Changing schools mid term

[Snowy79]

I was having a discussion with a Filipino about the consequences of moving school mid term. I was putting across the point from a Western perspective as I have no idea about the system over here.

My take on the subject is the child is only 7 years old. I thought the best thing you could do was to research the schools in the new area and compare private to public. I've been given a rough heads up on schools in the area ranging from : don't send your kids there to this school is highly recommended. I was on the side of picking the school that has a good reputation and provides the child with the best education for the future.

The other persons take was that it's a big no no to move a child mid term as it could affect their grades for the future.

I fail to see how a 7 year old changing schools would be that big an issue as they are still young and a 7 year old grades mean nothing in the big World, and indeed if they go to an even better school their grades may either improve or mean more. Are the school subjects here not universal at that age so a transfer should be straight forward or do schools make their own course work up?

As a final note what school years are the most important for getting a child into a decent University ? 

 

[Old55]

Decent university in Philippines or Europe?

My wife said generally it would be best to change from one school to another during summer break. Things are a bit different in Filipino schools she said and not like here. She thinks our public schools are better but lack discipline. 

There are some darn good schools in Philippines. 

[Snowy79]

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to get my head around the education system here as the only experience I have of public schools is imited. From casual observation the ones in the provinces tend to be a baby sitting service more than an educational facility. This is backed up bt the need for the majority of the locals using calculators for very simple arithmetic and their lack of ability to grasp things that should be common sense. 

The main point I'm trying to understand is : are the schools pretty much standardised and do the early grades really matter? 

[Old55]

I'm sure Jack or some of the others may have more useful things to add.

Critical thinking skills are not taught in fact it's frowned on. My wife says grades do matter but some cases a parent or helper will do all the homework and help out in class.   

Edited April 24, 2018 by Old55

[JJReyes]

1 hour ago, Snowy79 said:

The main point I'm trying to understand is : are the schools pretty much standardised and do the early grades really matter? 

Colleges and universities in the Philippines and other countries want high school transcripts. Elementary school grades don't count.

What high school subjects were taken will be scrutinized. Strong showing in math, science, etc. are positive indicators.

Which high school likewise matters in the selection process.  Colleges and universities select the best candidates from the pool of applicants.  

Even the top universities like Stanford and Harvard set aside some slots for legacy kids. I believe Oxford and Cambridge have a similar practice. If you had a father, mother, brother, sister, uncle or aunt who is a graduate, your application will be scrutinized more closely.  Any rejection will include a phone call from an administrative official to explain the reason for the rejection.

Finally, there is the ladder system.  I attended De La Salle elementary and high school. This automatically guaranteed me a spot at one of the colleges at the university level. The fact that my father, all uncles, and my male siblings & cousins also attended De La Salle likewise was taken into consideration.  (All the female family members went to Assumption - elementary, high school and college.)

Edited April 24, 2018 by JJReyes

[JJReyes]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

Critical thinking skills are not taught in fact it's frowned on. My wife says grades do matter but some cases a parent or helper will do all the homework and help out in class.   

The public education system is still knowledge base. The exception are gifted programs like the National Science High School.  Most private schools are discovery base a.k.a critical thinking. 

[Snowy79]

7 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

The public education system is still knowledge base. The exception are gifted programs like the National Science High School.  Most private schools are discovery base a.k.a critical thinking. 

The more I look into it the more I discover bought grades, teachers giving higher marks to make themselves look good and a serious lack of problem solving. Doing things the way they've always been done just because that's what others did and not because it's the best method.

I've even had 3 people admit they just turned up for the exams and passed. I couldn't imagine that in a Western School as you'd have to show where your answer came from.

[sonjack2847]

Some schools will not take a pupil without the year end certificate. The school my daughter attended through Kindergarden was highly recommended but failed miserably.We now have her in a summer school and she is doing really well.You can only go by recommendations but those are based on what the other person thinks of the education system at that particular place.I asked my local friend from the gym about schools and he is well educated and has given me some insite hopefully my daughter will be more than a teacher who works in a call center.There is nothing wrong with working in a call center but I want more for her.

[Gary D]

My wife has a cousin living near Dumaguete who adopted a young girl who became a bit of a TV celebrity. They have temporatily move back to the UK to put her though stage school. I think she was about 10-12 at the time and the UK stage school said she was about two years behind her peers and had to have a lot of extra tuition to catch up.