Ahmad (index no. 2)'s assignment

First post for English Assignment

Article from ST:

Has gifted scheme benefited society?

Section:	Forum
Publication:	The Straits Times 02/01/2008
Page:	H6
No. of words:	263

I REFER to the letter, "Given head start in life, thanks to GEP education", by Ms Aileen Tan Ai Ker (ST, Dec29), who wrote in response to the letter, "Gifted scheme: Has it achieved its set goals?", by Mr George Lim Heng Chye (ST, Dec24).

Her daughter is fortunate that she was nurtured by the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) to achieve academic and personal success.

It is hardly surprising that GEP graduates achieve significant academic and professional success, given their intellectual ability. I believe Mr Lim was more concerned, as I am, with whether GEP graduates have harnessed their formidable intellectual prowess and ability – enhanced by the GEP – to benefit society.

As the GEP goals include teaching students "to develop a strong social conscience and commitment to serve society and nation" and "to develop moral values and qualities for responsible leadership", the public would be more interested to know if the best educational resources bestowed on graduates have borne fruit for society in general.

Has the GEP instilled in them a desire to give back to society what it has invested in them? If the lavish educational investment has not paid dividends for society as a whole, then the GEP has failed in the most important regard.

Ms Tan has not elaborated on how her daughter has made contributions to the community or society. Perhaps other parents of GEP graduates or the Ministry of Education could give examples of how society has benefited from the GEP.

Maria Loh Mun Foong (Ms)

Blog Entry: Current GEP Students lack Good Attitude and Character Values

The GEP was set up in 1984 to allow more academically able students to pursue a differentiated education, develop to their fullest potential and harness their aptitude to contribute to our nation in the future. For these “gifted” students to fulfil this requirement, academic ability is not the only requirement. Such character traits as perseverance, respect, responsibility and humility are even more important. These traits will determine anyone’s success in his career or life and decide if he/she will be an asset or liability to society. It is also these traits that I do not see in many GEP pupils today.

Let me quote my personal experience as an example. My Secondary 2 class was a GEP class, comprising of students who had all come from the primary GEP. Therefore, one would expect stellar behaviour and positive learning attitudes. However, my classmates would refuse to listen to the teacher every Chinese class, choosing to engage in personal conversation. At times, they even talked back to the teacher. Their lack of respect towards their teachers and peers who want to learn and responsibility for one’s learning is apparent. Similar examples, illustrating the lack of other values, are widespread.

Also, my classmates engaged in vicious discriminatory activities against me, for trivial reasons. I acknowledge that I may have offended my classmates due to some of my actions, but the discrimination had already occurred before those actions without any basis, other than my differences from my classmates. Such actions show a blatant disrespect for others and lack of tolerance for those different from them. It also shows an immaturity that has no place in GEP students. If, at 14, these students are still showing such puerile behaviour, then I would truly doubt their ability to develop a strong sense of such values in the future.

Some may argue that these “adolescents” are still young and should “learn from experience” to form their own conclusions about societal values. Also, such behaviour is said to be “impossible to control” as the students are “not yet grown”. I beg to differ. Through personal experience, the outstanding pupils in our schools have been abiding by societal values since 10, and abide by them fully by the time they are 14. Indeed, the “experimental” schools for gifted pupils in China are filled with highly-focussed, diligent, obedient students in all levels. This allows for efficient absorption of information. I understand that widely different societal conditions between the two nations is the main cause of this difference, but even if it is difficult for “mainstream” pupils to show such characteristics, the government should at least expect the gifted stream pupils, who have received much taxpayer support, to exhibit such qualities.

In conclusion, the ability for a “Gifted” student to contribute to society in the future depends not only on his aptitude, but also his attitude, which is sorely lacking in many gifted stream students today. Only if the education ministry manages to reverse this trend, will the GEP be able to meet its set objectives.

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