Singapore’s Ministry of Education will administer an aptitude-based program, which pays attention to students’ natural ability and talents. This system is a complete opposite of the traditional academic-based system. This new program will be carried out in the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities in the country. According to a Ministry of Education official, general academic ability will no longer be used to evaluate a student’s natural ability. He added that students who are good at something must be given all the support to hone their skills and strengthen their knowledge.
Starting next year, all secondary schools can reserve about 20 percent of their slots for Direct School Admission. The Ministry of Education will concentrate on students’ strengths and enable them to take higher academic subjects in Secondary 1 instead of Secondary 3. With the change in priorities in education comes a new and improved mission in post-secondary education – to unleash and nurture diverse talents among students. The new program may be messy on the early period of implementation, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Vocabulary:
administer – manage and be responsible for the running of something
carry out – do something; start something; accomplish
hone – to make something perfect or completely suitable for its purpose
concentrate – to direct your attention or your efforts towards a particular activity, subject, or problem
enable – to make someone able to do something, or to make something possible
unleash – let lose; release; set free
in the long run – over or after a long period of time; eventually
True or False:
- Singapore’s Ministry of Education will implement an aptitude-based program.
- The new educational program will be carried out in nursery school.
- The Ministry of Education official said that students who are good at something must have all the support they need.
- The mission of the new program in post-secondary education is to nurture diverse talents among students.
- The program change will be easy and smooth.
Express your opinion:
- What kind of adults do you think an aptitude-based educational system can produce? Discuss.
- Do you think this kind of educational change will gain a lot of support in your country? Why or why not?
- Which do you think is better, an aptitude-based program or an academic-based program? Discuss.
- Many people believe that formal education kills creativity and originality. What do you think about this? Explain.
- What things do you think people should learn as they get older? Discuss.
Defend your argument:
- “The smartest billionaires I know never finished high school. I got my degree and my doctorate on the street and an advanced degree in jail.” – Tommy Chong
- “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” ― Isaac Asimov
- “There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance.” – Cesar Chavez
- “You are better off trying something and having it not work and learning from that than not doing anything at all.” – Mark Zuckerberg
- “Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.” – Balasar Gracian