The PSLE maths question that got Singaporeans in a pickle

Have you heard about the PSLE maths question that got many Singaporeans in a pickle? My first impression was that it was a pretty good question that challenged students to think outside the box for a change. I did have a chance to have a look at what primary six students were facing this year as I was in Singapore earlier this year and helped my nephew with some of the trickier questions he had in his maths homework - they weren't exactly straightforward but I had expected nothing less. After all, if the exam was too easy, that every student would be scoring nearly full marks, then how are you going to differentiate the very smart students from the ones who are just above average? Hence there has to be a few questions that require a fair amount of mental gymnastics to separate the wheat from chaff.

Like many, I arrived at the right answer through the process of elimination. 6 kg is way too heavy, as is 600 grams (I cook a lot and know how much my ingredients weigh _ so I know how much 600 grams of butter or flour would weigh). So I was left with 6 grams and 60 grams and between the two options, 60 grams was a lot more plausible as 6 grams is way too little. So without actually doing any calculations at all, simply through the process of elimination and a bit of common sense from the real world, I arrived at the right answer quite easily. Now I actually tested a number of my British friends (granted they have not heard about this question yet) and you'll be amazed how many of them got it wrong - many actually underestimated the weight of the eight coins and went for 6 grams, on the assumption that coins are light and don't weigh that much. So, the question is not that easy even for seemingly well educated adults.

But why are so many parents upset about this question? Why did so many of them take to social media and protest? They probably got the question wrong themselves and thought, "if I can't even get this right, how do you expect my 12 year old kid to get this right?" It is really time for them to put their ego aside and realize that the PSLE syllabus has evolved quite a bit since they took the same exam years ago! Secondly, some of them felt like it wasn't really a maths question, given that it involved estimation rather than calculation to arrive at the right answer. Let me deal with one particularly irate Singaporean by the name of Lee Xun Yi who took to the Singapore Ministry of Education's Facebook page to protest (in broken English - sheesh, how did she pass her PSLE English in the first place)? She wrote:

Singaporeans are supposedly good at maths... no?

"I can't understand why PSLE came out with a Maths question asking how heavy is 8 $1 coins when they do not even tell students its 6g each. Are we having IQ exams or Maths exam? Misleading! Because coin can be gold coin, plastic coin or even based on ur paper, paper coin. So is 6g the answer? Please, this question has so many doubts. I hope MOE can clarify my IQ question. Am I 40kg, 70kg, 100kg or 200kg if my mother is 75kg? Thank you."

Now why does Ms Lee wind me up this much (apart from the fact that she would have struggled to pass her PSLE English, given how awful her English is)? Firstly, as we now know, the right answer is 60 grams; well, actually eight S$1 coins weigh about 61 grams. So 8 x 6 is actually 48 and not 60. Secondly, even if you did tell the students that each coin weighs about 7.6 grams, then all you are doing is getting the students to multiply 7.6 x 8 = 60.8, that is hardly a question worthy of a PSLE exam. Maybe that would be right for primary 3 exam (or a very easy one for a primary 4 exam) but certainly not for PSLE standard. The question is not a conventional maths question, but it tests the ability of the student to apply basic mathematical concepts in the real world. It certainly is not misleading at all.

Are you good with numbers in the real world?

In any case, the question is fairly obvious - we are talking about a Singaporean $1 coin, we're not talking about a Canadian, American or Australian dollar coin. There are no currencies in the world which use a plastic coin - some casinos do issue chips made of plastic, but these are not coins per se and as for paper: it seems that Ms Lee doesn't know the difference between a coin and a note. When currency is issued on paper, it is a note, not a coin. And as for her desperate attempt to be clever at the end, her question doesn't make any sense at all because there is clearly no correlation between her weight and her mother's weight: but one can quite accurately arrive at the right answer to the question given that it is a simple multiple choice question. How do I put it delicately... Ms Lee is plain stupid. Her very poor command of English should tell you that she would have probably struggled to pass her PSLE English exam and the fact that she doesn't understand this maths questions means that she is not particularly clever. Duh.

Despite the fact that we all know the right answer now (60 grams), many idiots (I'm going to call a spade a spade) have posted comments like "I think the answer is 6g" or "is the answer 600g?" - this is a real #facepalm moment. Great, these people have no shame and will gladly announce to the world that they are too dumb to work out a simple maths question designed for 12 year old kids. Come on people. If you don't know the answer, at least have the discretion to keep your big mouth shut and not announce to the world just what a total idiot you are, please. Duh. This is when I question the quality of journalism n Singapore.Why did the ST article choose to feature that comment by Ms Lee - should she have been spared the indignity of being publicly embarrassed like that? She made a dumb remark and many (like myself) have mocked her for it, I bet she is regretting having posted that comment in the first place.

