The education system here is flawed. It is rigid in the sense that majority of the students are not able to pursue their areas of interest in school. For example, a typical secondary school student studies english, mathematics, science (Physics/Chemistry/Biology), mother tongue and humanities (History/Geography). For those who are naturally good in those subjects, good for them, they become the future chemists/biologists/mathematicians of our society.

Then, what about the 'not-so-talented' students in Singapore? By this, I refer to those who may not have the same level of ability as the first group but excel in their studies through sheer hard work. P.S. I am not trying to offend/question anyone's academic ability here. These are the students who get left out by the education system. Some students have a clear idea of what they want to do in their next 30/40 years but sadly, others do not. In the end, they get so upset with what they are doing and start job hopping. This affects the country's economy adversely. Students often discover their talent only later in life. This is ironic as I feel that the primary aim of an education system is to maximise the potential of its students.

While the education system is widely acclaimed for many of its academic successes , one must be mindful that the country should not be producing mathematicians only.' Different people have different abilities'. It is crucial for secondary schools to harness the diverse abilities of students so that the latter will be able to contribute to society and more importantly utilise whatever that have been bestowed to them.

Secondary schools can perhaps reduce their curriculum and introduce a wide range of electives for students to choose from. This, I believe, will have a certain degree of influence ontheir choice of study upon entering tertiary education. The advantages of this initiative are plenty. 1)Students will be aware of the different courses available and understand the nature of these courses. 2) Introducing these electives parallels the ministry's move to introducing of university courses in JCs.

Though it may be costly to fund electives in schools, I believe that the benefits in the long term will override the costs.