The Importance of Education in Singapore

I read from one of my young student's blogs on why she needed good academic results. It ran along the lines of "Singapore is not like some other country where just any skill can earn you money." I do not think she heard this from anyone else, and it is probably her personal opinion. For a young 13 year old to think like that, I find it very admirable. If only all young Singaporeans have the same think

My opinion, is that perhaps, in other parts of the world, just being able to do something, a decent low-skilled job for example, would allow you to go about life well enough. Even now in Singapore, that is probably true. Unfortunately, I doubt it will be true for much longer, most probably not for my generation, and definitely not, for the next. As soon as Singapore chose the path the high-paced development, to be the metropolis of South-East Asia, I think we very much faced 2 possible scenarios.

The first - develop high-end service, manufacturing and research industries, accomodate as many of our own people who have acquired the necessary skills, fill in the remaining gaps with foreigners. The parallel phenomenon - those that are unable to obtain these jobs because of a lack of skill, will have to do with the few remaining low-skilled jobs that will increasingly pay comparatively lower than the rising costs of living. The outcome - Singapore becomes like the New York or London of today, with increasingly rich people working in the booming high-end sectors, and the increasing socially marginalized poor who are unable to get the jobs and unable to afford decent housing. The remedy - These poorer Singaporeans who are unable to keep up with the costs of living either bear with their constantly worsening conditions, or migrate to a neighbouring country where costs of living are lower and they can get relatively higher paying jobs for their level of skills.

The second scenario - which is really similar to the first, except that here, with large emphasis on the education system, almost all Singaporean students are educated to a certain level where they are equipped with skills that will allow them to not only contribute in the high-end sectors back home, but are also highly sought after internationally. The outcome -many of these Singaporeans will then have the opportunities and choices to migrate or work elsewhere in the world where they may get even higher renumeration.

Perhaps in the long run, many of the current Singaporeans will leave the country. But I would much rather they leave for the second scenario, rather than reasons for the first. As a country in today's globalised world, I think Singapore is too small to maintain all different sectors. From the start, we already did away with the argricultural sector due to space constraints, I think in the near future, we will soon do away with the low-end and low-creativity manufacturing sectors as well due to international competition. What about the arts and sporting sectors? I think you could survive in it, only if you were of an international standard. I doubt the government can continue to subsidise just local or regional-level atheletes for much longer. Maybe if Singapore went into an agreement with Malaysia, such that our citizens can work there without barriers, and transport links between the countries are improved, then we could still support relatively low-skilled workers. But that would have many political implications.

So, to cut the long story short, I quote again, "Singapore is not like some other country where just any skill can earn you money." So, study hard, my dearest family and friends.