To address this, I feel the Ministry of Education should consider training our teachers through overseas stints or at some of the top international schools in Singapore to build on their undoubted academic competencies by developing the far more crucial nurturing yet firm attitude towards building the whole human being in their interaction with our young people.

Academics by themselves alone do not make good teachers; rather, it is the capacity to transfer that learning and build confident, well-rounded adults that constitutes a great teacher. When I look back at my student years in a private school steeped in the tradition of the old English private college, I recall with deep gratitude the many great teachers from whom I learnt the greater life-lessons on decent behaviour, respect for others, care for the disadvantaged, tolerance and confidence in myself as a human being - all dispensed through the classroom learning of science text and some classics.

More recently, in my professional career with large international corporations, I've had the privilege of working with young graduates from local and global universities to fast-track them on their careers. While education and knowledge are critical, I've discovered that the best performers were those with not just the best academics, but rather those who had been positively nurtured through their early education years. Such people turned out to be highly effective performers who were not just founts of academic wisdom, but a genuine pleasure to be around with despite being high-impact, high-value individuals.

As a parent whose children studied up to mid-secondary level in quality international schools in Singapore (OFS, UWCSEA), I recall our sadness at the insensitive and uncaring attitudes displayed by some teachers in local schools after our kids made the switch. The over-emphasis on book-learning for grades alone, without nurturing the love for learning, will indeed continue to spawn a fair share of poor social graces dispensed, of course, with the exquisite flair of purist academics.

So this brings me back to the point of behavioural training for our teachers - after all, the enemy of 'best' is Good. Our education system is no doubt good, but why not make it the best? If nothing else, as Madam Lee rightly points out: '...it will also develop a civic society, a nation of cultured people who will love and identify with their country because of the wonderful memories of their childhood days in school.'

Rather than play the blame game, this would be far more equitable to all of us.

Siraj Joseph