yes here I am, back to bitch about the education system in Singapore... for those who know me quite well, u've probably heard this before... anyway, just to clarify, the title of this entry was a line quoted by Mark Twain... ok maybe not exactly but u get the message huh...
I don't understand why the schools here overload students with so many subjects... it almost seems like a competition where the faculties see who can give more modules to their students... now we have general electives and prescribed electives and core modules and what not... yeah yeah it's all for the sake of a broad-based education... but do they see that education NOT EQUALS learning??
education is a process... a process involving textbooks, notes, guidebooks, tests, exams, projects, lecturers, tutors and mentors... and here it's become such a process that students only go for it just for the sake of going... education no longer has the connotation of making someone "highly learned"; rather, it is now so associated with spoon-feeding, with the mentality that one studies enought to pass just so to move on to the next year...
it's kind of sad that Singapore is recognised for its high standards of education... but if u look on campus, the ironic case is that Singapore students are the ones "manipulating" and "spoiling" the name of education... most of the time they are the ones skipping classes, not doing well for exams and tests, while the foreign students are the one really there to learn and achieve... I don't have anything against them, and it's because for some of these students, they feel that they learn and achieve more being involved in ECA or hall activities...
actually, do u think there's that much to learn from classes? i go from class to class and year to year... and what I hear is that what we learn in university won't be that useful at work also... is that true? maybe to a certain extent... if so, why the heavy focus on core modules? why not lower the core load, and encourage broad-based learning that is truly broad based in the sense that you choose whichever ones you are really interested in? and not because u have to fulfil 6 units in that particular category? why are enrichment activities only restricted to the top how many % of the cohort? these are the projects that really inculcate some hands-on practical stuff or learning stuff... isn't university our last chance to study and take courses full time, whether or not they are within our faculty? shouldn't such opportunities be open to all who are interested?
yeah i sound so idealistic... but to me.. uni IS the last chance where there are opportunities to learn in depth things beyond my faculty... and it's really sad that the education process here is so good and recognised internationally that our own students no longer see its value-addedness in terms of learing...
