Overseas Kids are better?
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why are most of the gov’t scholars headed overseas ?
what does that imply ?
risks of going overseas : the kids won’t come back to SG after graduating …
they find their niche overseas and become very mobile with a global perspective which is of course good but … -
verykiasu2010:
That has been an observation for so long, I just find it interesting that our 'common kids' are fighting to get into the local universities but then all our best scholars and 90% of our political leaders are from overseas. Think about it: when you look at the resumes of the person, won't you be more impressed to see some quality overseas universities than local ones?why are most of the gov't scholars headed overseas ?
what does that imply ?
risks of going overseas : the kids won't come back to SG after graduating .....
they find their niche overseas and become very mobile with a global perspective which is of course good but ........
Some years back, there were some big storm about overseas scholars who refused to return to Singapore. I don't think I have that problem with my children even though they left young. If we have grounded our children with the right perspectives and values, then I think they will always love their country. In fact, some of my kids were given opportunities to be in the national team of another country, but they are reluctant to renounce their citizenships for personal glory. If the child decides to leave, then he is not worth keeping. It also reflects the effectiveness of our national education. :sad: It is sad that the gahmen seem to associate all who disagree with them to be 'opponents'. Fortunately, the 'broadmindedness' in us believes that though we disagree with a thing or two, we still respect and support our leaders. Think how much they would have gained if they are able to digest this fact and choose to seek counsel of those who have different views. -
verykiasu2010:
You know, if you have a bunch of kids going together, you have so much more options. Your younger kids can 'tag along' and go to high school, or private schools overseas, and the costs is quickly lowered. With a few families, the parents can take turns to 'watch over' the children. (I am assuming all parents are equally accountable and responsible.) That way, the effort is quickly lessened and support is in place.Pam, thanks for the comment
my kids and their friends could be going together ..... these few days are like having conferences of families liddat .... debating on which school is better, what are the options on which uni to go and which course .....
the main thinking has been along the line of whether can get into the desire courses in local u....if not then why go through the pain and then eventually end up with the same path 2 years later ......
probably will make a trip there to see the places and see how ready they are to go .... one at a time, the younger one won't be going so soon but all these discussions have opened up their options .
I didn't have that kind of support. I pretty much solo everything. You are really blessed. Have a thought. Overseas options are not that difficult to achieve, as long as we are willing to put in the effort and take those few steps. Again, weigh in the pros and cons. THERE ARE CONS, just like every system, make sure the pros outweigh them and then handle each possible disadvantage and mitigate that. Remember 孟母三迁? I always remind myself the story... seeking the best for our children if we want the best for them. -
2ppaamm, I agree with your brainstorming points. My key point is if a family have the means to support a different education approach that suits the child better then by all means, go and experience it and this would be by choice as 2ppaamm termed it ‘right side move’. It is always good exposure to experience more to make ourselves more global. However for parents without the choice, don’t worry too much because ultimately what is impt is to develop good indept thinking in yr child and continue to swim in the system. This ability can still help your child differentiates himself or herself without being cloned to be cookie-cutter product of our system. It is harder but definitely an option which most people have to rely on.
Vks2010, with our very short history of our tertiary institutions, it is tough to claim we produce the brightest people in the world. So for the leaders of the country they need to be taught by more experienced and established unis to lend more credibility to their training process to become future leaders. Having said this our local unis will eventually be the production ground of some future leaders… Eg would be Teo ser luck from ntu and probably Tay ping hui in next GE from NUS… -
ksi:
Yes, I agree that if a family is not able to send the kids overseas, then it is not end of the world. Interestingly, it is the kids from poorer families that impress me more. At least, they have 'fire in their bellies'. A few of my students from the poorer families surprise me with their tenacity and can-do attitude.2ppaamm, I agree with your brainstorming points. My key point is if a family have the means to support a different education approach that suits the child better then by all means, go and experience it and this would be by choice as 2ppaamm termed it 'right side move'. It is always good exposure to experience more to make ourselves more global. However for parents without the choice, don't worry too much because ultimately what is impt is to develop good indept thinking in yr child and continue to swim in the system. This ability can still help your child differentiates himself or herself without being cloned to be cookie-cutter product of our system. It is harder but definitely an option which most people have to rely on.
Vks2010, with our very short history of our tertiary institutions, it is tough to claim we produce the brightest people in the world. So for the leaders of the country they need to be taught by more experienced and established unis to lend more credibility to their training process to become future leaders. Having said this our local unis will eventually be the production ground of some future leaders.... Eg would be Teo ser luck from ntu and probably Tay ping hui in next GE from NUS......
