Education - For society or for me?

You know how you just finished a lecture on inequalities and you go, damn. there is inequalities EVERYWHERE. Yeah, I always end up with that thought.

And then I always think of it from the perspective of a Singaporean. Last week's lecture was on education inequalities - on whether education was a form of inequality.

I would have argued that the compulsory education up to secondary school in Singapore was a good indicator that it was not a form of inequality. It was equalizing all of us. But then I think through the kind of education that I went through - endless tuition, piles of homework from school AND tuition, supplementary classes in school AND supplementary classes from tuition for year end exams.

And I start to wonder, it is a norm for me and my siblings to get tuition, and we don't appreciate it. It isn't because we are rich; the average in Singapore can afford it, the poor can't, but I have seen many parents slog their guts out to earn money for their child to go tuition. Maybe the poorer students would appreciate the extra help at tuition more, but I knew I wasn't one of them. Tuition turned to be a norm because we (parents, not us) are so afraid of losing out. You see smart children getting constant band 1s (85% and above if i remember correctly) in tuition . Heck, i even had a student in my tuition class who was going for a primary 5 tuition class when he was only in primary 3 or 4.

SERIOUSLY?

Remind me again what tuition is for.

Do we argue that the education system is flawed? What we have created now is Elitism, where the smart might be made up those who just had more resources than others. And so why do we fight that way? I've heard so many stories on how students are selfish and won't share how to solve a problem because this would give them some form of advantage. Why so selfish, you ask. I ask, why that bell curve? Instead of creating a cohesive learning environment, we created a competitive environment where each individual goes "everything for self (society)".

Everyone fights for what the society wants - "Business and banking will take you far, son," says father. And son goes on to business and banking. Note that I didn't use daughter in my example. "Oh business requires a lot of traveling, not good for girls. If you do go in, just do HR". I'm stereotyping. I admit, not every parent does this, but this is what majority of the society is made up of. Well, you do see more and more girls in the education system in Singapore since it is mostly based on credit. But the direction? - Business Business Business. "So why are you taking business?" - "because my parent asked me to, because my friend is taking it." "Well, what about what you want?" "I don't know."

It's not easy to get into business though, you usually see the best going in there. And who are they made up of?

As if competition is not enough with the locals, foreigners join in. Honestly, I've worked with a few in my group assignments. They are either slacking off, or their standard of English is totally off. Standards of English can be improved, but you wonder sometimes. How did they manage to get into your course with THAT standard of English. I won't even hide the shock - no make that horror instead - if they told me they were a scholar. And you thought a minimum of C6 was required for an entry to a business course (or any course for that matter) in the Polytechnic.

Opportunities.

Who gets them? Or maybe I should frame it this way - Who has the better capacity to gain the opportunity? Resources are so important in today's context. It has been proven again and again in research that the rich would have better access to resources, and their opportunities for future success are much higher. And so, may I ask, whose interests is it in favor of for accepting foreign students (Please, don't use the word talent)?

Still equal?

Think again.

Books for Life - I'm a Nerd :)

Did I mention that I have been reading quite alot lately? I read quite a lot of books that I have read before, like Cleo, The Time of My Life, The Book of Tomorrow, etc. And yeap, I also read a few new books.

I finished The Way We Were by Elizabeth Noble. I found this book rather heart wrenching at the end, because unlike many other romance books, this book doesn't have a happy ending. :( But it was realistic that way. Ending it happy would result in so many others feeling unhappy. And something that I gained from this book by Melissa

"You've got to stop painting yourself as some kind of victim. You're a volunteer. You're making victims of everyone else... Your life has been what you've let it be."

Well, I re-read The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. At the end of that book, I found that there was actually a sequel for this book. *gasps* I JUST HAD TO READ THE SEQUEL. haha. "you can't read like 3 chapters and leave yourself hanging there right?" - so i got the pdf book. and i finished it in a day. "while my assignments were like piling" I KNOW. i should kill myself sometimes - always shirking that way. eeps. BUT ANYWAY, that book was really good. and i think it really shows the importance of the efforts that one puts in into a relationship, not just today and tomorrow, or 1-2 years down the marriage, but through the whole marriage, for life. And slowly, just slowly, you start to realise, that if a person loves you enough, 'not romantic enough' is just an excuse, an excuse for the lack of trying.

and guess what i'm doing now. going back to Running Man and laughing till my (non-existent) abs ache at the episodes. ah well. i can study tomorrow. "Shoot me now"