Essay: Has Singapore’s education system brought more harm than good to society?

Did you know that 76% of students still worry for a test in Singapore despite being well-prepared? Singaporean students are well-known for their exceptional performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) annually. They have been ranked first for Mathematics, Science and Reading. However, many have argued that despite the excellent results Singapore’s education system has produced, it has brought more harm than good to society. It must be argued that Singapore’s education system has done more harm than good due to it causing stress in students, parents having an unhealthy obsession with their children’s results, and a lack of preparedness for the future.
As mentioned previously, the Singapore education system has produced excellent results. The streaming programme used in the Singapore education system has made learning much more efficient for students in mainly two ways. The streaming system facilitates the sorting and classification of students into respective streams that are suitable to their learning needs. In Primary Four, students are sorted into various streams based on their results in Primary Two and Three. The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) effectively sorts the students into streams like Special, Express, and Normal, according to how well they did in the examination. This allows each student to be sorted into a stream that is most suited to their pace of learning. By placing students in streams that match their abilities, learning can then be customised and tailored to suit the learning needs of each student. Teachers can then alter their content to suit the dynamics of their class. Furthermore, streams will consist of students that have similar learning paces, resulting in more efficient and effective learning. The streaming programme in Singapore also includes a Gifted Education Programme (GEP) which occurs in Primary Three. The programme is targeted at uncovering the hidden potential in intellectually gifted students. Students sit for a test in Primary Three, where potential students are identified, and given the opportunity to join the GEP. The GEP provides these students with additional enrichment programmes like Primary Mathematics Masterclass, Primary Science Masterclass, ‘Actitude’ Leadership Camp, and more. These programmes help to harness the full ability of these students. Their talent and potential can then be cultivated from a young age. They also cover more advanced content, allowing them to learn at a pace that is more suitable for them. Placing these intellectually gifted students in a normal class might cause them to “become mediocre, indifferent or disruptive” due to the difference in learning pace. (Loo, Janice). Hence, placing intellectually gifted students in such a programme would make learning more efficient for them. Therefore, placing students in streams that are suitable to their pace of learning will result in learning becoming more effective for them.
However, it still must be argued that despite its positive impact, the education system has done more harm than good. There are various examples of how the education system in Singapore has placed a lot of stress and pressure on its students. The education system in Singapore practices the use of meritocracy, which means that one’s success is determined solely by one’s academic achievements. As a result, a lot of emphasis is placed on the academic achievements of the child – it becomes essential to do well in school in order to succeed in Singapore. This causes students to develop a mindset that one’s self worth can only be defined by their grades. Hence, most students feel stressed out by the need to maintain good grades. According to a study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 86% of Singapore students were worried about poor grades at school. (Davie, Sandra). This once again highlights how such a system has resulted in worry and anxiety among students towards their results. Next, Singapore’s education system requires students to go through the PSLE, a national examination at the tender age of twelve. The examination determines the stream and educational pathway of the child. In this examination, the student’s performance is compared with other students in Singapore. This places a large amount of stress on students as they are being compared to around 29,000 other students in Singapore. This is a lot of pressure to place on a twelve-year-old. Moreover, the education system in Singapore focuses more on a quantitative approach rather than a holistic approach for assessment. Holistic assessment has been suggested by parents as a way to reduce stress levels in children. (Tong Li Ratnam-Lim, Christina, Tan Heng Kiat, Kelvin). The current quantitative assessment used in the education system could be a key reason as to why many Singapore students are stressed out. According to OECD, Singapore students were found to have higher levels of anxiety as compared to students from other countries. Thus, this proves that the education system has caused a lot of stress and pressure in students.
Not only has the education system negatively impacted students, but it has also negatively impacted parents as it has caused them to develop an obsession towards their children’s results. There are various examples of how the education system has negatively affected parents psychologically. Firstly, the abovementioned practice of meritocracy in Singapore has resulted in elitism, with some schools like Raffles Institution appearing prestigious or elite (Phneah, Jeraldine; Tan, Jason). The desire to enroll their child in such schools has resulted in some parents developing an obsession towards their children’s results. For example, it was reported in The Straits Times that one mother would physically hit her child for every mark he did not receive of his mother’s expected grade (Hussain, Amir). Furthermore, 80% of 70 Singapore students surveyed say that their parents had previously compared their results with other children (Lim, Shee-ann). Parents not only expect their children to achieve stellar grades, but to also top the class. This is reflected in OECD’s findings where it was reported that 82% of students surveyed wanted to be the top of their class (Davie, Sandra). This could be due to having to meet the high expectations of their parents. It was also reported in another The Straits Times article that despite scoring above 80 out of 100 marks for an examination, a child was berated for being careless on one of the questions (Teng, Amelia). The constant obsession with results and rankings of their children show how severely the education system has affected them psychologically.
Besides negatively impacting both child and parent psychologically, the education system is unable to sufficiently prepare students for the future. The education system has resulted in mainly two negative effects on the preparedness level of students for the future. The current structure of the education system uses a more quantitative approach, (Tan H. K, Kelvin. Tan, Charlene. Chua S.M, Jude) where it focuses more on the use of drills and practices in order to ensure that the child is able to answer various questions in the syllabus. Students are not holistically assessed, but instead are assessed by their ability to regurgitate what they’ve been taught in class. No real learning occurs, and this results in many students not being able to perform in practical situations. Employers are looking out for more than just theoretical knowledge – employees need to be able to display that they can apply the knowledge and skills they’ve learnt in school in real-life situations. To add on, this practice has resulted in people being more interested in the results and answers rather than the process of learning. Students will then be accustomed to this approach, and will continue to give “model answers” in the future in the workplace. This thus reduces students’ innovation and creativity, which could be crucial points of differentiation between a pass or fail in a job interview (Tan, Chin Hwee). Hence, the current structure of the education system fails to sufficiently prepare students for the future.
In a nutshell, despite Singapore’s education system being one of the best in the world, it has resulted in multiple undesirable trade-offs like negative psychological impacts on both parent and child, and also a lack of preparedness for the future. As such, it must be strongly argued that the disadvantages of the education system outweigh the advantages. However, I hope and believe that in the future Singapore will be able to find a way to overcome this challenge and reconstruct its education system in a way that will be able to eliminate these problems.