Education in Singapore

I disagree with the issues that the student has raised in the article. Firstly, I want to comment on the point where the student said that education is only about memorizing facts here and there and they are not given a chance to ask questions in the class. I personally disagree with this point because I feel that in Hwa Chong, we are not treated in that attitude. Probably, it is because we are studying in different environments so we have different mindsets. I feel that memorizing isn’t wrong and there are times we need to memorize, like certain theories or stuff. I also disagree with her point that we are not given opportunities to ask questions in class and be inquisitive. In fact, it is absolutely the way round! We are given a lot of opportunities instead. We are always told to have group discussions and voice our own opinions in lessons. We also have a component which is oral communications. This component is to teach us to communicate more in class so that we can be nurtured into a leader. Therefore, I disagree with these two points. 

Secondly, I also want to disagree that PCME lessons are totally useless. In Hwa Chong, we are given PCME periods to learn more about moral values. It is teaches us to be more mature. However, I do agree in primary school, our moral education lessons were often taken away just because we need to catch up with the syllabus. I still remember in primary school, when I was primary 6, our CME and social studies are taken away just to learn more about the core subjects to prepare us better for PSLE. However, that does not mean that these lessons are meaningless. Both good grades and good character are equally important but if you have a good grades and not a good character, you will not call yourself a successful person. It is the same if you have good character and no good grades. What a school is to teach students what makes up a good character. The rest is all up to the student whether he/she is willing to learn and really follow those values.

I feel that the writer’s tone is quite appropriate. She does not use some violent words or do verbal attacks on the minister. Also, I feel that her comments are polite towards the minster. However, I feel that her comments are a bit too exaggerated and too straightforward. This might let the minister to think that he has not done well enough. All in all, she seeks the minister's understanding and thus I feel that this is a well crafted letter.
 If I were to write a letter to the minister of education, I will raise some issues on solutions to improve the education in Singapore and to give the students studying in Singapore a more conducive environment. However, I would say that Singapore is pushing too much and forcing the students to learn. Probably, there could be some solutions to this problem. A successful person does not only have good grades but also other talents. But the thing is that education in Singapore is too academic based especially during the graduating year.