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SINGAPORE: A TikTok user who used to be a teacher in Singapore before leaving the city-state and the profession to relocate to New Zealand explained that she felt she could not \u201cperpetuate a system she no longer believes in.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the caption to her post, Esther Peh (@asteroni) expressed concern over the amount of stress students in Singapore are subjected to, saying that in just one year, three of her students approached her before the prelims for Secondary 4 level and told them they had a breakdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the strangest part was how casually they said it. Almost like, \u2018Yeah, I broke down before exams. Haha.\u2019 Like it was normal, and supposed to be funny. And I remember thinking, you are only 16,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
Ms Peh added that if this is normal for 16-year-olds, how much more would they believe as they get older that they just have to give up sleep, self-care, and their mental and emotional health \u201cjust to keep performing the way the system wants you to?\u201d<\/p>\n
She also asked if Singapore has normalised stress too much.<\/p>\n
In her video, Ms Peh said she had once been an MOE teacher, but after feeling that she had lost her sense of purpose, she left her job and began providing tuition. However, no matter how much she loved interacting with her students, she realised she no longer believed in the educational system and had no wish to perpetuate it.<\/p>\n
She believes that education should be empowering, but what she experienced was that it was breaking students down and putting them under a lot of pressure to perform academically.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many of us feel lost\u2026 but at the same time we feel trapped in the system?\u201d she asked. \u201cI felt that the system was letting our younger generation down.\u201d<\/p>\n
It prepares them to get a tertiary education, and later on, a job, and then a life of accumulating wealth, but Ms Peh feels that many have lost their connection to each other and to nature, and even to themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that education should develop the whole child. Things I would like to see in education would include communication skills. How do we teach people to set boundaries, to communicate what they want in a respectful, even compassionate manner?\u201d<\/p>\n
The former teacher asked how children can find their own voices when they\u2019re being drowned out by pressures of what they should do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to have agency,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As for her, she\u2019s in New Zealand to learn permaculture, a subject she is drawn to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wanted to honour this desire, amid the background voices that tell her how impractical it is, or that she can never have a farm in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Since it was posted on July 11, her video has received a lot of views, and many commenters expressed the same opinions as Ms Peh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI agree w you. I was a teacher in a secondary school before for 7 years, and my values didn\u2019t align with the education system. I left,\u201d wrote one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s comforting to hear someone put into words exactly what I\u2019ve been feeling, and I\u2019m sure many Singaporeans feel the same way. Everything you said about the education system struck a chord with me. The fact that you were once an MOE teacher before becoming a tutor makes your perspective even more credible,\u201d another added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently serving my notice with MOE and I feel you. My kids are in the system, and I do my best to allow them to carve their own path. Some ppl give me weird looks for giving my kids the free play time (no screen time) instead of tuition, but I remind myself\u2026 they are only children (6yo and 2yo), and it\u2019s their right to play,\u201d a third wrote. \/TISG<\/p>\n