Role of JCs worth a review

It is remarkable that some junior colleges (JCs) feel the need to spruce up their recruitment events (“From fancy gifts to flash mobs, JCs up their recruitment game”, Jan 25), and it suggests that the appeal of JCs might have waned among millennials.

JCs were seen as the de facto route to the universities, because it was the established academic route that the very best students took. With the emphasis on getting a degree, competition to enter JCs became even fiercer, as was the pressure to do well in the A-Levels.

Given that only a fraction of each JC cohort enters local universities, it makes little sense for a 16-year-old unsure that he or she can score superbly at the A-Levels to go to the JCs. This is coupled with the fact that an A-Level certificate has no real value in the job market. This makes going to a polytechnic to earn a certificate of value more appealing.

This situation calls into question the value of JCs in Singapore’s education landscape. There is no doubt that the academic rigour and skills imparted by JCs prepare a young mind for the challenges of a undergraduate degree programme, assuming the student makes it into a university.

A student who does not do well at the A-Levels is left to go to a private university, or apply to the polytechnics — which he or she could have chosen after O-Levels.

There is scope for a review of the post-secondary education landscape, to consider the role of JCs. This is important if we want to ensure that our education system continues to provide the relevant pathways for developing talent for the labour market.

Are JCs preparing students enough for the future, beyond cultivating the cream of the crop? Are the interests of those who do less well in JCs being looked after?

A review of the role of JCs would eventually yield measures that would relieve teenagers and their parents of some of the stress of choosing between JCs and polytechnics when they complete their O-Levels.