Wing Lee Cheong / Canada
“Singapore’s ranked 1st in quality education system in the world” – Global Competitiveness Report 2007–2008
“Singapore ranked one of the world’s best-performing school systems” – McKinsey Report, published September 2007
“Singapore students ranked among the top in Mathematics and Science” – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007
“Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education systems” – Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006
Those are very impressive achievements that one can be proud of. Dr.Ng Eng Hen, the Education Minister of Singapore, cited a 2007 survey by the Fraser Institute that shows 94 per cent of Ontario students were dissatisfied with the Canadian public school system.
Dr.Kishore, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, proudly claimed that educational leaders around the world are flocking to Singapore to copy Singapore’s successful educational model. He said that some North American schools are even using similar textbooks in their schools.
Canada may not have a perfect education system but I seriously doubt the reliability of the survey cited by Dr Ng. One has to question the criteria and sample size used for the survey.
Most Canadians are proud of their education system and will not trade it for the aggressive streaming system of Singapore where one’s future and career is based solely on academic results. Studies have shown that passing standardized examinations with good grades does not necessarily mean that one has a better knowledge of the subject than another with lesser or failed grades. In most cases, it simply shows that the person is better in the art of taking examinations. There are controversies amongst Canadian educationists if standardized examinations can accurately assess students’ subject knowledge and the application of that knowledge. Not knowing how to apply the knowledge is no knowledge at all.
