Disability by Jun Na and Jie Ning

I agree that it is essential for children with disabilities to be integrated into our mainstream education system.

Some may argue that children with disabilities cannot adapt to our mainstream education as more time and attention is needed for them and most teachers are not trained for that. It takes up resources and precious time to train teachers and change their lesson plans just to accommodate to these "special children", hence most parents of these disabled children do not prefer to enrol their child in mainstream schools. According to the news last year, a parent who has a 12-year-old son has auditory processing disorder. When her child was in primary school, some teachers try to be helpful, but they do not understand his condition. They will complain that he is not paying attention but it can't be helped as they have so many children in class to look after. A primary-school teacher, also noted the spectrum of special needs, some of which can cause children to be disruptive in class. Teachers would have to cater for special needs children and customize their teaching methods, but if there are too many of such children in a class, it is unfair to expect mainstream teachers to be able to cope. Hence, when these disabled children are to be integrated into our mainstream education system, I’m afraid that they are unable to adapt as mainstream teachers are not trained to teach them. However, there are now an increasing number of allied educators which support children with special needs in mainstream schools, allowing these children to be able to adapt to our mainstream education system and benefit greatly from there.

However I believe that children with disabilities can adapt to our mainstream education if the government puts in more resources to make the education system a more inclusive one. Last November, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stressed the need for Singapore society to value every individual. Speaking at the 50th anniversary gala dinner for SPD, a social service provider and advocate for the disability community, he said: “Are people with special needs just there to be helped or should they not be people who matter in our society, who are enabled to contribute to our society in full measure? Our society should value every person ... These are the basic principles that should guide us as we build a fair and just society.” Children with disabilities can be educated and become contributing members of the force, if they receive timely and effective early intervention. To do that, the government can reduce support given to the current bright and well-do students and instead, support the children with more severe special needs. As long as the government does more to provide help and financial support in pre-school education for families with special needs children, these children can fit in the workplace. Once you give these children a structured education, they may be a little slower, but they are able to produce the same results average children can. If the government does not give these children a platform to grow, they will not be able to find a place in society. Integrating children with disabilities in programmes and schools with mainstream children would be more resource-intensive, requiring dedicated teachers to guide those with special needs, but it is not impossible.

Schools, stop the 'kiasu' practice of using DSA to 'chope' bright kids, by Jun Na&Jie Ning

Link: Schools, stop the 'kiasu' practice of using DSA to 'chope' bright kids

Summary: Direct School Admission Scheme (DSA) was introduced in 2004, where students with talents in sports and arts can enter 'top' schools that specailise in these areas. However, in recent years, more 'kiasu' parents use DSA to secure a place for their child in these IP schools even though their child might already be smart enough to get a high PSLE score to enter the school. This reduces the amount of spaces left for others who might not be smart enough but have talents in other areas which defeats the purpose of DSA. Thus, DSA should not be an avenue for parents to 'chope' a place for bright students first.

Opinion: In my opinion, I agree with the author of this article because DSA is meant for not so bright students but with talents in sports and arts can enter schools that specializes in these areas and therefore, can have more exposure and opportunities for them to excel in their talents. This allows students to be able to benefit better from these schools as they have better opportunities to groom themselves according to their talents and thus, wouldn't go to waste. Imagine if these students did not have a chance to enter these schools and went to a neighborhood school instead as their results were not high enough, they wouldn't be able to groom themselves as well as those in these specialized schools and wouldn't be able to discover and unleash their talents hiding in them. Also, MOE should re-look at the DSA scheme and not put results as the basis to admit students in their school through DSA. After all, these students are entering due to their talents in their talent in sports and arts.

Could Teenage Love wreck your life?

We agree with the article that teenage love can wreck teenagers’ lives because it can cause depression for those who "fall in love" and break up before 17 and it is not uncommon either. When teenagers are too immersed in the relationship or what we call it a crush, they tend to prioritize their relationship first rather than their school work which cause their results to drop dramatically and if they break up, it will cause much depression and they wouldn't have the mood to study. If they don't recover fast, their future might be ruined as their results deteriorate just because of this one mistake of teenage love that doesn't mean anything at all. However, they need to realize that they have a long road in front of them, and stand up strong after getting hurt from their wrong decisions.

Why Did ISIS Attack Paris?

Link to news: Why Did ISIS Attack Paris?


SUMMARY: On the 13th November, ISIS attacked Paris and killed 129, injuring many. Investigators race to identify the assailants and their collaborators and believed they start organizing in France and Belgium. The people are also concerned into why the attacks took place. Given that ISIS had promised that the Paris attacks were the first of the downpour, it is essential to find out why is it happening in the first place and how best to find shelter.


OPINION: In my opinion, this news event deserves to be the front cover because it is absolutely necessary for people to understand the rationale behind the terrorism carried out so far by ISIS. I feel that a lot of people only know ISIS superficially, and that knowledge is simply not enough. We need the public to understand further in depth about the mindset of these terrorists, and this article can prepare us for that as we learn that none of us are truly safe from the merciless hands of… ISIS.

Introduction: Tan Jun Na & Yong Jie Ning

Jun Na: I'm Jun Na, fourteen (and a half). I enjoy writing, and I'm sure I'll enjoy English lessons with Mdm Teoh. I'm a very peculiar person, with various personalities and hobbies. Usually I make a bad impression on everyone I first meet due to my cheekiness, but I hope I can go along well with everyone in 3D! I love watching Twitch stream, English movies, Japanese animation, Taiwanese dramas and Korean variety shows in my free time :D

Jie Ning: Hello, I'm Jie Ning and my CCA is NPCC. I'm turning fifteen this year just like the rest of my classmates. I usually enjoy reading fiction stories and going cycling during my free time. Occasionally I watch dramas too, especially Korean ones. I'm not a very sociable person but I hope to get along well with my new classmates soon :)