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SINGAPORE: Treat the brightest kids as the country's precious resources. Groom them but more importantly, instil humility in them by making them aware of their weaknesses.
But the last thing to do is to allow an "anti-intellectualist culture" from taking root here, warned Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who sheds his education portfolio on Tuesday to concentrate on his new job of helming the Finance Ministry.
Speaking to TODAY on Saturday, in one of his final interviews as Education Minister, Mr Tharman — who has established good rapport with the ground despite his professorial demeanour — noted there are already traces of an anti-intellectual spirit among some Singaporeans.
Said Mr Tharman: "Every time I make changes to the Gifted Education Programme or this and that, some people think, 'Oh, wonderful!' But part of that people jumping up and declaring it's wonderful is that they just dislike anything that looks elitist."
He added: "We are not elitist in Singapore in social terms — that's the most important thing. But we have to be resolute in developing an elite in every field and providing the best education we can."
What is vital in nurturing these elites is to keep their feet on the ground from an early age — by getting them to realise that there is much to learn from others.
Said Mr Tharman: "I do sometimes think that our strongest students, those who are strongest intellectually and are in the top schools, are not sufficiently aware of their weaknesses… It is very important for people who are very strong in one department to recognise they are not so strong in another department and someone else is very strong in that other department."
And he argues that the Singapore education system is "far more" egalitarian than it is given credit for, in the way it recognises different abilities and allows children to stay in education for as long as they can.
Said Mr Tharman: "The systems that appear egalitarian – those of the French, the German, the Japanese, where they provide everyone with the same education and they think it's wonderful -- are totally inegalitarian in their outcomes. It is a great pretence because a large number of their kids are just trudging through the system and they end up dropping out."
The move to abolish the traditional streaming in primary schools was cheered by many but far from moving away from ability-based education, Mr Tharman explained that the reformed education landscape is underpinned by two important principles: A person's potential should not be identified or fixed too early in life, and that every individual has strengths and weaknesses.
"In some ways, we have become more efficient at it by recognising more abilities, even within the same individual."
It boils down to striking a balance between differentiation and a seamless education, said Mr Tharman. And the best approach to achieve it is through pragmatism -- not ideology or succumbing to populist demands.
"If you want to be popular for six months or a year, we can scrap streaming altogether but what we've done instead is to introduce the flexibility and fluidity."
In short, meritocracy in schools, as Singaporeans knew it, have undergone an "evolutionary" shift.
Gone is the "very traditional, somewhat rigid system many years ago", enter a school environment that is "more authentic to the meritocracy of real life", where there is recognition of a wider range of abilities even within the same individual and where students are surprised to discover talents they did not know they had.
Yet, there are lessons to be learnt from the schools of the old days, Mr Tharman pointed out, recalling what Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had said about his years in Telok Kurau Primary. Had he not attended that school and interacted with persons from a whole range of very different backgrounds, he may not be the same person.
"There's something about growing up in diversity that's very powerful in education, in the way it shapes your mind, your character," said Mr Tharman.
Which is why there was a need to reduce the "precision of measurement" that has resulted in the bunching of bright students in the top schools, by blunting the secondary schools' ranking system and introducing the Direct Schools Admission scheme as "sidedoors".
The changes in how schools are ranked were pivotal in removing the seeming fixation in schools with students' academic performance.
As a result, principals and vice-principals -- who are now also rotated between schools after a longer duration -- are committed to develop students more holistically, given that their KPIs do not revolve solely around how well their schools outdo others in nationwide examinations.
Said Mr Tharman: "Schools that work with students who start out with a disadvantage and motivate them to do better and to create surprises are noticed."
As he prepares to hand over the education portfolio to incumbent Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen, Mr Tharman identified the area of Normal (Technical) education as one where he sees much potential for improvement, in terms of stretching the abilities of students who thrive on hands-on learning.
"That's the part of the streaming system that I have the greatest confidence in, in many ways. This is a group of students who really can be provided with teaching and learning of a different style."
And the work has already started: Schools are designing their own curriculum for these students, with the Ministry of Education playing a supporting role by "finding a way of recognising it with certification", in Mr Tharman's words.
And he is confident the wheels have been set in motion -- as far as education is concerned -- for Singapore to continue to punch above its weight in the new economy where innovation is king.
"You don't need a whole load of individuals in any society to do something exceptional, but we need more of them in Singapore -- people who want to break barriers essentially," he said. - TODAY/fa
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