I REFER to your report last Friday which profiled the head of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Professor Kishore Mahbubani, ('Don't sniff at our education system'). In the report, Prof Mahbubani said: 'Look at the number of parents who are paying to send their kids to Australian universities when, frankly, the NUS provides a far better education than most Australian universities.'.

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The grass is always greener on the other side - esp. the ang moh side.

Another point is how to measure "good" university - by employability upon graduation. If it meets the criteria, is good. NUS is difficult to get in and quite tough...so Australia with more relaxed environment is more attractive to students - and get similar outcomes anyway.

Besides her agricultural and dairy export to the world, Australia's next best money spinner is her universities. Most of their ceritificates are not recognised by the PSC. Let your child pass his time in an Aussie uni is ok la if you have the $$$.
A Polytechnic Diploma earned in Sg is worth much more than an Aussie degree.

I wanna send my children oversea to study too. I dismay that baby bonus scheme cannot be use for oversea (lock the $ in local U). It is good to go oversea because SIN education system is too shallow. It is a vehicle to produce ppl to earn money for the changing economy - in line with our growth policy. Last time we target manufacturing, when we TRANSFORM, many manufacturing ppl 'structurely unemployed'. Now we target financial etc.... Too shallow ....

For the writer, eventually to be doctor is a gift bestow by god (any god), it is in the life of that being to save ppl/help man-kind through medical means. In SIN many doc take oath but for fun (rmb any recent saga?)

Part of the reason ppl cannnot go local U is not self but environment. Gov cannot give u extra tuition grant per allocation ? Foreign students generate better econmomic benefits. So go oversea, the world there and life there is certainly better. Nevermind discrimination, the 1st generation immigrant has to overcome it.

It's a matter of demand and supply. There's a quota for students in faculty based on our government's best planning of what's required in the workforce.

Your son cannot qualify for a medicine scholarship but a history scholarship because there are better students who qualified for the medicine scholarships. Once again, it's a matter of demand and supply.

It's good that you can afford to send your son overseas to "beat" the system. Not everyone can afford that option.

Because Aussie guys are more macho and their girls more boobsy?? Actually, most of them pressured their parents to send them there.

Personally, I vote for sending kids oversea for the reasons of independence and life experience. Singapore is a small country and relatively systematic, it tends to restrict one creativity and tends to over pampered by their parents. If the parents can afford, I strongly recommend for overseas study. If they can't afford, I would encourage them to backpack (and work as waiter or something during the trip) to some less developed countries during one of their long holiday during undergraduate study. This will toughen them up and help them picking up some soft skills which cant be learnt from school, such as communication, gain self-confidence, planning, reading and understanding different human behaviour and teach them to be more street smart.

Personally, I see alot of differences between a Singapore lifer and someone who spent a period of time oversea, where the latter tends to be more streetsmart and better in communication. They too tend to excel better in career even though they less superior academically.

Why do parents send their children overseas? Because Professor Kishore Mahbubani’s kids are the best examples – they were sent overseas too. So, why don’t we follow YOUR example?

And guess what … where did the PM graduate from?

Overseas or local?

So who is sniffing at our education system? You and the elites, and by YOUR examples!

LOL!

who want to go overseas if one can enter local Uni. unless you are super rich,