Education Minister Ong Ye Kung tackles PSLE, meritocracy & tuition culture in Parl speech
Ong acknowledges the fact that meritocracy has paradoxically resulted in greater inequality, where children are “pushing off blocks from different starting lines”.
On quotas, Ong notes that in the U.S., for instance, steps were taken in various ways to moderate the fact that Asian applicants to study in local schools (public schools and elite universities like Harvard) tended to score the highest in admissions tests, to preserve ethnic diversity.
He disagrees with suggestions to do this, though, arguing that “we cannot assume that we will eventually have to do what other countries like the U.S. have done”, and adding that imposing a quota for lower-income students in popular schools not only “is (not) aligned to our societal ethos” but can also be seen as patronising.
a philosophy that is fundamental to Singapore’s education system — lift the bottom, don’t cap the top.