Tuesday, November 21, 2006 / 9:46 PM
I was a graduate of Singapore Polytechnic, and continued my studies in Singapore Institution of Management (SIM). There is one thing about SIM which I disliked and a total turn-off, the computer labs. In Singapore Polytechnic, you can access to any of their computer labs and use them as long as you have your student pass. Researching and doing work in school was never a problem.
In SIM, the labs are solely for lectures, means that students are not able to use it, even if it’s studies-related other than during the lectures. SIM have about 9 labs, and I find it pretty amusing that they went on to the extent of locking the room whenever that time slot is not meant for lectures. When the lecture is over, an IT personnel will come in to ask students to shut down and leave, then lock the labs. I do not know if SIM does worried about people breaking into their labs, I always see security guards pacing on Level 5. I can rationale from their viewpoint that it is a measure to save resources, but as a student of the school, I find it ridiculous. The computer labs should be part of the facilities which we paid for in our school fees. I once asked one of the managers in SIM as regard to the breakdown of the school fees, she mentioned that the fees we paid for each individual unit includes the facilities provided by the school. So I asked her, what facilities do the school provides? She said: ‘Library. The benches, table..’ and she could not go on. Yes, library does have a cyberstation where students can use the computer. The computers in the library has NO Microsoft Office (yes, there is notepad), and usually it is full. In any case, which school does not have benches and chairs? Funny eh.
The school is expanding fast, taking in more students and the size of the library, the number of computers still remains the same. The facilities within the school, from what I see, is definitely not enough to cater to most of the students. Now, they are trying to save resources by locking up the labs, and in my opinion, at the students’ expense. The school is very crowded, especially during the exams periods. Talking about a conducive environment for doing your revision? We paid the same dollars, and things are being more stretched out than before. Now, they are saving the electricity, the next could be the toilet papers, who knows?
Labels: Schools