I hope that more leaders will be from local unis one day, or perhaps provide local scholarships to high achievers instead of foreign universities. If is not easy to raise the standard of the university. O, I don't want to say too much, just suffice to say it is a long, long way. -
2ppaamm:
I hope that more leaders will be from local unis one day, or perhaps provide local scholarships to high achievers instead of foreign universities. If is not easy to raise the standard of the university. O, I don't want to say too much, just suffice to say it is a long, long way.
Just like to add that there are plenty of scholarships offered by the local universities, on top of the ones offered by governmental and private bodies.
I agree that it's going to be difficult to raise the standards of our local universities. We're competing with universities worldwide for talent, many of whom command far more prestige and resources than our local universities can offer (admittedly, this disparity is largely through no fault of our own). That said, it is a worthy aspiration (though with all honesty, I don't foresee any of the local universities reaching a status that rivals the top in the world like Oxbridge, the Ivies, Stanford, MIT etc, at least in the near future). -
micko07:
You really think so?
I agree that it's going to be difficult to raise the standards of our local universities. We're competing with universities worldwide for talent, many of whom command far more prestige and resources than our local universities can offer (admittedly, this disparity is largely through no fault of our own). That said, it is a worthy aspiration (though with all honesty, I don't foresee any of the local universities reaching a status that rivals the top in the world like Oxbridge, the Ivies, Stanford, MIT etc, at least in the near future). -
Have a read, have a thought. You don't have to agree to everything this writer says.
http://collegetimes.us/singapores-education-system-rigid-competitive-and-determined/
And then look at this place - the REAL (not self-proclaimed) 3rd best education system in the world.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntdYxqRce_s][/youtube] -
2ppaamm:
You really think so?
I was referring specifically to the Singaporean universities, and not the broader Singaporean education system in general (which was arguably what the article was concerned with, though I can certainly relate to some of the criticisms). There's definitely a case for arguing that there's a co-relation between the two (and I would think there is one), but I believe that they're still quite distinct.
I'm thinking specifically about two important factors why students are attracted to a university (amongst other factors like school culture, variety of activities offered, school campus, grading system, curriculum etc) - prestige and resources. Success breeds success - a chief reason why people go to all these top universities is because their systems have been shown to work well over time (whether it be the standard of eduation or graduate prospects!. In that sense, the local schools lose out because they simply don't have the same long tradition of excellence (for example, Oxford is 9 centuries old, Harvard 3 centuries old and NUS just over a cenutry old). They have to work extremely hard to break this cycle (all things being equal, fewer people would give up a place at Cambridge to study at a local U, than vice versa). This is not to say that older universities are necessarily better, but I don't think it's purely coincidental that many, if not all of the top universities are relatively older institutions.
The lack of resources also hurts our local universities. Our endowments are nowhere near that of the Ivies (or even Oxbridge for that matter) - this translates to various issues such as less funding for research, less subsidies for students (compared to the top US colleges who can match full-need, sometimes even need-blind), a higher academic to student ratio (and thuss an inability to replicate the tutorial system which Oxbridge are particularly famous for) and so on.
Something my mother pointed out was also that a) we have only 4/5 public universities at the moment, b) we have a small population (and hence, a smaller talent pool) and c) our universities are public ones (which implies they have a broader social function in educating citizens). If our universities decided they would only take top students (eg impose an AAA requirement for all subjects, regardless of popularity aka Oxford), there would undoubtedly be a huge outcry. Not all students are cut of the same cloth - students in the UK and US have many other lower-tier universities they could go to (The different branches of U of California demonstrate this IMO). If even just 1 or 2 universities did this in Singapore, this would effectively force many less academically-able students to go overseas for tertiary education, which is undoubtedly something that won't sit well with many Singaporeans or the government. (Of course, one could argue that only the best should go to university but that's a topic for another day).
Do I think there's room for improvement? Of course I do. Do I agree that some of the criticisms are valid? Yes (and I say this as someone spent 12+ years in the national system, complained fairly often about various aspects like the inability of the curriculum to be tailored to individual interests and currently studies for her undergrad degree overseas). But overall do I think that the disparity between our local universities (read: NOT our local education system generally) is largely (ie >50%) not their fault? Yes, I really think so although my reasoning is of course not fool-proof and certainly not gospel truth. -
:censored:
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