THEME: Education - Building a Nation on Values

Every educational system must be grounded on a strong educational philosophy. What is our educational philosophy?

It may be important for schools to teach our students the job-skills and to train them to be ready for the workforce but without an early grounding in moral values that bind our families and community together, the knowledge and skill-sets that the students acquire will serve only to meet the demands of building an economy but not the building of a nation. Think of the difference between chemical farming and organic farming.

The early educational system that we had after independence was like organic farming. A great deal of emphasis was placed on teaching civics and students were inculcated with a love of learning for the sake of acquiring knowledge to become a useful person in society. They received instructions on important virtues such as filial piety, patriotism, parental obedience, respect for elders and teachers and consideration for others. Lessons on these values were drawn from historical persons and from literature. Until today, many older generation Singaporeans who have been through the early educational system continue to hold these values dearly and they have a strong community spirit.

However, with the passage of time and the short stints of subsequent education ministers, our school curriculum was repeatedly revised and some important subjects that contained elements of human values and relationships fell out of favour. Our educational system began to function like the rigours of chemical farming. There was strong emphasis on school rankings, high scores and competing for places in top schools. Principals termed themselves CEOs and parents were regarded as customers encouraging parents to behave without respect for teachers' authority over their students. Students were fed a heavy dosage of subject-based knowledge with little or negligible focus on strengthening their value systems. With the social problems that now threaten to weaken family and commune bonds, there is a pressing need for schools to reintroduce and re-focus on subjects that enable students to appreciate human values and relationships, such as history and literature.

Parents should also learn to appreciate that educating their children is for the sake of enabling them to become useful citizens and not for the selfish goal of attaining monetary rewards. This parenting education will impart good parenting skills that will reinforce the values that their children will be taught in school. Leaders should set examples by demonstrating the values that are being taught to our children. Wisdom, humility and benevolence are all the hallmarks a great leadership. Leaders should demonstrate that they are able to make self-sacrifices for the good of he people and nation. They lose moral authority and respect when they are perceived as over-paying themselves when serving the nation..

Communal education is just as important. A community that learns to accept that the most important aspect of receiving an education lies in the children learning self-discipline and self-sacrifice. Free talks and seminars by learned scholars in the field of morality and ethics should be promoted to become a regular feature in our community clubs so that people can constantly seek advice and clarifications on how to effectively communicate with each other and to amicably resolve interpersonal and communal issues.

In the heart of education are our teachers. We need to give them respect and authority to discipline students. We need teachers who are not only good at teaching subjects but are able to help our students construct a value system that will strengthen relationships within families and communities. Teachers should adopt a value-based educational philosophy and those who have demonstrated high moral values should be appointed to lead.

Let's move to become a nation of values by building a strong value-based educational system. Only by doing so can we hope to achieve greater progress as a people and a great nation.

THEME: Thinking about Education

Singapore has repeatedly won wide acclaim in international maths and science competitions but yet in the last 50 years, we have not produced a single Nobel prize winner or a great mathematical formula or scientific invention. Is there something amiss in our educational system?

Education is the key that helps us unlock the intellectual resources that reside in our people and it seems that our key has not been able to adequately unlock the minds of our industrious students to help us achieve the makings of a great nation. Although creativity and innovation have been the declared goals of every education minister appointed in the last 20 years, they remain elusive. There is an urgent need to look deeper not only into our pedagogy but the values that are being imbued in our students who spend most of their time in school.

Our teachers are trained to help our students learn but unfortunately our students learn that their utmost priority is to do well in examinations is all that matters. We cannot put all the blame on their teachers because they are themselves the product of the same educational system. Such an attitude in learning is reinforced by the schools' teaching curricula which emphasises being exam-smart. This has nurtured a whole generation of parents who base their parenting success on producing exam-smart children, learning them to cramp their children's timetables with tuition classes before and after school. Consequently, a tuition industry has blossomed with good subject teachers preferring to be run tuition classes than teaching in schools. An academic rat-race to obtain degrees and higher qualifications has been around for a long time now, encouraged by a government that is made up of scholars. Hence, a recent change of tone by the government suggesting that a university degree is "not vital for success", did not go down well with the people.

For most students, studying is not about acquiring knowledge to become a better person and to add value to society. it is about passing examinations with flying colours and getting into top schools and landing a job in their choice professions. As for most teachers, teaching is not about imparting knowledge, values and discipline. It is about getting recognition for producing top students in every national examination and meeting their key performance indexes for promotion and salary increments which are based on their students' academic performances. 

When learning is exam-driven and when not everyone is gifted to excel in examinations but could be talented in non-academic ways, juvenile delinquency becomes an issue in schools, at home and in the community at large. Discriminatory educational practices, like class streaming which puts all the "bright" students on one side and the "not-so-bright" students on the other side, have stigmatised students with poor academic results, leading to the development of inferiority complexes and disciplinary problems . Stories of how teachers are abused by rebellious students emerge day after day. And parents run to seek help from the courts when their children are beyond parental control. Even principals, teachers and tutors get into trouble with the law for their indiscretions. Students who successfully sail through our educational system, especially those from the gifted stream, are often said to have high IQ but low EQ. And many of them have ascended high positions in government service because of their academic excellence and devising national policies.

What can we do about our education system? I will share some of my thoughts in my next blog.