Education, not failure, shapes confidence and breeds success

I disagree with the view in the letter “Confidence is shaped by failure” (July 16). Education is the factor that gives most people confidence and leads to their success.

Fifty years ago, it was socially acceptable to not be competent at reading and writing. Fifty years from now, I would not be surprised if people struggle to cope with the world even with a degree.

Most of the time, one’s confidence level depends on how good one is compared with others. If everyone can read and write, it is hard to be confident about being only literate, unless one is good at something else.

Likewise, if everyone else is at least a degree holder in future, one might not be as confident as the rest if one has not reached that level.

Qualifications are like war equipment. Though a war also requires strategies, crisis response capabilities, determination, et cetera, it is much harder to fight without proper equipment.

Scoring straight As does not mean one will be very successful in work, but it shows at least that one has the knowledge, determination and discipline to go on to the next level of education.

There are people who did exceptionally well without finishing university, such as Mr Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mr Mark Zuckerberg. There is only one Bill Gates, though, in a world of seven billion people.

Furthermore, if one looks closely at their cases, they were first good enough to get into top universities and dropped out after their knowledge had exceeded the range their schools were going to teach.

The pressure that some children are now facing for the Primary School Leaving Examination can be controlled by parents, who need not send them to so many tuition classes.

But their children need to score well at the O-Levels and above, unless they are talented in something else. Also, if they cannot handle school stress, working life would be harder for them.

Education equips people with knowledge, and knowledge makes people wiser.