Adapting to the competitive school environment

Dear Mr. Tan,


My son attended an Elementary School in America when he was in First Grade and Second Grade. He enjoyed school very much and was very participative in class as the teachers would encourage the pupils to speak up even though they may not give the right answers at times.


We returned to Singapore when he was in Primary 3 and he continued to enjoy schooling and did very well in school. He was then posted to the best class in primary 5 and 6. It was a very competitive class and the students are rather conscious with their marks and grades for everything they did. My son was under a lot of stress and began to lose confidence in himself. He constantly feels that he is not good enough and started to worry too much about examinations. We have always assured him that we would be proud of him no matter what grade he gets. Learning to him is no longer fun but a competition for higher marks. 


 Fortunately, he did reasonably well in PSLE and is now in Secondary One. He is making new friends and is adapting well to the new environment. We can see that he is gaining his self confidence slowly and we are glad that he is enjoying school again.