Have you ever wondered what it is like to ride at the back of an ambulance? If you do and you have not, don't fret, it is not worth wondering. I took a ride in an ambulance down to Changi to accompany a student. His face and a fast softball collided. Not a pretty result. Blood, blood, blood everywhere. All from 2 cuts around the eye. But still, blood dripped everywhere. Yeah, so that's how I ended up at the back of an ambulance. Nothing like the shows you watch like ER, Third Watch or whatever Hollywood feeds into our gullible minds. It was all very sedated, the paramedics were kind and calm. I was all in a flurry, because the girls are in a room at one end of the school and the office is at the other end. I had to run and lock up the room, get my stuff and of course shout last minute instructions at my kids and ask a favour from a colleague, why would I not be in a flurry?
So, I spent 4 hours in a hospital with a set of parents who cannot speak English at all. Lucky another colleague came. We started talking about holidays and other nonsense. So I told him of what went on in a course I attended yesterday. The trainer, a British who had taught in Singapore and Western Australia told this story:
A Singaporean went to Western Australia to teach Bahasa Indonesia. So holidays came and he was dissatisfied with the performance of one of his classes. So he went to the Principal and said "I have a very weak class of students. I will tutor them for 1 and 1/2 hours everyday during the hols."
The Principal replied "It is the holidays - the students are having fun on their holidays, they are out surfing. You should go and enjoy your holidays."
Isn't that a great story? We all wished that our Ministry and Principal would say such things. Ban remedials, extra lessons, let the kids take back their childhood and let teachers have a well deserved rest. We came to a conclusion that there is paranoia about grades and doing well and getting As for exams. A student who has all As for his exams may not be the nicest person or someone I want to lead the country. A very weak student on the other hand has much more EQ and understanding, empathy and a heart and that person is someone who I would proudly proclaim as my student. So, the process of developing a person should go beyond grades. But I digress, the issue of social emotional learning is something to be discussed on its own. My point is, why are teachers still working hard during hols? Why are teachers tortured and punished into going back to school to give kids remedials? My take is, if students don't have the courtesy to pay attention in normal curriculum time and don't hand in work, why should I give up my holidays to re-teach them again? It does not make sense. At least if I have kids who are just slow learners, I wouldn't mind. It all boils down to grades and ranking. To quote Shakespeare "Something is wrong in the state of Denmark" well, in this case, Singapore.
I can't do anything about the situation I am in, it is too huge. It would mean changing the whole system amd mindset of the whole nation. Since it can't be done, maybe I should consider just migrating for the slower path. The path that allows me to stop and smell the roses, the path that tells me to relax in the countryside, and there is actual countryside! Sigh, wouldn't that be a dream come true?
By the way, the student who got hit by the softball, he is fine. He required a few stitches on the 2 cuts around his eye, but he will live to tell his tale. He might have a scar, but scars add character and some chicks dig scars. Hehe hhee. It is a rite of passage. You are not a true softballer unless you have sustained an injury. hahah.
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