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what planet is this guy living in??? The teachers my daughter's primary school EMPHASIZE keywords so much.... PSLE science today is just keywords. The marking scheme itself is keywords based... alternative answers... err are you going to risk it ??? PSLE can "show our moral character" ???? This guy really come across as full of ****

Singapore voted no. 1 in Education worldwide which helps propel us to be first world country. Whilst I won't deny this is true, I'm just wondering what price we pay for achieving this. Pressure on our children at a young age, streaming ie segregating the children by their results, book smart children etc. Interested to know what do you guys feel, worth it? Perhaps.......

Gifted Education Programme offers deeper learning, but kids can still excel outside of it https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/gifted-education-programme-a-differentiated-curriculum-but-smart-kids-can-still-excel-even-if-they-don-t-get-into-it SINGAPORE – Primary 3 pupils will find out this week if they have been selected for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). With about 1 per cent of the cohort entering the GEP each year – ranging from 370 to 400 pupils, depending on the cohort size – this might mean disappointment for a number of children. But experienced educators say the three-year programme – started in 1984 for intellectually gifted Primary 4 to 6 pupils – is designed for that small group of youngsters who will thrive in it. Pupils are selected for the GEP through a two-stage process: a screening exercise comprising English and mathematics tests, and a selection exercise comprising English, maths and general ability tests. The English and maths tests assess students on concepts taught in the syllabus from Primary 1 to 3, while the general ability test assesses students on their logical thinking and general reasoning abilities. The GEP’s differentiated curriculum aims to nurture the depth of thinking and creative dispositions in such students. One of them is Christian Choong, 13, who taught himself the number system and how to read and write when he was three. When he started primary school, he would finish class work in less than half the given time, and was often bored in school and had trouble socialising with his peers. His father Adrian Choong, 44, guessed then that Christian could be a gifted child and hoped he would get into the GEP. Mr Choong, now a teacher and himself a former GEP student, faced similar issues when he was young and says being in the programme helped him. He adds: “I hoped my son would get into the GEP, not because it is a more prestigious programme or that the schools have better teachers, but because I believe the GEP has the teaching and learning environment that would benefit him.” He and his wife Esther Cheng, 44, a stay-at-home mum, have a younger son, Zachary, 11, who is in the mainstream programme. Mr Choong says he did not send Christian, now in Secondary 1, for any GEP preparatory classes, but got him books on logic and reasoning tests to let him try the quizzes under timed conditions at home just before he went for the selection tests. He did not want his son’s ability to be clouded by his fear of taking such examinations in an unfamiliar environment. Christian got through the two rounds of tests and entered Rosyth School’s GEP, where he enjoyed meeting pupils he shared common interests with. “He loved being with friends who were as crazy, nerdy and geeky as he was. He would have endless conversations with his classmates about obscure mathematical topics,” says Mr Choong. He adds: “Sometimes, he would feel frustrated by his work, but struggling with the schoolwork made the eventual success all the more rewarding.” What does a GEP pupil learn? The GEP curriculum is an “enriched” version of the mainstream one. It is broader and more in-depth, with opportunities for research and inquiry-based activity. Mr Matthew Ngiam, a teacher from Tao Nan School, who has been teaching children in the GEP for 15 years, says pupils are exposed to more challenging questions and concepts. “It takes a certain cognitive ability to understand the requirements of the tasks,” he adds. For example, in maths, Primary 4 pupils learn about the ancient numeration systems, such as the Roman, Egyptian and Babylonian systems. They may research into an area of interest, like graph theory, which is not taught in primary school. When learning a topic such as algebra, mainstream Primary 6 pupils may do equations with one variable, but GEP students are exposed to questions with more variables, including simultaneous and quadratic equations. Mr Ngiam says many GEP students display similar character traits – a deep knowledge of an area of interest, a high level of curiosity, an excellent memory and an intense focus when they work on something they are passionate about. He adds that he has learnt to be flexible in his thinking as his GEP pupils offer perspectives that he has never come across. “When I go into class, I have to prepare myself that teaching is not going to be ‘one direction’. I’m the teacher, but they could end up being the ones teaching me,” he says. Apart from being able to comprehend abstract thinking, they can gather information from everywhere to synthesise something new, he says. “They go deeper than what is required in the GEP curriculum,” he adds. Likewise, for English, while the basics like grammar and vocabulary are covered, much of English lessons is literature, where pupils are introduced to various literary genres such as mysteries, fairy tales and historical fiction. Lessons are filled with discussions, where students make interdisciplinary and real-life connections, says Mrs Elaine Chong, head of the GEP at Raffles Girls’ Primary School, who has taught in the GEP for 22 years. “We don’t have ‘one answer to one question’. Some pupils