I REFER to the speech Education Minister Ng Eng Hen delivered at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy earlier this month.

We have a top-notch education system that produces students with excellent results.

Our teaching standard in maths and science is world-class. However, is achieving good grades a reasonable yardstick of an excellent education system?

Many friends whose children attend Australian schools do so well in entrance tests that they are permitted to skip one or two grades, making them the youngest students in their cohort.

They also excel academically, even in a foreign system.

The Australian education system stresses fun and creativity.

This is not to say that schools do not place emphasis on grades and academic achievements. On the contrary, they also have rigorous tests and exams.

I notice that the system produces confident kids who are outspoken and sociable. I can't say the same for those who have gone through the Singapore education system, who tend to let their grades do the talking.

A majority of our children find our education system too results- based. There seems to be a lack of freedom to go beyond getting As in exams.

More needs to be done so that students can take pleasure in their studies beyond achieving good grades while living up to the expectations of parents, teachers and peers.

The competitive nature of our education system sometimes works against the true meaning of education - that is, taking joy in learning to achieve one's potential in life.

Nevertheless, I salute Dr Ng for stating that our system needs to "impart values, not just grades, to students".

The "adversity quotient" of our kids also needs to be enhanced so that they can dig in their heels when the going gets tough.

It is when our educational system can produce true champions in life, rather than just churning out top-notch straight-A students, that we can say we have arrived.

Mr Gilbert Goh Keow Wah

New South Wales, Australia

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