PM National Day Rally 2007

I will be giving my views on the issue of Upgrading Education.

Every year our education system seems to keep changing. And this year it is no different. The PM has brought up many new ideas to help improve the system. Firstly he talks about the quality of neighbourhood schools. In my opinion, I feel that it was good that he raised this issue, to show Singaporeans that these neighbourhood schools also provide quality education. It is also a good way to try to eliminate the elitist mindset amongst Singaporeans. People will not feel the need to get into top schools in order to get good education and thus, creates a less competitive environment.

Another issue he raised about education was the learning of Malay as a third language. I personally wanted to pick up Malay, as I feel that learning many languages is a very good life skill. Furthermore, I feel that with Malay we can destroy that language barrier we have with our older generation. Also, a reason for implementing this scheme would be because we are surrounded by Malay speaking countries. It would therefore, be necessary to be able to learn their language in order to communicate and understand them better.

Finally, an important topic of building a fourth university was brought up. I feel that this is important, as it is getting easier and easier to get into university. This is beacuase there is more than one way to enter a university. Hence, more students are able to obtain a place in university even though they take other routes. Therefore, building a fourth university will give an opportunity to students to get tertiary education. Plus, it will lower the competitiveness of getting a place in university. It can also be a source of motivation for the generations to come.

Lavanya E.