Why is it important for students to keep up to date with the news?

Keeping up to date with the news is very important as it allows us to know what is currently going on in the vast world. It would be extremely embarrassing when you are chatting with a group of people about current affairs and it turned out that you have either gotten all your facts wrong or you simply do not know a single thing that they have been busy chatting all along. Therefore, I would strongly advise those who seldom read the newspaper or watch the news to start now as it is never too late to start learning as long as you have the determination to.

Today, I will be emphasising about the benefit that keeping up to date with the news can bring to you and also share some tips on how students can keep up with what is happening around them. Firstly, I would like to point out that by reading the newspaper, not only do you get to improve your general knowledge, you might also be improving your English (reading skills and vocabularies) at the same time. Don't you find this awesome as you are able to save time by "killing two birds with one stone"?

Here are some tips on keeping up with the news:

1. You can buy The Straits Times or 联合早报 newspapers from any nearby provision shop near your house.

2. You can also tune in to different timing news on television.
(If you want to watch full time news, Channel Newsasia would be best)

3. Search the web or listen to your radio broadcasts.

Last but not least, I would like to say that if you have been keeping up with the news all this while, make sure you continue the good work and do not stop. However if you have not, what are you still waiting for?

Some tips for my fellow students to stay healthy

Firstly, I would like to you to maintain proper hygiene. Always remember to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your forearm when sneezing or coughing to prevent spreading of germs. Washing of hands may seem very simple but not everyone is doing it right. Here are the 7 hand washing steps:

1. Wet hands under running water

2. Apply soap to all areas of hands

3. Rub and scrub hands for at least 15 seconds

4. Rinse hands well until no soap is left

5. Softly pat hands with a clean and dry paper

6. Use towel to turn off faucet

7. Throw used paper towel away

Next, I would like to advise you to sleep early as your body need to have enough rest. If we tend to sleep very little, our body may break down and we would easily fall sick.

Last but not least, you must have a healthy diet. We should try to eat more fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C to boost our immune systems. Exercising regularly is also essential to keep you healthy so it is best for you to go for a jog daily.

Home learning VS School

In my opinion, I feel that home learning is very fun and enjoyable as unlike normal school days, we get to use the computer to complete and submit all the various tasks assigned by different teachers. We are also free to do whatever we like as there are no restrictions at home and we can even listen to our favourite music while studying. However, this does not mean that home learning is more effective than learning in school. For both home leaning, I feel that there are both advantages as well as disadvantages.

For home learning, we are asked to study independently by ourselves and this would train us to be self-motivated and do not need to be pushed by our parents and teachers. Using the computer to do work is more productive than writing as it allows us to get neater and faster pieces of work. Sadly, the disadvantages of it are that students are unable to clarify things with the teacher when in doubt as they are not there to guide us and students may also use the time to play game unnoticed.

For learning in school, we get to enjoy the company of our friends and there will be teachers to explain to you in detail if you have any doubts or queries. We are also able to use the facilities provided (for example: Science lab) to let us have a better understanding of our subjects.

Overall, I feel that even though elearning is fun, but it cannot replace schooling.