Dear Chunsz
I thought I lost the imperative to blog, until I read Chunsz’s blog. Ok, well I’m real sorry Chunsz, but I will like to direct most of my comments that I will be blogging about to you, so that at least I do not have to face the ire and wrath of the public.
YES, I do agree that talk is cheap! That day I saw in the forum in which one member of the public suggested that the ‘best’ teachers should be sent to the neighborhood schools instead of the elite ones so that on the whole, it will ensure that the students will benefit and gain more. NOW, this is rather amusing. How do you define ‘best’? Are the ‘best’ teachers the ones who produce students with the best grades? If that is indeed the benchmark, then I’m afraid no matter how you reshuffle teachers, the ‘best’ teachers will still come from the top schools.
Yup, and there has been a lot of debate in the papers about elite schools vs. neighborhood schools. Well, of course there is a difference, even within neighborhood schools themselves, so I will dare to say that it is tough to compare schools just like that. Of course, the main center of the debate happens to be on education opportunities, and this I must agree that the best and widest variety of education opportunities happens to be found in the top schools. But still, that is because (or at least there is a notion) the best students are the ones who can handle new concepts and new ideas, and it will be really tough and challenging to expect the average students to handle even more stuff on top of their basic workload. Nonetheless, the education landscape is challenging and I must say that even neighborhood schools are also having more chances and opportunities for their students apart from the normal academic syllabus. But then, it is of course a headache, as that means choosing a secondary school has much more implications than the past.
As to whether elite schools tend to reap the potential of students better, that is a pretty challenging thing to determine. Academically and monetary wise, statistics does show that the elite schools produce the bulk of this group of people. But I’m sure potential ain’t judge by this 2 criteria only. Look at our singing talents, most of them aren’t from elite schools!
Looks like I digressed from Chunsz’s post. In respond to your statements, I will dare say that the price he paid for not doing NS is really his citizenship, his family, his home. Seriously speaking, you can give leave Singapore and pursue your talent – just give up your citizenship and stopped being a Singaporean. But how many of us are willing to pay that price (I suspect many will beg to differ though if they have the ability too)? So to be fair to NS, one of his effects is indeed to instill nationhood among the guys and attempt to impede brain drain from our small nation.
A small note to add, I myself am from considerably elite schools in Singapore. But I do not deny (and know) that I would have churned out very differently if I have went to the even more prestigious schools (I’m sure you all know which ones, ahah). On the other hand, I must say that I do admit that I have lost out on the experience which people will gain from a neighborhood school. Now, looking at the people which I have met and encountered, I must say that our education experience was on the whole (like 70%) same, even with regards to teachers and the teaching environment (fine, GEP teachers are radically different though). But the main difference comes with the people whom we interact with. I for once am jealous of people whose pals all live mainly in the same neighborhood or at least near each other. It makes it so much easier for them to ‘la kopi’ lor! Haiz, poor me need to travel halfway round Singapore just to find my pals and chill out. Its like quite discouraging and a major reason why I meet up with people usually in town or city areas, and we can’t stay out too late unless we got our own private transport (or rich enough to take cabs).
Oh well, I hope I never angered anyone with this post. Remember, its directed mainly to Chunsz! Haha.
YES, I do agree that talk is cheap! That day I saw in the forum in which one member of the public suggested that the ‘best’ teachers should be sent to the neighborhood schools instead of the elite ones so that on the whole, it will ensure that the students will benefit and gain more. NOW, this is rather amusing. How do you define ‘best’? Are the ‘best’ teachers the ones who produce students with the best grades? If that is indeed the benchmark, then I’m afraid no matter how you reshuffle teachers, the ‘best’ teachers will still come from the top schools.
Yup, and there has been a lot of debate in the papers about elite schools vs. neighborhood schools. Well, of course there is a difference, even within neighborhood schools themselves, so I will dare to say that it is tough to compare schools just like that. Of course, the main center of the debate happens to be on education opportunities, and this I must agree that the best and widest variety of education opportunities happens to be found in the top schools. But still, that is because (or at least there is a notion) the best students are the ones who can handle new concepts and new ideas, and it will be really tough and challenging to expect the average students to handle even more stuff on top of their basic workload. Nonetheless, the education landscape is challenging and I must say that even neighborhood schools are also having more chances and opportunities for their students apart from the normal academic syllabus. But then, it is of course a headache, as that means choosing a secondary school has much more implications than the past.
As to whether elite schools tend to reap the potential of students better, that is a pretty challenging thing to determine. Academically and monetary wise, statistics does show that the elite schools produce the bulk of this group of people. But I’m sure potential ain’t judge by this 2 criteria only. Look at our singing talents, most of them aren’t from elite schools!
Looks like I digressed from Chunsz’s post. In respond to your statements, I will dare say that the price he paid for not doing NS is really his citizenship, his family, his home. Seriously speaking, you can give leave Singapore and pursue your talent – just give up your citizenship and stopped being a Singaporean. But how many of us are willing to pay that price (I suspect many will beg to differ though if they have the ability too)? So to be fair to NS, one of his effects is indeed to instill nationhood among the guys and attempt to impede brain drain from our small nation.
A small note to add, I myself am from considerably elite schools in Singapore. But I do not deny (and know) that I would have churned out very differently if I have went to the even more prestigious schools (I’m sure you all know which ones, ahah). On the other hand, I must say that I do admit that I have lost out on the experience which people will gain from a neighborhood school. Now, looking at the people which I have met and encountered, I must say that our education experience was on the whole (like 70%) same, even with regards to teachers and the teaching environment (fine, GEP teachers are radically different though). But the main difference comes with the people whom we interact with. I for once am jealous of people whose pals all live mainly in the same neighborhood or at least near each other. It makes it so much easier for them to ‘la kopi’ lor! Haiz, poor me need to travel halfway round Singapore just to find my pals and chill out. Its like quite discouraging and a major reason why I meet up with people usually in town or city areas, and we can’t stay out too late unless we got our own private transport (or rich enough to take cabs).
Oh well, I hope I never angered anyone with this post. Remember, its directed mainly to Chunsz! Haha.
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