<p>I went to state-funded school in Singapore up til my freshman year of HS.</p>
<p>How much time did you spend in class over the year? (i.e. did you break for the summer, weekends, etc.)
We had a 1-month summer break (in June), 2 months of vacation in November and December, and a week of vacation in March and September, plus weekends (Saturday & Sunday) and about 10 public holidays. On school days we had class from 8am to about 3pm.</p>
<p>How many classes or courses were offered?
Mostly core classes (English, mother tongue [Chinese/Malay/Tamil], Math, Physics/Chemistry/Biology, History/Geography/Economics, PE) plus German and a Philosophy-ish class.</p>
<p>Did all students take the same curriculum or was there a division such as a vocational track and an advanced track?
Within a school everyone took courses at the same level (but had some choice e.g. one could choose whether to take science, and then which science or two sciences to take), but schools were split by tracks i.e. some schools were vocational schools and some schools were academic schools, and within those there were official rankings and distinctions (so the top students were concentrated at a few schools).</p>
<p>How would you describe the physical conditions of the school? Did they adversely affect your learning?
The school had been renovated in 1997 and was thus pretty well-equipped.</p>
<p>How many students graduated and how many did not? What opportunities were available to graduates that were not available to non graduates?
My school was a pretty good school within the academic track, so a student not graduating was practically unheard of. It was geared to prepare a student for university admission, so non-graduates would be ineligible for college and would likely have to switch to a vocational school.</p>
<p>How well trained and experienced were your teachers?
I had some great teachers and one or two bad ones, but most of them had went to famous institutions and had at least a couple years of teaching experience under them, so overall the teaching was pretty good.</p>
<p>What sort of technology did your school have?
Every teacher had a computer, every classroom had an overhead projector, and there were more than enough computer rooms to go around. We also had a government-funded research lab where some older students worked on research projects.</p>
<p>Did many students attend college/university after graduation?
Yes. (I don’t have the stats, but I would be very surprised if it was anywhere less than 90%)</p>
<p>What was the socioeconomic status of most students at your school?
Mostly middle class/upper middle class, with a significant minority of well-to-do ones and a few who benefited from the hardship funds.</p>
<p>Were extracurricular activities offered, and if so, how many students participated?
A range of activities were offered, and because this was an academically-conscious school and activities were seen to boost a person’s college application (whether within Singapore or abroad) most students were involved in at least one activity (one being the standard). </p>
<p>The most important question:</p>
<p>Do you believe you received a quality education in your secondary school, why or why not, and what would you do to increase the quality of that school today?
I received (mostly) excellent teaching from some very qualified teachers and was very happy with my education. I would scrap most of the new programs (in-school counselor, ‘House’ system) the principal had tried to implement the past few years as they seem to have little effect except to divert money from courses and activities and benefit only a few students.</p>