The Education System

Education is an essential part of any child’s growth. It also prepares the child for the outside world. But how has the education system fared? Janelle Lee wrote a Facebook note voicing her views about the current education system and has pointed out a few areas she is unhappy about. I concur with her.

I agree with her view that the education system in Singapore is very examination-based. Students are just expected to memorize and regurgitate the facts during examination. Sad to say but she is totally right to say that students do not need to know things that are not tested in the examination. To put it in simple words, we are not expected to critique the things that we learn.

Some may argue that things have improved with the introduction of integrated programme. IP schools like Hwa Chong Institution are already changing their syllabus to incorporate a lot more things outside the school curriculum. But the emphasis is still on examination and a large part of our grade is based on the examination results.

Furthermore, there are only 11 IP schools as compared to around 124 O-Level Schools. As you can see, about 92% of the cohort still has to take the O-Level examinations. For the non-IP school, nothing has changed. There is still a lot of drilling to prepare the students for the major examination.

Well, all that we do seem to go against the true spirit of education which should encourage the students to be curious and to keep asking “Why?”. I think our current education system tend to stifle our curiosity because we really do not have much time to think out of the box and to be creative. Every day, we are just rushing to finish our homework and to catch up with the syllabus.

To me, the ideal education system is one that allows the students to ask unconventional questions, to explore things that they are curious to know rather than the textbook stuff. But is this possible at all? To be realistic, I am afraid not. We are living in this time where competition is stiff and only the fittest survive so it is hard to imagine that things will change and the pace will slow down to give the students more time to truly appreciate what we are learning.

In the world today, students enter good schools based on merits. A good school is a ticket to good education and good job with good pay eventually. Students cannot afford to do badly in major examinations. The stake is high and if the education system digresses to something else, the students may not perform just as well because they are spending less time on the things that are tested. This is not what we want either.

Lastly, the education system that Janelle wanted is good and will make sure the students learn more but we have to accept that this cannot happen in real life. If we want to stay in the competition, we have to follow the rule of the game and whether we like it or not, the fact is only the fittest survive.