Join our event, ‘Education: An Equal Start?’, organized by The Best of You in partnership with The HEAD Foundation, as we continue to examine inequality in Singapore. In this iteration of Conversations Reimagined, we take a closer look at inequality in the area of education. Singapore’s education system is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. Poised as “the great leveller”, education should ease social and economic inequality. But in recent times, we have seen income disparities in Singapore continue to grow.
The oft touted principle behind Singapore’s successes is meritocracy – the idea that ability and effort are the main drivers of individual and collective success. The meritocratic promise is often optimistic, suggesting endless possibilities if we all applied ourselves appropriately. In the first part of ‘Education: An Equal Start?’, keynote speaker Charleen Chiong will discuss findings from her book ‘Families, the State and Educational Inequality in the Singapore City-State’. She will draw on in-depth interviews conducted with socio-economically disadvantaged families to understand challenges to the fulfillment of the meritocratic promise, as well as what families’ perspectives suggest regarding a better way forward.
The conversation will continue with our esteemed panellists comprising of individuals who have deep understanding of the education sector in Singapore. We invite you to join us in learning more about how we might work collectively to provide equal, enriching opportunities to all children to hone and embrace their strengths.
Speakers:
Dr. Charleen Chong
Dr. Aaron Koh
Associate Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Education
Dr. Alistair Chew
Founder, Findings Education
Mdm. Moliah Hashim
Director, SMRT
Moderator:
Mr. Vignesh Naidu