The 10 or 12 years' Singapore's MOE education system lays an extremely strong foundation in any child's life. In general, it is hard to change the mindset after going through the system, except for a small handful.
Ages 7 to 16 is critical for shaping a child’s mind and thinking, especially in terms of cognitive development, emotional regulation, identity, and social understanding.
I have worked with young people (aged 13-25) for close to 13 years, while my wife has worked with children from aged 7 to 12 for more than 18 years. She was a MOE teacher before she became a homeschooling mum. I was in military full-time for 6 years before being a youth minister in the church for 7 years.
The reason why we chose homeschooling is partly because of our interactions with children and youths from the homeschooling network, which is a small percentage in Singapore.
Singapore's education system is robust. Foreigners, PRs and citizens who are not born in Singapore love it. They sing praises to the system.
Apart from being extremely academic, the education system actually 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒 you.
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from having critical thinking, because you are spoon-fed with loads of information. You don't challenge what you are provided with, because it is sacred and often, worshiped.
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from creativity and pushing boundaries with various ideologies because you are trained with one set of uniformed and conformed system, deemed to be the best.
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from having faith and exploring options because it is the safest mode of education system. And as long as you stay in it, you are promised with a bright future.
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from learning to question, because the answers are pretty much the same. If the answer is the same, the question is not important.
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from healthy discourse and open-mindedness, because you learn authority, submission and obedience through the system. For the boys, compulsory National Service further strengthens it.
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from experiencing the gift of life and its fullness, because you are focused on exams, s̵t̵r̵e̵a̵m̵i̵n̵g̵ grading and fighting to get into good schools. Ask any Junior College student what he/she wants to do in life, and the answer will, more often than not, be "I don't know."
It 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 you from having discernment (between truths and lies) because of pride through the glorious system where you picked up the head knowledge that the system always knows better than you.
Whether it is election result or any other matters, Singapore's radically high percentage of conformists is largely contributed by it's education system. This is likely one of the main reasons why the education system will not be changed.
Truth be told, this education system crept into the church in SG, where the Holy Spirit (True Teacher) appears weaker than the knowledge we've acquired through the deeply entrenched education system.
Having said these, a small handful still managed to break out of this protective education system, either before or after they went through it.
You are not defined by the system. You are defined by your identity, and it is God-given. If you are a believer, you don't stay in the protective zone. You step out into the war zone. Faith is spelt RISK.
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