Dare To Step Outside The Familiar In Education (SUBMISSION )

Link: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/173754.asp
Source: Today Newspaper
Written By: Lee U-Wen
Date Published: February 24, 2007
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Summary of Article:
According to A*Star chairman Philip Yeo, Singapore cannot afford to have its brightest students educated in only a few top schools. He stated the need for diversity, in both the talents of youngsters as well the system of education in Singapore. He encouraged parents to be daring enough to place their children in an unfamiliar system and to not conform to the socio-educational norms. He feels that the wider the education system, the better the development of talent and in the future, the better Singapore will be in terms of responding and competing globally. Mr Yeo has also agreed to talks and further discussions about his topic, as well to passing education-related advice to students.

My View:

Mr Philip Yeo is politically spot-on here. I agree with his implication that our education system will be one-dimensional if the brightest only interact with the brightest. If academically good students can go to non-top schools, they can interact and mingle with other students and this will increase exposure for both parties and make their viewpoints more wholesome. This will lead to Singapore being more competitive globally, yes. The idea sounds very nice. But in my opinion, it is not feasible.

Yes, the education system can easily be enhanced- new schemes / programmes are emerging almost daily - or moulded. But what is too rigid right now is the mindset of most parents. A typical Singaporean parent would dismiss Mr Yeo’s appeal to him/her to be bold and send his/her child to a non-top school as an “easy to say, but difficult to do lah “ case. So do I.

I study in what is considered to be a top school. When I got my PSLE results, I only considered going to top schools. To me, anything else appeared to be a step down. Now this article has made me think, would going to a non-top school made me a better person? Perhaps. Would it have been better for Singapore. Perhaps. Would it have been better for me. I don’t think so. When I apply for a job, this is something that counts. The interviewers ask you, “ Where did obtain your secondary school education?” Stating any low-ranked school and “ Raffles Institution “ will yield different results. You can tell them what Mr Yeo has said, but they won’t care. To them, the major concern is the running of their company. Similarly, the major concern of parents and students is not their country. How many people here care about how Singapore will compete globally in the future when enrolling their children? To say “a few” would be an overestimation.

A good parent will always think about his CHILD’s well-being and future, not that of Singapore, before anything else, whatever Mr Yeo and supporters of his argument might say. And it is only logical that going to a top school will result in a top future for a student.