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Social Studies - Principles of Good Governance

2007-01-28T09:16:00.001-08:00

Q2a) Principles of GOOD Governance

Principle of Meritocracy

Meritocracy is a system of government or other organization based on demonstrated ability (merit) and talent rather than by wealth, family connections (nepotism), class privilege, cronyism or other historical determinants of social position and political power.

The word "meritocracy" is now also often used to describe a type of society where wealth, position, and social status are in part assigned through competition or demonstrated talent and competence, on the assumption that positions of trust, responsibility and social prestige should be earned, not inherited or assigned on arbitrary quotas. Meritocracy is used to describe competitive societies, that accept large inequalities of income, wealth and status amongst the population as a function of perceived talent, merit, competence, motivation and effort.

EXAMPLE OF A CURRENT POLICY THAT PORTRAYS THE PRINCIPLE OF MERITOCRACY

Edusave Awards
Singaporean students who do well or make good progress in their studies or co-curricular activities and have good conduct can also benefit from several schemes:

A. EDUSAVE SCHOLARSHIPS

Government & Government-Aided Schools

If a pupil is studying in a Government or a Government-aided secondary school, and is among the top 10% of students of his level and stream in his school, he is eligible for an Edusave Scholarship. He will be selected by his school for this scholarship based on his year-end school examination results. Pupils in the top 5% at each level are awarded $500 each while those in the next 5% receive $300 each.

Independent Schools

If a pupil is within the top 25% of secondary one Singaporean pupil enrolled in the independent schools, he is eligible for the Edusave Entrance Scholarship for Independent Schools (EESIS). The award is tenable for 4 years and selection is based on pupils’ PSLE results. The Ministry of Education (MOE) will invite Primary 6 pupils who qualify to apply for this scholarship when they receive their PSLE results. In late December, MOE will inform applicants whether their applications are successful.

The annual quantum of the scholarship is the school fees charged by independent schools less the amount of school and standard miscellaneous fees that pupils in Government and Government-aided secondary schools have to pay.

If he is not a recipient of the Edusave Entrance Scholarship for Independent Schools, but is among the top 5% of pupils in each independent school, he will be eligible for the Edusave (Independent Schools) Yearly Awards based on his school examination results for that year. The school will grant this award to him at the end of the year if he qualifies. The value of the Yearly Award is equivalent to the annual value of the Entrance Scholarships.

For Primary 5 or 6 pupils

If a pupil is studying in primary 5 or 6 in a Government or a Government-aided school, he is eligible for the Edusave Scholarship for Primary Schools if he is amongst the top 10% of pupils of his level and stream. He will be selected by his school for this scholarship based on his year-end school examination results. The award is worth $300 for pupils in the top 5 per cent and $250 for the next 5 per cent.

B. EDUSAVE MERIT BURSARY

For pupils whose household income is less than $3000 per month

If student is studying in either a primary or secondary school, or in a JC/CI or ITE, and is not a recipient of any Edusave Scholarship stated above, he can apply for the Edusave Merit Bursary if he is within the top 25% of each level and stream in his school, and if families' gross monthly household income is below $3,000.

C. GOOD PROGRESS AWARDS

For pupils who have made good progress

If student does not qualify for the Edusave scholarships or merit bursaries, but has made significant improvement in his academic performance, he is eligible for the Good Progress Award. The award is given based on the extent of his improvement in his school’s year-end examinations results over a one-year period.

Pupils in primary schools, secondary schools, JCs/CIs and ITE who are not recipients of Edusave scholarships or bursaries are eligible for the award. The awards are given to a maximum of 10% of pupils in each level and stream in every school. Pupils in Primary 1 are excluded from the scheme, as there is no basis for comparison. He will be selected by his school for this award at the end of the year if he meets the criteria.

The awards will be given to a maximum of 10% of pupils per level per stream in every school. The value of the awards are as shown:

D. EDUSAVE SCHOLARSHIP, EDUSAVE MERIT BURSARY, GOOD PROGRESS AWARD AND EDUSAVE AWARDS FOR ACHIEVEMENT, GOOD LEADERSHIP & SERVICE (EAGLES Award)

For Pupils who have leadership qualities, served the community and schools, and excelled in non-academic activities

If a student shows leadership and excels in non-academic areas, he is eligible for the Edusave Awards for Achievement, Good Leadership & Service. The award is given based on his acheivements in non-academic activities and contribution to community services over a one-year period.

