Eugene Tan analyses the declining achievements

of Singapore's Education System.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear:

Yet, in our deep-rooted belief that education is the universal medicine to all social ills, we keep expanding the catchment of education. We believe that if we manage to keep everyone in the school system long enough, everyone will be educated.

But how many times must we remind each other than getting an education and being educated are entirely different issues? Yet, the equivalence is drawn every time. The glaring differences (I won't even use the notion of subtlety here) are blurred with broad strokes.

We expand and expand and expand our educational streams and institutions. In the name of providing differentiated education to different parts of the student spectrum, have we considered that there are those whose real education is from the university of the society? Mandatory education does nothing for them.

It's unnatural to stop quoting him there, but this is a taste. It's brilliant. Read the whole thing.