The new norm in the mode of education due to the Pandemic
There has been much confusions and doubts surrounding children’s progress in academics; parents worry that the pandemic has stunted their children’s growth in learning and put a halt to effective study-time at school. Private tutors and online tutors are also doing their part to assuage parent’s concerns as much as possible.
Source: https://www.retailbiz.com.au/contributor/what-you-need-to-know-for-the-new-financial-year/
To clear up the confusions, let’s separate fact from fiction and analyse the route that education would take in 2021!
NO.1: TRANSITIONS
Many parents worry about the transition from primary to secondary school (link: https://www.championtutor.com/blog/the-transition-from-primary-to-secondary-school-what-to-expect/) and from that to polytechnic or Jc. Despite the hindrances that the pandemic has caused, the O-level and PSLE results have been rather consistent.
Channel New’s Asia has stated in its article that “The percentage of students ‘assessed suitable to progress’ from primary to secondary school has remained the same over the past five years – 2016 to 2020 – at 98.4 per cent.”and there is also a 0.7% increase in the percentage of students who have scored at least five passes at the 2020 GCE O-Level examinations as compared to 2019 record.
What we need to know
In Singapore, as we all know, all schools are good schools and the Ministry of Education Singapore, as well as tutoring agencies are doing their best to equip students with the necessary material and guidance to give their best shot for the National Exams despite the chaos that the pandemic has caused.
Source: https://www.herworld.com/solutions/does-tuition-really-help-kids-do-better-exams/
The fact that students have done well despite the unexpected circumstances is a testament to the effectiveness and prompt decision-making done by MOE as well as tuition agencies in Singapore.
NO.2: VIRTUAL LEARNING
Parents can go on an endless debate as to whether this is a boon or bane; but today, it has become the only option. As we continue to assess what are some of the reasons that make education in Singapore stressful (link: https://www.championtutor.com/blog/what-are-some-reasons-that-make-education-in-singapore-stressful/), it has indeed become evident that the real reasons are helicopter parenting and a lack of freedom for students to keep their mind at ease during exam seasons.
Source: https://www.imath.sg/blog/consider-the-8-online-tuition-centres-in-singapore-focused-on-math-183
The unexpected advantages
With virtual learning, tuition teachers as well as school teachers have a more personal connection with students. Using an online video-conferencing software like Zoom, there are various creative ways of tutor-student communication such as,
- Chat options
- Communicating through emojis
- Break-out rooms for smaller-group discussion
- Screen-sharing facility for lecture/lessons/seminars
- Option of recording the lesson
These advantages are those that tuition teachers can leverage on to make their online lessons engaging; soon, traditional learning would seem much less effective that online teaching.
NO.3: DRASTIC CHANGES
With the new mode of learning, there is no more space for spoon-feeding.No one will offer answers on a silver platter and no one will molly-coddle students the way traditional classroom-setting has allowed for in the past.
The give and take
Students have to give up on their dependence ontutors and take up the responsibility of self-learning with this paradigm shift in mode of education. 2021 has opened up a new dimension in learning and students need to adapt and adjust to these changes.
Many ponder about how Singapore education system has changed in the past few years (link: https://www.championtutor.com/blog/how-has-the-singapore-education-system-changed-in-the-past-few-years/) and there is never a fixed answer as a lot is being done to continue progressing in different ways.
Students and parents need to clarify their doubts with their private tuition teacher and school teachers to see how they can collaborate to move forward successfully.
YOUR TAKEAWAY
Time has its own way of changing things in all aspects of life and we as human beings have little power to influence our circumstances. What is in our power and control however is to accept the reality and do the necessary to roll with the punches!