08 May 2019
Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has expressed hope that Singapore will see a shift in attitudes towards education within this generation, away from an obsession with academic success and grades.
Mr Ong said that the Government has done its part by announcing the abolition of streaming at the secondary school level by 2024, and removing the 20 per cent weightage given to O-Level examination results when polytechnic graduates apply to study at universities.
Selected examinations MOE schools have also been removed, freeing up more curriculum time.
“I think the signal has been sent. Society at large, employers, are beginning to change the way they hire. Many parents, too, are getting the message,” Mr Ong said.
With the pros and cons of meritocracy widely debated here in recent times, Mr Ong said that it was the “best (out) of imperfect” systems. What needs to change are features of the system, parts of which have been tweaked as society progresses, Mr Ong said.