The awards are given to a maximum of 5% of pupils in each level and stream in every school, from Primary 4 upwards, selected by his school for this award at the end of the year if he meets the criteria. Pupils in primary schools, secondary schools, JCs/CIs and ITE who are recipients of Edusave scholarships or bursaries or good progress awards will still be eligible for the award.

Edusave Pupils Fund

Annual contribution to Edusave accounts of Singaporean students between ages of 6 and 16.
Your child (by the natural or adoptive mother) will qualify for an Edusave account if he is your 1st, 2nd or 3rd child at the point of school admission.

Edusave Grants
Annual grants are given to all primary and secondary schools, junior colleges, centralised institutes, the Institute of Technical Education and special education schools.
Schools use the grants to organise enrichment programmes or purchase additional resources for students.

Edusave Awards
Singaporean students who do well or make good progress in their studies or co-curricular activities and have good conduct can benefit from the following :
Edusave Scholarships for Secondary Schools;
Edusave Entrance Scholarship for Independent Schools;
Edusave (Independent Schools) Yearly Awards;
Edusave Scholarship for Primary Schools;
Edusave Merit Bursary;
Good Progress Award; and
Edusave Award for Achievement, Good Leadership and Service.

Adapted from “http://www1.moe.edu.sg/edusave.htm”

MY VIEWS
I feel that the government has done well in promoting the principle of meritocracy. In the above-mentioned government policy, the highlighted parts show that educational institutions in Singapore are open to all based on merit, regardless of ability to pay. Students would learn from this policy that talent and hard work are the paths to success. This encourages the development of an individual’s potential. Furthermore, those students who perform well and are from households with lesser income are given more incentives such as the Merit Bursary to be fair with those students with better financial backgrounds. For those who cannot afford education, the government makes Edusave Grants to support them in their pursuit for education. This also shows that the government makes education open to all, regardless of the ability to pay. When people are rewarded based on their abilities and hard work, they would be encouraged to do well. Only the best and the brightest, regardless of race, religion background, are nurtured and recruited to key sectors of the economy or the government service. This tells me that the government has invested heavily in improving skills of the future workforce through education and training and it ensures that every pupil can develop his potential to the fullest.

IIIK@y - The Third Generation...

2006-03-04T03:36:00.000-08:00

IIIk@y - The Third Generation...

I feel that we can't really make a conclusion about why iiikay rocks or rules yet. *sigh*
well, here are my reasons....

Firstly I think that, even though we were together for about 2 mths already......we are still divided as a class. I know that it would take time for friendship to occur and develop, but there is no attempts made...as in, the class is way too quiet to talk to those ppl whom they are unfamiliar with..... A flame will not exist unless there is a spark. But in the overall, I think there are improvements in the bonding of the class as time goes by.... Hopefully the sec 3 bonding camp would allow us to understand and know each other more, enhancing the unity in our class. In simple, we haven't really become a fully bonded class yet....

Secondly, I think that there are many barriers or obstacles that hinder us from being a one united class, and that is the arrangement of the class sitting positions. We are currently arranged in such a way that we are seated with our sec2 classmates. So in the class, you would see many people sitting in a group of their own...2(bla bla bla) section, 2(something section) and so on.... something like a nucleated settlement?......lol....

Thirdly, I agree that laughter and jokes and having fun are parts and parcels in the building blocks of unity in a class. But the usual atmosphere in the class is way too serious. Juz being in the class itself can give you the tense feeling, with a tingle of nervousness in your mind. We don't joke as much as I think compared to the previous class in sec 2... *sigh*

Therefore I think that stating a conclusion about how iiikay rocks or rules at this point of time would be a "fictional" or so called a forced comment... It would not fully express what we feel about the class. Maybe as time passes, the bond that holds us as a class together, will grow stronger...

(seriously am i answering the question?...*sigh*....hope i did)

Double-Agents....

