THE latest remarks about the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), this time by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam ("Tharman supports rebalancing of PSLE system"; Monday), suggest that tweaking the PSLE should be studied carefully and that there is no easy solution.
The main concern regarding the PSLE or public examinations like the GCE O and A levels is not the pressure students face in coping.
These examinations are academic exercises which gauge where the students are likely to fare better in the next stage of their education.
To get to the main issue, we should examine the fundamental purpose of parents enrolling their children in school - we will find that it's to enable them to find a good job after completing their schooling.
So, obtaining a decent job is the crux of the issue.
If the PSLE is tweaked and still does not work, parents will blame the Government as well.
The issue, therefore, lies not with the public examination per se, but with the capacity and capability of the children to obtain a decent job after they complete their education.
That is why the Government's point about offering different pathways for students is more vital and relevant as it offers them the chance to know what they are good at, and to focus their energies towards it.
Hence, it would be better to have a system that could more accurately gauge what students are good at and provide all that is needed for them to excel in their innate gifts.
Ong Soon Leong
ST Forum, 31 Oct 2012
ST Forum, 31 Oct 2012
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