yipee~~
Thursday, March 10, 2005 by yish
no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. no more pearls pts.. falala~~
haha.. i'm so happy.. was like worried abt wat cca i shd take up lah.. so tat i can make up some pts for my cca or wat.. yeah no more.. this decision is really gd lah.. i mean do ppl take up cip becoz they feel for it? u think those flag days ppl do all their 6hrs.. HAHA i tell u.. n now i can go for fun cca tat has very little pearls pts.. yeah yeah..
Tharman Shanmugaratnam's decision is damn cool lah.. shd hav hug him durin founder's day or wat for havin such a gd decision.. pearls pts n stuffs shd hav been scrapped off long ago..
March 10, 2005
University entry: Activity points out
Involvement in CCA must be out of interest: That is the aim of the change
By Sandra Davie
EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT
SINGAPORE'S universities will scrap awarding points during admission to students for taking part in sports and for taking up leadership positions in school activities.
The points system has been given the boot after the Education Ministry received bad feedback about calculating students.
So, from this year, if junior college students want to take up sports or lead the debating team, they will do so because they want to or feel passionately for a particular activity.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will look at their co-curricular activity (CCA) record only when their academic results are not good enough for them to gain admission onto the course of their choice.
Also scrapped is compulsory community service for JC students. Now, when they sell flags for charity, they will be volunteering, rather than fulfilling the minimum six-hour requirement.
Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the changes in Parliament yesterday during a debate on his ministry's budget.
He said: 'Our basic approach as we go forward is to go for more quality and less quantity. We will focus on quality of learning, quality of CCA and community engagement, and the quality of the whole school experience that the student goes through.'
His announcement pleased Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) and Mr Gan Kim Yong (Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC). Madam Ho said the system 'served to inculcate and perpetuate a paper-chase mentality, except that this time the students literally chase points and their passion in CCA is driven by points'.
The change, from this year, will be implemented in 17 JCs, plus the Millenia Institute.
These points now count for 5 per cent of the admission score at NTU and NUS. But both universities will scrap it from 2007 when the current group of first-year JC students are knocking on their doors.
They will look at the CCA record for such qualities as leadership only when the student's academic achievements are not good enough.
With the change, the two universities will use CCA as a 'qualitative' criteria for student admission - as do Singapore Management University and many reputable universities abroad.
The CCA grading system, introduced in 2000, is called Pearls for participation, enrichment, achievement, representation, leadership and service - the six categories used in grading students.
Students are known to badger teachers to guarantee the points before they agree to take part in any activity.
Mr Tharman hopes the change will see students and schools taking 'greater ownership over these activities'.
However, the CCA grading system will continue in secondary schools. Also unchanged is the minimum six-hour requirement for community service for primary and secondary students.
Younger ones need some structure and guidance to ensure they receive a holistic education, said Mr Tharman.
JC principals and teachers cheered the change. Temasek JC principal Lim Lai Cheng said that even before the grading system was introduced, most students were active in sports and various clubs.
Universities too welcomed the change. NUS dean of admissions Tan Thiam Soon said the new arrangement was more meaningful, as it didn't reduce the applicants' non-academic involvement to a single score and the university would have the flexibility of giving the CCA more weight.
Students are glad community service is no longer a must. Said Sheryl Lim, 19, who completed her A levels last year: 'Some of my classmates left it to the last minute and, in the end, just sold flags for a charity. Even then, they spent half the day in a cinema, watching movies.'
haha.. i'm so happy.. was like worried abt wat cca i shd take up lah.. so tat i can make up some pts for my cca or wat.. yeah no more.. this decision is really gd lah.. i mean do ppl take up cip becoz they feel for it? u think those flag days ppl do all their 6hrs.. HAHA i tell u.. n now i can go for fun cca tat has very little pearls pts.. yeah yeah..
Tharman Shanmugaratnam's decision is damn cool lah.. shd hav hug him durin founder's day or wat for havin such a gd decision.. pearls pts n stuffs shd hav been scrapped off long ago..
March 10, 2005
University entry: Activity points out
Involvement in CCA must be out of interest: That is the aim of the change
By Sandra Davie
EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT
SINGAPORE'S universities will scrap awarding points during admission to students for taking part in sports and for taking up leadership positions in school activities.
The points system has been given the boot after the Education Ministry received bad feedback about calculating students.
So, from this year, if junior college students want to take up sports or lead the debating team, they will do so because they want to or feel passionately for a particular activity.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will look at their co-curricular activity (CCA) record only when their academic results are not good enough for them to gain admission onto the course of their choice.
Also scrapped is compulsory community service for JC students. Now, when they sell flags for charity, they will be volunteering, rather than fulfilling the minimum six-hour requirement.
Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the changes in Parliament yesterday during a debate on his ministry's budget.
He said: 'Our basic approach as we go forward is to go for more quality and less quantity. We will focus on quality of learning, quality of CCA and community engagement, and the quality of the whole school experience that the student goes through.'
His announcement pleased Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) and Mr Gan Kim Yong (Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC). Madam Ho said the system 'served to inculcate and perpetuate a paper-chase mentality, except that this time the students literally chase points and their passion in CCA is driven by points'.
The change, from this year, will be implemented in 17 JCs, plus the Millenia Institute.
These points now count for 5 per cent of the admission score at NTU and NUS. But both universities will scrap it from 2007 when the current group of first-year JC students are knocking on their doors.
They will look at the CCA record for such qualities as leadership only when the student's academic achievements are not good enough.
With the change, the two universities will use CCA as a 'qualitative' criteria for student admission - as do Singapore Management University and many reputable universities abroad.
The CCA grading system, introduced in 2000, is called Pearls for participation, enrichment, achievement, representation, leadership and service - the six categories used in grading students.
Students are known to badger teachers to guarantee the points before they agree to take part in any activity.
Mr Tharman hopes the change will see students and schools taking 'greater ownership over these activities'.
However, the CCA grading system will continue in secondary schools. Also unchanged is the minimum six-hour requirement for community service for primary and secondary students.
Younger ones need some structure and guidance to ensure they receive a holistic education, said Mr Tharman.
JC principals and teachers cheered the change. Temasek JC principal Lim Lai Cheng said that even before the grading system was introduced, most students were active in sports and various clubs.
Universities too welcomed the change. NUS dean of admissions Tan Thiam Soon said the new arrangement was more meaningful, as it didn't reduce the applicants' non-academic involvement to a single score and the university would have the flexibility of giving the CCA more weight.
Students are glad community service is no longer a must. Said Sheryl Lim, 19, who completed her A levels last year: 'Some of my classmates left it to the last minute and, in the end, just sold flags for a charity. Even then, they spent half the day in a cinema, watching movies.'