The awarding of Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarships, particularly those intended for the administrative, intelligence and senior Singapore Armed Forces services, should be school-blind (9 poly grads get PSC scholarship in all-time high, July 18).

Materials presented to interview panels for these scholarships should redact all information that may reveal the schools where candidates studied, and rules should be established to bar candidates from mentioning the names of their schools during the interviews. Candidates should not wear school uniforms to the interviews.

This way, candidates can be evaluated on their suitability for the top echelons of the civil service, including not just academic and co-curricular achievements but also qualities like empathy and people and communications skills, without being clouded by where they studied.

We should then accept the outcome of this selection process without agonising over whether the successful candidates have come from just a handful or a wide range of schools.

Critical services in Singapore's civil service must be staffed by the best available talent in a holistic sense. Such evaluation requires careful inquiry and must not be clouded by any prejudicial or stereotypical assumption on the link between school and the character and personal qualities of the students they produce.

Cheng Shoong Tat