Md. Fakrul Islam Chowdhury writes for DOT :
Singapore is going to abolish exams for primary years 1 and 2 students, starting in 2019, Marks and grades are set to be replaced by Discussions, homework and quizzes are set to as the preferred method of collecting information on the performance of young primary school pupils.
Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Education Minister. The Ministry of Education (MOE) believes,
“Learning is not a competition,” as he is planning a series of changes in the assessment processes currently in place to evaluate the students’ learning. The policy shift is aimed at discouraging comparisons between student performances and towards an encouragement of individuals to concentrate on their own learning development.
Older primary and secondary students will also study in a less competitive environment.
When countries like Singapore are shifting their approach of how to evaluate skill sets, knowledge and performances of the students to match the demand of a rapidly changing environment of the future of work, we are still wasting time, resources and energies on how to contain and punish exam questions being leaked!
The future of work is going to look very different, as automation and Artificial Intelligence make many manual, repetitive jobs obsolete.
By 2030,800 million jobs could be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence according to the McKinsey Global Institutewhile the World Economic Forum suggests a “skills revolution” could open up a raft of new opportunities.
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce giant said, “If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now, we’re going to be in trouble,”
Ma believes, the knowledge-based approach of “200 years ago”, would “fail our kids”, who would never be able to compete with machines. Children should be taught “soft skills” like independent thinking, values and team-work.
MinoucheShafik, Director of the London School of Economics, in a session on Saving Economic Globalization from Itself emphasized the importance of “the soft skills, creative skills, research skills, the ability to find information, synthesize it, make something of it in being relevant for the future job market. She also thinks anything that is routine or repetitive will be automated.
Overhauling our education system, specially the way we assess our students would be crucial in keeping us relevant and competitive in the changing workplace needs in near future.
Recognizing this need for Soft skills for a changing economy, Singapore has shifted the focus away from exam perfection towards creating more rounded individuals.
This shift represents a serious change of direction for Singapore. The new policies aim to foster social development among students. It also aims to raise self-awareness and build decision-making skills among them alongside their academic performance.
Classroom behavior and practice is being brought in line with local workplace needs as Singapore prepares students to work in its growing service sector.
A series of “applied learning” programs are scheduled to be in place by 2023, to bolster personal development and help students acquire real-world skills. The programswill allow school children to dip into expressive topics like drama and sport, as well as more industry-focused areas like computers, robotics and electronics.
The writer is Consulting Editor, Amader Notun Shomoy