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Wednesday, October 19, 2005
A friend of mine introduced me to an article.
sorry andrew that happens to be you.
Click here to view it.
"FIELD STILL LEVEL FOR STUDENTS?"
interesting topic. Very highly debated on at in the press, at school and at home.
Since there are no moral strings attached to such a topic, there is much room for debate, and it will be difficult to actually come up wif a definite answer.
so putting in your two cents worth won't be considered a crime.
In the article, the reader points out that with the admission of 1600 primary school pupils into secondary schools through the Direct School Admission scheme, or 3% of the cohort, the "belief of these parents in meritocracy is being severely tested."
Of course we all know the conventional method for the placing of schools is through the results taken from national exams - PSLE, GCE O Levels... and "the previous method was objective and left little room for subjective discretion, or doub that some less deserving child was occupying our child's intended place in the school. In other words no one got the place by "pulling strings"."
"pulling strings"? that seems like a very heavy word used groundlessly.
According to dictionary.com, the definition of the word "meritocracy" goes:
"a system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement."
well... the reader seems to define "individual ability" simply on academic achievements. If it is so, then we are forgetting that many of the cream of Singapore's Society did not even have a chance to go to university. This is as many of them fail to sparkle academically. One example is Mr. Sim Wong Hoo - founder and chief of Creative Technology - one of Singapore's most famous brandnames. He only had a polytechnic diploma when he started off and look at where he is now.
Who and what a person is CANNOT just depend on his academic achievements alone. Not only is it morally not binding, it is also a superficial judgement, one mistake that many of us make without looking within.
People all over this world were born with different talents - some in academics of course. While others, in the field of sports they excel in; in performing etc. It is the ability to make use of one's talent to its fullest extent that makes a person excel and succeed.
Hence accepting people through sporting and artistic achievements IS accepting people through the system of meritocracy. It is "based on individual ability or achievement".
To achieve such distinctions and excellence in a particular person's chosen field takes a lot of hard work, determination and grit. And to succeed eventually is thoroughly deserved. Hence it is a good practice to award them with a place in their school of choice - just like when a person excels in his academics, he is awarded again with a school of his/her choice.
Just like the reader, i shall conclude now with:
"All of us need to be assured that meritocracy is the basis of our society".
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10/19/2005 10:58:00 AM
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