From the beginning

Let’s begin with a simple image I see flying around the Internets, which happen to be appearing in text on some of my feeds too.

Credit to whomever drew this. Unable to find the original artist’s copyright on the image itself.

Before I begin, let me say that I am neither pro-government nor anti-government, neither pro-current-educational-system nor anti-current-educational-system.

What I’m going to be talking about in this post is how things have been misunderstood. I’m no sociology nor education expert, or whatsoever you think I am. This is entirely based on how I view it to be, so it’s up to you to decide its validity or part thereof.

Let’s begin with the dictionary definition of “education”, taken from dictionary.com:

ed·u·ca·tion
   /ˌɛdʒʊˈkeɪʃən/ [ej-oo-key-shuhn]
noun

1. the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.
2. the act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills, as for a profession.
3. a degree, level, or kind of schooling: a university education.
4. the result produced by instruction, training, or study: to show one’s education.
5. the science or art of teaching; pedagogics.

With those definitions in mind, let’s consider the above image then, taking in particular the educational system of Singapore, because naturally it’s where I grew up in, got my education in, and am still currently residing in.

A number of people are complaining about how useless and/or flawed it is. In my opinion, it’s not. Before you jump the bandwagon and fire off, read on if you did receive any form of standard education from this “useless/flawed” system.

The main reasons I hear for people complaining about the system would be that it doesn’t allow them to further their “actual talents” and/or “dreams”.

Look, let’s pause there and have a reality check.

Did our system’s primary education provide you with sufficient basic knowledge of simple reading and writing? If you took up a specialised course, did it give you the knowledge advantage of particular skills over others? If yes, then the definitions of “education” have been fulfilled.

Think about it.

For most countries, the aim of providing education for their citizens is for one main purpose: to improve their economy. Therefore, naturally, the education system provided there will be streamlined to fit most students into one or more main types of jobs that will help in contributing to the respective country’s economic profit.

Think about it from another angle: would you rather have friends that can make your life and their lives better or would you rather have friends who just leech off you and don’t do anything to contribute to the friendship?

It’s that simple.

Once a level has been reached, then will another system of education take place. It’s just like in the past – the pre-computer era – where clerical duties and labour work were higher in demand. They just needed people who could read and write sufficiently, hence we have alot of people who stopped right after O-levels. Primary School was compulsory and the people then could choose not to enter Secondary Schools but instead go straight into manual labour. Both were “standard” options then. That kind of thinking would not be feasible in Singapore’s society nowadays. I’m not saying it’s impossible, it’s just not feasible, and for those who have become successful through this harsh road, I salute them.

Now, what does the country’s economy require? Generally computer literate graduates, and labour in specific fields of expertise. So what has become the baseline nowadays? Poly, ITE and University graduation.

Step into society with only an O-level, A-level or PSLE cert and I guarantee you it’s going to be tougher than climbing a slope inclined at 89 degrees infested with army ants.

To those who continually whine about not being able to achieve their dreams, underachieving in school because of such flat-lining systems: do something about it. Pursue what you believe is your dream, your true potential through alternate means. Don’t expect society to provide and feed you all the way. Society is not your personal nanny. Neither is it your granddaddy who will give handouts all the time like pocket money.

Do something about it with the life you have. It might be in Singapore, it might not be available in Singapore, to pursue what you truly want, but the common sense is still to do something to achieve it. Sitting there whining through the computer about it tantamounts to a waste of time better spent getting closer to the dream. The path to one’s dream is never straight. Society will never provide one with all the materials necessary to fulfill the dream. If it did, everyone would be overachievers by now.

But hidden in society’s recesses are paths which one can take to get closer to the dream. They might lead directly, they might lead to further hardships, but these are still paths to take. Not being able to take such simple trials and hardships makes one unworthy of the dream.

Think about it.

Iron Maiden didn’t become so big because they were all born musical prodigies. SNSD didn’t make it so big because they were pretty, famous, etc. from the start. B2ST members weren’t born dancers neither. You didn’t learn how to read, write and speak because you were born literate.

There was only so much their education system could have given them. There’s also only so much our education can give us. So seriously, Singapore’s education system is not in the least bit flawed. I know of people from my secondary school who fared badly in the O-levels, but are now bosses running their own companies. I know of people who have graduated from universities and are now jobless. I know of people who graduated with only their O-level certs and are also jobless. I also know of people who have graduated from universities and hold high paying positions. I even know of a few friends who have graduated from universities but have taken up totally different jobs unrelated to their course of studies.

To highlight the image shown above, please read between the lines.

“For a fair selection” – It’s obvious that when you’re selecting something from a group, you would naturally want the best ones that can fulfill the criteria you have in mind. The ones whining about the “flaw” are the ones who think that the world revolves around them; that the “selection” can only be the ones that they want. Exclude yourselves from the majority if you’re so “unique” to think that way. You are not part of the selection. Or are you insecure enough to must want to be with the majority, but still find excuses to not look like yet another sheep in the flock?

Nobody wants to be a drone. Everyone wants to be a unique individual. How you do it is up to you. Join the flock while bleating that you’re a goat, herd the flock, be a lone wofl, it’s all your choice. It’s only about taking the first step in realising it.

So seriously, stop whining like bleating sheep.