Saturday, March 28, 2009

EST

here are more updates:

>3-5th April HKSBP Zon Timur Drama at our school

>The dining hall is now shocking PINK!

>a 'waterfall' in progress in front of the SAC

> KJ has asked the F5 for some 'sumbangan' to build a 'bumbung' atop the 'verandah' in front of the bilik guru.

>
Cikgu Mad is now P.K. Ko, Cikgu Razuki plak Principal for SMK Dabong.

I have yet to get pictures.


Today's discussion is on EST, the supposedly 'killer' subject, among many others like Physics, Add Maths, etc. etc. However, EST is the least favorite one since people don't actually see the point in learning it, yet the marks are so hard to get.

The thing is, before the SPM results were released, the school admin were already discussing wether to not allow students to take EST or not, and then, during the SPM registration, they decided to give an option wether to take EST or not for SPM.

People were okay with that.

UNTIL

the SPM results were released, showing a steep drop in EST performance.

due to that, the principal decided to BAN students from taking EST for SPM.

henceforth, many were not happy with it, especially those who initially take 10 subjects for SPM, so they are only left with nine subjects.

and probably the principal caught sight of my sour face during the assembly, he went to see me personally to convince me to not take EST as well.

His reasons for not taking EST:


>EST has no market value, it is not a prerequisite for scholarship offers

>the teachers at school who teach EST do not have a science degree, and therefore unqualified to teach EST

>A drop in EST performance will do large damage to both the school performance and the students' performance

> 9A's is just as good as 10 A's with a B in EST, in fact better, and 9A's is just enough to be called to an interview.

> it is too difficult to separate the students who take EST into one class and rearrange the schedules.


My (and a few others) reasons for insisting that I take EST:


>the competition for scholarships has increased at an overwhelming rate, and therefore, it is more difficult to be given the priority to be called for an interview when there are many other straight A students with ten plus subjects

>EST is the art of critical thinking, application of general knowledge and knowledge based on the scientific knowledge in Physics, Chemistry and Biology, which the syllabus itself lacks. (talk about memorising facts!)

>even if the teachers who teach EST does not have any degree in science, we can still apply our own knowledge into our essays, and we already have other science teachers as reference. It is the application that is important in EST.

>there is no need to separate the students, the PnP process can proceed without a change in schedule because the EST can proceed with their lesson at the allocated time, whereas the students who do not take EST can use the time for other subjects. Even if the school admin want to abolish the EST period in the schedule, it shouldn't be a problem because EST is a subject that only focusses on application of facts and not learning the facts. Exercises can be given outside PnP hours.

>he already gave a choice intially wether to take EST or not, so the students are not forced to take EST and they can take EST in their own free will. Besides, a student that performs well in EST should be allowed to take EST, so there shouldn't be any problems imposed on the school's EST performance.

so, readers, do share your views on this issue.

SHOULD EST BE ABOLISHED?


6 comments:

Nana said...

I hope the school doesn't have an ISA ,I'd be caught on if there were one!

Abdi Syukur said...

you're already in big trouble missy coz when you deal with my papa, you're dealing wt me as well.... haha. we should change the title of our school from 'sains tulen' to just science, so that the SPM candidates can take different new subjects for SPM. already done I guess.)the art subject is quite irrelevance if u ask me.....no offence.

Anonymous said...

yeah, nana. you better wish for that.
anyway, if i were the PM or MOE...my answer is definitely YES!!!
because the is no point for EST if the syllabus itself can be implied in physics,chemistry, ect. ect. but, i'm a student so, the answer is no...

however,
we should be REALLY taught with the REAL skills...not just memorizing facts and entering makmal bestari without any point for education.

thanks

Atiey MN said...

kak ainin sokom qamilah!~
specially psal interviu tue...sgt3...
adoii...g2 pulak jd skol~

Rotary.Club said...

Salam.

Sebenarnya saya tak tau EST is stand for what...sorry.
Tapi after 10 years leaving Faris Petra and now working with multinasional company,sebenarnye critical thinking adalah sangat penting untuk kamu semua menempatkan diri dan bersaing dalam alam pekerjaan kelak.(skema gile ayat..hahaha ).Sebab top management biasenye menilai seseorng staff berdasarkan care pemikiran dan how they are going to solve a task or problem given secara saintifik atau logically.So I agreed with NANA about the issue discussed.

A. said...

EST is no use...even in scholarships...org dpt B est ngn A sama je..xde org tgk, trust me..and sory la...don't think you need EST bila keje nnt gk..i mean, it's not like they would care how u can categorize stuff accordingly ikut 'format' and tulis essay nicely bla3... they don't care about EST, it's just there for the sake of adding up subjetcs...mcm budak2 yg sengaja amik sains kat skolah2 biasa..just to add their As..if u ask me, skolah patut tukar EST jd akauns..cause EST is a total and complete waste..at least akauns tu is a subject you can major in, but EST? for what? sorylaa..i just feel really3 strongly that EST should just go die ;p