Don’t Worry Be Happy…

As we stagger across the finishing line at the end of October we can all breathe a sigh of relief as the girls’ end-of-year exams are finally over and done with. Exam season is a Big Deal in Singapore; and for a couple of weeks it feels like the playgrounds fall quiet and only the faint rustling of past papers and sizzling brains can be heard as students across the country knuckle down. Ok, I exaggerate somewhat but when I took the kids ice skating the other week the rink was totally empty. On a No-School Day.

The girls are P1 and P3 this year which means that it’s not a “streaming” year; they will continue in their same classes next year regardless of this year’s exam performance.

“So, that means grades this year don’t really matter, right?” I wondered aloud outside the school gates, thinking this could be the last year my two can really relax and not worry too much about their results.

The raised eyebrows and alarmed responses (“Er…no I tell my kids: Every. Test. Matters.”) brought me sharply back down to earth. As I’ve said before, acing exams seems to be a national pastime and teachers, parents and tutors are geared up to make sure the kids deliver the goods. It’s a well-oiled machine.

So it’s against this backdrop that the MOE (Ministry of Education) recently announced new measures (starting next year) to help Singapore move away from its current over-emphasis on academic results, for example by reducing the number of school-based assessments and changing the format of report cards to focus on individual development rather than comparison between peers.

To me, these changes can’t come fast enough, and yet I’ve had plenty of conversations with parents who feel it’s a step in the wrong direction and that Singapore’s high educational standards (and therefore global competitiveness) will suffer. No wonder these kids are stressed when they’ve got the weight of their future economic prosperity on their shoulders.

At this age, they shouldn’t have to worry about these things. They need space and time to find out what makes them happy too. Hence the inspiration for this month’s (rather rushed!) but cheerful music video: Don’t Worry Be Happy. The Chu girls are looking forward to the school holidays!