BUKIT BATOK 4E5N SS Prelims Ans 2019

a) Study Source A. What does the Source tell you about meritocracy in the education system? L1 Literal Interpretation of the source. It tells me that there is meritocracy in the education system. It tells me that the education system provides basic education. 1 L2 Sub Message of Source Award the higher mark for supported answers E.g., Meritocracy favors the rich. The source shows Jim, who is rich because his family can afford many enrichment programmes for him, as well as a maid, is closer to reaching academic success. Therefore, the meritocracy in the education system is biased towards helping the rich perform better than the poor. 2-3 L3 Main Message of Source (inferences explicitly critical of meritocracy) Award the higher mark for supported answers E.g., Meritocracy in Singapore is not operating on a level playing field. E.g., Meritocracy in Singapore is not necessarily giving success to those who are most capable. Both children have IQ of 150. 4-5 b) Study Source B. Why was this study published? L1 Lifting from the source 1 L2 Discusses the context without reference to the message It was published because there is growing discontentment with the public education system and so there is a need to investigate if the public concerns were valid. 2 L3 Message The study was published to confirm that meritocracy is breeding incohesion/disharmony in Singapore. The source states that there is very little mixing between students of different SES and this is because meritocracy causes prejudice towards those who do not perform, as seen in “if one fails, it is because of a lack of… character”, showing that those who do not do well are despised and thought of as people not worth befriending. 3 L4 Message + Context L3 + this is because there was growing suspicion in the society that meritocracy is perpetuating social divide and hence the study was published in response to that, to confirm those views. 4 L5 Message + Outcome Award the higher mark for supported answers. 5-6

The study was done to warn the government that meritocracy is resulting incohesion in the society, so that the government would be alarmed and make necessary changes to the system to prevent further incohesion. The source states that there is very little mixing between students of different SES and this is because meritocracy causes prejudice towards those who do not perform, as seen in “if one fails, it is because of a lack of… character”, showing that those who do not do well are despised and thought of as people not worth befriending. c) Study Sources C and D Does Source D prove Source C wrong? L1 Prove/does not prove based on provenance/lifting from source. Source D can prove source C wrong because it is written by SCMP, which is reliable and can be relied on to correct the views in C. 1 L2 Does not prove based on uncritical acceptance of content/false matching Award the higher mark for supported answers 2 L3 Proves/does not prove based on comparison of content Award the higher mark for supported answers Source D does prove source C wrong because it disagrees with C on whether competition is good for children, thus making source C seem unreliable. Source D challenges source C’s claim that competition is good for the wellbeing of children. Source C states that it is good for children. This can be seen in “competition endows students with a bounty of benefits” or that it prepares them for harsh realities in their future. Instead, source D says that competitive stress results in the worsening of mental health of children. It reported about the suicide case involving a student who had failed a subject for “the first time”. This suggests that competitive pressure in school has made it such that children are unable accept themselves when they have failed, and this is certainly a sign of poor mental wellbeing. Since source D does challenge source C’s claims on the benefits of competition, source D does prove source C wrong. 3-4 L4 L3 + Examination of Source C’s Reliability Lower marks awarded for inaccurate explanation of agenda analysis Source C is wrong because it is unreliable. It is published by Mindchamps which makes a business out of providing early education for children. In order to attract business, it is expected to affirm the critical importance of competition to children so that parents who buy into this rhetoric would send their children to Mindchamps to get a headstart on the competition. Since it has an agenda, it may exaggerate what it says or conceal certain opposing information and thus it cannot be trusted. 5-6

The source discusses the necessity of competition for children by saying that it is “invaluable in preparing them for harsh realities… in their teenage years and beyond”, meaning that the only way children can do well in future is to face competition while they are young. L5 Does not prove due to unreliability of D Lower marks awarded for inaccurate explanation of agenda analysis However, source D is unable to prove source D wrong because it is itself unreliable. Source D has an agenda to convince the Hong Kong public and government that they need to make changes to their current education system. From the source it is clear that it feels that the current system is too competitive and is detrimental to their society, as seen in “the problems inherent in Singapore’s education system will be familiar to Hongkongers.” It wants to play up the dangers of competition so that the government will consider making revisions to the educations system/the public will protest against the current education system. Since it has an agenda, we cannot take it at its word when it comments on the effects of competition on students. Since it is itself unreliable, it cannot be used to prove source C wrong. 6-7 d) Study Source E How useful in Source E in telling you about the success of meritocracy in the Singaporean education system? L1 Useful not useful based on provenance It is written by ST, which is a reliable source and hence it is useful 1 L2 Useful based on evidence from content Award higher marks for supported answers. The source is useful because it tells me that the Singaporean education system is a success when it comes to lifting people out of poverty. The source shows that despite being poor, esther was able to do well and is now able to land a good job, that is the teaching scholarship, and help her family out of their financial problems. 2-3 L3 Not useful based on typicality The source is not useful because it does not tell us about whether any Singaporean can benefit from the education system the same way Esther has. Esther was poor but is able to do well and land a good job, however this tells us nothing about whether all the poor people in Singapore will likewise be able to achieve the same outcomes and therefore the source is not very useful in telling me about the success of the Singaporean education system. 4 L4 Useful/not useful based on cross reference Cross reference to source A: challenges the idea that hard work really pays off. 5 L5 Not useful because of Agenda Award lower marks for inaccurate explanation of agenda analysis 6-7

Since the newspaper article was published on the JPJC website, it is likely that they were only using it to promote the JC in that it can bring good academic outcomes for students so that parents will send their children to JPJC/students would want to go to that JC in search of better academic outcomes. Since it has such an agenda, it may exaggerate the extent to which this rags to riches could apply to anyone and thus it is unreliable and therefore not useful in telling me about the success of the Singaporean education system. e) Study all Sources ‘Singapore education system has provided good education for Sin