How much do these coins weigh?

Is it a straight forward maths question? No it isn't - but it does test the student's ability to apply mathematical principles to solve problems. One British friend said that this could be a physics question as it deals with concepts of weight, mass and estimation; so perhaps it could have been a question that could have been in the science rather than the maths exam. Regardless of whether this is a maths or a science question, it is a good question as it challenges students to think out of the box. I don't believe for a moment that all students can be coached to straight As at the PSLE, that is just not the way nature works; instead there is a bell curve when it comes to the distribution of intelligence and you need questions like that to find out who the really intelligent kids are. By that token, the maths exam has got to contain some questions that most kids will struggle to answer, such is the nature of such exams.

But regardless of whether such questions end up in the PSLE maths, science or even English exam, I am glad that such questions are indeed a part of the PSLE (and ultimately count towards their total aggregate score) because they will make the young students think about how they can apply their knowledge when it comes to solving problems they will encounter in the real world. Students should not be bludgeoned through years of hard work, revision and tuition just to score well in an important exam, education should have a higher purpose than that because it should ultimately prepare students for the working world. Studying for exams couldn't be more different from the stuff us working adults do on a daily basis to earn a living so I would like to see a lot more questions like that in the PSLE maths syllabus.

I have worked years in finance and media but I have never ever used mathematics at work - in fact, it is probably the most useless thing I have studied at school but once in a while, life does present an opportunity for you to use mathematics. Let me give you an example. At the supermarket, there are two sizes for the apricot jam: the small jar (400 grams) costs £2.25 and the bigger jar (650 grams) costs £3.50. Obviously, the bigger jar of jam is slightly cheaper per gram as the supermarket wants to encourage shoppers to buy the bigger jar. So let's say, there's a special offer on and the price of the smaller jar of apricot jam is reduced to £2.15 but the price of the bigger jar is unchanged during this sale - can you work out in your head (without a calculator) which size offers better value for money? Leave your answers in the comments section below but please, no cheating.

So what would you do in this case, in the supermarket, in the real world? Chances are, you would not be able to do all the calculations in your head, you would whip out your phone, fire up the calculator app and work it out that way. Such is the real world - nobody expects you to do any real mathematics anymore, not without the help of a calculator or computer anyway. I had to write an invoice earlier today for some work that I had done recently, there were some calculations which I could have done the old fashioned way but I used Excel to do the calculations as I didn't want to risk making any mistakes.  This is why I wonder when the PSLE syllabus is finally going to catch up with the modern world and set questions like that for students to solve, allowing them to use a calculator to arrive at the right answer. Trying to use mathematics to somehow gauge the intelligence or ability of a student is such an old fashioned concept.

Can you make the leap from the textbook to the real world?

I have blogged a lot about how misguided Singaporean parents are - too many simply bludgeon their children through hours and hours of tuition and classes, but never allow them to do simple tasks like cook a meal, go to the shops on their own or even take a bus on their own. The worst part is that the children involved are oblivious to how awful their parents' parenting skills are and they think that they are being good children by doing as they are told. The result is that these children are unable to use any kind of initiative of their own when faced with a somewhat unusual question like this maths question and their inability to solve such a problem is more a reflection on the terrible parenting skills of your average Singaporean parent today. Certainly, if you have done any kind of grocery shopping in any supermarket, you would have some idea of how much 60 grams is - come on people, it isn't rocket science.

The whole situation is best summarized by the article from TNP, "There will be numerous occasions in life where you don't have all the information to make an informed decision. So you will just have to make a choice based on your most logical guess." However, I do think this sets a good precedent for future PSLE students. I can imagine maths teachers, tuition teachers and parents will come up with all kind of interesting experiments to prepare students for the PSLE in the future - this will undoubtedly open up a new dimension of mathematics for future students and hopefully, it will make mathematics more interesting and relevant to the real world. So if you can get over the idiotic reactions by the stupid Singaporean parents, this is actually a step in the right direction for the Singaporean education system.

Why are so many people bothered by this simple question?

So that's it from me on this issue. Over to you: what do you make of this PSLE maths question? Did you find it easy to arrive at the right answer? Do you think it is an appropriate question for a 12 year old student? Why are Singaporean parents reacting like that over this question? Let me know your thoughts please, as well as your answers on the apricot jam sale question above (do state your reasoning, but no calculation allowed). Many thanks for reading!