Personal Response to Current Affairs

This is my fourth personal response to current affairs, which is on educational issues. This article was taken from The Straits Times, 11 May 2007. The author of the article is Ho Ai Li.

Talented pupils get bigger chance at direct entry to Sec 1

The article talks about how more schools have also taken part in the Direct School Admission scheme, also known as DSA. The DSA promotes holistic education and give schools more flexibility as to the kind of students it can take in. Students who are not so strong in their academics can still go to top schools and enjoy the top-grade education provided there.

However, while the DSA does seem to provide many benefits for the less intellectually-inclined students, we must also think about the disadvantages that it could bring about.

We must ask ourselves; by enrolling these not so academically strong students in a very academic-emphasised school, would these students be able to cope with the rigorous and challenging curriculum? From my own experience and also from news reports, I have seen many of these DSA students doing badly in their schools tests and ending up with unsatisfactory results. If students cannot cope with this kind of rigorous curriculum, what is the point of the DSA?

An example from the article states that St Hilda’s helps DSA students revise for four hours after school during the exam period. Though this would probably be helpful to the students, it inevitably means that they are moving at a relatively slower pace than most of the others in the cohort, and would most likely be disadvantaged.

Given such reasons, why should less academically inclined pupils still try for the DSA?

Well, a top school would be more likely to have better sports or arts facilities to develop the student’s potential to its maximum. This might seem like a plus point for the student to go for DSA.

A factor is probably because of the influence from parents. Most parents put academic education and results as first priority for the children, and thus use DSA as a chance for their children to “squeeze into” a top school.

If the students become unable to cope, this would only have a detrimental effect on them. Parents should consult the children, and discuss whether it is really appropriate to let their children go for the DSA. After all, the children know themselves best, and can judge whether they are really able to handle such a rigorous curriculum.

As a student, I would definitely think that DSA is not a good thing for us. The mere talent in an area of say, sports does not mean that I have the same high ability in academic areas. My studies would inevitably be sacrificed. This gets me scolded more often by my parents for the poor results. Thus, I might not want to face such a rigorous curriculum, as I would not be able to cope with it, and would face tremendous stress and pressure.

Therefore, I think that as parents, they should always consult the children before making such important and significant decisions. After all, it is for the good of the children that they want to enrol them into DSA, and thus the children’s opinions are always important.