Gifted

The Myth of Meritocracy

This article is quite thought-provoking and reminds me of the book Fooled by Randomness by Nicholas Nissam Taleb(Highly recommended read by the way)

Let's look at what the writer says of the GEP system:
"It is a program administered towards primary school children deemed gifted by the ministry of education. How do they find these gifted children? They administer a Maths and English test to all primary school children to weed them out from the 'normals'."

Just looking at this short paragraph already gives one misgivings about the entire credibility of the GEP test. A Maths and English test? I am not going to complain about the Maths test. But an English test? It goes without saying that generally, children who use English at home will tend to be more comfortable with English, and hence will tend to do better in English. Well, what about the poor Chinese/Malay boy who spoke a different tongue at home? Granted, he is weak in English, but Lord knows he can pack a wallop with the extent of his vocabulary in the other tongue.

So in this case, who exactly is gifted? Does this mean the mind of the English-toting child is more nimble, more flexible, and hence more gifted? Does this mean the Mandarin-speaking and Malay-speaking kids both does not measure up to the English-speaking kid, despite their significantly stronger knowledge in other languages? The approach to selecting gifted students are fundamentally flawed to begin with.

In the second place, it appears that many "gifted" students are "gifted" more due to chance than anything else. After all, many questions in the tests consist of multiple-choice questions. Assume that some children of average intellect manages to achieve the passing grade, due to trial and error. In other words, they got into the GEP system more through luck, and not ability.

But the reward is disproportionately large for these lucky fellows. Even though they may not do as well in the PSLE(double lucky is harder after all), some leeway is given and they can still get to good schools as they are GEPpers. Let's assume that the school these students go to is RI. Once in the GEP system, they will get the extra resources, extra curriculum, from secondary 1 to secondary 4 in RI. The reward doesn't end there. Because of the recently implemented through train programme, they can now proceed directly to RJ, another premier tertiary education institution, where they can once again enjoy all the extra resources and enrichment programmes that comes along with it. In the end, when they finally graduate from the junior college and enrol for universities, they can boast of great credentials, exemplified by attendance of great premier schools stretching all the way from secondary to junior college. Most likely, because of these great credentials, he will once again be able to enrol in a prestigious uni, maintaining his enviable track record. The benefits keep adding on.

Now let's turn our attention to the poor fellows who failed the GEP streaming test. After PSLE, assuming these students did reasonably well, they will be posted to good schools, or even RI, though without the extra resources that comes with being a GEP. But this time, disregarding external factors, the cut-off point will be adhered to stringently as compared to GEP students. Then, because of the less materials and less curriculum, their knowledge will not be as extensive as that of the GEPers. They will probably achieve less in their four years of study as compared to their peers in the GEP system. After 4 years, if they fail to get into a school with the through train programme, they will still need to get through the O-Levels streaming test. Thus, for a person of average ability to obtain a place in a good tertiary institution without putting in any effort, he has to be thrice lucky. Kids who have already passed the very first GEP test in primary school will not have their "luck" continously tested again and again. If the person is not thrice lucky to get into a premier tertiary institution, by the time he graduates, he will have a less stellar record with attendance of average academies for most of his educational life. As a result, his performance might be seen as "not consistent", and if because of this he is unable to enroll in a good university, even his work prospects may be affected.

So what's the benefits on the chance event you pass the GEP system?
1)Even if your PSLE is not that spectacular, you can probably get into a good school.
2)Because you are GEP, you will enjoy extra resources and extra curriculum. You learn more in 4 years of secondary school.
3)Because schools that offer the GEP system usually also have through train programmes, you need not take the O-Levels and run the risk of flunking the test. You can proceed straight to a premier institute.
4)You can enjoy all the resources offered by the premier institute.
5)Because you have a record of attending good schools all your life, the impression is that you have "consistent" performance and you can probably enroll in a good uni.
6)With a good uni, you have better-placed alumni to help you in your work prospects in the future.

One chance event and the benefits will keep piling up. It's a winner's take-all scenario out there.


(Note: I am not suggesting a whole revamp of the GEP testing system where students will be placed through unending tests to weed out the luck factor. It will bring unnecessary stress to all students, gifted and non-gifted alike.)