This topic is kinda old but let me say a few words to those who
are willing to listen.
Yes, indeed the Singapore government is biased, but why do you
think that JC students with Cs and Bs are able to enter into NUS?
The truth is, not many of them will be able to enter into "Good"
courses. What do I mean by "good" courses? Its those popular ones
like Engineering, SoC, etc.
When I entered into NUS 2 years ago, the cut-off grade for NUS
Engineering was AAB, can you believe it? It means that students who
score BBB or BBC are not able to get into NUS Engineering! Besides
that, the entire cohort has almost 40-50% students who scored
either AAA or AAAA (+ S-papers ) in the A levels.
Let me ask you back the question. Who then, should be allowed to
enter into the course? Those with AAAA or those with a COM from
poly?
Besides, when I entered into year2, Electrical Engineering took in
some numbers of Poly grads. Those poly grads who are supposedly to
be the creme de la creme of the polys. But sadly, when I looked at
the way those poly grads who topped their cohort, the truth does
not reflect well on them.
Let me raise a real-life comparison. A JC student who scores only,
say AAB (the minimum grade allowed) and a poly grad who scores ADs
and is the top 1% of his cohort. They are both in the second-year.
When you do a comparison between their level of understanding, and
their ability to apply concepts, the answer is really obvious as
who comes out as the winner.
I must agree that poly grads are good at hands-on stuffs. When it
comes down to more theoretical concepts, they are not able to grasp
it. I am generalizing.
Also, the writer of this thread says that the government is
restricting the number of people allowed to pursue university
education. But lets put it this way, university education is not
for everyone. The annual fee is $5650 (subsidised). Without
subsidy, the annual fee comes up to $20000. That is to say that,
the government is subsiding a student up to $80K per student. If
the government allows any Tom, Dick and Harry to enter into the
university, it is simply wasting the taxpayer's money.
Look we are talking about input and output. The government inputs
$60K and then gets a grad without substantial standard, is it worth
it? The question here is really whether it is worth it to push
everyone through university education.
In the case of the foreign student, I do not agree with the
writer's views. Foreign students are very very very intelligent.
They have exceptional IQ and the ability to grasp concepts. I know
tonnes of them. They are hands-down winner when it comes to
understanding. Therefore, it can be understood why the government
is willing to sponsor them.
We're talking about Gaussian distribution here (Normal
Distribution). Among their cohort, perhaps the poly grads seemed to
be able to fare better. But once they are pit against the creme de
la creme of the nation (+foreigners), they are at the bottom end of
the ladder. Need I say more? It does not matter if you are the best
of the worst. What matters most is being the best of the
best.
It is a competitive society. Life sucks. C'est La Vie. Get used to
it.
