Education here suxx

Alright people Im really pissed.About the mentality that Singapores education system is creating in many a minds. Let me show you my point.

Ok I admit this year I failed 3 subjects out of 8. Them being A.maths (calculus equivelant) , History and Chemistry. Then, as some of you may know, Singapores education system has high standards. I do not blame any of my teachers for my failures and this is an immature way of thinking anyway.So my peeve that I would like to illustrate today is that I think that over the years,the education system has ingrained in many a mentality that the only way to success is through the Special/Express stream followed by Junior College and subsequently University.Although in recent times the polytechnics have caught up to their JC counterparts and shedded their label as being the little inferior cousin of the JC's,(same with ITE's) , some people still have the old fashioned thinking that no matter what the JC way IS THE RIGHT WAY.

Personally, I intend to take up a career in the creative industry ,preferbly in the areas of advertising graphic design.Now I actually wanted to take up ART and Design & Technology but no class combination this year offered such allowances for both. Seeing that I liked science and thinking that getting into such 'prestigious' classes would put me among the 'elite', I opted for the triple combined/pure science class, Chemistry being the pure subject.

In my previous year I did rather well, scoring an average of 69.9% among the 7 or 8 subjects which is borderline A2 for each subject.And therefore made it to the good class. At that time I followed the crowd... good class equals success. yes?

Hell no I was wrong.I struggled with subjects like History which I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever and even then I was only interested in Hitler and his khakis.Additional maths too. every lesson was a living hell.i struggled helplessly trying to comprehend the massive amount of formulae and steps involved in solving the questions and this eventually drained my interest, if any existed in the first place.. of the subject. Adding on the thought that it would be useless for the future left me even more uninterested in studying such a subject.

I refer to the recent Buangkok MRT incident where an unknown person erected white elephant cut-outs outside the unopened station, signifying that the Government had built a station for no apparent reason since it was not opened and built at a rather sparesly populated area of Singapore.Similarly the same applies to my learning Additional maths. It sits in my brain and takes up my precious study time and resources which could be better spent on subjects more relevant to me,since I do not intend to take up any maths related career in the future. I believe that as long as I have a substantial knowledge of maths (ELEMENTARY MATHS, in this case) , I have achieved enough to get where I want. (this applies to my case and I'm not refering to the general teen population)

Also, I do not see why one bout of failure can destroy your chances of getting into a university. Failure is after all, the mother of success and should not be looked upon as the end of the world.We should learn from our mistakes and pick ourselves up to do better and not repeat mistakes.Yes, I have 'failed' this year , but weather I succeed or not depends on my attitudes and willingness to learn from my mistakes, not on one report slip. Yes, I was retained last year due to a lack of mathematical education but eventually made it to a 'good class'.I admit I was rather upset that I got retained.. what about my 'face'? But you have to learn to let go of your insecurities and focus on your ultimate goals in the long run.I do not encourage Retaining but If it does happen so be it, truth be told, it isn't that bad as it seems.I don't preach about values here either but I am just expressing my views on what I have encountered recently from peoples responses and well, in the true Singaporean way.. I really buay tahan!!.
(cannot stand it)

In conclusion, I really hope people would open up their minds and realise that there are many routes to success and life is not all about participating in the rat race and the pursuit of wealth. I am not ranting at the education system and applaud its efforts to change its 'one size fits all' system. But our mindsets of what entitles success must change, hand in hand,for our education system to really improve and become a better place to nurture the future of Singapore.

You have something to say? How about sharing your views at my tag board? or,email me at pinked_up@hotmail.com =) Replies are on an individual basis and I cannot guarantee reply.