Shamsul Bin: Different culture between these two countries. Over here in Singapore it’s competitive whereas in Finland it’s a relaxed lifestyle

Kok Keong: For parents and educators out there... have a look (at the Finnish example)! Interesting approach but need to examine if it works for us. The key is always abt balance. One of the big things to eradicate in our system is culture of “fear”

Sean: As (a Finnish ministry official) puts it: “The administration is for support and not for inspection … Trust is part of Finnish society, it is a culture.” We’ve a long way to go for this to happen

Germaine Peter: Singapore could honestly learn a two or thing from them (Finland). The role of an educator is very important. If a teacher loves his job, the children know it and they will want to come to school.

Ah Pek Lee: We are trained to think ‘in the (education system) box’, what is outside the box we are lost. Try comparing with the system in Finland and you will see the vast difference. How to have our own Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc

Peter Heng: Our system is also one which emphasises content over analysis, collaboration, delivery (speaking and writing well) and soft skills (empathy). This approach is not optimal in a wired world, where content can become obsolete very quickly

T.D. Rajoo: ‘There are no national examinations in the first nine years of Finnish formal schooling, and schools and teachers are pretty much left on their own to educate their charges’ ...Trust teachers and education system - results will follow</Messages>

Chris Lee: For kids to learn to help one another we need only to create the right kind of environment to bring out the best of the young and innocent minds... In the process, they can also acquire precious values and resilience

Eileen Tan: So true in the statement…”schools are not just places of study, but also for children to learn how to live and work with others in society.” When you are not just teaching for the national tests, you are teaching the kids for life

Edween Tan: I do agree on the point that teacher nowadays are focusing too much on teaching for exam, but this is not their fault entirely as we are being brought up in a fast pace, result-driven and result-orientated society

Aileen Low: Singapore can’t afford to lose out in competition when the whole Asian education is based on meritocracy. Only thing that needs a mega change is the syllabus which has been said and voiced out a thousand times

Winston Tan: Our education system missed the point of education, and that is educating. The system here is more about differentiating the good from the average from the poor. We are lost....truly lost

@AliaH1sMa1L: As educators, I feel as thou school is all about the high scores. What happen to the value in active learning

Granville D’Souza: Look how many people in this country only want to offer “right answers” and where it’s not present, they keep quiet and have less of an opinion in a grp. Problem solvers explore and reach effective solutions, that means plurality thinking

@sablecoatedlove: I look at what my 10 year old bro is learning and honestly he isn’t enjoying the learning process, so what’s the point

Allen Hoi: Some adjustment is required to make our children less stress (through) some creative thinking lessons. (Teach kids to be) street smart and confident in expression as well as good moral values

Zee Chia: Education system should focus more on equipping the people with the REAL challenges that they will be facing as soon as they step into the real harsh world, ie financial planning and living a balanced life

@_haaziq: Nowadays school is where people compete. And not where learning is done. knowledge should not be tested in one exam

David Lundquist: I am not a big fan of standardised tests. I believe that they have created a generation of test-takers rather than a generation of problem solvers and creative thinkers. The big questions in life are ones that you must answer for yourself

Dinesh Subramaniam: My family and I just returned from Finland after living there for nearly 5 years. My son, now in Primary 1, studied in a daycare for 4 years, and he had a ball of a time

Dinesh Subramaniam: In Finland, we didn’t have to worry about kids who were going to elitist pre-schools. Everyone was equal. Work life balance allowed us working parents to come home in good time to spend with our children

Jaslyn Jazp: No. Kids should not take their first major exam only at 18. …. The higher level u go, the more impt is the exams in effecting our life. By starting young, it actually gives the kids more experience in preparing for exams

@A_csr: We need to abolish written exams such as psle and such,it is not reliable summing up a child’s learning in the exam

Jake Goh Maoda: We can only do away with exams if we have alternative methods of assessment, which might be subjective and will take up much time to execute. Also we need really good teachers who are not bogged down with other kinds of work

Lee Kee Seng: …our education worked well for only some people but not for most people. That is so clear to me now and if nothing is changed, it will continue to fail the society at large

Cai Ximin: It’s important that ALL teachers are open minded to new teaching methodologies to cater to different kinds of students. Parents will need to trust teachers to be able to teach and impart the necessary knowledge

