Forty years on, and nothing much has changed. Singapore still remains a certificate society like it or not. Forty years ago, all you need was a good certificate to get a decent paying job that could last you a lifetime in an employer's office. Today, perhaps the stakes are higher, you have more people getting certificates, throw in foreigners into the equation, and it's like taking a huge calculated gamble. Adding on, there is always the pressure of the younger ones taking over, such that if you're old, you're out. Perhaps the notion of certificates has changed, perhaps there is an invisible expiry date attached to it now. But going either ways, you still need a certificate to get a good job in society today.

Today's education landscape is certainly very different from the past. Instead of vocational training, there is a focus on creativity and diversity. Indeed, we now have so many education options today, it's even hard to count them. But still, at the end of the day, what matters most is still your grades. Heck, you can be a national champion in cross country, or even canoeing. But is that going to take you anywhere in the future? At most you'll be in the national team for the next five to ten years, but that's it, once you reached that "expiry date", you're as good as gone. Assuming you are a good 30 to 35 years then, what are you going to do for the next 40 to 50 years of your life if you didn't score well in school? Sure, you could always take up a course, but that costs money and time as well, and in the end you may not even get a job. The reason is simple, there are so many more capable workers available out there, so why should the employer pick you? Your national skills aren't going to be of much use here.

Adding on to that, society's mindset has not changed much since forty years back. In the past, if you did not have a good certificate, people would label you as untalented or unskilled. Today, it's still the same. Without that certificate, you can get nowhere. Your grades still reign supreme. Perhaps that's why people are still, if not more competitive today.

Project Work, creative learning, extra activities... At present, these changes to education merely serve as a facade to having more options in the education landscape. What matters most is still the people's mindset of education and of certificates. I believe we are still not tackling the root of the problem here. Or I may be wrong, perhaps the evolution of society is one that takes time to develop and change, especially when the aforementioned changes are still in its infancy.

We shall see five to ten years down the road, how the notion of "Certificate" would mean to society then. Perhaps it will be even more important, given the massive influx of foreign compeition we have. Or perhaps not. Only time will tell...

Labels: Life

|| posted by Kuan Hui