Despite having made it to university, I still go through periods of self-doubt time and again over my ability to meet future challenges. Looking at the current economic gloom, I even resent myself for pursuing paper qualification blindly as it means I will end up without a valuable and marketable skill.

　　Have you ever felt this way about yourself?

　　This is a shortcoming of our education system.

　　You may say I'm making the school system a scapegoat. But I do have my reasons for saying so.

　　As a small country with only human resources to depend on, our sense of urgency in equipping our people with the know-how and skills to make progress is understandable. The question is: Are we doing it the right way?

　　Focusing on the pressure and unfair treatment faced by three EM3 pupils, Jack Neo's latest movie “I Not Stupid”, puts many negative social consequences of our education system under the spotlight.

　　I can identify strongly with the movie which highlights the grievances, frustrations and voices of many pupils. After all, we all go through the same school system, don't we?

　　In a society where the all-vital paper qualification is a must, we have long been taught that we must make it to EM1 at the primary four streaming exercise. The path to success also includes special stream in a secondary school, followed by junior college and university education.

　　Under the close supervision and guidance of teachers and parents, we have to work hard in school and go for tuition after school. Burning the midnight oil is commonplace. The result of such over-emphasis on formal learning is that many have had no opportunities to develop their talents in other areas and discover their sense of self-worth.

　　The stress of schoolwork is, in fact, weighing more and more heavily on our pupils. While the syllabus has been reduced, students are getting more and tougher homework. Some of the questions are so mind-boggling that even undergraduates are baffled.

　　What does this mean? It means cramming does not work. Even if we are exposed to a wealth of knowledge, we will be overloaded and not be able to digest it. Soon, the information will just go to waste.

　　Our education system needs to be reviewed.

　　We need greater space to develop our interests and talents. We need to discover ourselves and our strengths for the genuine safeguard that we can fall back on.

　　When we are moved to tears while watching “I Not Stupid”, are we crying for the characters in the movies or ourselves. I don't know.

　　Jack Neo's movie has this message for us:“Everyone is talented in his or her own way. Just because someone is not good at studying, we should not say he is useless.”

　　Jack Neo says he is not cut out for academic pursuit. But he has certainly shown immense talent in making movies. When he was in secondary two, he staged a farce in school that had everyone in stitches. Yet his talent was not affirmed by teachers who were only impressed by impeccable results on the report cards.

　　While many have gripes about our school system, Jack Neo believes no system is perfect and ours is comparatively less damaging than others. It does care for pupils who do not do well academically. What we should provide these pupils who are assigned to not-so-good classes with is proper counselling - they should never come to regard themselves as useless.

(The writer is an undergraduate of NTU. This article first appeared in The Nanyang Chronicle, NTU's students' newspaper. Translated by Yap Gee Poh.)

　　虽然升上大学，很多时候还是怀疑自己的能力，是不是可以应付未来的挑战。在经济不景气中，更怨自己只懂读死书，盲目追求文凭，害得自己无一技一长。

　　你这样埋怨过吗？

　　这是教育制度的缺点。

　　或许你认为这么说是在推卸责任。我却不以为然。

　　我国地小又缺乏天然资源，只有人力资源。所以我国急于培养人才是可以理解的。但我们的方法对吗？

　　梁智强的最新电影——《小孩不笨》尖锐地说出许多社会弊病，重点描述了三个EM3学生所面对的压力和不公平待遇。

《小孩不笨》说出了不少学生的委屈和心声。

　　也许因为大家在同样的教育制度下成长，所以我感受特别深。《小》片说出了不少学生的委屈、困扰和心声。

　　在文凭挂帅的社会里，我们从小就知道小四分流要考上EM1，中学要上特选班，然后上初级学院，再上大学，才算保住光明前途。

　　我们从小就在师长督促下努力读书，下课后补习，有时还得熬夜温课。但因过分注重正规学习，很多人失去发挥所长、找到自我价值的机会。

　　功课的压力其实是越来越大的。虽说课业内容减轻了，实际上功课更多、更深了。惭愧地说，有时大学生也被小学生的问题考倒。

　　这意味着什么呢？填鸭式的教育方式行不通。即使我们接触到广泛的知识，也会因负荷过重，无法消化，而把摄取的知识当废物般排泄掉。

　　新加坡教育制度值得检讨。

　　我们需要更大的发挥空间，让我们发挥自己的兴趣和所长，寻找自己，寻找真正的保障。

　　当我们看《小孩不笨》感动到流泪时，我们是为剧情哭，还是在为自己哭？我不知道。

　　梁智强通过《小》片告诉大家：“每个人都有他不同的才华。我们不能说他们不会读书就是没有用的。”梁智强自称是个怎么努力都不会读书的人，但他在导戏方面却很有才华。中二时他导了第一部舞台闹剧，全校都笑了，但却没得到肯定。老师们都认为学业成绩好才算厉害。

　　虽然很多人不满我国的教育制度，但梁智强认为每个制度都有缺点，我们的制度损伤力算是较低的了。因为它地确照顾到了成绩差的学生。但我们要做的是正确的心理辅导，不要让被分配到较差班级的学生认为自己没有用。

·作者是南大学生。

原文发表于南大学生报纸《南洋纪事报》

《联合早报》

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