Comments on ZOMBiE Destinee: Schools should be transparent about their fundings...

I feel it is not about the biasness of allocation ...

2006-05-30T20:36:00.000+08:00

I feel it is not about the biasness of allocation of funds to cca, but rather how the funds were spent.

It raised a very simple question. JCs receive the same amount of funding, yet there are such huge gap between the standard of education and facilities provided.

Since by right the funds given were ultimately for the students, and Singapore is supposedly a democratic country, wouldn't it be nice if students get to have their say on how some of the funds were spent? I am not even talking about all the fund, just some.

let me put it from the perspective of the school.1...

2006-05-29T20:06:00.000+08:00

let me put it from the perspective of the school.
1) bias is inevitable.
2) transparency does not mean fairness/equal amount of money.

certain ccas will need more money, just because of the inherent cost: coach/instructor, equipment, etc.

certain ccas form part of the niche area of the school. surely they would want to spend more there?

as for a gold vs silver cca. i'd say that if the gold cca manages a gold with less money, more power to them. not to forget that a uniform group with larger numbers has more advantages over the smaller groups when it comes to scoring points for awards.

as a cca teacher who has had to argue and justify every single cent, i certainly wont be too happy with a rigid system. i'm afterall arguing for the pupils' benefit. unfortunately, if my colleague has a weaker argument or the cca is simply less favoured due to whatever reasons (even personal bias), things will happen.

that being said, transparency does not solve your problems/peeves.
i can be transparent in all my decisions, including stating my bias, but that would probably not make you feel any different about the case [yes i can be dictatorial].

next: decision making.
decision making is hard enough when you are responding to the needs of the school as compartmentalised by its activities, be it purely academic or co-curricular. what more if the school now has to accommodate the diverse views of a student population? i think that decisions would not be made in good time.

next: take care of of other peoples' feelings. just as you wouldnt feel good if your budget was cut or was low [especially if you have ideals and think that with more money things would be so much better.], it doesnt necessarily do everyone good to have all accounts open for everyone to see.

also: some schools do have the support of the alumni and advisory boards.
some ccas also know how to find funding from other sources, as do some school areas which qualify for cluster funds.

that being said, MOE itself already does its part by allocating budget fairly using factors such as school population. it mandates some basic facilities, but everything else is up to the ingenuity and idealism of the school staff.

[caution: the following part is a rant]
on the other hand, i think sometimes youngsters have too much of a sense of entitlement.
the sense that they deserve many things, including 1st world treatment or american-like laws and values.
sometimes, it pays to have less, and thus be more humble, more understanding, and more ingenious.

good luck!

Student Council ? They are total nonsense, puppets...

2006-05-23T19:39:00.000+08:00

Student Council ?

They are total nonsense, puppets for the teachers to act as if the students actually have a say in running the school.

Utter Nonsense.

"Why don't you ask the student council to handle t...

2006-05-23T18:54:00.000+08:00

"Why don't you ask the student council to handle this?

Isn't the student council duty to speak up for the student body?"

nonono.. That is what they are supposed to do. But whether they do it, it is another matter.
And judging from this incident, I doubt the councillors are good.

I gotta agree on the IT guy in the prev post. Ya, ...

2006-05-23T14:55:00.000+08:00

I gotta agree on the IT guy in the prev post. Ya, ppl in my sch are quite abusing the comp (maybe cos too deprived?).

The computers are still underused. When its time to do Project Work, or near certain deadline for PW, the comp lab will be crowded like siao...so maybe they can open it up on such occasions.

Kudos for making your suggestions and all. I just ...

2006-05-23T11:58:00.000+08:00

Kudos for making your suggestions and all. I just want to comment on the computers bit, as I'm in the IT admin line myself. Computers run software. When software is installed, it costs money. When bandwidth to the internet is used in excess, it costs money to upgrade. When it breaks down, it costs more money. When illegal copies of software or software used to perform illegal activities are installed, it costs much much moolah. Sure you can use a computer - but only if it is done responsibly. However I'm sure you agree you can't really trust everyone in school to behave like that. So by default, any organization would be setting itself up for lots of trouble by giving access for something like playing games. Er, enjoy your linux?

Why don't you ask the student council to handle th...

2006-05-23T10:47:00.000+08:00

Why don't you ask the student council to handle this?

Isn't the student council duty to speak up for the student body?

Hmmm, tackle this carefully. Well this kinda thing...

2006-05-22T21:04:00.000+08:00

Hmmm, tackle this carefully. Well this kinda things is more or less got one lah...But if the fundings are made more transparent, i think can reduce such cases.

I've got to agree with you in this... and we don't...

2006-05-22T19:26:00.000+08:00

I've got to agree with you in this... and we don't need to go as far as to JC...

I'm in the secondary school and my school's NPCC unit gets more fundings by the thousands compared to the other uniformed groups even when the NPCC is a silver unit and the other units have been gettin gold for the past few years and have more members.

We were wondering why this was the case, when we realized the principal was NPCC board member....

This honestly should be made more transparent to the students along with a rigid system on how the funding is given out.