SINGAPORE: Anyone interested in how Singapore got top marks in the recently released PISA global education report would do well to read the words of Professor Pak Tee Ng, who was recently interviewed in the Spanish daily newspaper El País.
When asked whether Singapore’s students have as much homework as their peers in China, Assoc Prof Ng said that assignments are being reduced in Singapore. “We want to create spaces for the students to learn new things, and play is part of learning… Of course, you need to practice a bit; otherwise, you quickly forget, but there can be an excess of practice to the detriment of other areas of development, which we also care about.”
And yet, he also emphasized that some stress can be good for students. When asked about the Primary School Leaving Examination students take at age 11 or 12, Assoc Prof Ng said that Singapore uses grade bands to assess PSLE results. “Yes, things like that can be stressful, but an appropriate amount of stress can be helpful… What we tell them is exams are important, but not the only important thing in life. Don’t stress chasing every point, but learn and do well.”
As well as Singapore students did in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings, he said: “We care a lot about the education of our children, but not about PISA itself. We take part in the test to know how we rank in the world, but not to compete… Of course, it’s nice to be at the top of the rankings, but it’s not our report card.
In the Spanish daily newspaper El País, the Assoc Prof Ng from Nanyang Technological University’s National Institute of Education is referred to as “Singapore’s top educationalist.” His NTU bio page notes that he is “a Singaporean educator who is deeply involved in the development of school and teacher leaders.” He has also authored and given talks on education.
The educator paints a snapshot of Singapore education today and traces back to the country’s beginnings in 1965, underlining why many older generations of parents, who came from economic hardship, placed such a premium on education.
“Our history is very short. It was beneficial that we were so poor then. Many people thought, ‘I can’t have a good life, but I will work very hard to send my children to school so that they have the chance of a better life.’ That was what many parents aimed for. We had nothing else: no oil, no agriculture, no timber, no rubber. We only had human resources, and education is the great building block of our national development,” he told El País. /TISG
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