may not be used to this approach where there is a lot of discussion. It could be unsettling for them,” she says. There is an individualised study option, where they learn basic research skills in Primary 4, such as how to gather data, and do analysis and presentations. In Primary 6, one of the text genres they study is biographies, where they analyse the values of a person and the factors for his or her success. The pupils are then tasked to come up with a biography of a family member, before they reflect on what they have learnt from the process. They are exposed to concepts such as discrimination and stereotypes, based on the texts they learn. “There is a lot of critical thinking. They may have to challenge their own thinking and learn to accept the views of others. It can be quite challenging, but they enjoy it because it involves higher-level thinking skills,” says Mrs Chong. Raedon Tan, 10, a Primary 4 GEP pupil from Tao Nan School, says while the work is harder in the GEP, he enjoys being able to explore all subjects at a deeper level, especially maths, his favourite subject. “We do a lot of open discussions, which also means that we can understand the perspectives of our peers,” he says. All GEP pupils take the same GEP assessment for English, maths, science and social studies. They will, however, take school-based assessments with their mainstream peers for mother tongue languages and higher mother tongue languages. At the end of Primary 6, they sit the same Primary School Leaving Examination as mainstream pupils. Their choices of educational pathways for secondary schools are the same as those open to mainstream pupils, such as the integrated programme or O-level track. How do you nurture a child who did not get into the GEP? High-ability learners who did not get selected for the GEP can still take up school-based enrichment programmes for upper-primary pupils, such as the Excellence 2000 (E2K) Mathematics Programme and E2K Science Programme. Schools also offer enrichment activities in both academic and non-academic areas, for example, coding, robotics and design thinking. A spokesman for the Ministry of Education says schools can nominate their high-ability learners to participate in its gifted education branch’s centrally organised programmes, such as the creative writing programme and the Primary Mathematics Project Competition, to provide them with further exposure. But parents can also do their part to nurture these high-ability children at home, says teachers. Mr Ngiam says parents should encourage the child to explore his or her areas of interest and provide opportunities for the child. “It starts from home. If the focus at home is only academic excellence or getting into the GEP, that takes away the joy of learning, which comes from a child’s curiosity-driven exploration,” he adds. By fostering a supportive and nurturing environment at home, parents are setting their child up for long-term success, says Mr Ngiam. Mrs Chong agrees, adding that parents can be the resource person for their child. For example, if a child likes writing, parents can expose him or her to different genres of books. “Be the audience for them when they write, give them feedback to encourage them. That is how you help them build on their passion. The GEP is not the only way to stretch children,” she says. Can students be trained to get into the GEP? Over the years, enrichment centres have been offering classes that claim to coach students to get into the GEP. With the programme offered in nine primary schools and with a class size of around 25 pupils, some parents view the GEP as a prestigious programme and send their children for lessons, hoping they will qualify for it. However, MOE has long cautioned parents against doing so, as it might inflate test scores and not reflect these students’ actual intellectual potential. Mr Ngiam says parents who want to send their children for prep classes should understand that the GEP is designed for children who have already demonstrated exceptional ability or aptitude in specific areas, such as an advanced knowledge of mathematical concepts. He says one concern of attending such classes is the impact on a child if he or she does not make it to the GEP. “There is the risk of your child feeling a lack of self-worth if he or she doesn’t get in,” he says. Another concern is when children, who are not naturally gifted, get into the GEP through test preparation. “The curriculum is designed based on the fact that they are naturally gifted. If they are not and come into the programme, they may find it a struggle to keep up with the pace,” says Mr Ngiam. Mrs Chong says that if kids in the GEP struggle to cope, parents may end up sending them for more tuition in order to keep up. “If they go for many enrichment lessons, they have no time for themselves or to reflect on their learning,” she says. Mr Zhou Shicai, founder of NickleBee Tutors and who was a former GEP student, says his centre does not offer GEP preparatory classes as he believes that giftedness is mostly an innate ability, and he discourages parents from sending their children to such classes. His enrichment centre offers advanced maths programmes for upper-primary pupils from both the GEP and mainstream programme. But he recently started teaching three lower-primary students with exceptional talent in maths in his personal capacity at their parents’ request. “This is not aimed at helping them get into the GEP, but rather to help them realise their full potential in maths because they already show innate talent,” he said. Mr Choong, who coached his son for the GEP tests, says it is possible to prepare to a certain extent, but parents must consider if a child will thrive in the GEP environment. “Your child can be trained to get into the GEP. But should your child be trained to get into the GEP? That is the question that parents should be asking themselves,” he says.

