GP Tuition: Sample GP Examination Paper – RIJC
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Here’s a sample of GP Essay Paper (Paper 1) shared by our ex – RI student who attended our GP tutorials:
1. Should character development be the sole aim of education?
2. “Information technology is creating a society of isolated and insensitive individuals.” Do you agree?
3.Why is ageism a growing problem in modern society and how can this form of prejudice best be combated?
4. ‘Is it true that population control policies usually do more harm than good?
5. ‘Strive for excellence. To what extent has this popular slogan both helped and hindered Singapore society?
6. “Science is no longer a good servant, but a cruel master. How far do you agree?
7. “The most dangerous and destructive virus on Earth is mankind itself.’ Comment.
8. “Do you agree that most modern advertising plays on people’s basic fears and desires?
9. Do you agree that sport and politics should never mix?
10. ‘The youth of today have no high ideals or great dreams; just selfish desires and vain ambitions. How far is this true of young people in your country?
11. Is war a necessary evil?
12. ‘Modern Art: A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.’ (Camus) Comment.
Bonus Question: On the GP Topic of Education
(Q13): How can schools inculcate the quality of risk-taking today?
RIJC General Paper Tuition – Sample Model GP Essay Answer
Here is a full length sample answer to the following GP essay question:
Q1. Should character development be the sole aim of education?
Education is a life-long process. Following the rapid and fast-changing pace of the modern world, education has gradually turned into a necessity rather than a luxury. Education holds the key to a brand new world of opportunities and possibilities. Character development is just one of the micro perspectives of education and it should not be the sole aim of education, as one needs to consider other macro-perspectives as well.
The primary function of schools is to serve as a medium of imparting knowledge and skills. With knowledge, individuals can become an invaluable source of human capital as an educated and skilled workforce, helping the country’s economic growth. Third world developing countries understand and realise the importance of general education to the masses. In recent years, South Africa has been advocating the need for basic education to bring about greater awareness of the deadly virus, AIDS, which has plagued the nation for more than a decade now. By making general education more accessible, South Africa hopes to turn its people into a literate and informed public, able to become more productive individuals who are able to break free from the vicious cycle of poverty. Thus, one of the main aims of education is to bring about greater knowledge.
Education should also seek to promote independent thinkers and learners. There should be greater room for creativity and innovation and therefore a broad based education can be one of the main aims of developed nations. East Asian education is generally undergoing radical and huge reforms, as it overemphasizes rote-learning, where students memorise texts and store information in their short term memory. The typical classroom in East Asia sees students being passive learners who produce copious notes while the lecturers drone on. This creates the phenomenon that sees thousands of students from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan flocking to US universities for higher education. The traditional East Asian education systems focus so much on academic excellence that it hampers individual’s creativity and free expression. Reports indicate a total of 600,000 international students receiving higher education in US universities in 2002, where students are lured by its interactive tutorial sessions with the tutors and the myriad subjects offered.
Education should also aim to cultivate a sense of appreciation of the aesthetics and arts, sports and fitness; greater awareness of environmental and political issues. By cultivating such values, schools can produce all-rounded individuals who are just not obsessed over their academic results. Not only would they become more sensitive to global events, they would be able to think critically and develop analytical skills which are handy in today’s world, where individuals are not just supposed to be reliable in times of crisis, but rather equipped with a certain ruggedness that enables them to come out with effective and fast solutions to pull themselves out of their immediate predicament. By encouraging sports and fitness, students can build up their character by taking on leadership roles and positions. Thus, it can be seen that character development only falls under one of the aims of education.
I agree that character development is one of the most important aims of education. Education inculcates moral values and promotes a deeper sense of social responsibility. Individuals are taught to differentiate between what is right or wrong. For the government, character development in individuals is important, as they are able to pick potential leaders who have integrity and respect racial and culture differences. However, it must be also be noted that education encompasses all aspects of life, and character development should not only be the sole aim of education. Otherwise, education would have lost its purpose.
Bonus Question: On the GP Topic of Education
(Q13): How can schools inculcate the quality of risk-taking today?
In our modern world, society advances at a very quick pace and competition is present in every walk of life as corporations, companies and everyone in the world, especially developed nations, try to catch up with the changing times. At the workplace, the ability to take risks now plays a crucial role in ensuring that individuals or companies can thrive and win in the competition for success. However, it takes time and lots of training for a person to be confident enough to take up challenges that do not guarantee him any results, and even more so for him to possess courage and determination to stand up again should he fail. Hence, schools today play a vital role in the aspect of inculcating in students the quality of risk-taking, which they can bring with them into their adult lives and into the workplace in future.
