Masters of what?

I wonder about the true purpose of education. Of course, many educators would tell you that the moral aspect comes before the academics, but it is often the latter that is stressed in this competitive world. So what are we studying for? To acquire skills and knowledge? To become a better person? How much of that can we really do when we are striving to achieve results in endless rounds of battles with examinations?
Since I can remember, we have taught a syllabus with the national examinations in mind. With the compulsory social studies subject that will be tested for the first time this year, we are supposed to master the skills of evaluating sources, comparing and contrasting, spotting biases and crafting good conclusions. All that will serve well in future, but with a stringent structure, most of us are just memorising what we should do to score well and not understanding how it should be. The fixed way in which the questions are asked makes it so that the one who practices most might achieve the highest score — though not necessarily because they have mastered the skill or topic. At the end of the day, all their time has been used just to get that little A1 on that result slip.
The sad thing is that this issue is relevant to not only one subject—rather, to most of them. Some students do not even enjoy the subjects they study. To them, it is just a murky river of disguised information that they need to bear with to get to the other side. A wise man once said, “Education is priceless, but it would serve us to remember that the most important things in life cannot be taught.” How true that is, and how ironic that in our pursuit of good results, we might be blind to learning the things we should know as human beings and the actual knowledge that education is supposed to bring. Serena Sim, 16, is a student at Nanyang Girls’ High School.

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