Overseas Kids are better?

[2ppaamm]

micko07:

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).

You really think so?

[2ppaamm]

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]

[micko07]

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.

[2ppaamm]

:censored:

[ruohoo97]

2ppaamm:

.... It is not difficult for our kids to excel in almost any country, as long as we continue to be vigilant parents and encourage our kids to work hard to achieve their dreams.


However, going overseas gives the children a chance to learn independence, even if the parents go along. Outside Singapore, children are allowed to make errors so they learn more, especially in the important life skills department. Certainly and ironically, they think more, and are more confident to speak up. I hope our Singaporean children absorb more of such a culture without losing our own specialty in studying hard. When they come back, they will really shine if we parents do our jobs well. :celebrate:

Happened to come across this thread, wow, what an eye opening! Thanks for all had shared their views, esp, 2ppaamm's. :thankyou: