Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
"Right now, Singapore has 500,000 workers who have less than secondary education - making up 60 per cent of the total workforce - and may be vulnerable to structural unemployment. The NTUC has set itself the goal of recreating jobs for 10,000 of them in the next year or so."
(Straits Times 14 Oct)
What happened to our education system? I thought the streaming and so forth was supposed to prevent this?
The education system is not broad-based to equip people with skills or knowledge application but to show how many highly educated people we will produce. To our leaders the greater the number of graduates the higher is our success. Whether these graduates will start up new factories or create jobs is none of their concern. For at least three years I have been posting suggestions to government and Feedback Unit to go for broad-based practical education but by the time the new minister Tharman realised the original streaming system was defective or over-academic the harm was already done. It looks like the whole past 40 years of education was academic and far from making our society competitive. We have lost out to many Asian Tigers on this score and is now paying a heavy price.
It is very clear that one-man at the helm is a very uncompetitive system. Academic education producing many academically qualified people is not changed for too many years. Industrialisation and economic planning is going the same way, highly academic but no ministers are doing the real value-adding to the economy.
It looks like in desperation, many things are being done now to continue to show past leadership and past policies have been successful.
If any upgrading or restructuring is to be done, there must be political return. If HDB upgrading is to be done, the voting pattern in the precinct must show increased votes in the last elecion.
If ComFund or WDA or anything to improve the people welbeing will to be done, it will be tied to CDC and administered by MPs with the help of the CCC/RC to increase votes.
If jobs are to be found they will be for residents who are recommended by the CCC/RC throught network of meet-the-people sessions.
CDC/Town council is now becoming a political organization and it is doubtful if problems like improving the estates, liveing environment or upgrading will be done without any motive.