suppose a couple has S$150k and 4 kids below 10 now, and hoping by the time the kids reach 18, to have saved at least 120k per kid for their uni education....if the kids decide to pursue such a path... (else the couple promise themselves to blow it on a fast car then). what would be a safe option for the couple? they would NOT like to consider the following: stocks - they have a reverse midas touch property - their view is its not the right time now as its peaking all suggestions are appreciated. Thank you

I just saw my daughter sec 2 report card and I find our education system getting quite ridiculous. When I was in sec 2, my report card comes with the average, highest and even lowest score so you know where you stand. As you can see, different subjects has very different mean score. A score of 62 in literature is average but pretty bad for geography as exams are all different. I am surprised they even give the lowest score, just to rub it in on the poor kid I guess. When my daughter was in sec 1 last year, the school only gave out the median score which is ok I guess. Although it is nice to have the highest for something to aim, I am ok with just the median so I know how my daughter is doing. This year, they even removed the median score. how am I supposed to know how my daughter is doing in her exams? I really think this "grades are useless" thing has gone waaaay too far. My son just completed Pri1 and 2 and I totally have no idea how he is doing in school because there is no exams.My daughter just finished sec2 and she have a bunch of grades but no median score so I have totally no idea how good/bad she is doing.... Are all schools like that? removing the median score so nobody has any benchmark?

No real O level thread so here goes. To all the MCF parents, wishing that your kids do well!

respect the teachers.... this looks like Singapore: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=498888523559547

I am a bit ambivalent on the recent ban on private tutoring but I must give it to CCP for cracking down on online gaming. Calling it spiritual opium is quite appropriate. These games are designed to be addictive. Some may say free choice but many of my friends with kids didn't think it is such a bad idea. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3146437/chinas-video-game-industry-stormy-waters-country-grapples-its-love

SINGAPORE - The first inspector-general in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will take on a new role to oversee the pre-school sector from Dec 15. Mr Tan Chee Wee, 47, will be appointed chief executive of the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). He was appointed CEO-designate on Sept 1, ECDA said on Thursday (Sept 16). He will replace current CEO Jamie Ang, 44, who has been heading ECDA since Oct 1, 2019. Ms Ang's term ends on Dec 14. Mr Tan, who held the rank of brigadier-general in the SAF, established the Inspector-General's Office to strengthen safety governance and management systems in SAF in his role as inspector-general. The role was introduced in Feb 2019 as part of measures to improve safety following a spate of military fatalities. Mr Tan had concurrently served as the SAF Chief of Staff - Joint Staff. In this role, he drove efforts to develop the blueprint for the next-generation SAF in the areas of warfighting concepts and organisation structures, said ECDA. He has also held a range of senior appointments in the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the SAF. These include director of joint operations, commander of air defence and operations command, director of the policy office, and defence attache in Washington. He joined the SAF in 1993 as an air traffic controller in the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Mr Stanley Loh, the Second Permanent Secretary for Social and Family Development, said: "Mr Tan's extensive leadership and operational experience in Mindef and the SAF positions him well to lead ECDA to partner the pre-school community in the transition towards Covid-19 resilience." He will also help ECDA to deliver on its commitment to improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of pre-schools, he added. Source: ST/ https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/safs-first-inspector-general-to-oversee-preschool-sector-from-dec-15 ----------- Leadership and operational experience in mindef = leadership in early childhood development?? 🤨

