Your Excellency,

In June last year, the local universities' admission systems came under fire in The Straits Times' Forum Page. Many frustrated parents eagerly propagated the allegation that the influx of foreign students - some of whom receive generous government subsidies - had deprived local students of university placements.

Most Singaporeans recognise that inducting foreign students 'adds to the vibrancy of the universities' learning environment by providing diversity and alternative perspectives', as you have explained. But the recent uproar invites fresh consideration of the issue.

Is it due to competition from foreign students that some local students are unable to secure university placements? I think not. The number of foreign students is currently limited to 20 per cent of the intake. The overwhelming majority are Singaporean, amongst whom equally stiff competition occurs.

Rote learning has resulted in a great many local students getting straight As. Hence, some faculties reject students with a tad less than perfect grades. These students are admitted to their next best choices among the faculties, raising their benchmarks. As a result, average students find themselves facing higher barriers of entry across the board.

Many Forum writers were sympathetic to these students, some of whom may be academic late-bloomers. They surmounted a steep learning curve to achieve grades barely adequate for university admission, only to be deemed mediocre compared to those who were lucky enough to have been admitted to the fast (through-train) track of education.

To resolve this matter would require us to slaughter a sacred cow - meritocracy in education. That would open a can of worms. Hence, people find it far more convenient to play the blame game.

Universities have offered an amicable solution: increase the number of places available. But herein lies a contradiction in policy.

Ideally, universities with the capacity and resources to admit a larger cohort should do so to allow as many students as possible to access higher education. Yet the need to maintain the universities' reputations compels them to keep their admission criteria stringent. Ironically, while we take pride in having a National University of Singapore (NUS) that is nearly comparable in quality to America's Ivy League colleges or Britain's Oxbridge universities, we expect NUS to function like a state university in accommodating as many students as possible.

The real constraint in improving both the quantity and quality of higher education in Singapore is in fact the country's modest population size. Our education landscape is unable to sustain demand for a range of academically-differentiated universities, such as are available in the United States and Britain. Thus, most of the local cohort who qualify for university end up streamed into one of the three local full-fledged universities where student aptitudes can vary widely across faculties. Perhaps, the university administration's unwillingness to admit any particular local student has chiefly stemmed from its desire to pursue quality, rather than its partiality towards foreign students.

Why is it that most Singaporeans' knee-jerk reaction in the matter has been to censure our foreign guests? It seems many grudgingly accommodate the government's efforts to encourage diversity and competition in education and employment, only to bristle with hostility when the reality of being outdone sets in - for nothing is more embarrassing than being struck out despite a home-ground advantage.

Our cultural roots as an Asian society, the Confucian emphasis on preserving a cohesive community unit, may have contributed to shaping an 'us versus them' paradigm in our society. Despite Singapore's immigrant origins and open economy, locals appear somewhat reluctant to embrace other nationalities. A mindset change is necessary. We should examine current foreign-local student interactions at various educational levels.

At the same time, the problem of university placement shortages needs to be addressed squarely. If the number of students unable to meet minimum entrance requirements is set to increase, the Ministry should check on the adequacy of other higher learning institutions to ascertain if they can serve as viable alternatives to local full-

fledged universities. This issue calls for a considered treatment. Singapore cannot afford to have students who feel they have been rejected by the education system to become disillusioned with the country.

People seek affirmation in their citizenship. If one were to hazard a guess, the 'stayers' of the next generation would be those who have been convinced enough by the country's commitment towards developing her most valuable asset - her people - to reciprocate in kind.

Our well-oiled educational system would do well to pay special notice to each of its divergent tracks: Singaporean students studying at elite universities abroad and those at home; maximising resources for quality university education for the majority of university-bound students as well as for those enrolling in alternative education institutions.

The writer will study liberal arts at the University of Chicago. She is currently in the MOE Teaching Internship Programme.