Daily Lessons from Life 05 May 2014 - Heng: Intangibles count too

"Heng: Intangibles count too - MyPaper    Monday, May 05, 2014

SINGAPORE - Instead of chasing for that last point in an examination, education should be a lifelong pursuit of learning, said Education Minister Heng Swee Keat.

Pointing out that the notion of "education equals grades" is counterproductive to a student's learning journey, Mr Heng said academic ability is not the only path to success. Parents should also focus on the "intangibles": aspects such as character development and socio-emotional learning that can "carry a child through life".

"Our domain of learning must go beyond that of academics...towards developing a whole person, and not just a part of a person," he told some 300 parents at The Straits Times' inaugural Education Forum yesterday.

This is why the Education Minister is sticking to his guns on not naming the top scorers of national examinations like the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

Citing his own experience in interacting with people during his 27-year career in the public service, Mr Heng noted that he has seen many "outstanding" individuals attain success in life even without much academic achievements.

He said: "It is our responsibility as parents and an education system to bring out the best in every child. We must help every child succeed in life - not just in their schools or careers, but also in their own lives, so they can go on to lead happy, meaningful and fulfilling lives.""

Minister Heng is helming a very IMPORTANT ministry. It has the responsibilities of developing learning Singaporeans who are compassionate, public spirited, humble, creative, balanced, independent minded and good problems solvers.

Lessons for me are:

1. these values and attributes MUST be embraced by the PARENTS for them to take root in the home. It is vitally critical that Minister Heng reaches out to the parents, as he has done here in this ST's Education Forum. The tender minds are shaped first at the home by their role models, parents and grandparents. They will do what they see rather than what they heard! i.e. actions speak louder than words;

2. The same values and attributes MUST be reinforced by teachers and school administrators and educators as the young minds spend the other significant part of their time at schools, up to university level. Of course, we hope that by the time the kids are at secondary school level, ALL these values and attributes would have become like second nature or instinct. No kids will litter; no kids will shy away from keeping the dining tables clean at home or at hawker centers; no kids will need domestic help with their chores when they attain the age of 13!; no kids will need to be reminded to be respectful to the elderly and the less fortunate; no kids will fear learning as learning to learn is the most important task of being a student; no kids will have low 'adversity quotient' as they learn that when trying to be creative, there may be failures and setbacks before they get it right!; no kids will avoid stepping forward to speak up and assert their rights when they see injustice and unfairness are present; no kids will bully another as they know it is wrong and a shameful and cowardly act; and more;

3. this is what Minister Heng is alluding to. The characters building in addition to acquisition of knowledge, skills and tools to be able to look at an issue, consider the possibilities and execute on solutions that will yield as much good as possible to a great majority of people. High expectations indeed. Yet, given our 'Little Red Dot' situation, we do need to look beyond 'education = grades'. We need more good men and women with integrity and the smartness to help us move forward. Integrity that recognizes that it is about the meaningfulness of one's job than just the pay of that job!

There were many 'outstanding' people who achieved successes without much education. At the same time, we want to have 'outstanding' people who achieved success with application of that so-called "education" - formal and informal. Maybe 'learning' is more appropriate!

Parents, are you ready for this paradigm shift? If not, half the battle is already lost!! Beware of YOUR responsibilities!