From September, the professional jobs networking site LinkedIn will pilot a new job-matching platform in Singapore that focuses on candidates’ skill sets, rather than educational qualifications and past job titles. This is to give jobseekers a better shot at gaining access to new employment opportunities. The Skills Path initiative, supported by the National Jobs Council, will allow applicants here to complete skill assessment tests unique to the job roles they are applying for, so as to demonstrate their competencies. They therefore do not need to rely solely on their traditional qualifications to get a foot in the door. Employers may then evaluate candidates based on their skills rather than judge them solely on their degrees, job titles and networks to fill a vacancy, LinkedIn said on Saturday (Aug 14). For a start, the pilot platform will feature one job advertisement each from eight different companies that have already come on board the initiative, with plans to get more companies to join. The employers are: Property developer CapitaLand, OCBC bank, food delivery firm FoodPanda, NTUC Enterprise, pharmaceutical company Zuellig Pharma, and e-commerce sites Carousell, Lazada and Zalora. They will put up job advertisements for six selected job roles, including customer service, data analyst, project manager and sales development, LinkedIn said. Jobseekers who are interested in finding career opportunities via Skills Path may do so by setting their profile status on LinkedIn to #OpenToWork. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/linkedin-launches-singapore-job-platform-focused-more-applicants-skills-education-past-job-titles Any LinkedIn users here? How many of you actually pay for its premium account?

How come some kids will become like that in Primary school? Is it because parents work too hard and leave them to maids? Especially the $1 per day case. Omg.... Any MCFers here have stories to share? http://edumatters.sg/bullying-what-can-you-do-about-it/

