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Blueprint for a new meritocracy

If meritocracy is the engine that drove Singapore from Third World to First, perhaps the real significance of SG50 is the reinvention of meritocracy so that a new version serves us for the next 50 years.

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Daniel Lee Hock Seng

If meritocracy is the engine that drove Singapore from Third World to First, perhaps the real significance of SG50 is the reinvention of meritocracy so that a new version serves us for the next 50 years.

Our aim should be the optimisation of our human capital to bring about maximum improvement in our lives.

The Prime Minister’s call for a cultural shift, from a credential meritocracy based on paper qualifications to a performance meritocracy that values actual competence, is just the trigger for such a transformation.

As we recover from the initial confusion such an idea caused, we must think about how to proceed. I suggest that we take three vital steps.

Firstly, we must abandon the belief that intelligence is fixed and is the sole determinant of ability. We should believe that intelligence is fluid and can be increased through education, irrespective of the starting point.

That should be the main role of schools. Examinations should only be used to gauge teaching and learning adequacy, not to judge or classify students.

Secondly, we should give up the notion that an intelligence quotient as represented by exam grades determines entry to university courses and suitability for jobs.

Instead, the genuine interests and strengths of students should be identified and cultivated in school and made the main entry criteria.

Thirdly, university access to certain prestigious and lucrative professional jobs, such as in medicine, law and engineering, should be open to all ages as long as one is willing and able to undertake and pay for the rigorous training needed.

With these measures, the stress and expense of intensive tuition, the narrowness of studying to the test, wasted time from over-preparation for exams, manufactured exam results and the pain of irrelevant, hollow credentials will gradually fade away.

They will be superseded by the advent of true passion, commitment to lifelong learning and real expertise.

People who thrive in such a system would fully deserve the respect they would naturally be shown. Others would know that they succeed because of both their wits and their diligence.

The elitism inherent in the credential system would eventually give way to a more egalitarian performance culture where everyone may have a chance to fail, but also every opportunity to succeed.

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