Poly student asks if a degree is ‘really necessary to survive in Singapore’

SINGAPORE: Can a person have a decent life in Singapore without getting a degree? A second-year student at a polytechnic who originally planned on going to university and becoming a teacher one day is finding herself evaluating her current choices and her possible future.

u/chamomileicedtea wrote on r/askSingapore on Wednesday (June 21) that when she began poly, she had planned on going to NTU NIE (Nanyang Technological University National Institute of Education).

However, her grade point average in the 2.5 range has thrown a wrench on her plans.

She also pointed out that she is unsure of whether or not she’ll cope well in university since she’s already finding the modules at poly to already be difficult.

The young woman does have other options, including becoming a preschool or a student care teacher.

However, when she told her parents that she may not want to go to university, “they were dam* pi**ed with me saying that I have to go.”

“Now I am quite clueless on what I should do,” she added.

“Having a degree in Singapore really does opens up a lot more doors and helps you get a higher income,” one Reddit user answered her, adding, “Of course, there are plenty of people who does very well with just a diploma, but they are the exception rather than the norm.”

Another wrote that a degree is “a piece of paper that gives you the potential to earn more. Not necessary but helpful.”

“If you want to be a salaried worker, then yes a degree would be helpful. If you are going to start your own business or do sales (some sales roles will require a degree), then a degree will not be necessary,” one netizen commented.

“If you still want to be an educator then yes you need a degree, especially since your current diploma doesn’t allow you to teach after. Especially now where being a degree holder is a norm and literally everyone is getting them, you’d be on the losing end,” another chimed in.

One answered by saying, “In Singapore, you can do ok without a degree. And you can do better if you start a successful business, YouTube, code well, sell well etc…. In fact, some without degree can actually do better than those with a degree in term of wealth.”

/TISG

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