Changes in GCE 'A' level education Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/mid-year-exam-junior-college-jc-millennia-institute-ministry-education-3311161 Headlines: No more Mid-Year examinations General Paper made compulsory Project Work becomes a pass/fail subject University Admission Score will be rebased to 70 from 90 1)     Some thoughts regarding the scraping of mid-year exams - less administrative work to prepare for a major exam, more time to put back into lessons and learning. But, like what many others have already pointed out, without this major milestone check, students will be in for a rude shock when it comes to their End of Year Exams. "The removal of mid-year examinations will not be replaced (emphasis mine) by more school-based assessments, and JCs and MI must not administer more than one weighted assessment ...
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Annoucement Minister Chan just announced on 27th July 2021 that the common last topic will be taken out of the A levels examinations this November. For those of us who already did the topics, it seemed like time was wasted to teach this topic. But the good thing is students will have less to revise this year. Rightfully so as the multiple disruptions due to tightening/loosening covid measures surely affected the students' ability to focus. With the time now freed up from revising transition elements, we can now focus on the topics that are left. For those of you who have not done up a revision schedule, now is the best time to plan it. IMHO, A levels is not ...
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Tang Ping Read an article about a trending movement from China/Hongkong called "Lying flat".⁠ ⁠ Reading the articles makes me think, this is the other extreme of the FIRE 🔥 movement. But rather then working really hard and saving almost all of your take-home pay so that you can reach financial independence much earlier and retire early, Lying Flat movement simply adopts a monastic mindset.⁠ ⁠ Don't get married 🤵🏻👰🏻, don't have kids, don't buy a car and don't buy a flat. Just do the minimal work to get by. Some take it to extremes and don't even socialize in order to save money.⁠ ⁠ The underlying (no pun intended) worldview is one of killing all desires so that you ...
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Transition Element Last year due to Covid 19, we did not cover the common last topic, which was Transition Element. This year, i was waiting for some announcement from SEAB to see whether TE would be tested in A levels this Nov. Alas, the announcement never came. In the absence of any official announcements, i guess we would have to cover this common last topic this year. Hopefully, SEAB wouldn't change its mind at the last minute and say it will not test TE. Very likely this trend of Circuit breaker and calibrated re-opening will continue for a good 2-3 years. Will need to plan ahead so that disruptions are minimize as much as possible. Mr Khemistry will be moving ...
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Encouragement Recently had a parent WhatsApp a thank you message to me, it was an unexpected surprise for me as the student was usually very quiet in class. Such a simple message but it had a profound impact on me.  In this period where everyone is feeling a little drained from working/studying from home, a positive message gives great encouragement. I hope everyone will try to spread a little positivity like the #Steadylah campaign by some celebrities. It really does spread cheer and lift up the spirits of a world crippled by Covid lockdowns. If you would like to receive such messages, why not start to send a few of these out yourself? If you like to reap an apple, ...
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Reflection and awareness In this fast paced society, it is imperative that we take time for reflection at the end of the day. To be aware of what is happening around us and how we are living our lives. I once heard from Bob Procter, " If all the good of the universe is pour over us, it wouldn't make the slightest different UNTIL, we become AWARE of it". Think about it, until a child becomes aware what money is and what it can buy, they wouldn't actually be happy even if you write them a cheque for a million dollars. Our awareness, or consciousness, of opportunities around us...needs to be awaken. Through mentors who have done it before, through ...
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Déjà vu We are transiting to Home-based Learning again. I told my wife that i have a feeling schools and tuition centres are going to be shut down...imminently. As it turns out, i was right. The rise in unlinked community cases is ominous. This is a very good time to think about the trade-offs we have to take as a nation. Some friends around me are very pissed that Government did not handle the situation well and imposing lock-down again because they made the mistake of not restricting foreigners from high risk countries (from South Asia). Thinking a bit deeper, i find that Government is stuck in between a hard place and a rock. Restricting workers from South Asia will ...
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Photography Recently, had a friend do a corporate photoshoot for me. Wasn't expecting too much as the previous photoshoots sessions i had were un-inspiring. But i was pleasantly surprised. He brought along the lighting gear and the prime lenses...also had an assistant to help with the set-up. Very different from the photoshoots i had previously. Not that the previous photographers wasn't professional, it was just a spirit of excellence that Ken (my photographer friend) put into the shoot. He captured the class in session without disrupting the lesson, knew exactly which is the better side to take my profile picture, generally gives people the feeling of a true professional. Now i know why he's so sought after. Below are some ...
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