Kah Kiat Tan: Without streaming, we can’t tell who is better than who, as humans always love comparing with each other. Those who are weaker in their studies can fit into those streams which are slightly easier to understand for them

Peter S Chan: We need a systemic way of looking at education system - MOE, principals/teachers, and parents. Children take their cues from parents, schools, MOE. From ranking to performance-oriented, all these are part of the system

Edween Tan: I’m a private tutor and every time I ask my students … why study? The only thing that comes into their mind is: Exam. (A few months) after they complete their exam… they would have cleanly forgotten (what they have learnt) (cont)

Edween Tan: The streaming process at our secondary level at age 14 is good. But would it be better to let students know what and why they are studying and allow them to choose what they like? That would be useful to them in their future career

@angelaoon: The Finnish system emphasises the role of the *teacher* in early education. It’s a paradigm shift: focus on teaching, not exams

Bernie Binker: Show young children what subjects various professionals need to train and be good at…so they have an understanding from an early age that it is a journey, a long process … and not a matter of endless exams<

@karuna9468: The education system should rebalance competence with character, and not grades and scholarship, as it has become now

Ema YF: Exams are not the main culprits. It’s the whole education load that needs to be re-looked. Stressed teachers with incredible amt of KPIs will get burnt out ... Excessive homework is not favourable either

Lai Ah-Eng: Some things will take time to die out. I hope (removing ranking of top PSLE, O and N level students) is prelude to the passing of PSLE. We should have compulsory education up to Sec 4

@M1SFITS: I think Singapore can live without PSLE. Having a major exam at such a young age, what will that achieve?

Giam Kim Toh: When there’s numerous tests/exams to take, how much time was allocated to preparing students for them? How much time was left for real learning

Melissa Shao: I taught maths and psychology when I was in Perth. i think exams are necessary, but it is the delivery of the class by the teachers which will either drive the students to become spoonfed OR problem solvers

@KuroiNoKenshin: Streaming of Students in Secondary level is depressing to studentsespecially to a ‘lousier’ stream. This will hurt their pride

swissnex Singapore: Similar to Switzerland, building bridges between institutions of higher learning enables prospective students in Singapore to choose from a larger pool of options. Is apprenticeship yet an additional way to go?

Sreeja Mohan: Strongly agree students should take first major exam at 18. It’s a very challenging job as a mother or father to prepare young kids for PSLE …(exams at 18) removes much pressure from parents making life with children more fun, relaxed

Kah Kiat Tan: Streaming should start only at Sec 2, where most of the students are mature enough to understand the importance of education

@ayu_mie: (Without exams) how will parents know that the child is actually absorbing what the teachers have taught from young

James Poh: Education system should continue to help teenagers to achieve his/her aspirations. It is timely to review the assessment or examinations format to grade and identify the talent pool not based on academic achievement alone

@SiakHM: Taking away PSLE can help reduce stress. PSLE is good in a way, instead of exact scores a less specific score system might help

Magdalene Tan: We should allow our children to go through exams at earlier junctures of their life. I cannot imagine the culmination of such pressure at the age of 18 where one faces life as a young adult

Mohamad Faizal: Abolishing the PSLE is akin to removing the fundamental guiding principle of our society - our treasured system of meritocracy

Prem Singh: The filtering process ought be done based on PSLE results, for more meaningful development for every child. No child ought to be floundering around… in the secondary school stage

@beanoalonso: Einstein said if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid

Chris Lee: Teachers should be better qualified to be accord the right level of trust in them. Singapore teachers have a long way to go

Daniel Yap: I do suspect, however, that even if teachers in Singapore had Masters’ degrees, they would still be held on a tight leash

@nicholasderoose: has the current system been successful in producing students with critical thinking skills?

