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Rethinking talent: Lessons beyond the grading curve
As exam season returns, the writer wonders if Singapore’s definition of talent is too narrow for the challenges ahead.
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The writer emphasises the importance of empowering the next generation to be not just skilled but also truly talented, using their talents for a purpose greater than themselves.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Yeo Whee Jim
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One story stays with me whenever the season of high-stakes exams returns to torment many in our nation – as it is doing so now. My daughter sat her PSLE several years ago. She was usually quite calm about such things: the sort who would shrug off and smile at the endless advice that poured in from well-meaning uncles and aunties.
But even she, a few nights before the start of exams, broke out in a cold sweat and found herself unable to sleep. For a child raised to take things in her stride, this was the first real taste of pressure; as a parent, it was a sobering glimpse of just how heavy the education system can feel in Singapore.