Coronavirus is giving online higher education a second chance to prove its worth source: https://qz.com/1817162/coursera-is-making-its-courses-free-to-students-around-the-world/ With an increasing number of universities shutting down campuses and shifting their learning online to try and contain the spread of coronavirus, Coursera, a US online education company, announced today (March 12) that it will provide any impacted university in the world with free access to its 3,800 courses. Universities that sign up can give their enrolled students access to 95% of its catalog which come from190 partner universities, including Johns Hopkins, the University of Michigan, and Yale, among others. Institutions facing coronavirus disruptions will have free access until July 31, at which time Coursera will offer month-to-month extensions “depending on prevailing risk assessments”. “The spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) is the most serious global health security threat in decades,” Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera’s CEO, said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have university and industry partners, who have been at the forefront of responding to the challenges humanity has faced from time to time. “ MOOCs, or massive open online courses, were originally born a decades ago to democratize access to higher education. Students and teachers around the globe rushed head first into the world’s largest ed tech experiment but institutions later grew disappointed as it became clear students did not finish courses. Universities now face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the world to experiment with MOOCs and the question will be, again, whether they can deliver. Coursera was set up in 2012 by Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, computer science professor at Stanford University, to open access to the world’s best teachers and courses. That year, MOOCs exploded: Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each ponied up $30 million to create edX. Coursera backers include major players in ed tech venture capital: Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates GSV Capital, Learn Capital, and SEEK Group. A low completion rate But MOOCs ran into a wall when research showed very few learners finished the courses they started (one study by academics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that online courses had an astronomical dropout rate of about 96% on average over five years). Today, many have changed their business models. Coursera no longer tracks (or discloses) completion rates but rather looks at skills acquisition, says Leah Belsky, chief enterprise officer at Coursera. Many MOOC providers now charge fees and they’re offering bundles of courses called ‘specializations’ or ‘nanodegrees’ to encourage completion, and partnering with colleges and universities to offer MOOC-based degrees online. For example, Coursera offers a bachelor of science in computer science degree from the University of London and various masters degrees in data science from the University of Michigan, Imperial College London, and the University of Colorado. Coursera also has signed up 2,300 companies who use it to train employees and a portal used by governments to train its workers. Six months ago Coursera launched Coursera for Campus which allows universities to buy licenses for a certain number of students rather than students buying their own courses. It was a timely decision. When Duke Kunshan University, Duke’s Chinese campus, faced a shut down, it asked if it could access the whole catalog of Coursera classes and not just Duke classes (Duke is a partner university so Duke students can take Duke courses on Coursera). After it offered its 587 students access, 162 of them enrolled in courses. Between January and February, Coursera saw a 47% spike in enrollments in China and Hong Kong and a 30% jump in Vietnam, all countries impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. Additionally, there was a 30% increase in total enrollments for public health content on Coursera and a 185% jump in enrollments for public health content in China and Hong Kong. Since going live on February 18, Imperial College London’s course Science Matters: Let’s Talk About COVID-19 has 13,500 enrollments, making it the second most popular course launched on Coursera in 2020 so far.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/secondary-1-students-own-device-digital-learning-12498494 Haha the vendor/apple huat ah. Ipad obviously easiest for tablet since other tablets sure have some android or what not issue. Base laptop could be too expensive given u want something lightweight and portable for children. Or maybe a chromebook.

the kid must have hated the parents so much to sue them

Moe gradually to abolish outright streaming Into express and normal. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/streaming-secondary-schools-scrapped-o-n-levels-ong-ye-kung-11312252

Just met my former Pri school classmate after 30 years

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/social-inequality-lack-of-diversity-png-eng-huat-parliament-10239986 I really think it might work, secondary school admission based on each primary school highest performing students. I thought it is a brilliant out of the box thinking

i thinking of buying 1,000 sgd, ya i poor man lah. lol anyone buy opet coin liao ma?

Hello folks.. Don't know if its good news or something more siong ahead... my kid actually got selected into GEP.. We never prepared him for this at all... we didn't even know he gone for Round 1 until he told us he needed to take Round 2 in another school. Any feedback/recommendations if this is actually beneficial for a kid? If it does, which are the recommended schools in NE area?

This was shared on my facebook. Many kids nowadays are privileged, important thing is they recognised, utilize it and help those who are not as privileged. https://www.facebook.com/doctorkiki/videos/2070923123127225/

I am a parent of 3 kids myself quite concerned leh..I was told by my sister one of the student who committed suicide is my niece's classmate in S..gk..g Primary..reallypityful and my deeepest condolences to the family members......... What is our education system trying to achieve? Any parent bros here wana give good tips on educating kids..please share

i hope somebody can share his experience with me on this. i wanted to enrol my son to NAFA school for his diploma next year. I know we can use our ordinary acct for our child's education loan. but my ordinary acct is drained and my monthly contribution goes to my housing loan. next chance is my special acct. so i wrote to CPF board to see if i could use my special acct. replied from CPF below so my question is, anyone tried seeing their MP and could get special arrangement? or heard of any successful story pertaining to this type of scenario? my credit rating no as good, i think i cannot borrow from bank. thanks for reading.

Former chief of defence force Neo Kian Hong, 49, will be appointed Permanent Secretary (Education Development) from July 1. With his appointment, the Education Ministry will have two permanent secretaries. Ms Chan Lai Fung, who has been Permanent Secretary (Education) since November, will continue in that post. Mr Neo joins the Administrative Service after completing an Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. He had retired from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) this year after an illustrious 30-year career. A SAF Overseas Scholar, Mr Neo was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General. He was chief of defence force from 2010 to March this year, when he led a push to have soldiers train with laptops and handheld gadgets.