2006-02-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

Double-Agents....
Have you ever tried taking a role of a double agent.....? not exactly 'agent'.But to the point of assisting in both rival sides. Not for the sake of money or material, but for the sake of the goodwill of both parties. For me, I feel that it can be a pain in the neck.... U'll have this feeling of being caught in a dilema, and at points of time feeling at a loss. Even worse, if you are at a deadend with no choice but to play the role of a double-agent. Being forced at a point of time to take a side, painstakingly, u will have to be forced to make a choice..........

my thoughts on gattaca

2006-02-19T02:51:00.000-08:00

My thoughts on Gattaca
The movie, Gattaca has indeed revealed to me the extreme state of advancement of science to the point that they use blood from the thumb for authorisation purposes and, even an eyelash can be used to detect an unauthorised person in the faculty of gattaca. I feel that it portrays the acts of DNA discrimination as in the story,
Vincent had been discriminated by his brother, due to the DNA analysis that he would die in his 30s and have a high chance of heart failure while his brother was perfect with no flaws in his DNA.
Secondly, discrimination of DNA is also present during the employment of staff in gattaca, as shown in the movie, when vincent was employed just by the analysis of the gene he borrowed from jerome. I'm also startled by the kind of life people live in this kind of high-tech city.I wouldn't want to live in this kind of life. They seem very lifeless and very systematical.

HGP
Gattaca in relation to the Human Gemone Project, I feel that the HGP is beneficial to mankind compared to the advancement of sciences in gattaca.The HGP can treat diseases and cure illnesses and not necessary that lifestyles will change as shown in gattaca, but it will just help to improve lives and not revolutionize it. And to me, I feel that there is bound to be discrmination, but definitely laws as well as policies to curb it, and also to make sure that the purpose of HGP is ethical. It would be able to ensure that proper justice is done, and that people are not accused wrongly, and to improve the overall efficiency in handling crimes. It would also be able to personalise treatments and medicines, to ensure that medicines are not abused. In overall, for medicial improvements. Definitely, there would be good and bad points of an invention, as people will both use it wisely and some will misuse it. And definitely there would be laws and legislations to ensure that its been put to good use.

WEEK 2 ENTRY

2006-01-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

K.....its in the middle of the nite....
and im crazily typing my journal entry in front of the comp....(where else?)
anyway i think its gonna be a real short 1........
so i will call it a mini-journal entry instead......

Anyway this is for week 2.....
lets go all the way back to the first day of school...
when i first entered class....on the 3rd jan....
seriously....i was quite excited about the long pants......
like u can get to show off.....to the lower sec.....hehe....
when i first entered 3k...... other than the ppl i knew in 2j and 2k and some others classes....
its well, like a strange and unfamiliar kind of atmosphere surrounding the whole class....
the feeling is so different.....much more quieter than 2j'05......and i'm not very used to it....
(in the morning in 2j'05.....we would either be making a lot of noise or either trying very hard at pillaring that particular poor guy.....)
but soon after a bit of adaptation to the environment....
got quite used to it.....
after that.....the form teacher would come in......
well the first image of mr tan definitely almost freaked me out....
not trying to say he's weird or what.....
he looked a bit fierce at first sight,at first sight mind u.....in his glasses...
but u know....in my mind i thought...,"is he the fierce, fierce kind?"......lets hope not.....
luckily when he spoke the first word.....and thru his tone......
well......gave me a kind of relief......
thats very good.....
there came the class comm election.....
sigh...not to talk about it.....
now theres some teasing going on....
hehe....anyway...i dun realli mind it.....coz i think its the effort for the class that counts....
not the post....
then there came the rest of the subject teachers.....
one by one we got to slowly know about them....
interesting u may say.....but i think i'm gonna suffer a lot thru my studies in the upper sec sch life......
but at the end of the day when i start to reminisce
thinking about the past of the happy times i had with my friends.....
but still.....i feel something empty.....
like......the memories of my past class keep floating in my mind......*2j'05*
anyway...things still go on.....
and on and on and on......

2006-01-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

my journal...
dotz...
seperate blogs from my main blog...
(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)