SINGAPORE: Some of the 5,000 sets of parents in Singapore must have heaved a communal sigh of relief after receiving their kids’ results from the the gifted education programme (GEP) selection test this week.
Many may have felt disappointed as only a small percentage of students make it through.
The pain may be more palpable if they had spent significant time and money preparing their child for the big tests.
As a story on Channel NewsAsia shows, more parents today are willing to fork out thousands of dollars for specialised tuition to ensure their children stand a better chance of entering the GEP.
The GEP was originally designed to stretch those students with demonstrated higher abilities, and cater to their different learning needs. But has it become another rat race?
Is it possible to groom a child to be gifted? What are the effects on a child who has been groomed to enter the GEP?
GIFTEDNESS
Giftedness is an often-misunderstood domain.
While there are highly desirable qualities associated with giftedness, such as early language development, high energy levels, an ability to grasp concepts quickly, and an unusual memory capacity, there are other personality quirks that may come with the gifted package, such as over-excitabilities or super-sensitivities, and asynchronous development.
In his book Serving the Gifted, Steven Pfeiffer asserts that giftedness is merely a social construct, invented as a useful way to categorise and understand a special group of children.
In Singapore, it is also a construct that helps to inform education policy. While the Ministry of Education (MOE)’s website recognises that there are other forms of giftedness, it states that GEP caters to the intellectually gifted.
Its pedagogy emphasises creativity, and the development of higher order thinking and problem-solving skills.
The GEP aims to stretch intellectually gifted students further, tailoring programmes to their abilities and interests.
Another hallmark of the GEP is its special programmes that complement the enriched curriculum, usually offered in specific domains such as science or innovation, and involving a mentorship component.
Since 2008, nine primary schools that offer GEP have introduced initiatives to promote greater interaction between GEP and non-GEP pupils.
Some of these schools have integrated form classes comprising GEP and non-GEP students, while other schools have separate form classes but combined classes for subjects such as Art, Chinese language, music, and physical education.
These initiatives enable gifted and mainstream students to have more opportunities for interaction, thereby reducing the divide between the two groups and promoting greater assimilation.
Because of its exclusivity, varied enrichment-style programmes, and smaller classroom size, the GEP holds a definite allure for parents, who may be motivated to send their child off to expensive tuition courses targeted to get them into the GEP.
MANUFACTURING A GIFTED CHILD
Gifted programme tutor Adrian Kuek, Dean of Joyous Learning, has been preparing pupils for the GEP assessments for the past seven years.
He was quoted in the aforementioned article saying that he is unable to tell whether a student will eventually get in or not.
However, the numbers on his website sound pretty convincing; Kuek has helped over 300 students gain admission into GEP. This works out to an average of 42 gifted students a year.
Tutor Adrian Kuek used to offer the preparation classes only during holidays, but these have been extended to a full-year course owing to demand.
Considering that there are only around 500 to 550 students in the programme each year, that’s a significant 7 to 8 per cent contribution to the gifted ranks from one centre alone.
While we will never know how many would have gotten into GEP without preparatory classes, this statistic begs the question:
What is giftedness if it can be manufactured by way of intensive training?
Does this also mean that the programme is now becoming less relevant in serving the needs of the “truly gifted”?
GEP TO CHALLENGE CHILDREN NOT DRILL THEM
There is an ill-conceived notion that GEP is synonymous with good grades. The reality is likely far more complex and fragmented.
Pamela Tan, a mother of three, shared with me: “I have heard criticism that the GEP curriculum is so broad-based that they don’t spend enough time drilling the kids to be exam smart, resulting in GEP kids getting average PSLE results.”
Although aware of this, Tan still enrolled her eldest child to the GEP this year. She is prepared to take good PSLE results as a bonus, not an entitlement, and doesn’t see the GEP programme as a guarantee of good PSLE results.
“Even if he doesn’t do extremely well, we have no regrets letting him join the GEP as we feel it is a good experience for him. It challenges and engages him.”
What does it mean to raise a gifted child? (Photo: Edric Sng)
We have to re-think the straight line that has been drawn between being gifted and top scores. It doesn’t always work that way.
A letter written by a mother of three shared on a portal for parents states that:
Intelligence is difficult to measure, and achievement in school doesn’t always determine intelligence.
Author of Educating Your Gifted Child, Celi Trepanier puts it aptly:
Being gifted is who they are, not how well they do in school.
GEP NOT A TICKET TO SUCCESS
Parents sending their child to GEP preparatory classes thinking it is the surest route to success could be barking up the wrong tree.
Sure, the child may eventually join the gifted ranks after an intensive period of study, but it may be an even more arduous process to keep his position intact.
Intensive tuition will likely be on the cards. Sometimes, this may not even yield visible results.
Because of the time taken up by tuition, the child ends up with very little time for rest, let alone space to pursue his interests or daydream, activities regarded as essential ingredients of childhood that go into raising a happy, creative child who is passionate about learning.
Time to participate in a wide variety of activities can help children grow up well-adjusted and able to reach their full potential. (Photo: Smart Parents)
In other words, the success that comes with drilling may be short-lived at best, and damaging at worst.
The unrealistic expectations of family members, coupled with the fact that the child is being put on a treadmill constantly set at a faster pace or a steeper slope than what he is actually suited for, can be overwhelming and disempowering.
Even for the gifted kids who have not received any preparatory classes, the struggle is real. A friend’s son shared that while he enjoys the interesting projects and finds them engaging, there are times when the stress and workload can cause him to feel a sense of frustration.
DON’T NEED GEP TO SUCCEED IN LIFE
As a society, we need to decide what sort of generation we want to raise. A narrow focus on becoming that elusive 1 per cent can be hindrance to a child’s learning and development.
Refocusing on the bigger picture may help to pave the way to a more balanced mindset towards education.
Adopting a more balanced mindset towards education and embracing multiple learning styles may be a better approach. (Photo: KidZania Singapore)
Challenges are good for children to develop resilience but what is truly needed are real world challenges that children will encounter in day-to-day life.
As Shimi Kang writes in her book The Dolphin Way: “Being off balance, pushed into things, or having things done for us actually deprives us of the joy of overcoming a challenge.”
In the pursuit for GEP or other similarly “fast-track” routes, don’t miss out on nurturing your child’s fundamental needs – a loving relationship with their parents, sufficient rest, and time for play and exploration.
With a firm grounding in these basics, your child will be able to develop in the areas of creativity, communication, critical thinking and collaboration, or what is commonly known as the 4Cs of 21st century competencies.
As our children enter tertiary education and the working world, these competencies will enable them to engage and collaborate with people from all walks of life and in all likelihood, succeed in their chosen fields.
There are many roads to success and GEP is just one of them. It is more important to find the right route that is suited to your child’s learning style, than to squeeze them onto what looks like a speedy route to success.
June Yong is a mother of three, an educational therapist and owner of Mama Wear Papa Shirt, a blog that discusses parenting and education in Singapore.
