Home Visit
Yesterday, we had our first home visit by an official from the Ministry of Education. It was our first meeting with them and I was quite anxious, well moderately. Cleaned the house up, which was good since Eid was coming anyway, and in the end threw away around ten bags of run- of- date stuff that have been quietly filling up the house.
We are very lucky in Singapore to have a ministry that goes all out and try to be in touch even with those outside the system. I mean, they sent a senior officer with many years of teaching experience to drive all the way to remote Choa Chu Kang kampong to explain to me the content of the information sheet that was e- mailed to me earlier.
I was even more touched when they gave recognition to homeschoolers here by putting us to a higher standard of requirements. For those who are not aware, our children can only continue to secondary school if they meet the cut off point of the lowest 33rd percentile (194 last year). Anywhere less than that they have to take PSLE for up to 3 times and cannot continue to secondary school till they meet this requirement even though their peers from national schools can do so. I mean, with all that attention and customized teaching, like the official said, our kids should be doing better.
I could see what this visit was truly about when after explaining that my child has to attend school if she fails, she went on to talk about how I have to approach secondary schools myself for my child to get a place. What confidence in how independent we homeschoolers are in searching for the best for our children. With our considerable size we must really ease the burden of the ministry each year by not being included in the posting exercise. We have forgone the subsidised system and the use of our edusave, what's the big deal with posting?
The ministry has also started a partnership with us homeschoolers in the education of our children- they will now require those at primary four, starting from this cohort, (although I thought I heard the same for a friend's last year) to sit for an examination to see their level of abilities. From sharing with us what they are best at, our children will hopefully two years later be exam-wise.
This is a great start. In future, I hope the ministry will consider some humble partnerships like- sharing of facilities and educational materials, mixed schooling, participation in co-curricular activities and a channel to tap into the knowledge and experience of teachers, all in the spirit of nurturing our children and embracing diversity.
Lastly, in this blessed month, I pray that Allah bless this country where we can practice our faith freely and have the space to be different and continue to be able to be so. While we welcome the fresh ideas and talents from foreign lands and lands we have ties with, we should also nurture those who dare to be different from within.
We are very lucky in Singapore to have a ministry that goes all out and try to be in touch even with those outside the system. I mean, they sent a senior officer with many years of teaching experience to drive all the way to remote Choa Chu Kang kampong to explain to me the content of the information sheet that was e- mailed to me earlier.
I was even more touched when they gave recognition to homeschoolers here by putting us to a higher standard of requirements. For those who are not aware, our children can only continue to secondary school if they meet the cut off point of the lowest 33rd percentile (194 last year). Anywhere less than that they have to take PSLE for up to 3 times and cannot continue to secondary school till they meet this requirement even though their peers from national schools can do so. I mean, with all that attention and customized teaching, like the official said, our kids should be doing better.
I could see what this visit was truly about when after explaining that my child has to attend school if she fails, she went on to talk about how I have to approach secondary schools myself for my child to get a place. What confidence in how independent we homeschoolers are in searching for the best for our children. With our considerable size we must really ease the burden of the ministry each year by not being included in the posting exercise. We have forgone the subsidised system and the use of our edusave, what's the big deal with posting?
The ministry has also started a partnership with us homeschoolers in the education of our children- they will now require those at primary four, starting from this cohort, (although I thought I heard the same for a friend's last year) to sit for an examination to see their level of abilities. From sharing with us what they are best at, our children will hopefully two years later be exam-wise.
This is a great start. In future, I hope the ministry will consider some humble partnerships like- sharing of facilities and educational materials, mixed schooling, participation in co-curricular activities and a channel to tap into the knowledge and experience of teachers, all in the spirit of nurturing our children and embracing diversity.
Lastly, in this blessed month, I pray that Allah bless this country where we can practice our faith freely and have the space to be different and continue to be able to be so. While we welcome the fresh ideas and talents from foreign lands and lands we have ties with, we should also nurture those who dare to be different from within.
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