So had coffee with a girlfriend a couple of days ago… somehow we ended up discussing about different educational systems between different countries. As a teacher trained and taught in Australia, who later went to India to teach… she was struggling. The educational curriculum, the programs, the emphasis, all different – she said. And it made me think…
I was brought up in the schools of Singapore. Great programs & curriculum, no doubt about that…..but the emphasis on results & scores… the pressure to get high grades, otherwise you were deemed by teachers and peers as ‘not good enough’… was intense. It trained me well to listen, not ask questions, and to regurgitate everything the teacher taught. That was my schooling environment. The environment, the culture pushed & pressured… it’s all about the scores, all about the grades. If you didn’t score well in Secondary School, you couldn’t join the rest of the ’smarter’ students, who would go into the ‘express’ stream – instead you’ll posted to the ‘normal’ stream… the ‘normal’ stream!!! So if you’re not deemed as ’smart’, you’re ‘normal’??!! Because it was the way the system was, you just accepted things as they were. I never saw the irony before…. yet now, the more i think about it, the more ironic it is!
And we never had a choice as to what subjects we could study. You were meant to accept it, just as it is. Just as it is with everything else in Singapore. Oh no, I love Singapore, am very proud of my home nation, very proud of the Government that is running the country. Yet, there is this tension, that exists, where I think as a nation, it must be relevant. It must allow the People a voice.
As my Aussie-teacher-girlfriend explained, she was trained to assess the entire class, and assess individuals from the time they started to the end of Term, and grade & assess them based on how much they have improved since. But it’s not like that in India. It’s all about the grades. I would think it could be quite similar to Singapore’s system. While Singapore’s system trained us to be achievers, and top scorers, it didn’t allow for individual success. If you didn’t make the standard ‘cut-off’ – you’re a failure. It can be a little harsh for the youth trying to figure out who they are, what their interests are, don’t you think?
As I think about it now…. the education system, that environment trained & shaped the way I think, and process information. Well, my grades & scores were pretty good… but does that really mean anything? In the context of the environmental systems that I grew up in, what do these high scores really mean? Does it just mean that I’m smart & I used my brain, or that I’m really only good at memorising & then incredibly good at regurgitating everything during the exams?
She said, the system created very good imitators, but not creators, hardly any innovators. wow… never thought about it that way before. So I sit here and think – have I ever used my creative brain- esp during my school days in Singapore? Maybe I need to re-learn some things. Undo the set ways… allow myself to be more creative…not accept the status quo… be different, make a difference, lead the change.
The environment I grew up in and its systems, affect me in more ways than I realised. Time to re-learn, and keep learning.
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