Sengkang residents tell Jamus Lim Singapore’s ‘unforgiving’ educational system adds to stress of raising children

SINGAPORE: In a social media post on Monday (June 15), Workers’ Party Member of Parliament (WP MP) Jamus Lim (Sengkang) tackled Singapore’s educational system in relation to the city-state’s record-low fertility rate.

He wrote that he had spoken to a number of working parents with school-age children during the course of house visits, who shared with him and his team some of their concerns about family life. The topics ranged from local concerns, such as more spaces for younger children to play and better transport options for families, to more national concerns.

“Many residents shared about the stresses of raising children, especially given how unforgiving the educational system is, and why it is nigh impossible to have too many kids, given the immense costs of raising each one. I agree,” wrote the MP, who has been in Parliament since 2020 and who teaches Economics at ESSEC Business School.

Assoc Prof Lim wrote that if he were to put forward just one way to boost Singapore’s birth rate, it would not necessarily be to give more to families, although he acknowledged how helpful this is to those at the margins.

Instead, his suggestion would be “to lower the pressure parents feel that compels them to push their kids through the rigours of the educational rat race.”

Assoc Prof Lim, along with fellow Sengkang MPs He Ting Ru and Louis Chua, has a child of school age, while Abdul Muhaimin is the father of a toddler. The MPs often tackle issues that are relevant to families with young children.

In Parliament in 2023, Assoc Prof Lim proposed a Flexible Through-Train Program for Schools designed to help students who find tests stressful and to learn at a pace that’s suitable for them. 

Noting that tests are common in Singapore’s educational system, as well as in many others, he said, “The Workers’ Party proposal to introduce an optional, 10-year through-train program (10 YTS) from Primary 1 through Secondary 4 allows parents who wish to allow their children to bypass the PSLE to do so. Thus, their first major examination will be at Secondary 4.” 

“Some kids progress rapidly and assertively, but while others may take longer to get there, they could well be late bloomers that find their stride later on,” noted the MP at the time. He also characterised the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) as a high-stakes test that “could instil in a 12-year-old that sense of make-or-break at a tender age” and asked if this is justified. 

“Is it a building block that can imbue an early sense of accomplishment and independence, or is it more a stumbling block for their self-confidence?” he asked./TISG

Read also: Jamus Lim on why Singapore has never produced Nobel laureate and why straight-A students ‘never rise to the top’