Understand there are quite a few old birds in MCF, will be grateful if anyone can shed some light on this situation. Facing some employment crisis... A bit of my background, I graduated from a local university with an engineering degree a few years back. My GPA wasn't the best, but it was good enough for a first class honors and was in top 10% of the cohort. From there, I went on to work at a SME providing engineering services (basically, big companies outsource their engineering design needs to us), while doing a part time PhD at the same local university. Within 3.5 years, I ticked all the KPIs required for graduation and submitted my thesis. Reviews for my thesis were extremely positive and I was then able to graduate. This was by no means an easy feat because most full time students struggle to even produce a proper thesis in 4 years. I reckon that credit should also be given to the massive support I got from my professors at school and my ex-bosses at work. Upon graduation, I moved on to another company. Salary isn't high, but I really wasn't expecting too much considering that I was "new" in their domain- Same type of work, but in a different domain. In layman terms, it will be equal to domestic helper cleaning home vs. hotel chambermaid cleaning hotel rooms. Things were fine in the beginning, mostly because I lacked the knowledge in the new industry and also their business processes. Aong the way, I learned and learned, and eventually got the hang of things after a few months. Herein, the problem set in. Being a new guy, I was always assigned to some "senior" staffs under a couple of new area projects, playing the role of "assistant", which I am perfectly fine with. I do not mind being a follower, if the project leader is capable of teaching me something. However, in this cases, the project leaders knew nothing about the domain, nor the process. It was actually their first time running such projects too. What this effectively meant was that I was doing all the leg work, mind work and practically everything, while not a single credit was given. When things were not perfect, I had to take the blame because it was my work. When things were great, suddenly I was forgotten. At the same time, my company started looking at restructuring and I couldn't be sure when it will be my turn. Dejected, I started looking for opportunities outside. Despite numerous attempts at dropping resume and cover letters, I just couldn't find another job. After 5 months of job seeking, I got interviews with three companies. Weirdly, all gave the same conclusion, " We like you a lot, but your area of expertise...". This is despite my attempts at making clear that I was willing to learn and am a quick learner. I am wondering what exactly is my problem in preventing me from moving on or getting a chance for an interview. Is it the advance engineering degree? Or my current over-inflated job title? Or do I give off the vibe that I am expensive to hire? What will you do if you were in my shoe? *Disclaimer, I am really cheap to hire. My peers, who started PhD together with me and graduated 1 year later (Remember...I took 3.5 years...most full time were taking 4.5 to 5 years), are easily drawing 10-30% more than me even without work experience.

