Why I prefer Canada’s education system – world-ranking or no
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Originally posted by tan reborn:Overseas students don't want to work in Singapore
Jonah , 22, has been studying in US for less than a year, but he has already decided that he will not return to Singapore to work after graduation.
A first-year student taking computer science at Stanford University, he says that US is far ahead of Singapore in science and technology. Situated near the Silicon Valley, Stanford's outstanding students are offered jobs by top IT firms even before they graduate.
"They have the world's top firms like Google, Microsoft and Apple - companies that value creativity. Working for them will broaden my horizons and improve my resume," he told my paper.
"While there are also many multi-national companies in Singapore, my impression is that they focus on product assembly, marketing and sales."
According to a survey by Experiences 2009, the organiser of an annual US education convention, there are quite a lot of overseas students who think like Jonah.
According to the survey of 153 Singaporean undergraduates at 15 top US universities, as many as 79 per cent prefer to work in US after they graduate. Only 18.1 per cent want to return to Singapore immediately after they complete their studies.
At Chung Cheng High School's 70th anniversary celebration last month, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong expressed his concerns about this phenomenon. He said that more than one-fifth of the students who performed well between 1996 to 1999 (those who scored at least four 'A's and a B3 in General Paper) are no longer working in Singapore a decade later.
More than one third of those who studied overseas and did not receive scholarships are also not working in Singapore.
In SM Goh's speech he pointed out Singapore's conundrum - while preparing our students to be 'entrepreneurial and world-ready', we are also 'growing wings' on them and more students will be heading overseas to develop their careers in future.
Why they leave
Why has Singapore no hold for these students? Do they leave because the pull factors from other countries are much stronger?
Students interviewed by my paper say that they leave not only because of the lack of job opportunities, but also because Singapore is too stressful, or because they don't feel appreciated.
Ng Hui Jin, 20, a Biology student at Imperial College in UK said that the pace of life is so fast in Singapore she can barely catch her breath at times. She feels that Europeans place more emphasis on quality of life. The pace is slower there and her classmates do not compare their results.
"Perhaps the learning environment and lifestyle here is what keeps Singaporean students in Europe," said Hui Jin.
Ridy Lie, 28, who graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2003 has worked at Amazon.com for six years. He said that he likes the free and easy culture in American IT companies. A software developer, he can wear t-shirt and jeans to work, and their supervisors do not require that they report to work by a certain time.
"The company also provides a two-storey recreation area which includes a basketball court, arcade and gym. Our bosses even encourage us to spend our time there during work hours, to get inspiration."
Higher pay also played a part in his decision to stay in the US.
"Big IT firms in US will pay a fresh grad between US$60,000 to US$80,000 (S$87,000 to S$115,000) while investment banks and consultancies can pay up to US$90,000 (S$130,000), this is practically three to five times more than what they can get in Singapore."
At least one student says that she wants to leave because she doesn't feel appreciated.
After the financial crisis last year, many firms around the world retrenched a large number of employees and quite a number of graduates made their way back home but were unable to find a job in Singapore.
London School of Economics graduate Ruchika Tulskyan, 22, applied to 20 companies for a job but received no response.
"The government has been encouraging overseas students to return to Singapore, but Singaporean corporations do not seem to hold the same attitude. It has made me doubt my decision to come back."
Disappointed, Ruchika has decided to further her studies at Columbia University next month.
"Roots" and family ties
Jonah Tang observed that students from other countries such as Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India return home as they feel a greater sense of belonging.
He thinks that Singaporean students are less patriotic, and feel no sense of "rootedness", so they can "grow roots" anywhere.
But according to the survey by the organising committee of Experiences 2009, many students also said that they wish to return to Singapore three to five years after working overseas, for their families.
For this same reason, Jonah Tang hopes to return after three or four years, provided there are suitable job opportunities.
Li Wanzhen, 20, a first year LSE student, also thinks that in the long run, she will feel lonely and want to return home. But the economic conditions and whether there are attractive job opportunities will be an important consideration.
Qiu Junxiong, 27, who studied in San Francisco, is one of those who returned one year after he graduated. He said that he returned to Singapore because there happened to be a suitable job opening.
He thinks that if one wishes to develop a career in Asia, they should seriously consider returning to Singapore. After all, as Asians, they also have an advantage on their "home turf".
"The government should not be unduly worried about brain drain, more Singaporeans now want to work in Asia instead. They are happy to use Singapore as their base, and will return every few months, instead of staying in Europe or the States for many years."
