What does Singapore need from its next generation

[zac's mum]

From a cynical parent: this is what happens when our entire country’s education system has always revolved around rewarding the best academic scorers. It filters through into our entire nation’s psyche. Humanity is forgotten; or rather, relegated to lesser importance.


In the future age of AI and robotics, we should shift our reward system to those with better EQ and people skills instead. Surely our educators and professors can come up with ways to do so, instead of the current minor tweaks to “reduce weightage on academic exams”.

[sharonkhoo]

I actually replied earlier, but must have forgotten to submit! Got interrupted.


I think parents and society and the "system" all have to go through a mindset shift in order to change things:
1. Recognise effort as much as, or more than, results. Not that we ignore results, but we need to tilt towards effort.
2. Encourage kids to focus on interest, satisfaction, service, altruism etc more than money. Learn to live simply and earn enough to live comfortably; there’s no need to be the richest guy on the block. And I daresay that the hospital cleaner is more valuable to the nation than the marketer who encourages people to buy more stuff they don’t need.

And parents should:
3. Let the kids "suffer" more - do more chores, make mistakes, pick themselves up, face consequences etc.
4. Give kids more independence as they grow so they learn to manage more things on their own - there’s no need to do everything for them.
5. Take care of themselves - mentally, socially, physically, etc - so the kids are free to explore different careers without worrying about parents.

[00skyblue00]

True - no hunger as compared to regional kids, for the general group. The tops kids are still motivated for success but Heard in RI, RGS etc top schools, there are many non native sg kids too.

[lee_yl]

A friend sent me a Reddit post was about a JC student who shared about his suicidal thoughts after he could not get his 1st and 2nd choice CCA. My initial reaction was “roll eyes”.


My thinking was similar to what Lily Kong has shared. For what want to die over petty things like not getting their choice CCAs? :slapshead:

Ranted this to DH but he said something that hit me. During our era, there was less at stake when it came to CCA. We only needed that 2 CCA bonus points for school admission after O level. But for the younger generation (including my children), they view it very differently. Nowadays JC kids are focused in building portfolios outside academic results. They (and their peers) know the importance of non academic outcomes that will give them the edge at University admission and scholarship applications. We all know that by holding important roles at the Students’ Council or Uniformed groups for example, it can showcase one’s leadership qualities.

With Universities placing more weightage on ABA during application and the shift from RP90 to RP70, I foresee the kids will feel even greater pressure to beef up their portfolio so as to stand out from the rest. Will this shift from academic excellence result in more students facing more stress as an indirect consequence due to the pressure to build a strong portfolio?

[zac's mum]

Doesnt this boil down to the kids having the “path-dependent behaviours” which the article mentions?


They may have direct seniors who had gotten success via those pathways, but they lack the general experience and wider world view (which us as parents may have) to know and understand that it is not the sole pathway to success.

In fact i believe the higher this generation progresses thru their education journey, there are far more plentiful and diverse pathways to “success” than ever before.

[lee_yl]

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/off-to-uni-in-japan-and-germany-more-singaporeans-choosing-road-less-travelled-when-studying-abroad


Earlier with limited info, I imagined no one was keen to study in non Anglo-Saxon countries as I was looking at the PSC overseas scholarship list in 2022 where 65 out of 66 recipients had chosen to go USA, UK or SG.

So when Lily Kong mentioned that students nowadays avoid taking a path less travelled, it is not exactly true if she reads the latest ST article. Maybe PSC should force 3-5 overseas scholars from every batch to explore non Anglo-Saxon countries for the sake of DIVERSITY! It is also not healthy if all future leaders only come from US/UK as all will have the same mentality and worldview. No point for PSC to complain about lack of diversity, need to look at their own policy too.