Scholarships

last SG · 2006-12-28T02:11:12+00:00

Is the elite blogger on scholarship?

Mid9Sun SG

I have an impression that majority of the scholarships were awarded to those kids with elite background. If so are they really smart and intelligent??
or there's something else...

Anyone knows how many were awarded to our friends and neighbours in the peasant districts and how many were given to those brats with uncaring elite face??

pinkish purple papayas SG

LKY scholarship! Waaaa…...ELITE wor..!

Darkness_hacker99 SG

Why award those elite student with cash scholarship when they are really very rich already? If I am not wrong, the elite student already have their parents forcing them to tuition and therefore they got good result. With soooo much resources at their disposal, why should we award the scholarship* to them where many more student need it urgently most.

*previous error corrected

Diehard_89 SG

I agree!

elite students with rich background still want to aim for those scholarships

this is stealing places for those who cannot afford but have the abilities lor Evil or Very Mad

maggot SG

The "job positions" tag along with the scholarships is what those elites are after Laughing

vito_corleone SG

didnt u read the elite girl article on cnn? only 7% awarded to the peasants Laughing

vito_corleone SG

meritocracy mah, whoever earns it gets it Laughing

dakkon_blackblade SG

Well, under the Singapore meritocratic system, civil service scholarships are awarded according to merit, not on a need-based system. Hence your academic and CCA achievements matter, but not your socio-economic background. The government uses scholarships to rope in the top talents, not to help those in need to attain higher education.

I believe there are some scholarships in Singapore awarded on a needs-basis, but these are relatively rare, with only a handful given out each year.

Quincey SG

I guess there are two main arguements that can be identified from this issue. One is that the ‘meritocratic’ means in awarding scholarship irregardless of income background will allow individuals to be awarded for their academic achievements based upon their talents and not their income background. Hence, the scholarship system will effectively identitfy ‘talent’ and not be transformed into a welfarist mechanic. Others will argue that those who are academically inclinded possess the resources in the first place which enable them to succeed academically. Hence, Scholarships should function as a means to re-allocate resources to those who never had a chance to possess of equal opportunity.

Wakus SG

More like whoever's parents can pay for it...(hardcore tuition, hardcore psycho elite...) Will get it...

Marco_Simone SG

I got a local govt scholarship

my father has only sec 1 edn,my mother has o levels

Combined salary=<$2000.

How elite can I be??? Wink

oxford mushroom SG

Some 25 years ago, when we applied for PSC scholarships, I can say that a large proportion of those awarded scholarships were in the low to lower middle income groups. We all came from families with incomes below the tax bracket. Our parents are hawkers, taxi drivers, cleaners and housewives. Of my batch of friends who were awarded government scholarships, I cannot remember anyone who had tuition and certainly none of us were driven to school. Many of us could not afford to subscribe to the Straits Times and had to read discarded old newspapers to improve our language skills.

But we were hungry for success. We desperately wanted to escape the poverty we grew up with and saw that a good education was the only way for us to climb the social ladder. We didn't join the well-off kids in A&W restaurants (no Mac in those earlier days) or dance to John Travolta's songs in the tea dances that were the craze of the time. We spent all our spare time studying or giving tuition to buy a reference book. We did not even go to the canteen during recess...to save money we brought sandwiches and did our homework at the same time. We wanted to complete all the assignments so that we had more time to revise in the evening.

Scholarships were a great leveller and provided an opportunity for low income families to raise their stations in life, provided they possessed the ability.

Things have changed over the years. We see far fewer poor families than 25 years ago. Given that the distribution of talent in a given population is not necessarily skewed towards any particular income group, we now see more scholarship holders who are economically better off, because most families are better off today than they were 25 years ago.

There is no doubt that children of wealthy families still have a better start in life. That's a fact of life. But the odds against children of poor families are not as great as they were 25 years ago. The question is: Are these children as hungry as we were for success and how much are they prepared to sacrifice to achieve a better life? [/url]

fymk SG

OM I might have agreed with you in a retrospective way .

You have to know that in those days, they only take academic scores into considerations. Now you got the CCAs and what's not to get into JC - poor kids don't have that opportunity. Some scholarships have the criteria of doing community work....well how is the poor going to help the poor when they have to help their own parents out to survive?

Wakus SG

I agree with you that scholarships are indeed a great leveller as you say. They help provide kids with opportunities that their parents dare dream of. Scholarships are awarded to kids who have achieved outstanding acadamic grades in their respective fields...

But more and more of these vehicles which helps promising students, are being given to those who are better off yet not necessarily of great intellect and maturity...

Tell me if i'm wrong...the average scholarship achiever now, has hardcore tuition which their parents are able to afford, and on top of that probably has studied in a top JC...And their parents drill them into success, where there is no room for failure...thats the elite child that Singapore is churning today...

And the normal Singaporean family (which you say is not poor), tells their kid who is studying in a lower-end JC, "study hard cause thats all you have. Sorry we cant give you anything extra, we can just pay you your school fees and thats that." The kid studies hard, but he cant achieve the same level of competency as the kid who has even better support.

And your question: Are these children as hungry as we were for success and how much are they prepared to sacrifice to achieve a better life?

I feel that abit sweeping, not all the children are not hungry, then again are you assuming the reason they dont get the scholarship is because they are not hungry?

25 years ago, i can say you were right. Now? It's not the same...

Wakus SG

Well done and good job..do us proud!!!! What scholarship ah?

Diesel_Dimension SG

but giving scholarships to ppl who can’t study is like dumping the $$ into the sea.. so might as well give to the elites make them happy abit..

Wakus SG

I agree with you fully....

But what about those kids who come from normal families who also make the cut for those scholarships, yet dont make it?

this is the growing number of kids we're seeing...

Quincey SG

I’m sure nobody has any qualms about giving scholarships to those deserving, irregardless of financial background. However, more has to be done to aid those who are not as academically inclinded, but are determined to craft up a life for themselves and are curtailed by their financial background. Afterall, one of the failings of meritocracy are those who get left behind becuase they do not measure up with the ‘cream of the crop’. Adopting a mentality that these are ‘social repurcussions’ is just unacceptable and inhumane. I believe there is a need for trust or funds to be set up not just for deserving students, but for those eager and yearning to reach a higher plateau, but are held back because of their social and financial situation.

vito_corleone SG

which person made the cut got rejected? lets have some names leh Laughing

Wakus SG

I dont have names ah....hence i cant support this argument that well...

even if i have those names, i dont think you can help them...

but thats besides the point...

Since i cant support it i'll take it back...

The point i was trying to make is more and more are going up. but hey open to arguments