THE school principal who achieved the considerable feat of upsetting both students and parents with straight talk about the ways of the world would be contrite, although she has her defenders. These were Normal stream students she was psyching up. They needed positive strokes, some form of encouragement. If she sounded like she was bent on steering the weaker ones towards the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), instead of providing stimulus for the O levels and a shot at polytechnic, she had to have been sure in her evaluation of her students. Study advice of this nature is best kept real, even if some parents who have expressed an opinion think she might have done more to nurture her charges.

A look at Normal stream Secondary 5 performance levels could put the matter in context. Four in 10 Normal stream students who each year take the O levels do not qualify for polytechnic. Of these, half proceed to the ITE. A 60 per cent success rate for polytechnic through the Normal route is by most yardsticks tremendous. It speaks well of the students' faith in themselves and of their teachers' application. The fact the ITE percentage, at 20 per cent, is low does not render the vocational choice a 'failure'. It is another route to career fulfillment. The principal would have caused no stir if she had made her pitch thus. Here is where the Education Ministry and the teachers it employs should continually work at eliminating the ITE mental block harboured by many individuals.

The ITE is a standout in Singapore's educational landscape, characterised as a range of different peaks of attainment. The applied teaching and the facilities are excellent. The marketability and earning power of technologists have been validated by employers. As a way of affirming personal development, the ITE option is no different from passionate youngsters choosing design school or music school over junior college and polytechnic.