Although the Education System in Singapore has produced many
educated individuals and elevated Singapore to the status of the
First World, the Government is caught in a bind as evidenced by
the comments of the need to continue to tinker to improve the
Education System - which has been on-going since the early
1990's.
It is caught in this self-created mess, in that on the one hand the
Singapore Government tries hard to produce educated individuals who
can be independent and creative thinkers, so as to contribute
significantly to the next stage of Singapores development into the
World of Bio-Science and Creative Inventions.
Yet by creating educated individuals who can be independent and
creative thinkers, they have also opened Pandoras Box by also
creating the possibility of individuals who are creative thinkers
and who cannot be subject to the present paranoid control of all
aspects of Singapores life.
Hence, the half measures taken in tinkering with the education
system, by giving certain schools the possibility of self
regulating the need of having the O and A Level Examinations;
but not allowing Polytechnic Students of getting further University
Education immediately upon their graduation from
Polytechnics.
The decision of creating a Singapore Management University is not
any altruistic move to give Tertiary Education to Diploma Holders,
but as another money spinner industry in absorbing the large pool
of private cash that would otherwise have gone to finance young
Singaporeans going overseas to study; and also to attract the
multi-million dollars spent by the parents from this region who
also need to send their children to UK, USA and Australia for
further education.
The standards of education in Singapore, although high in result
oriented lessons, remain pathetic insofar as getting the Mind to
work as a Creative and Innovative Tool for the Singapore Economy
much like the entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, USA, UK,
Japan, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, and now China (?).
Despite several long overseas trips to UK, Germany, France, USA,
Japan and other countries since the early 1990s; the Singapore
Government still remain dissatisfied with the results which they
feel that these overseas education seem to be able to produce the
extra oomph that is missing from "home educated"
Singaporeans.
Like the blind cat that look everywhere for the mouse, they fail to
look at their own policies of paranoid control over every aspects
of Singaporean Life, every Singaporean economic requirement is met
by one or more Government Linked Companies, every bit of
information has to come from Government Controlled Media (SBC, SPH,
Media Works, Media Corp), even the initiative towards enterprise is
taken away by the strong competition from NTUC FairPrice towards
privately owned neighborhood stores.
In such an ordered society, in which free and open thinking
(political or social or literati) that surface into the public
realm will only be smacked down with the utmost urgency, to prevent
disorder from ever occurring in Singapore.
Given this paranoid environment of control, can the Singapore
Education System thrive to produce the talents that are found in
abundance in the USA, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Korea, Australia and now in China?
These are the countries that the Singapore Government envy for the
strength of their creative talents and enterprise that make their
countries into economic industrial power houses; and which
Singapore is sorely lacking despite our recognized and lauded high
standards of education.
These are the talents that will be sorely needed to mould Singapore
into a strong economic powerhouse that can be comparable to at
least Taiwan or Hong Kong, if Singapore cannot emulate the Japanese
or Koreans, or the Economic Power Nations of Europe and the
USA.
Quote Posted by Tripwire:
the GOVT can only do so much at the macro level... while their
influence is great... they cant and dont influence the minds and
thoughts of every people in singapore....
The Government has done too much at the macro level to serve their
own interests, and I will question your statement that the
Singapore Government dont influence the minds and thoughts of
every people in Singapore
.
