JC LIFE.

>>> h1 student: Teacher, why is it that ?
trollteacher: This is in H2 syllabus. You dont need to know.
h1 student: But teacher, i want to gain more knowledge.
trollteacher: You cant even do well in simple h1 syllabus. Wake up your idea and stop asking so many irrelevant questions.
h1 student drops out. <<<
That's a very accurate picture of what happens in every JC. Which is why a supportive tutor who is willing to encourage the student to truly understand and appreciate the science for what it really is (regardless of silly syllabus limitations) can be tremendously helpful to the student's enjoyment.

Of course, not everyone has the time or money or opportunity for tuition. But how it goes on in schools, both secondary schools and JCs, doesn't look like it's going to ever be changing for several reasons :

1) MOE teachers are severely overworked (but again, 'tong ren bu tong ming', just like in the SAF, for instance, some pple slack, some pple kena crap-work all the way. So *many*, not all, MOE teachers are severely overworked. Others just backstab to take credit, for instance). So they won't have the time or energy to give every student full support, like a private tutor can.

2) The syllabus, curriculum and system, is superficially results oriented, rather than true results oriented. True results, includes the student truly understanding and enjoying the process, so that he/she may have the motivation to contribute to humanity with his/her own unique insights, research and exploration. But being superficially results oriented, the JC teachers feel their priority is just to get students to blindly memorize to get marks. A good tutor, has the time and opportunity to help students to understand and enjoy at the same time as also memorizing to get full marks.

3) There are many teachers out there (both Sec sch and JCs), who do not themselves have a healthy mindset or attitude towards teaching and the students' learning. Every teacher, like every human being on this planet, is unique. I've met many colleague teachers whom I disagree on their teaching (content, method, style, etc). And students from other classes have said they wished I was their teacher instead. (this isn't so much about ego or advertising, it's to make a point - there are all kinds of teachers (just as they're all kinds of doctors, psychologists, philosophers, religious pple, etc), it's errorneous to overgeneralize to say most MOE teachers are horrible, or most MOE teachers are wonderful. They are individuals, with all individual kinds possible.)




>>> i think it is quite weird to focus so much on molecular biology, instead of the general biology (as in the former A level biology syllabus)
how many people are going to end up in bio-med science, bio-engineering?
for the medicine people, NUS would be asking them to relearn the stuff they learnt in secondary, whereas the stuff learnt in jc(molecular biology) is comparatively useless. <<<

By that reasoning, the syllabus doesn't really matter, whether old 'A' level or new 'H2', because arguably, University (and internship, or industrial attachment, or on-the-job training) is where the true learning (eg. for medicine, engineering, etc) begins.

Secondary school is only to prepare you for JC. Nobody uses secondary school learning to do their job.

JC is only to prepare you for University. Nobody uses JC learning to do their job.

But the new H2 Biology syllabus is at least more interesting than the old 'A' level Biology syllabus. What's unfair about the new H2 syllabus, is that it tries (and fails miserably) to syncretise 'A' level syllabus with University syllabus, and the result of it is JCs just photocopy University textbooks and dump them on students as notes to memorize. An insanely ridiculous, and unproductive to understand, unwieldly amount of crap to memorize.

Last year, Cambridge folks came down to the JCs to check out their JC Notes used for the new H2 syllabus. As far as H2 Biology was concerned, their findings was that all the JCs were simply kiasuingly dumping on their students waaay too much details which would never be actually required in the H2 exam. But the JCs will continue their kiasu ways. Because they're kiasu.

Anyway, as far as you (students) are concerned, focus on your own future. Plan for yourself, your career path, and work towards that now. Be in medicine, engineering, psychology, business, proactively seek out more learning, employment and career opportunities now. If you don't start to plan for your own future and take care of yourself, the Universe can't do much to help*.


*It's like this story of the religious man who was drowning in a flood. He had to climb onto his roof, but the rains continued and the water levels were rising rapidly. A rescue boat came by and said, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the boat left. The waters continued to rise. Then a rescue helicopter came by, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the helicopter left. The waters continued to rise and was now up to the man's neck. A UFO came by and the aliens said, "Climb aboard, we'll save you!". But the religious man said, "No need. I'm praying to God. He will save me." So the UFO left. The man drowned shortly thereafter. In the afterlife, he met God, and cried, "God! I prayed devoutly to you! Why didn't you save me? How could you forsake me?!?". To which, God replied, "Well let's see. I first sent you a boat, then a helicopter and then a UFO. Duuuuuuuude."