Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stressed in his entire speech that education is the way towards a better future for the younger generation and put forth several ideas and plans regarding education. In my opinion, some of them can be carefully considered as they are important for the future of the country but others are simply unrealistic.
Take for example the idea of raising the proportion of every cohort that receives subsidised education in the three state funded universities from the current 25% to 30% by 2015 as well as building a forth state-funded university. I think this is a fantastic idea and is no doubt an important decision that can shape the future of Singapore. By raising the proportion of students that are eligible for subsidy, more students can afford to pursue their university education in Singapore while building a forth university would mean that there would be more places in every courses, providing a wider variety for students to choose from. Such a move would see an increase in the number of university graduates in Singapore in the future. Even though more state funds would be transferred for such a cause, I believe that it is a worthwhile investment. More opportunities for Singaporeans to pursue a higher degree of education would equip them with the necessary skills before they enter the workforce and put them in a better position in terms of job prospects.
On the micro level, it would be great to see more people having better education and job opportunities. However, the situation would be even better on the macro level. Better employment rates would mean good social stability within the country because less people become unhappy regarding job opportunities. Whereas better education for more people would mean that the workforce is more highly skilled in general and this would attract investors to open firms here as well as aid the growth of our local Multi-national Companies, which would help develop the country further and allow the economy to scale greater heights.
Unfortunately, not every idea proposed should be seriously considered like this one. As quoted from PM Lee,"First, the Malay Special Programme to study Malay as a third language. It’s there already in all the schools, but it’s not very popular. So, we’re going to introduce incentives to encourage more students to do the Malay Special Programme. Singaporeans like incentives, so we’re going to have small incentives -- two bonus points for JC admission and a few more things".
If this Language Special Programme were to go ahead, imagine to number of students who would choose to study the language for the 2 bonus points instead of due to genuine interest for the language. Cynics would argue that not all students take up languages only for easier entry into junior colleges but the fact that the Malay Special Programme is not popular says it all. Singaporean students do not have the interest to study Malay and even if small incentives were given, students would simply study for the sake of studying, which defeats the purpose of grooming students who can communicate effectively in Malay.
Moreover, if 2 bonus points were to be given to students who take up languages, does this apply to all languages? It would be blatantly unfair if students currently studying a third language are not given the same incentive. I, for the record, am a student who take the Japanese Elective Programme, yet no additional bonus points were awarded and I can only curse and swear at my peers who enter better junior colleges because they were given an additional 2 points for taking up the Chinese Elective Programme. Is learning the Japanese, French and German language less of an advantage to Singapore compared to learning Chinese and Malay? There is no doubt the need to have people being able to communicate effectively in the mother tongue of the greatest populated race as well as in the National language. However, we should not forget the rationale of implementing third language courses in the first place, which is to groom students to become future delegation to these superpowers. In what way should students taking up these languages deserve less of a merit as compared to those who study Chinese and Malay? I am sure that implementation of the above idea would be met by huge outcries from students like me and hence I believe that it is not realistic to go ahead with such an idea.
The Singapore education scene has the makings of a great success with some of the ideas proposed by PM Lee. However, it has to be kept in view that only the pragmatic and important ones should be implemented, if not we could well see Singapore's education moving in the opposite direction.
Take for example the idea of raising the proportion of every cohort that receives subsidised education in the three state funded universities from the current 25% to 30% by 2015 as well as building a forth state-funded university. I think this is a fantastic idea and is no doubt an important decision that can shape the future of Singapore. By raising the proportion of students that are eligible for subsidy, more students can afford to pursue their university education in Singapore while building a forth university would mean that there would be more places in every courses, providing a wider variety for students to choose from. Such a move would see an increase in the number of university graduates in Singapore in the future. Even though more state funds would be transferred for such a cause, I believe that it is a worthwhile investment. More opportunities for Singaporeans to pursue a higher degree of education would equip them with the necessary skills before they enter the workforce and put them in a better position in terms of job prospects.
On the micro level, it would be great to see more people having better education and job opportunities. However, the situation would be even better on the macro level. Better employment rates would mean good social stability within the country because less people become unhappy regarding job opportunities. Whereas better education for more people would mean that the workforce is more highly skilled in general and this would attract investors to open firms here as well as aid the growth of our local Multi-national Companies, which would help develop the country further and allow the economy to scale greater heights.
Unfortunately, not every idea proposed should be seriously considered like this one. As quoted from PM Lee,"First, the Malay Special Programme to study Malay as a third language. It’s there already in all the schools, but it’s not very popular. So, we’re going to introduce incentives to encourage more students to do the Malay Special Programme. Singaporeans like incentives, so we’re going to have small incentives -- two bonus points for JC admission and a few more things".
If this Language Special Programme were to go ahead, imagine to number of students who would choose to study the language for the 2 bonus points instead of due to genuine interest for the language. Cynics would argue that not all students take up languages only for easier entry into junior colleges but the fact that the Malay Special Programme is not popular says it all. Singaporean students do not have the interest to study Malay and even if small incentives were given, students would simply study for the sake of studying, which defeats the purpose of grooming students who can communicate effectively in Malay.
Moreover, if 2 bonus points were to be given to students who take up languages, does this apply to all languages? It would be blatantly unfair if students currently studying a third language are not given the same incentive. I, for the record, am a student who take the Japanese Elective Programme, yet no additional bonus points were awarded and I can only curse and swear at my peers who enter better junior colleges because they were given an additional 2 points for taking up the Chinese Elective Programme. Is learning the Japanese, French and German language less of an advantage to Singapore compared to learning Chinese and Malay? There is no doubt the need to have people being able to communicate effectively in the mother tongue of the greatest populated race as well as in the National language. However, we should not forget the rationale of implementing third language courses in the first place, which is to groom students to become future delegation to these superpowers. In what way should students taking up these languages deserve less of a merit as compared to those who study Chinese and Malay? I am sure that implementation of the above idea would be met by huge outcries from students like me and hence I believe that it is not realistic to go ahead with such an idea.
The Singapore education scene has the makings of a great success with some of the ideas proposed by PM Lee. However, it has to be kept in view that only the pragmatic and important ones should be implemented, if not we could well see Singapore's education moving in the opposite direction.
