[i was doing gp research and remembered these facts i accumulated over the past two years]

East Asian schools in general:
-rote-based curricula and examcentric systems
-main goal: to churn out literate, disciplined workers
-students enter an "examination hell" the moment they begin formal schooling
-the minority who make it into good unis= the 'winners'. everyone else is a loser.
-education system so focused on country's economic success that individual success is ignored
-towering degree of unhappiness among Asian kids
` 14 year old Japanese boy, suspended from school, strangled 11 year old school mate, sawed off his head, placed it in a bag and dropped it off at the gate of his school. a note in the dead boy's mouth read "(this is) revenge against the compulsory education system and the society that created it"
` 7 year old in Hong Kong leapt out of his high-rise apartment after failing an exam.
` 1/3 teens in HK have had suicide thoughts.
` Asian students: ranked 1st [in a poll by the Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement] in the understanding of math and science; and 2nd lowest in the enjoyment of these subjects.
` surveys show that while East Asian pupils top worldwide academic tests, they retain the information for the least amount of time.
` in most schools in Seoul, the playgrounds are empty- there's no time to play.
` students no longer interested in what they are taught

one Singaporean parent's comment:
-children are praised for "keeping quiet and turning in neat work". in orther words, they are expected to be conformists rather than be curious and creative.
- her own once imaginative and creative child stopped being so in order to "stay out of trouble" at school
-"how can you teach creativity if you do not allow it?"


i myself hate our pressurizing and highly competitive 'meritocratic' education systems where exams and grades are all that matters and students who dont do well academically are looked down on.

and then, i think: who am i to complain and feel disgruntled? me who scored a perfect 6 points for the GCE O levels and am part of the elite 30% of the Singaporean cohort who make it into junior colleges each year? me who is not only in that 30% but am even in the best (arts) class of a fairly good and reputable college? 

we are the lucky ones.