Tue, 19 Sep 2000

Singaporeans move ahead in a race for education

SINGAPORE: Education Ministry statistics show that students from different ethnic groups have made good progress in national examinations in subjects such as English, mathematics, science and the mother tongue.

However, in spite of Malay and Indian students improving, Chinese students generally came out tops. The figures -- which refer to pupils in the same cohort, who started Primary 1 in the same year -- are illuminating.

Last year, 89.3 percent of students succeeded in entering junior colleges, polytechnics and the Institutes of Technical Education, a significant improvement over the 59.1 percent 10 years ago.

Chinese students did the best, with 93.8 percent continuing with their post-secondary education, compared with 64.7 percent in 1990. The other races, too, did well.

The percentage of Malay students leapt from 35.9 to 76.7 in that time and Indian students, from 39.2 to 75.2. These figures are messages of hope.

They show the strides which both the majority and minority communities have taken because of continuous efforts to improve on already high-quality teaching, the educational contribution made by community self-help groups and greater parental encouragement. The improving scores are, in that sense, a truly national achievement.

However, the gap between Chinese, and Malays and Indians, is a matter of concern because the latter are not doing as well as they should in mathematics and science, two subjects that are vital for success in the new economy.

The last thing that the minorities need, or Singapore needs, is for economic disparities created by globalization to take ethnic shape. It is bad enough if income disparities exert pressure on the fabric of society as a whole -- a danger that the country is trying hard to avert through skills upgrading -- but for them to coincide with ethnic boundaries is a recipe for disaster.

Here, again, is a national challenge. Principals, teachers and educationists involved with the self-help groups will no doubt continue to do their best to improve Malay and Indian scores in mathematics and science, but parents must step up efforts to make their children aware of the consequences of not being able to keep up in these subjects.

That said, there are consequences of keeping ahead that can be deleterious to a student's health. Whether from the majority or the minorities, children deserve a childhood and teenagers their teenage years.

Unfortunately, over-zealous parents push their children too hard sometimes. The result is not only that many of them fail to grow up into mature and balanced adults, but also that some suffer from psychiatric problems.

In 1998, 2,358 new cases of children aged below 18 were registered at government psychiatric clinics. Half of those cases were children from primary schools, 35 percent from secondary schools and 15 percent were pre-schoolers.

In almost 95 percent of the cases, the children were not mad: They were stressed out. Stress at school, or from family and peers, was mentioned as one reason for children becoming depressed or withdrawn, losing interest, lying, stealing, becoming quarrelsome or suffering headaches.

Success comes at a price, but the price cannot be greater than the success. This does not mean that parents must not push their children to excel. What it means is that they be realistic, and know what their child is capable of and not force him to do more at the expense of his mental and physical well-being.

Success means more than good scores, essential though they are.

-- The Straits Times / Asia News Network