Government efforts in retaining talent
The government has also invested resources in efforts to connect to overseas Singaporeans. The National Population Secretariat (NPS) set up the Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU) in 2006 to help overseas Singaporeans maintain contact with Singapore.
An NPS spokesperson told my paper that with the increasing globalisation, many Singaporeans are choosing to study, work and live abroad. More than 180,000 are now studying or working overseas and 63 per cent of them are between 20 to 54 years old.
Singaporeans go overseas to expand their horizons or gain experience, but whether they maintain contact with Singapore is one of the critical factors that determine whether they return.
They have observed that more Singaporeans have returned in recent years, hoping to ride on Singapore's economic growth. The response to "Singapore Day" organised by OSU in various cities around the world has also become increasingly popular.
Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090728-157641.htmlwell, i feel like going to work too.lol
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I'm working with foreigners now and my manager do not have good EQ, thinking of moving too....thanks a lot SG!
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Creative index is way up higher than Singapore just look at this
Vancouver City music
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It doesnt come as a surprise that our schooling system fails to produce creative, independent and well-rounded citizens since the role of schooling here is not to educate, but to increase the job-readiness of the people here. Note that I use "schooling" and not "education" because those 2 are distinct and we only have the former in Singapore.
For instance, maybe the reason why Singapore has yet to produce a Nobel Laureate is because the only time we learn something new is in the context of studying for an examination. While that may be a generalisation, trends in our society doesnt seem to refute it. Learning is separated from having fun, evident in the duality of work-play used by our social institutions.
On a personal level, I experience this a lot. Whenever I'm seen reading about issues such as geopolitics, social problems etc, the first question which my friends would ask would be "Why are you studying GP?" as if broadening one's mind and expanding one's level of information has already been encapsulated into a so-called 'academic' subject.
Coming back to Singapore's schooling system, from the start of a child's schooling, it is a system that does not make children WANT to learn, and instead FORCES the child to learn. Already, that destroys a lot of a child's natural curiosity and impulse to learn. Multiply that for the ten years of primary and secondary schooling and you'll instill an aversion to learning. As a result, an entire generation, possessing tremendous potential, looks at learning as a drudgery, a chore that our society imposes on them.
Going to school becomes a mechanical and unenjoyable affair devoid of real growth as an informed citizen capable of critical thinking, self-reflection and depth of imagination, instead, we are trained to have whatever mediocre skills needed to function in an increasingly corporate-dominated world.
While school fails to provide a genuine sense of growth, children leave school only to fall prey to our corporate-driven media culture that produces materialistic, hedonistic, self-centered and dissatisfied consumers, uninformed about the state of affairs of the world at large and incapable of questioning underlying assumptions that govern our society. We are producing consumers and workers, not thinkers and problem solvers.
For those who are interested on the dumbing down effects of our schooling system, you could research the work of John Taylor Gatto.
The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher
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Originally posted by zenden9:
This few sentences struck me...
Despite Singapore claiming to have the best of something or whatever.. It has failed to produce a decent recognize brand or company in the world..
Not to mention Nobel prize winner in scientific achievement or health sciene.
hmm...Creative??
Anyway singapore's edu system maybe academically world class but it's def not holistically world class...i personally hated my sec sch days..what with all the coming back on hols for extra tuition, mandatory community service which in reality almost every sch will just choose to do flag day just to meet the requirement, and then on weekends you'll students all around s'pore trying to collect donations.
Ppl on the streets no matter where they turn, they can't seem to escape from students badgering for donations. it's actually doing the community a disservice!!
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Our education system with its UNIQUE streaming system is akin to a factory that produces year after year 2 types of people; white collar workers to serve the PAPui and blue collar workers to serve the white collar workers that serve the PAPui.
Welcome to the world of 1984.
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Originally posted by udontknowme:
y'all just have not seen some of the public schools in canada.
it's a joke.
for real.
So you went Canada to study to become a comedian?
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Education system to make a living is one thing but to produce great people for the soul of a nation is another.Education in latin is to "draw within"
Somehow or rather our education seem to cater to commercial ends with little initiative in developing the students themselves.
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Originally posted by jackrussell:
Our education system with its UNIQUE streaming system is akin to a factory that produces year after year 2 types of people; white collar workers to serve the PAPui and blue collar workers to serve the white collar workers that serve the PAPui.
Welcome to the world of 1984.
It hasnt changed since 1984, isnt it?
