Complaint?

From an article in the online Straits Times 15/08/2008.

EXAMS, rankings and stress.

That is what some parents think Singapore's education system is all
about. Mrs Angeline Soo, 42, a part-time Master in Public Administration student
at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, is one. ... Mrs Soo complained that
her 13-year-old daughter could not join her school's dance team as she was told
she was 'not good enough'. The school could lose its niche in dance if the team
admitted less talented students, she said.

Her question: Would such intense focus on short-term 'key performance
indicators' hinder the long-term development of students?

I don't particularly get it. What exactly is Mrs Soo sending her daughter to school for? To learn how to dance, or to get a certificate so that she can (a) go and study more and/or (b) get a good job? Perhaps I am mistaken, and Mrs Soo had actually sent her daughter to a dance school, which deemed her daughter not good enough for their dance team. But then she probably would not be complaining to the Education Minister about this, would she?

Yes, students should all be trained to be well-rounders. That is why ECAs are no longer ECAs, but CCAs. Mrs Soo's daughter was not allowed to join the school dance team, but it is not mentioned if her daughter was barred from joining the school's dance CCA as well. I doubt the latter is the case. In this light, I really fail to see what Mrs Soo is complaning about. That the daughter born to her is not good or talented enough to make the criteria for her school's dance team? I wonder if Mrs Soo has considered the fact that the other members of the team would like to win a competition, and would not like to be held back because of one member of their team. Yes, Mrs Soo, I'm sure your daughter will train hard so that she can keep up with the other members of her team. But in doing so, will her studies suffer? And is there any gurantee that she will ever be better, or at least as good as the current members of the team?

Maybe Mrs Soo needs to see things from a different perspective. Let's say her daughter needs a tutor. Surely Mrs Soo would hire a competent one. One with the proper qualifications at least. And if after the first few lessons, or even the first lesson, the new tutor is found lacking, Mrs Soo may terminate the services of the tutor. Yes, it is possible that the tutor could improve by the next lesson, but why take the chance, when there are other better tutors around, who can impress on the first lesson itself? Of course, Mrs Soo could say that a tutor is by no means a student, but I say that both the student and the tutor are people, who have the capability for learning and adapting to new situations. Mrs Soo's daughter, just like the tutor, may be able to improve their skills such that the intended skill level is met; but just as parents in general are reluctant to keep the services of a tutor they view as incompetent, the school could be unwilling to let a student join a team on the basis that the student could improve.

Or maybe there's just a simpler way to view this - it would be harder for the school to explain to a parent why his/her more talented child failed to get into the team, while a less talented pupil was selected, all else being equal.

I wonder if I will have such complaints when I have my own children -.-".