government and their
ministers, mathematics in counting monies is an aspirant course subject
which must be taken in every level of education here for any potential
"yes-man" hopefuls who think of joining PAP-piss politics of counting their
salaries in $millions.


"aehchua" <aeh.chua@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ad11e255-aa2d-497d-81eb-0015ff6c1edd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Jan 30, 1:32 pm, allo <hah...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://singaporeschoolcebu.com/

This international school located in Cebu Philippines claimed "it is an
international school that adapts the Singaporean curriculum known for
its strengths in Maths and Science, and revered worldwide for its top
quality education and it is also an affiliate of Singapore School Manila"

is it true that Singapore maths and science curriculum have been
"exported" to Philippines or someone just like the Singapore brand name ?

I can't speak to the syllabus in the Philippines, but the Singapore
math curriculum is actually quite good. Some public schools in
Maryland, USA use the Singapore math syllabus.

As I tell people who ask me about migrating from Singapore to New
Zealand, I continue to buy Singapore math assessment books, because
the Singapore standard is much better than the New Zealand one. I
have two main issues with the Singapore math syllabus: (1) modeling,
and (2) narrow problem tricks. Modeling is a technique taught to
Primary school kids (as early as Primary 1) which helps them to solve
certain classes of algebraic problems. I feel modeling cripples
students, because they make it harder to teach kids true algebra at
the higher levels. Narrow problem tricks are also a problem. They
help kids solve a bunch of niche problems that appear on the PSLE
exams. However, in reality, we encounter these problems only in very
rare circumstances. Overall, its better for me to have my kids
continue with the Singapore syllabus, but I ignore any performance
difficulties my kids have when either modeling or narrow trick
problems arise.

The main problem with math in Singapore is not the syllabus, but the
overall attitude to math. Everything in math is examinable, and a
child who doesn't do well is considered weak and is punished (e.g.,
made to do after school remedial). As a counterexample, In Maryland,
they use the syllabus, but they don't examine the students.
Corrective action is taken during school hours, and the child isn't
made to feel like a loser.

I personally dislike the Singapore science syllabus, because it is too
crammed with "this is how things are," rather than "see it for
yourself." The focus is on the correct answer rather than the idea of
empiricism and theory- seeing the wonder in the world, and developing
a way to explain and predict it. Part of the problem is that much of
science cannot be experienced in Singapore. As an example, I prefer
science education in New Zealand, because you SEE things happen. The
life cycle of insects is taught by bringing in a caterpillar in a
plant and having the kids watch the caterpillar go through the entire
life cycle. To see instar development, bring in crickets. If you
want to see oxidation, look at the colors around the volcanic vents.
Similarly, the idea of surface tension is shown through geysers- you
can artificially set the geyser timings by dropping a surfactant into
a geyser. This breaks water tension causing the geyser to erupt.
These issues aren't syllabus related. They are related to the overall
approach taken to education.

I guess what I am trying to say is that syllabi are only part of an
education system. Just because another country adopts Singapore's
syllabus doesn't mean they adopt Singapore's education system.

Cecil Chua


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