2. Local news article

Exams, rankings, stress - isn't there more to school?

Why must life be a competition? I ONCE met a trumpet player from the United States and asked him which competitions his school band had taken part in. Stunned, he replied: 'Not everything in life is a competition.' It was inconceivable to me that students would participate in school bands and other CCAs out of pure interest, and not for points. It is a tragedy that many Singaporeans believe exams, rankings and stress are necessary evils on the long and winding road to success. The mantra that 'Your studies should be first priority' is never far from our parents' lips. 'Don't waste too much time on other activities' and 'This is a very important academic year' are close seconds. No wonder many students have a passion only for studying. Some try to get out of it, by looking overseas for their higher education. This is a brain drain Singapore can ill afford. Christine Chong, 22, is an honours student in literature at the National University of Singapore So ironic, our parents THE one thing I remember most vividly about my childhood was always having to go for tuition. Academic excellence was the No.1 priority in my life, with enforced tuition underpinning that drive. That is the norm for my peers, not the exception. The cause? Living, breathing ironies we know as parents. On one hand, they complain to the Government about the pressures of our education system. On the other hand, they pack their children's after-school timetable with tuition and extra classes, hence perpetuating the very system they are speaking out against. Parents need to make up their minds as to what they truly want for their children, and the values their children should hold dear in life. Justin Koh, 17, is a first-year communications and media management student at Temasek Polytechnic That F word TO MY peers, let me ask all of you - have you forgotten this thing called Fun? Everyone is guilty of wallowing in self-pity over his or her share of accursed assignments, myself included. But everyone has to do the same literature essay or calculus worksheet, and everyone wants to achieve the same academic excellence expected of us. Doesn't being around each other make the torture less excruciating? There's Fun, too, outside the classroom - the fellowship we enjoy playing cards during breaks or indulging in CCAs together. We need to realise that Fun can coexist with the inevitability of exams, rankings and stress - just look to each other for mutual support. As a song in Disney's High School Musical goes: 'We're All In This Together...' Nurul Asyikin Mohd Nasir, 18, is a second-year International Baccalaureate diploma programme student at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) Parents can make a difference PARENTS have more influence on their children than they imagine. While there is only so much they can do to change the education system their children are immersed in, they can still control the extent to which this system affects their children. It is the duty of parents, not the school, to emphasise other qualities such as independence and open-mindedness on top of academic excellence. In junior college, some teachers opposed my unconventional choice of a music education, but my parents' support gave me the determination to follow through with it. They helped me break out of the parameters of academic grades and see the worthiness of studying what I truly love. That is why my drive to learn will remain long after the triumph of perfect grades has faded away. Melissa Khong, 21, is a final-year music student at the Manhattan School of Music School is only a prelude NOW in my second year of national service, I look back on school as a particularly stressful time. But it was myopic of me to complain about 'stress' back then, for there is more lying in wait in the real world. Every exam question has a clear-cut answer, and every school competition will eventually wrap up. But there are no clear-cut answers for many real-world problems. There is the stress of choosing the right university course and career path, where decisions could have life-altering consequences. There is the stress of worrying about spiralling costs at a time when I cannot expect to continue living off my ageing parents. So peers, if you think school was bad, get real. As for parents, please stop molly-coddling us. If we can't learn to deal with stress now, how can we deal with life out there? Eef Gerard Van Emmerik, 19, has a place to read law at the Singapore Management University This article was first published in The Straits Times on August 25, 2008. Link: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080825-84189.html