wah don't send kids to uni and don't spend on tuition can save a lot of $$ no need to worry about retirement liao can the MIW lead by example first? Singaporean Carmen Kok regrets that she never made it to university. She’s not letting her daughter make the same mistake, even if she has to send her abroad to get a place. “You can’t rise up in Singapore without a degree,” said Kok, 47, who plans to spend three times what she makes in a year as a hairdresser to send her daughter to college in South Korea. “She may be able to get a job if she doesn’t go to university, but she can get a higher salary if she goes.” Singapore’s Tiger moms are becoming a headache for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is trying to persuade the population that they don’t need to go to university to have a good career. After a clampdown on immigration and a slowdown in the economy, he needs fewer graduates and more workers to fill the shipyards, factory floors and hotel desks that keep the country going. Lee, who graduated from Cambridge University in England with top honors, is leading a campaign that includes speeches and roadshows to persuade more youths to join the workforce under a system modeled on Germany’s apprenticeship system. The “earn and learn” program would place graduates from technical schools into jobs, while giving them the chance to continue part-time education. Intentional Trend Lee is the latest Asian leader with an A-starred education system to try to put the brakes on, as universities turn out more and more graduates who aren’t matched to the jobs available. A few years ago, South Korea said it may close some higher-education institutes amid what then-President Lee Myung Bak called “reckless university enrollment.” “There is a clear international trend in the developed world to make vocational education a true choice for more young people,” said Pasi Sahlberg, a visiting professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yet, many still see it as a “secondary choice,” especially in Asia, where parents tend to believe that “higher education would be the only key to prosperity and success.” Six out of 10 Singaporeans between 25 and 29 years old completed tertiary education, the highestproportion in the world and just ahead of South Korea, according to the latest World Bank figures from 2010. ‘Work Hard’ In a televised address last August, Singapore’s Lee celebrated two employees at Keppel Corp Ltd., the world’s biggest builder of offshore oil rigs, who had risen through the ranks without a graduate diploma. “They may not have degrees, but they are working hard and trying to improve themselves,” Lee said. “So long as you work hard, you can always hope for a brighter future here in Singapore.” The Straits Times, Singapore’s most widely-read newspaper, has run profiles of Singaporeans who achieved career success after eschewing or postponing college. An October survey by the paper showed readers equally divided over whether it is possible to succeed in the country without a degree. “The success of this campaign is crucial for Singapore going forward, as it reshapes its labor market,” said Vishnu Varathan, a Singapore-based economist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. “It’s a hard sell for Singaporeans who see college as the route to a good salary.” Lifetime earnings for a typical U.S. bachelor’s degree holder is twice that of someone with a high-school diploma, according to a study by the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project released in September. In Singapore, the median starting salary for graduates with a four-year electrical engineering degree was S$3,135 ($2,370) in 2013, compared with S$1,750 for those who studied the same subject at a technical institute, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower. Problem Solving The Southeast Asian nation’s education system is regularly ranked among the best in the world. Students aged 15 from Singapore and South Korea topped those in 44 countries in problem solving, according to a report last year by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. South Korea is now encouraging companies to hire young people and is pushing for a job-sharingwage system to reduce youth unemployment. Singapore already has a system that sorts children into different subject-based bands at school after testing starting at age 10. They’re later placed into junior colleges or technical institutes based on exams at 16 or 17. Those going to junior college have a higher chance of entry into a local university. Under Singapore’s earn-and-learn program, technical school leavers would receive on-the-job training while they study for an industry qualification, according to the government’s budget for this fiscal year. Each Singaporean who is placed in the program will receive a S$5,000 bonus. A pilotplan next year will place some graduates from the technical institutes in apprenticeships in sectors including aerospace, logistics and information technology. “We can’t become a Germany, but what we can do is adapt some of the very strong points for certain sectors and certain types of skills,” S. Iswaran, second minister for trade, said in an interview on Feb. 24. German Model Germany’s Dual Vocational Training System allows school-leavers at 18 to apply to a private company for a contract that mixes on-the-job learning with a broader education at a publicly funded vocational school. Persuading Singaporeans to go down the same route will be an uphill task after decades of extolling the importance of education. Singapore households spent S$1.1 billion on tutors outside school in the year ended September 2013, according to the most-recent survey by the statistics department. Every member of the cabinet has a degree, and the civil service continues to offer students full scholarships to top colleges overseas as a form of recruitment. Two of Lee’s sons went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while his deputies Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Teo Chee Hean have sons who went to Cambridge University in England andBrown University in Rhode Island on government scholarships. Singapore subsidizes the bulk of tuition fees at local universities for its citizens, making the cost about S$7,950 a year for an arts and social sciences degree at National University of Singapore. That compares with about $45,000 a year at Harvard University without financial aid for a full-time student. Many Singaporeans who don’t get into a local college go abroad. Four in 10 graduates in the resident labor force last year got their degrees overseas. “The government shouldn’t tell people not to go to university unless they can promise the same job opportunities as graduates,” said Kenneth Chen, 26, whose parents spent more than S$170,000 on a sports science degree in Brisbane, Australia, after he graduated with a biotechnology diploma in Singapore. “But obviously that’s not going to happen.”