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Our edu system is a good example that intelligence cannot be just judged by one criteria - paper qualifications. A truly educated in the world is the one who responds and solves problems for the betterment of society
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Originally posted by ☃®:
Our edu system is a good example that intelligence cannot be just judged by one criteria - paper qualifications. A truly educated in the world is the one who responds and solves problems for the betterment of society
took a professional examine ones in Singapore back in the 93. the test literally required answer straight out from the text in the exact "Word"Is as good as memorizing the word as compared to understanding the concept.
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Still, there's alot of stress withthin us...... So many homework, so many spellings, so many projects.....
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Singapore education system cultivate "Nerds",while foreign education system cultivate "Elites".Look at so many foreign talents needed by Singapore government n so many nerds in PAP u will know why i said that.
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We must learn to be flexible with our teachings
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Singapore has done well, producing high quality academics, people out there have high IQ, but produced citizens of relative low EQ (no consideration for others, no manners).
There needs to be more moral education. Hopefully, Primary schools can add moral education as one of the required topics for entry to Secondary Schools.
You know, I have trying to fuck moral education in schools all these years. What's the use of morality when the world is dying? -
Originally posted by ☃®:
Our edu system is a good example that intelligence cannot be just judged by one criteria - paper qualifications. A truly educated in the world is the one who responds and solves problems for the betterment of society
Assumption No.1: You can always fly an aeroplane even if you don't know how it operates. -
Originally posted by freedomclub:
It doesnt come as a surprise that our schooling system fails to produce creative, independent and well-rounded citizens since the role of schooling here is not to educate, but to increase the job-readiness of the people here. Note that I use "schooling" and not "education" because those 2 are distinct and we only have the former in Singapore.
For instance, maybe the reason why Singapore has yet to produce a Nobel Laureate is because the only time we learn something new is in the context of studying for an examination. While that may be a generalisation, trends in our society doesnt seem to refute it. Learning is separated from having fun, evident in the duality of work-play used by our social institutions.
On a personal level, I experience this a lot. Whenever I'm seen reading about issues such as geopolitics, social problems etc, the first question which my friends would ask would be "Why are you studying GP?" as if broadening one's mind and expanding one's level of information has already been encapsulated into a so-called 'academic' subject.
Coming back to Singapore's schooling system, from the start of a child's schooling, it is a system that does not make children WANT to learn, and instead FORCES the child to learn. Already, that destroys a lot of a child's natural curiosity and impulse to learn. Multiply that for the ten years of primary and secondary schooling and you'll instill an aversion to learning. As a result, an entire generation, possessing tremendous potential, looks at learning as a drudgery, a chore that our society imposes on them.
Going to school becomes a mechanical and unenjoyable affair devoid of real growth as an informed citizen capable of critical thinking, self-reflection and depth of imagination, instead, we are trained to have whatever mediocre skills needed to function in an increasingly corporate-dominated world.
While school fails to provide a genuine sense of growth, children leave school only to fall prey to our corporate-driven media culture that produces materialistic, hedonistic, self-centered and dissatisfied consumers, uninformed about the state of affairs of the world at large and incapable of questioning underlying assumptions that govern our society. We are producing consumers and workers, not thinkers and problem solvers.
For those who are interested on the dumbing down effects of our schooling system, you could research the work of John Taylor Gatto.
The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher
There is too much information to teach to a child as years go by. We can only try to teach a person what we can and not what we cannot.
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but creativity does not come out from schools!its inborn ina person!just like good hamburgers and good kuay teows.......those creativity things cannot be taught from anywhere. u have bras brasah library....all the creativity things come from there......u need to create new things as long as u are alive!!no time for creativity???well...just delay until u are free even years later!
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howlheje,
to qualify for a nerd...they have to be creative.
a person that looks like a nerd and who is not creative is just a bapok.
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but education is not really part of creativity.it is a dissemination of accurate data into one's mind.
it is the application of data which is thus called creativity from products designed and made for that particular purpose!
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thinks i should go get my doctorate from england or usa.me sounds so wise.even i myself surprise myself at times!
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Low birth rate poor employment prospects stems from education from family and schools!Think about it
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Originally posted by Catknight:
Low birth rate poor employment prospects stems from education from family and schools!Think about it
"Low birth rate poor employment prospects stems from education from family and schools!"You are certainly very insightful in knowing that education about family result in 'low birth rates'.
Such education is also known as "Family Planning".
This will result in population shrinkage, which will affect the manpower pool available to an economy, and cause a stunted economic prospects - which result in poor employment prospects too.
Think about it - who has caused the present situation that began with Family Planning.
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Double Post