A Gift of a Programme

I fully agree with the Education Minister as well as Singapore's decision to implement the Gifted Education programme in the 1990s. As much as there is much skeptism surrounding this "elitist" programme. I personally feel that is very much neccessary if Singapore wants to remain on the world stage and stay competitive with powerhouses such as USA, China, Geremny and China. Nowadays, with the advancement in technology, more and more emphasis have been placed on youths as youths will one day be the leaders of tomorrow and education has grown to much more importance as compared to previous years.

The statistics have also shown the many successes in the Gifted Education Programme, with 22 out of the 48 President's Scholars from GEP and also taking 3 out of 16 Lee Kuan Yew Scholars for postgrudate students. Thus, the Gifted Education Programme will no doubt nuture the top talents in Singapore and strecth them to a higher level. We should also settle for nothing less as Singapore needs to set the highest standards for the most talented young for talents to be able to groom in Singapore.

It would also be very chilish to think that the GE Programme breeds snobs. This is a grave misunderstanding due to the competitive instincts in youths and adults nowadays. Instead, this programme will breed youths who think they owe Singapore a living for it is Singapore that has allowed them to achieve so much in life. It is also true that while the GE Programme is exclusive, it does not segregate its students from the others as both of these groups of students go through almost the same acadmic curriculum. The only difference being the pace of the learning and the slightly different styles of learning. GE Students also go through the same school activities and programmes as normal students in their school.

However, this is not to say that I am totally supportive of the GE Programme. I believed that it can still be further improved upon. For example, maybe more schools can be used to host GE students. This way, less students will have to transfer to another school just because they are GE students if they happen to be admitted to the GE programme in Primary 4. This will also remove part of the elitism feelings that some students may have towards the GE students. Futhermore, I think that although GE students are supposed to be trained as indpendent learners, more guidance can be given to them at the early stages of their admittance into the GE programme. Countless of my friends who have just been admitted to the GE programme have complained that the work load has increased significantly and they feel alone and lost.

Thus, in conclusion, although I think that the GE Programme is indeed a good programme that the government has put in place to nuture young talents in Singapore. More can be done to further improve upon it.