The quality of risk-taking involves many different aspects. For a start, one must be able to stare risks in the face and not simply withdraw to remain in a job or project with extensive safety nets. The first thing, therefore, that schools should do to inculcate the quality of risk-taking is to train their students to have the courage to accept challenges and risks. This may seem difficult. However, teachers can in fact start by posing questions to students and stimulating them to think for themselves instead of spoon-feeding them with answers. This can be followed by asking students to voice out their answers and opinions before the entire class In this way students can build up their self-confidence because they must learn to give an answer which they may be unsure of and acquire the ability not feel embarrassed or even hurt when their answers are incorrect In many schools in America today. teachers also practise a method known as “cold calling where they launch surprise questions and call for a particular student for an answer The student must give an answer and should the answer. If wrong, teachers will pose leading questions so that the student keeps trying till he succeeds in getting the correct answer. In this way, students learn to develop courage to explore the unknown, which in the long run will strengthen their self-esteem and enable them to step onto the path of risk-taking.
Besides having the confidence to accept risks and challenges, a clever risk-taker is also one who knows how to predict his chances of success when undertaking a particular risk, as well as one who knows when to stop and withdraw should adverse unforeseen circumstances be leading him to failure To be able to do so may require a certain level of intelligence and experience which students may not be able to possess at their age Nevertheless, schools can prepare students in this aspect by inviting guest speakers to share their experiences in risk-taking and offer some pointers to students, so as to enable them to make wise choices and decisions for them to succeed in taking risks These guest speakers can be be politicians who have to take a certain level of risk in deciding government policies which which will have an impact on the entire nation, or simply entrepreneurs who started out with nothing and have through their own efforts and risk-taking qualities succeeded in life. In this way, schools can equip their students with appropriate advice and methods of risk-taking, which will prove vital in enabling them to win the bet as they undertake risks.
Thirdly and most importantly, schools should give students opportunities to try taking real risks as they would in the workforce or in their undertakings in future, so that they can put their courage, confidence and determination into play This can be achieved by allowing students to initiate projects or set up clubs which they must learn to plan, execute and sustain on their own, with probably just advice from mentors. One typical example IS the formation of Entrepreneur Clubs in many schools in Singapore today Students have to devise their individual business plans, taking into account the dangers they may face, the budget and the profits they intend to gain They then have to invest a certain amount of money into the implementation of their projects and hope to succeed, so that they can recover their investments or even gain profits Of course, failures are bound to occur and students incur losses. Such clubs give students a real taste of being real businessmen and they gain experience in actual risk-taking in the financial world. Of course, there are many other projects, like Science research and development, or even overseas expeditions where students face risks of a different nature. All these experiences will help in challenging students to their limits and give them opportunities to feel for themselves what it is like to succeed or fail, as well as to learn how to deal effectively thunderstorms that come their way or to regain confidence should they utterly fail. Having tasted sweetness and bitterness, ups and downs, students are bound to be spurred on to undertake risks to challenge themselves and prove to others that they can do whatever they set out to do.
Nevertheless, as schools try to inculcate the quality of risk-taking, they must not forget to also warn their students to take appropriate risks and look at the bigger picture when they set their minds on taking a risk. It should be made clear that risks which endanger their health, lives or families, such as joining gangs, should not be undertaken by them Instead, they should stay away from these negative or even fatal risks. In this way, students do not blindly attempt all risks but are selective in the type of risks and challenges they will want to pit themselves against.
All in all, risk-taking is a quality which everyone must possess today, and more so in the future, as we attempt to explore beyond more unknown boundaries and try to keep up with the pace of society. Schools therefore must incorporate activities into the education systems which will inculcate this quality in students, so that they will not be afraid to step out of their comfort zones and will not be easily defeated by failures.
Our GP Tutor’s comment: Allowing students to assume leadership roles or take on leadership portfolios would be useful ways to inculcate risk-taking as well, don’t you think? A mature and fluent assessment of the topic. Well done!
Comments by our GP Tutor: Stoicism is a person having great self-control in adversity. (Being stoic).
As opposed to fascism, an extreme right-wing totalitarian political systems or views.
More GP Essay answers (Paper 1) in our GP tuition revision guide, especially for Raffles Institution GP tuition students. The focus will be to design a creditable GP essay response, with sufficient insights and mature observations. This will surely ensure your score for GP Paper 1 is at least 36 out of 50.
How to get to RI Junior College?
Raffles Institution (RJC) is located at 1 Raffles Institution Ln, Singapore 575954.
Just like the nearby EJC, there are many ways to get to RJC :
- Walk a short distance from Marymount MRT (CC16), an underground station along the Circle Line (CCL)
Keen to pick up accelerated GP essay skills asap? Attend our group GP tutoring classes or our GP revision course.
Happy Revision!