Singapore education: a level playing field?

In the Forum page of today’s Straits Times, Mr Visakan Veerasamy, commented on Tuesday’s Parliament snapshot which highlighted that “most top-scoring students live in HDB flats.” The impression given was that students living in HDB flats outperform those living in private housing. Mr Veerasamy pointed out the flaws in the way the statistics was used!

According to the letter from Mr Veerasamy:

About 82 per cent of Singaporeans live in public housing. More than 60 per cent of the top 10 per cent of PSLE scorers live in HDB flats. More than 50 per cent of Secondary 1 students enrolled in Integrated Programme (IP) schools live in HDB flats. But the same statistics also mean that while only 18 per cent of Singaporeans live in private housing, they account for almost 40 per cent of the top PSLE scorers and more than 40 per cent of IP school enrolment. Let us not deny the obvious, which is that SIngaporeans who can afford to live in private housing end up in better schools (emphasis mine). Perhaps thes estudents are mor eprimed to succeed or can afford costly private tuition.

What is amusing about this is how statistics was used initially. But then again there are people out there who wants to believe there is a level playing field in Singapore and it is all a meritocracy! Mr Veerasamy was spot on when he wrote:

Being able to afford private housing gives students a statistical edge over the average HDB dweller.

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