In August this year, the Singapore government accepted the list of 10 recommendations put forward in a report by the ASPIRE (Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review) committee led by Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Law & Education.
Among the recommendations – to help students make informed choices about their educational pathways and careers, development of more online learning resources in the polys and ITEs, development of programmes focused on life skills aimed at strengthening student’s leadership, character and resilience, introduction of work-and-study programmes a.k.a. place-and-train programmes as well as Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes to deepen skills after graduation.
Embed from Getty ImagesASPIRE’s fundamental objective could be summarised as follows:
It is to ensure every Singaporean is able to contribute to Singapore’s overall development and progress by fulfilling his/her potential according to his/her talent and interest.
While the ASPIRE recommendations are all logical and sound given this objective, the ASPIRE committee was under no illusions regarding the enormity of the challenge that lies ahead in implementing these recommendations.
The challenge does not lie in the nuts and bolts of the government-post-secondary institutions-industry machinery implementing the recommendations but in the hearts and minds of our people. This is where ASPIRE has to work its magic and changing mindsets is not something that can be done overnight. This is a long term project – perhaps even stretching over a generation or so. But what makes this project so monumental and more importantly, why is it so important that Singapore achieves the objective?
Firstly, Singaporeans have long been weaned on the work hard-do well in school-get a good job ethos which has worked well for us as a nation until now. Children have been advised (and lectured :-() time and again that the only way to success in life is to get good grades in school, go to university and get a high salaried job in the government service or MNC.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn the past decade, the Ministry of Education has worked hard both to correct this misguided notion of success by way of policies and programmes in schools and post-secondary institutions, to create multiple pathways to success. One example is the lining up of educational pathways like the 6-year IB diploma programme and the setting up of specialised schools like the School of the Arts and the Sports School.
But old habits die hard indeed, especially those that are so entrenched in our society that they are widely recognised to be an integral part of our culture,
We are, after all, the nation of “kiasu” people (“kiasu” means “afraid to lose” in Chinese). This character trait is so ingrained in our collective psyche that we have even created a comic character called Mr Kiasu which evolved into a TV series later.
The good grades, being exam smart, the insane hours and money spent on extra tuition, the paper chase – these are all perceived to be pre-requisites for a better life and being “kiasu” we do not want, for one minute, entertain the possibility that this idea, in and of itself, could be flawed and that the reality could be very different, if only we have the courage to choose a different pathway to find success and happiness.
The problem is that many people are discouraged from taking the risk of choosing a different path. Why? Because they perceive that there are not enough decision-makers out there in industry and even in schools and educational institutions, who believe that taking a different pathway can and should lead to success. Some of these same people may even offer an excuse that the current HR policies or government incentive schemes are overwhelmingly in favour of the status quo – i.e. people who have taken the traditional paper-ridden pathway.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo how do we then resolve this problem? We have to make that cultural change as a nation. At the risk of sounding repetitive ad nauseum – this is a huge change, a tidal wave, not a surfing wave. We have to start singing the same tune. We have to start celebrating people finding success on different pathways. Scholarship schemes have to make the playing field more level for these “mavericks”. HR managers have to start giving more weight to achievements and character traits rather than paper qualifications when assessing candidates for jobs.
So one may ask, why are we even embarking on this endeavour when we know that there are risks involved (political and social) and the rewards forthcoming only years, if not decades, from now?
The reason is simple. Its because we risk even more if we don’t. The majority of us who are not academically gifted enough to enrol in the “A” grade universities, will not have our aspirations met. We will stop believing in the dream that Singapore is a land of opportunity and if you are hungry enough and are willing to work hard, you can also succeed. And once that dream is broken, people will start to look elsewhere to fulfil their dreams.
But there is also another phenomenon that is occurring which is forcing our hand in this great shift. The paper chase, fuelled by our “kiasuism”, has spawned a new generation of job-seekers armed with university degrees who feel entitled to good jobs, paying good salaries. And when these jobs become elusive, they become disenchanted and feel let down by the government.
Graduate unemployment is beginning to be a concern for Singapore. Even though the numbers are not as high as in other East Asian economies like South Korea or Japan, something needs to be done before the numbers soar incurring a heavy social cost.
The other thing that has emerged is that inspite of the increasing cohort university participation rate, Singapore continues to face a talent and skills mismatch in the job market which forces it to look for more foreign talent.
This then begs the question as to whether our overall educational infrastructure is geared properly to support the needs of our industry. Are we producing too many university graduates and too few polytechnic and ITE graduates with the relevant technical knowledge and skills to be gainfully employed in the job market? Are employers willing to recognise and reward these skills in the market such that students are willing to consider switching to non-traditional, non-degree pathways to fulfil their career ambitions?
Embed from Getty ImagesThese are some of the questions and challenges that we will face as ASPIRE tries to move its recommendations on the ground. Expect resistance from all parties – students, parents and employers. But pushing ahead undaunted and keeping the faith will soon become the treacly mantras that the government, as the party taking the lead in effecting this cultural change, will be chanting. Expect the chants to grow louder and more frequent in the years to come.
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