08 November 2018
Academic sorting into advantaged and disadvantaged schools has helped Singapore students do well in global education rankings.
But we now have to ask ourselves: does the current educational system in Singapore perpetuate educational inequity beyond what we should tolerate as a maturing society?
Disadvantaged students find it difficult hard to catch up with their more advantaged peers. If we do not address this issue, over time this inequity will become increasingly exacerbated.
The Ministry of Education has that Singapore’s schools are well-resourced and cannot be really termed “disadvantaged”, unlike in other education systems where there exist wide varieties in school resources and teacher quality.
However issues of social equity and ultimately social justice remain. Unless we rethink our approach to education, these issues will fester our national consciousness for a long time to come.