A Second Chance!!!
Terrible!!! Terrible!!! Terrible!!! Are we really seeing the end of a real education system? To the puzzled, let me tell you what happened last week. Will not mention names.
Last week, I met one of the student parents. Their child was in some problem and was not able to come to school for a period. Don’t ask me what problem, if I tell you what the problem, then the all those involved will be easily identified. And as I say, I will not seek to identify them so as not to jeopardize their career. Back to the story. So a solution was suggested. The father seeks a second chance for his kid to continue studying with us.
But I got a shock, when the management came back to the class advisor saying that unless we can guarantee that this kid can complete the full studies with us, then we should attrite ( a better word for sacked) this kid. When I heard this, I was fully taken aback!!! Huh? How can an educational institution reacts in such manner. Don’t they know what is compassion? Don’t they know what is giving a person a second chance, even if there only a slim hope? Do they believe in “once a thief, always a thief”?
How can? I was boiling inside when I heard this. I told the class advisor to write to the management, that we ought to give this kid a second chance. I just don’t understand how could Singapore School system comes to this stage? You may says that I am a little too generalize as this happens only for this case. No, I had seen how the management are so keen in what they called KPI ie Key performance Indicators, adopted from the west. To me, how can a school adopt this? Can anyone says that I can achieve 100% pass for my students? Bullshit!!! Every child is made differently. Some will learn fast and some will learn slowly. Some are academically inclined and do well and yet some will fail. This is especially true for a technical institution where the lowest 20% of each cohort comes to us. Are we really miracle maker that we can transformed this lowest cohort of students to be ALL so successful and will all pass? Sad to says, I find our management too engrossed in scoring points, that we fails to see the basic of an education center. Just like the kid I mentioned above, even if this kid will finally drop out and leave the school, at least if we had provided this kid with a second chance, our conscience is cleared and I can proudly lift my head and says that I had done our best. Hopefully, my young readers will catch this spirit of a true education, that should they be teachers in days to come, they will never, never write off any students and be always prepare to give them a second chance
Last week, I met one of the student parents. Their child was in some problem and was not able to come to school for a period. Don’t ask me what problem, if I tell you what the problem, then the all those involved will be easily identified. And as I say, I will not seek to identify them so as not to jeopardize their career. Back to the story. So a solution was suggested. The father seeks a second chance for his kid to continue studying with us.
But I got a shock, when the management came back to the class advisor saying that unless we can guarantee that this kid can complete the full studies with us, then we should attrite ( a better word for sacked) this kid. When I heard this, I was fully taken aback!!! Huh? How can an educational institution reacts in such manner. Don’t they know what is compassion? Don’t they know what is giving a person a second chance, even if there only a slim hope? Do they believe in “once a thief, always a thief”?
How can? I was boiling inside when I heard this. I told the class advisor to write to the management, that we ought to give this kid a second chance. I just don’t understand how could Singapore School system comes to this stage? You may says that I am a little too generalize as this happens only for this case. No, I had seen how the management are so keen in what they called KPI ie Key performance Indicators, adopted from the west. To me, how can a school adopt this? Can anyone says that I can achieve 100% pass for my students? Bullshit!!! Every child is made differently. Some will learn fast and some will learn slowly. Some are academically inclined and do well and yet some will fail. This is especially true for a technical institution where the lowest 20% of each cohort comes to us. Are we really miracle maker that we can transformed this lowest cohort of students to be ALL so successful and will all pass? Sad to says, I find our management too engrossed in scoring points, that we fails to see the basic of an education center. Just like the kid I mentioned above, even if this kid will finally drop out and leave the school, at least if we had provided this kid with a second chance, our conscience is cleared and I can proudly lift my head and says that I had done our best. Hopefully, my young readers will catch this spirit of a true education, that should they be teachers in days to come, they will never, never write off any students and be always prepare to give them a second chance
posted by Sebastian Chu at 2:05 PM
