Singapore: Parents upset over PSLE book-burning ‘celebration’

October 8, 2013 Leave a comment

Parents upset over PSLE book-burning ‘celebration’

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013 – 12:37

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SINGAPORE – A photo showing parents and their kids celebrating the end of the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) by burning their textbooks has triggered an intense debate online. A reader notified the Shin Min Daily News to the photo circulating on Facebook. According to the reader, the book-burning celebration happened after the exams ended last Wednesday. The photo shows a group of 10 adults and children gathered around a raging fire contained in a metal bin. Torn pages and pieces of paper could be seen strewn around the area.A young boy standing near the bin can also be seen holding a Chinese textbook, looking like he was tearing pages from it.

The photo was shared multiple times on Facebook and debated fiercely on the kiasuparents.com forum, with many condeming the act.

According to Shin Min, a netizen saw the post circulating on Facebook with the caption: “Mothers are all very happy, fathers can finally play golf.”

Expressing dismay at the parents’ attitude, the netizen felt that parents were teaching their kids the wrong values.

A forum contributer on kiasuparents.com said “parents should teach children to take this as a learning experience and not something they should hate”.

Another parent, Madam Xu Dingqian, 40, a housewife, said parents have the wrong concept of education.

“They don’t see the Primary 6 year as a way in which children can grow and expand their knowledge, but only see it as a ritual they must get through. I’m upset by their attitude,” said Madam Xu.

Some others felt that the parents should have donated the books to charity instead of burning them.

Counsellors who were interviewed said the book-burning exercise may have been a form of release for the stressed-out parents.

But instead of destroying the books, they should have donated the books to needy students instead to send a more positive message to their children.

But not all felt it was a bad move, with one saying  the ‘ceremony’ signifies a milestone that the child has crossed and represents their moving forward to a new phase in life.

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