There is too much emphasis on academic performance. What are your views?

Singapore is one of the highest ranked countries based on education standards and could even be compared to Japan, a country well-known for being strict with students. So, how does this create repercussions on students’ mental health and overall well-being?

I think that Singapore is generally too focused on students reaching success through achieving excellent grades in a school setting. Even parents are focused on drilling their children to become the best at every single subject. I think that this takes a toll on students' overall health and mental state because of how restricting academic excellence is on oneself. It also results in their own identity being entwined with academics. On the other hand, schools in Singapore are gradually putting in efforts into developing students' hobbies and talents. I still believe Singapore, however, does emphasise on academic excellence.

Firstly, my own identity is shaped based on academic excellence, showing how much emphasis Singapore places on this particular area. “You should aim to be a doctor! You should become a lawyer to make your family proud.” These are the ubiquitous phrases almost every teen in Singapore has heard at least once, including myself. These were the few sentences my relatives mentioned whenever I visited them.

No, it was not about my mental health. Instead it was about their advice on how I could become a successful person. This evidently highlights how my worth was measured by how well I fared in my academic subjects and how my self worth meant nothing if I did not achieve anything great. This goes the same for when I visited my parents' friends and they asked me, “How were your exams?” or “What school are you in?” It really is pitiful and painful to notice how every small talk topic is about studies or grades. This heavy pressure of doing well is extremely detrimental to my own health and I think it is

safe to say, for other students my age as well. This definitely shows how my own identity is moulded to fit this high standard of academic excellence and how Singapore's emphasis on academics permeates deep into society and takes a toll on students' mental health.

Additionally, many students' mindsets are fixed because of the pressure of academic success. In my own life, I stress about getting good grades for several reasons. Yes it is to feel a sense of achievement, yes to pave a way to my future career but mostly because of pleasing my parents. Because of this, there would always be a lingering pressure at the back of my mind to make my parents proud. Furthermore, when I was young, my parents would use a very “Asian” method of caring for me, which leaves me no choice but to strive for that grade because of fear. All of this punishment and pressure clouds my own judgement, so I just follow what my parents tell me to do, albeit blindly because of the simple reason: “They are my parents and they told me to do so.”

This rigid and restricted mindset should not be encouraged, for I will definitely lose my own freedom and passion to consider other options in my life. I would also lose the ability to pursue my own happiness, in spite of my parents' wishes. Thus I think that the fact that I feel restricted because of the pressure to excel academically shows that there is too much focus on academic excellence.

However, I think that schools are already starting to develop curriculum to encourage other subjects apart from academic ones. In my own school, there are many co-curriculum activities (CCA) that help to broaden one's scope of activities. Some examples are modern dance, choir and debate club. I attend the infocomm club which teaches coding, 3D softwares and animation. I really think that this CCA helps to improve my technological skills, hone my creativity and artistic qualities. Through the activities I do, I definitely learn skills that are not taught through academics and class lessons. As I mentioned before about the other CCAs, they also help to improve fundamental skills like public speaking or even teach you more about subjects you are unfamiliar with. Therefore, through all these government organised activities, I do think there will be less emphasis on academics and more on student’s talents. In a nutshell, I do think Singapore puts a huge amount of emphasis on academic performance, just because of how entwined it is with our identity and how deeply it permeates our society's mindset. However, the government is slowly putting in more effort to climb over this barrier of the sky high standards of education in Asian societies. Though there are still impediments blocking Singapore from correcting this fixed mindset, I do believe that Singapore has what it takes to overcome them and create a positive change on this small little island's young minds.

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