Source :
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/04/%e2%80%9csingapore-penalises-you-if-you-are-too-weak-or-too-strong%e2%80%9d/
“Singapore penalises you if you are too weak or too
strong,” said Dr. Roland
Cheo, one of the 4 speakers, at the
Workers’ Party YouthQuake Forum Series. The topic was on Singapore
Education, and it marked the start of the second series of forums
organized by the Workers’ Party Youth Wing.
Dr. Cheo, a visiting fellow with
the Department of Economics at NUS, was rejected 4 times by the
National Institute of Education after he graduated from an US
university with a double degree at the tender age of 19. At his 4th
rejection, he was told by an insider that “it’s because you did not
do your A levels”. Disillusioned, he stopped applying after that.
Speaking to an attentive crowd, he argued that outliers tend to get
ignored in our system. While the norm tends to perform very well,
the outliers are often left behind by the system.
It is a view that Miss Kuik Shiao Yin, creative director
of a collective of social enterprises including the well-known
education institution School of Thought, concurred with. She also
believes that another problem with the education system is how too
many students are afraid of failing - a problem perpetuated by a
success-driven society and demanding parents. This has bred a
generation of Singaporeans too scared of taking risks. Singaporeans
are very exam-smart and have fared well consistently when it comes
to international rankings of math and science, but generally, not
enough focus is placed on providing a creative education. Teachers
are constrained from teaching creatively, in part because they are
taxed too heavily already, she said.
A more personal opinion was provided by Mr Bernard Chen,
secretary of the Workers’ Party Youth Wing, who has experienced
both JC and polytechnic education. He thinks that the academic
benchmark of university admissions is placed too high for
polytechnic students - with the average GPA (Grade Point Average)
of polytechnic students who have gained entry into local
universities at 3.5 to 4 (out of 4). Furthermore, the system seems
to be biased - for polytechnic students, 20% of their O Level
results determine whether they get into a local university, which
seems to be “penalising late bloomers”. JC students’ admissions, on
the other hand, depend entirely on A levels. Bernard considers
himself fortunate that he’s been accepted into a local university
as the top 10% in his cohort - but he believes more can be done for
the other 90%, a group he said would be caught in the debt cycle -
if they do not receive subsidised university education.
This intellectual forum had its fair share of fun and
laughter. For example, when Mr Chia Yeow Tong, a Ph.D Candidate at
the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, shared his research
dissertation on history education in Singapore, he mentioned how
there used to be a subject called Education For Living (EFL). Miss
Sylvia Lim, chairman of Workers’ Party, who was sitting in
the audience appeared to be nodding. Mr. Chia later added that EFL
is a subject that “most of us don’t know”, which triggered Miss
Lim’s witty comment: “What are you implying?” The audience broke
into laughter. Later on, in a response to a question an audience
member posed, Mr. Chia also argued that citizenship education in
Singapore typically does not have enough focus on teaching
democratic principles and individual rights, unlike in
Canada.
There were other relevant questions brought up by
the audience too. One of them pointed out that some students who
have been rejected by local law schools have gotten into top law
schools overseas, and quizzed whether that particular acceptance
letter from top law schools should be used to appeal for local
entrance.
Another pointed out that perhaps Singapore lacks the
critical mass and resources to cater to outliers. In response to
this, Miss Kuik argued that the problem is not so much that, but
that Singaporeans need to champion that it is okay if “you are
outstanding beyond the pack” and it “is okay to stand out (in a
different area). You can be the David Gan of dog grooming and claim
that niche. The question is: do you have the guts?”
Source :
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/04/%e2%80%9csingapore-penalises-you-if-you-are-too-weak-or-too-strong%e2%80%9d/
This is singapore for you. Everything must follow the system.
Not that it is bad, but sometimes it reminds me of the retarded
zero-tolerance policy in US schools.
