just a bit of advice

For any would-be educational reformer out there that happens to be reading this, I have a little piece of advice I’d like to share with you: before any more of you start having the ‘brilliant’ idea of setting up an International Class in your school, please – no, I BEG of you – ensure that you have the adequate resources (be it in the form of teachers or teaching materials) necessary to support the full experience of the foreign curriculum you’re so proudly trying to uphold. Because quite frankly, missing out on half of the curriculum that should have been taught and having teachers who are just as baffled by the exam questions as their students are, is not a pleasant experience at all for both sides. Especially when the time comes for that student to go face-to-face with an exam paper that requires what should have been 2 years of practical work in a well-equipped laboratory, with the right materials and explanation of things like experimental planning techniques, hypothesis-making, and analyses of results obtained -.-

So, seriously, either go all out or nothing, because going halfway like this just creates unnecessary confusion and frustration which tends to result in students who just give up the whole charade and end up focusing on the national curriculum like everyone else. So much for your educational reform, eh?

*jfyi: excessive frustration at the upcoming paper 5 biology exam next Tuesday is what prompted me to write this. May God help all those other unfortunate souls that are faced with the same predicament as I am.