Summer School Programme
The article on Dr Chua Choong Tze was reflected upon by several readers. I agree that Singapore should allow those with higher capabilities to complete their studies in the shortest time possible, in accordance to our practice of meritocracy. It is necessary for a small country with no natural resources to maximize everybody’s potential, because human resource is our only resource.
There are many issues we need to consider before implementing the summer school programme.
About 50% of the professors hired by local universities are foreign nationals. Are they willing to spend the term break teaching summer courses, and choose not to spend their holidays back home? A friend studying in NTU told me that it caused a lot of unhappiness among the professors when it was announced that the exams were postponed by a week due to SARS because many of them have to make adjustments to their travel plans. Even if they do stay behind, how much will they demand as fair compensation and can the universities afford to pay?
While the government and the universities can help to finance the implementation of the summer school programme, students taking summer courses will have to share a portion of the financial burdens. Will the tuition fees put many students off? The fees will just get higher for the remaining students as more students opt out and have a snowball effect. Is the programme still viable if only a small minority within the student population is interested?
I’m not being pessimistic by raising these questions. I believe in the merits of implementing the summer school programme. But we have to be realistic as overhauling our tertiary education system is no small feat.
The students’ union, tasked with the mission of safeguarding the students’ welfare, should hold discussions with the administration about the implentation of the summer school programme. The programme will allow brighter students to complete their degree faster; and weaker ones will have a chance to retake their failed modules during the term break, rather than retaking their failed modules on top of their normal workload next term.
The administration has an incentive to work with the union, because like what Mr Yap wrote, tailoring courses to the needs of our undergraduates is one step towards making our tertiary institutions world class, a goal it is striving to achieve.