I've been made to read the newspapers daily. and i've been conscientious..
yesterday (looking at the time now, 2 days ago would prolly be the more correct term), there was this article, actually 2 articles one in the main section and one in the home section, about this family of wonder kids who have done so many o level subjects aceing every subject, and all of them are "underage" - 12 and 14. and i thought ok these are damn smart people and they really got it in the genes man.. until i read more and felt damn cheated. dunno whether to feel i wish i made a cleverer choice and figured out all my alternatives, or to feel happy that i'm proving myself as a better student.. either way i believe most people will compare themselves with these so called wonder kids if you read the article..
so anyway. the o levels and a levels that they take are not the ones administered by SEAB-Cambridge (the ones that a large bunch of us sit for and slog our brains out for) but by British Council and London Edexcel (that I think usually the international students take..). and if i didnt get my facts wrong, SEAB-Cambridge version is more challenging?.. While the International exams administered at British Council and London Edexcel are less difficult compared to the ones set by SEAB. SEAB-Cambridge means SEAB sets papers while Cambridge marks. I dont know to what extent the 2 papers differ in difficulty though, cos I havent sat down to compare or gone to find out the nitty details about the level of difficulty. but even their parents say that most singapore students should be able to take the other exam and pass with soaring colours. may be taken as humble comment but i think it is quite true too.. so i'm sorta wondering why so many people are being put through the damn difficult SEAB test, and so many people struggle so much to get into JC and with all the through trains its even more difficult for non-train-takers to get into the top jcs, when these struggling people could have a better life taking international exams and going somewhere else for an education, maybe starting university earlier, getting out to work earlier, retiring earlier.. well i guess maybe some people don't have much choice.. especially when going overseas costs a bomb cos of all the travelling and living expenses. so stress your mind out to keep education costs low. the only consolation that i can find is that an A in Singapore 'A' Levels gives you more credits when you go to college/uni than an A in International 'A' Levels. Thats true for maths..8 credits compared to 4 i think. but the other subjects, I think the credits given are the same, most don't make a distinction between Singapore exams and International exams also.
so which is better..I have no idea. when u you have SEAB setting, maybe your students know the scope of testing better and know the marking schemes better and you are perhaps expected to do better. but Cambridge international papers are done by people all over the world so shouldnt they be more flexible in marking? (the way the A levels curriculum is structured, you can ace most subjects by purely memorising key words.., and sometimes it is super frustrating when different key words come up for the same question and at the end of the day, you aren't awarded the marks cos you don't have the key term -.-) and if Singapore sets difficult questions, does Cambridge mark more stringently too?.. maybe one day i will infiltrate the exam boards and figure all these out. I cant figure out rationally who is at the losing end, but I have a feeling students put through the singapore exams are those at the losing end.
and the article comes at a horrible time. at a time like this, with a levels and o levels just a week away, such a reminder that there are alternative easier paths can really make some feel so cheated. and you think of having to compete against these other people with straight As in intl exams that are set more easily.. at a university the disparity in the grades can really make an impression..
oh wells. press on. i'm not worried that i'm not going to make it to university or that i won't be able to do well for a levels.. these a level period is going to pass very quickly and before I know it even prom will be over. so yea keep working hard.. i just happen to be someone who likes to keep looking back to see if I had made the right choices (if i made a choice in the first place) even though I cant change what's done.. lol