Thumper Koh: Part of the problem is we are selecting teachers at too tender an age. At 18 years, they enroll into NIE, many on study awards scheme… The “develop your own specialty” in your school programme has led to serious overworking of teachers

Theresa Goh: I am sure Finland’s system has its disadvantages. But we should make bold decisions to ensure that our teachers are not only highly trained, but also continue to be passionate about what they do

@A_csr: I agree with Daniel Yap,there not be better a change of teachers,teachers who have been with students for long knows them well

Patrick Sio: Testing system must accommodate technology advances…exams must move away from closed book tests to tests of searching for information…Our exams must be designed to test the relative ability of 2 participants (with) varying (literary skills)

Boon Keat Tan: If the Education system keeps changing frequently, the students will suffer. Any changes to be implemented should be well thought, well calibrated, and well prepared

Sean Ho: Every moment spent on discussion also means that an entire generation of learners may suffer irreversible learning habits due to poorly-managed or maintained education policies. There needs to be a sense of urgency

Steven Goh: I think our current system has worked well for many of us. Therefore, the (Education) Minister is right in saying that we cannot rush and judging from the things that the Ministry has done so far, there is a sense of urgency

Allan Tan: Measure aptitude instead of power of memory when designing exams

@Sufiaaaaaa: Spore schools should maybe allow the better students to help the lower ability students

Kenny Chong: The grades-equal-success perception has been made real by educational pathways, further reinforced (in) public sector. Your grades almost guarantee your future if you are a 1st-class scholar

@AliaH1sMa1L: As an educator, I realize that my students are lacking in creative thinking skills

@Azakera: Singapore is turning to a society of Acedamic Excellence. You’re judged based on a Certificate, and not your attributes

@HarizLeFevre: Can we have more dedicated teachers? This trend is on a downward spiral</Item>

@mezzopianissimo: It’s not streaming that kills, it’s obsession over it that does

Caryl Loh: Our education system has put too much emphasis on how well a child succeeds in exams that it has off-set the true meaning of learning and education. Schools are inevitably geared towards getting the kids to score in exams

Caryl Loh: I also do not see the real value in having to stream the kids at such young age. It affects their self esteem and the attitude of the teachers teaching lower ability children

Siti Raudhah Mazlan: Students have failed to realise the true essence of education. They have been brought up thinking they have to get good grades to compete in society. They learn to discriminate against the weaker students from a young age

@iktuei: The Finnish model is super. Social skills dev. is vital. Sg is so cut throat! Kenya plans one exam before uni

Jack Lam: In no other developed economy, there are national exams at the age of 12. Singapore system produces rote learners but not creative thinkers and leaders

Samson Chow: A good teacher who teaches for exam will also be able to infuse values, morals and the joy and purpose of learning

Rejitha Kavidasan: The play areas are empty. Where are the kids?............@tuition centres. This has got to change. The essence of childhood is lost in this rat race

@TODAYOnline: Do teachers focus too much on teaching for exams? What should they be given time to focus on?

@beckalim: teachers focus on exams only b’cos the syst focuses on exam; scrap the PSLE and our kids can get a real education

@TODAYOnline: What should the education system teach students, beyond getting good grades?

@jumalis: DIVERGENT THINKING

Vivian Clavel: I learned the most in the library rather than from disinterested or unqualified teachers who have their own agenda rather than impart knowledge

Jeff Yeo: The real problem here is lack of dedicated teachers. Many are just bogged down with non teaching work

Sheikh Abu Bakar: If you cannot teach what you have learned, then you have not learned

Marx Yu: One of our education traits is (being) trained to clear exams, and not to think and confront problems

John Lee: Passing an exam, but cannot function productively in society, is not what Singapore needs

@TODAYOnline: What kind of person should our education system aim to produce?

@yongyyz: Morally upright person w values. My Principal told us “Even if u get all As but have a rotten attitude, the sch has failed u”

@TangPengYan: all i know is our education system is very tough for our primary students and parents

@TODAYOnline: What should the education system teach students, beyond getting good grades?

@CharanNale: poetry, financial skills and mannerism

@electrictapirs: Excessive focus on grades at expense of learning and dvlpmt of well-rounded indiv

@ashley: Test-takers are not necessarily the type of authentic and contextualised problem solvers that we need today and tomorrow

@cynthiachew2011: it’s not to a S’pore child’s advantage to have exams only at 18! S’pore’s one of the best places for pre-Uni studies!

@killingqueens33: the finnish teachers each have masters degree. singapore? vast difference

@SMILFME: Why change what is already working? Reduce the frequency of exams might help actually

@HarizLeFevre: All we need is dedicated teachers who is interested in the success of EVERY student. Sadly that’s not the case these days

@A_csr: A primary school student’s learning should not be summed up in one exam (PSLE)

@SabrinaWally14: does streaming helps the lower-ability students?