JohnTan shared an article by Christopher Ng Wai Chung from
http://treeofprosperity.blogspot.sg/2017/12/brutal-truths-about-polytechnic.html
Reproduced at :
http://www.domainofexperts.com/2017/12/brutal-truths-about-polytechnic.html
As a parent of two kids, issues affecting Polytechnic students
and graduates are important issues to me because, at this moment, I
still lie behind the Rawlsian veil. I am concerned that if my
children did not qualify for a seat in a local university and end
up studying in a Polytechnic/ITE, they will face an uncertain
future with the gig economy.
I think many parents have this fear but they are too ashamed to
admit it because it hurts the feelings of 50% of their friends.
Also, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with turning out
average. It's only wrong in a place like Singapore.
I echoed my fears and shared my deepest concerns with a friend I
know, whom in my opinion, is best positioned to address my fears
because he is very successful in business, lectured in
polytechnics, and are intimately close with the problem at hand. He
is a straight-talking fellow.
In summary, the conversation left me more shaken than
before.
I asked my friend, why not put two and two together and have
Singapore's startup eco-system draw their recruits primarily from
Polytechnics, specifically poly graduates who are not going into
local universities, instead of waging a price war for local
university graduates?
He said that most startups would be, privately, unwilling to
hire the 80% of the polytechnics cohort. My friend commented that
our education system sorts people out "far too well". I read this
as a hint that people's motivations correlates well to their
academic positions in the local education system.
The conversation then took an even darker turn...
My friend said that he can teach a polytechnic class and he will
know exactly who is on their way towards a local university within
one week of interacting with his students. My interpretation of
this statement is that the polytechnic population is now
bimodal.
20% of poly graduates are elites from the secondary school
cohort who possibly wanted to avoid JC because they hate PE and CL2
lessons. These guys will go to a local university and become
leaders of the future industry.
The government will then praise the polytechnic system for
producing such corporate heroes and declare that we have an
egalitarian meritocracy. But that still leaves 80% to be destined
to join the gig economy after getting a diploma if they don't sign
up for some private degree program.
I then asked what can the 80% be hired to do after we transform
into a Smart City ? Are we being blinded to to the needs of the
middle class given that the 20% of poly grads are becoming doctors
and lawyers and seem to be doing better and better every year?
My friend did not answer the question directly despite being a
really smart guy.
After the conversation took a detour into several other areas,
he said that perhaps his average students can be hired to do admin
work, but cautioned me that such work needs to be documented very
carefully, or the work would not be done properly. Perhaps, he did
not have confidence that the average poly graduate would have any
initiative in the corporate world at all.
We did not come up with any clear solutions that day beyond the
flippant idea that unhappy Singaporeans may make a bigger
difference if they build a career in a second tier city in China
like Chongqing or Australia.
For this Christmas, when we think about compassion and empathy,
the general idea is for us to focus on the bottom 5-20%. This is
why elites like to focus on charity work. Helping the disabled and
homeless makes us feel so good and superior to the other
Singaporeans who do less charity. Also, the story behind the
struggling single mum who has to raise intellectually disabled
children can easily make us cry.
There is no compassion or empathy for the median Singaporean
because if you are median, there are an equal number of people who
are both better and worse off than you. The story of the Singlish
speaking dude who spending weekends LAN gaming at Parklane and
nights fapping to anime porn is more likely to make us go
"Meh."
But not thinking about giving a decent life for the average
Singaporean is what can poison a good society. World events in 2017
have shown that Populism can upstage a great government once hope
is lost. Populations can turn against free trade and capitalism
even if it better for them over the long term.
Asa result of our apathy, the people who just want to see the
world burn will grow stronger.
My friend said that even friending his students can be a
negative experience. His students are the ones who spell
Singaporeans "Sinkies" or "Sinkaporeans" and find every excuse
blame the 70%.
It's very easy every Christmas to brag about the good we do for
the unfortunate or the poor.
But it's much harder to admit that we did not spare a thought
for the average fellow citizen who is facing the latest round of
disruption from our transformation to a Smart City.
For this Christmas, I am admitting it right now.
Christopher Ng Wai Chung
Source :
http://treeofprosperity.blogspot.sg/2017/12/brutal-truths-about-polytechnic.html
Reproduced at :
http://www.domainofexperts.com/2017/12/brutal-truths-about-polytechnic.html