WP Jamus Lim on AI, education, and the irreplaceable role of teachers

SINGAPORE: As Singapore’s education system navigates the crossroads of technology, affordability, and scalability, one question remains evergreen: What truly constitutes quality education?

The Workers’ Party MP, Associate Professor Jamus Lim, recently reignited this conversation in a Facebook post, reflecting on the ancient and modern tensions surrounding class size, pedagogy, and the promises of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom.

Traditional roots of a modern debate

“From Plato’s Academy to our present schools,” Lim writes, “there has always been a pull between large public instruction and intimate, personalised teaching.” Citing Plato’s large lectures and Aristotle’s private tutoring of Alexander the Great, Lim frames today’s debate as a continuation of this enduring dilemma.

In Singapore, according to Lim, educational policy has traditionally favoured speed and affordability, often at the expense of smaller class sizes. Former Education Minister Chan Chun Sing highlighted this trade-off in 2024, suggesting that indiscriminately hiring more teachers could dilute instructional quality. Instead, the Ministry of Education has increasingly turned to AI to resolve what policymakers describe as an education “trilemma”: the challenge of achieving quality, scale, and affordability simultaneously.

AI as the “teacher of one”?

At first glance, AI-powered classrooms—where software tailors learning to each student’s pace—appear to offer a silver bullet. Once the system is built, marginal costs shrink. Students are promised personalised instruction at scale, mimicking a one-on-one teacher experience.

However, Lim challenges this optimism. Calling it “fool’s gold,” he warns that such solutions risk overlooking what children truly need. “Anyone who’s had a young child knows that we need a boatload of gentle handholding, patient explanation, varied angles, and (perhaps even) outright coercion,” he remarks. “Such traits aren’t well replicated by independently run computers.”

The pedagogy of leadership

For Lim, foundational education—reading, writing, arithmetic, and reasoning—depends not on mere novelty, but on repetition, presence, and emotional trust. These cannot be coded. They must be cultivated.

Citing Confucius and Laozi, Lim echoes the wisdom of leading through guidance, not force. “The teacher appears when the student is ready,” he reminds us—a sentiment as pedagogical as it is spiritual. The best educators don’t merely pass down knowledge. They model the art of seeking it.

In that spirit, Lim praises a recent announcement by Education Minister Desmond Lee that the ministry will recruit 1,000 new teachers annually, but he also cautions — hiring alone is not enough. What matters is whether this step meaningfully reduces class sizes and lightens the student load on overburdened educators.

Ultimately, Jamus Lim’s post is a call to humility in our embrace of technology, suggesting that AI may become a powerful aid to teachers; however, it cannot replace them, especially in the early, most tender stages of learning.