Daily Lessons from Life 05 May 2013 - University degree 'not vital for success': Khaw Boon Wan

"University degree 'not vital for success': Khaw Boon Wan - The Straits Times May 05, 2013

Singaporeans do not need to be university graduates to be successful, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.

What is more important is that they get good jobs after leaving school, Mr Khaw told some 160 students and young adults in an Our Singapore Conversation dialogue.

"If they cannot find jobs, what is the point? You own a degree, but so what? That you can't eat it. If that cannot give you a good life, a good job, it is meaningless," he added.

Mr Khaw was responding to a participant who said the Government should set aside more university places for Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnic graduates."

This is a question that need to be looked at in context.

Lessons for me are:

1. given that the educational system is trying to 'optimize' the allocation of resources based on a common academic examination G.C.E. "A" Level results to decide who gets into the universities in Singapore, it is counter-productive to have more universities places set aside for those who had not been able to qualify through the existing educational system of 'primary school -> secondary school -> ITE or Poly or JC' and then 'JC to Universities' and 'some for ITE/Poly to universities';

2. I would perhaps reframe the question as: "the current educational system has already taken into consideration the late bloomers and the exceptional ITE/Poly track students", so providing more places will not be considered though the students who feel strongly can still apply to study at private universities of repute;

3. as for 'not able to eat the degree if you cannot find a job and have no money', it is absolutely true unless human being has developed the biological capability to digest papers and extract nutrients from it. That would have been cool! The key is therefore, can Singapore provide enough University degree jobs or not IF the citizens aspired to be university graduates? In fact, as with some countries that produce A LOT of university graduates, the standard basic work for fresh graduates are basically jobs used to be filled by secondary or JC or poly graduates when there are NOT enough university degree jobs. It is AS SIMPLE AS THAT!

4. Finally, if we define success as: 'to be the best that you can be in whichever job/career/business you hold/create regardless of your educational qualification', then it is true that 'university degree is NOT VITAL for success.