Unfortunately, the rhetoric doesn't quite match the reality. The system is also not preparing us for a future where the global economy demands creativity and innovation. The World Bank conducted a survey using the Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) to assess countries on how well their economies are adapted to, and prepared for, the knowledge economy. The top three positions, out of 146 countries, are (in order): Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Singapore ranks at only 25th.
And while we rank high on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the three Scandinavian countries are not far behind. In fact, Finland consistently ranks at or near the top of PISA and its education system is the most highly regarded in the world.
The important difference is that Finnish children achieve their standards without being subjected to the nightmarish experiences that our children are put through.
The KEI and PISA rankings indicate that while we drill our students hard in Mathematics and Science, the PAP's educational policies are not turning out students who are creative and have the ability to build a knowledge economy.
Academic Sudhir Vadaketh cited a financier who relocated to Singapore saying: “Although the [education] system has created many gifted technically capable people, it has done so at the cost of creativity and lateral thinking. I have found it much easier to succeed against ‘smarter’ competition in Singapore than any other country in which I have lived.”
The result is that while Sweden, Finland, and Denmark produce global companies like Ikea, Volvo, Nokia, Bang & Olufsen, Lego, Ericsson, Electrolux, etc, Singapore has little to sell to the world.
