Changes To S Y F - No More Awards.

[BlowWindBlow]

I'm sure alot of people here were from arts CCAs (Sorry for the stereotype XD) or are involved in the arts scene in Singapore. Views?

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1236553/1/.html

Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, Lim Biow Chuan, has welcomed the move to make changes to the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF).

From next year, awards will not be given out to schools taking part in the event.

Students will instead be issued certificates.

The SYF is an annual event that celebrates achievements by youths in their co-curricular activities.

The Education Ministry told Channel NewsAsia the revisions emphasise the process of learning and enjoyment of the arts, rather than just the focus on awards.

[Guest Martin]

Yep I was from the Drama CCA. Personally, this is a welcome change. Arts are always subjective and you can't rate them based on whether or not they please a set of judges.

[Exynos]

wow why didn't this happen while I was in band last time... I think it's a good move. from where i was last time, a lot of emphasis was put on winning (we MUST get gold with honors!!).. and it resulted in a lot of unnecessary stress imo, and unhealthy competition.

arts is free... it's a gateway for everyone to express themselves. giving an award for how good (which mostly is subjective anyways) you are in something like this just creates a really sad barrier

[aycee]

Yes it is indeed a welcoming change, but on the other hand, I wonder if some schools will now feel that since there are no awards, then there'll be less motivation for them to excel, and hence leading to a stagnancy?

[Guest Guest]

Let's look at this from the perspective of schools. They want recognition. They can get recognition by winning awards. In terms of non-academic awards, sports and the arts are available. Hence they pour money into niche CCAs to win awards.

Suddenly SYF, a large source of awards for the arts, is no more. Guess where the money will go to? Either arts CCA that compete in competitions other than SYF, or to sports instead. CCAs like band will have its funding cut.

This is a cynical POV. Let's see if it pans out.

[Guest ....]

i think its better for the student as they will be able to bring something back home, a certificate of achivement. however the sch wont have any medal, sch might not treat it as important as before. and soon the performing arts cca will not be any use to the sch.

[Guest ...]

oh ya anyway i am from a performing arts cca. although i have leave sec sch, but i still join performing arts cca when i am in poly. i am from choir and now in acapella.

[Guest ken86]

without awards Then what is there to look forward too then how different is this to a normal grading offered by for example , ABRSM ? then we should implement this in sport event , since it's the process that we are looking at , am I right ?

[jason]

new boss implement new policies ma....

[Crimson87]

This is bad news. Don't think the school will have their CCA groups train so hard since every school that participate will get the same Certificate of Participation.

[merlinkun]

It's like communism isn't it? If there is no reward at the end of the day and everyone get the same pay, why bother working at all? How hard you work you still get the same pay.

While arts is meant to be enjoyed, it is the competitiveness that drive us to excel, to be better in the performance, to be daring and try something new.

If they want to replace it with just a cert, they very well plan how it will prevent schools from cutting funding and also to encourage students to be better in the arts (while also enjoying them).

[XiaoMessy]

IMO, no awards = no competitive spirit = no one working hard for it = lousy piece of performance.

[robbiepass]

technically the performances are still graded, just that it will be separated by Distinction, Accomplishment and Commendation, instead of the current G/S/B system.

it is still competitive, but emphasis is on appreciation now.

[Blacque]

At least they still bother to give out something... :x

[sanxian1990]

I see where the ministry is trying to drive at, but sad to say, the missed the crux of the problem, totally.

The awards (GwH/G/S/B) should stay, the backstage fighting, undertable manipulations and associated shady stuff should go.

Let's just hope that this shift to these certificates won't lead to decreased standards of the local performing arts scene.

[Guest stbrianud]

Might I suggest an individual perspective...

[wahwahboi]

No doubt there are good and bad points in changing the system. As a lot of you have voiced out, not giving out GwH/G/S/B awards to the participating school may decrease the standard of the performing arts group, and this is reinforced by one of the interviewees in the news article posted above. I agree that may happen in a competitive Singapore. However, why not put ourselves into the shoes of the policy maker? I guess his purpose is to actually decrease the competitiveness of the schools and inculcate the importance of appreciation of the performing arts and music rather than using the music pieces and performance as a platform for competition. That would be the best outcome - playing music and performing in an environment without stress but with enjoyment and appreciation. But, the policy maker may have failed to take into account that in a competitive Singapore, the above scenario may not happen. However, there is a need to instill the appropriate values to the next generation, which is to not only join a CCA just because it can bring one fame and glory, more importantly, one should also consider his/her interest and the potential learning opportunities he/she can get from that CCA.

I hope that the policy makers have considered the possible consequences of this, like funding issues (as mentioned by some of the forumers), and have appropriate measures to deal with them.

[yiswim]

I competed in CO SYF central judging when I was in JC.

IMO, most students who joined performing arts either joined because of passion or because it used to bring glory and prestige. Yes, we may lost members who do not see any motivation due to the lack of recognition. These members worked towards extrinsic motivation. They may use performing arts as a stepping stone to beef up their school-leaving testimonial and do not really have the passion for the Arts.

On the other hand, there are still a handful who are very passionate about performing arts. With or without recognition, they will still join and do their ultimate best in the CCA. Therefore, this change will not affect these group of students.

The next question of funding, being pragmatic and realistic, most school management will pump money to CCA that garnered awards and recognition. With recent changes to school banding and ranking, the only category left that will attract students through DSA are competitive sports. I will expect more funding to be channeled to competitive sports. Funding towards performing arts may or may not reduced depending on the past performance of the CCA. Some schools performing arts are so strong that they have annual Arts Festival/concert. Therefore, the school will still groom the performing arts, thus will still pump in money.

I believed the most affected schools will be schools who do not have a strong background in performing arts. Sadly, these schools might take drastic actions to shut down the CCA totally if students are not keen in joining these CCA since pending the removal of the awards next year.

[TheIdealist]

I fully support it. It is time that they change things up and cultivate the love the arts. Me tink that they can further improve by maybe choosing the better performances and allow them to perform for a paying audience, It would certainly give the kids more motivation and happiness (the applause. woooooooo) when they do so.

[Guest lyra]

I fully support it. It is time that they change things up and cultivate the love the arts. Me tink that they can further improve by maybe choosing the better performances and allow them to perform for a paying audience, It would certainly give the kids more motivation and happiness (the applause. woooooooo) when they do so.

Agree.

The pursuit of awards has become a source and anxiety and pressure - pride and camaraderie for winners (priceless), shame for those who don't get awarded - the poor students literally burst into tears even when they get silver (and not gold). This, for what should have been a celebration of youth... is madness.

Hopefully, trainers and students can now have more freedom to truly explore and experiment in their continued arts exposure and training.

[The.Intrv.]

I'm sure alot of people here were from arts CCAs (Sorry for the stereotype XD) or are involved in the arts scene in Singapore. Views?

That is a surprisingly accurate stereotype. :3