IPS On Diversity Podcast S2E4: Diversity in Elite Schools

Education is highly valued in Singapore and many parents are willing to spend money on tuition to help their child get into elite schools. As such, there have been increasing concerns that Singapore’s education system does not improve social mobility, but merely reflects and reproduces class divisions which contributes to the lack of diversity in elite schools. So is our education system truly meritocratic and how exactly do we define merit?

On the fourth episode of the second season, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Liang Kaixin chats with Dr Gillian Koh, Deputy Director of Research at IPS, and Paul Jerusalem, a master’s student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) who previously studied in both a neighbourhood school and elite school, to discuss their views on the primary school admission system, streaming in secondary schools and Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools.

Find out more about diversity in elite schools:
The Straits Times (10 Sep 2021): New P1 registration rules from 2022: What are the key changes?
CNA (16 Aug 2021): The Big Read: Singapore’s endless love affair with private tuition just got deeper with COVID-19
Mothership (27 Jan 2019): Class origin shouldn’t decide class destiny, but that’s still very much an aspiration in Singapore
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (13 Nov 2018): Meritocracy in Singapore: Solution or problem?
The Straits Times (29 Dec 2017): New study finds clear divide among social classes in Singapore 

About our guests:

Dr Gillian Koh

IPS Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow

Gillian’s research interests are in the areas of party and electoral politics, the development of civil society, state-society relations, state governance and citizen engagement in Singapore. She contributes to the research programme “Governance of a City-State” at IPS.

Since joining IPS in 1996, she has led the research teams that generated the three IPS Post-Election Surveys (2006, 2011, 2015), and the two surveys on the Presidential Election (2011, 2017). She also conducts surveys on Singaporeans’ political attitudes, sense of identity, rootedness and resilience. She was part of the team that conducted “A Study on Social Capital in Singapore (2017)”.

In 1995, She gained her PhD in Sociological Studies from the University of Sheffield (UK) where she also obtained her Master of Arts in Third World Studies in 1989. She is also an alumnus of the National University of Singapore.

Paul Jerusalem 

Master of Arts (MA) Candidate at the National University of Singapore (NUS)

Paul graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Yale-NUS College in 2019 and is currently a master’s student at NUS where he studies Communications and New Media.

He worked in public relations briefly before pursuing further studies. He has experience in corporate communications, LGBTQ+ advocacy and education. He is also passionate about non-profit work, social justice and the arts.

He has written for articles for media outlets such as Rice Media, with poetry published in Vagabond Press, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, and Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature. His paper “Locating the ‘culture’ in ‘cancel culture’- sociopolitical public discourse in Singapore” won Best Full Paper at CNM Graduate Student Conference 2021.

On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

More from On Diversity
Season 2 Episode 3: The Plight of Buskers, with Yeo Ying Hao, Co-chairman of Buskers Assocation, and Louis Ng, Nee Soon GRC MP 
Season 2 Episode 2: Stay-at-home Dads, with Kelvin Seah, full-time stay-home-dad of two, and Tam Wai Jia, Medical Doctor
Season 2 Episode 1: Conversations about Race, with Dr Daniel Goh, Associate Professor of Sociology at NUS, and Haresh Tilani, Co-founder of Ministry of Funny
Season 1 Episode 9: Tech and the Token Female, with Anna Gong, CEO and Founder of Perx Technologies, and Wynthia Goh, Head of NCS NEXT Digital
Season 1 Episode 8: Of Marriage and Migration, with Dr Kalpana Vignehsa, Research Fellow at the Governance and Economy Department at IPS, and Colin Miles, Co-CEO of Zilliqa Research Pte Ltd

IPS On Diversity Podcast S2E4: Diversity in Elite Schools
Education is highly valued in Singapore and many parents are willing to spend money on tuition to help their child get into elite schools. As such, there have been increasing concerns that Singapore&rsquo;s education system does not improve social mobility, but merely reflects and reproduces class divisions which contributes to the lack of diversity in elite schools. So is our education system truly meritocratic and how exactly do we define merit?
On the fourth episode of the second season, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Liang Kaixin chats with Dr Gillian Koh, Deputy Director of Research at IPS, and Paul Jerusalem, a master&rsquo;s student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) who previously studied in both a neighbourhood school and elite school, to discuss their views on the primary school admission system, streaming in secondary schools and Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools.
Find out more about diversity in elite schools:
<ul>
<li>The Straits Times (10 Sep 2021): <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/how-will-changes-to-p1-registration-from-2022-affect-alumni">New P1 registration rules from 2022: What are the key changes?</a></li>
<li>CNA (16 Aug 2021): <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-tuition-centre-teachers-parents-students-education-2114136">The Big Read: Singapore&rsquo;s endless love affair with private tuition just got deeper with COVID-19</a></li>
<li>Mothership (27 Jan 2019): <a href="https://mothership.sg/2019/01/education-meritocracy-inequality-tuition-elite-schools/">Class origin shouldn&rsquo;t decide class destiny, but that&rsquo;s still very much an aspiration in Singapore</a></li>
<li>Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (13 Nov 2018): <a href="https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/gia/article/meritocracy-in-singapore-solution-or-problem">Meritocracy in Singapore: Solution or problem?</a></li>
<li>The Straits Times (29 Dec 2017): <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-study-finds-class-divide-in-singapore">New study finds clear divide among social classes in Singapore</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
About our guests:
Dr Gillian Koh
IPS Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow
Gillian&rsquo;s research interests are in the areas of party and electoral politics, the development of civil society, state-society relations, state governance and citizen engagement in Singapore. She contributes to the research programme &ldquo;Governance of a City-State&rdquo; at IPS.
Since joining IPS in 1996, she has led the research teams that generated the three IPS Post-Election Surveys (2006, 2011, 2015), and the two surveys on the Presidential Election (2011, 2017). She also conducts surveys on Singaporeans&rsquo; political attitudes, sense of identity, rootedness and resilience. She was part of the team that conducted &ldquo;A Study on Social Capital in Singapore (2017)&rdquo;.
In 1995, She gained her PhD in Sociological Studies from the University of Sheffield (UK) where she also obtained her Master of Arts in Third World Studies in 1989. She is also an alumnus of the National University of Singapore.
Paul Jerusalem 
Master of Arts (MA) Candidate at the National University of Singapore (NUS)
Paul graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Yale-NUS College in 2019 and is currently a master&rsquo;s student at NUS where he studies Communications and New Media.
He worked in public relations briefly before pursuing further studies. He has experience in corporate communications, LGBTQ+ advocacy and education. He is also passionate about non-profit work, social justice and the arts.
He has written for articles for media outlets such as Rice Media, with poetry published in Vagabond Press, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, and Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature. His paper &ldquo;Locating the &lsquo;culture&rsquo; in &lsquo;cancel culture&rsquo;- sociopolitical public discourse in Singapore&rdquo; won Best Full Paper at CNM Graduate Student Conference 2021.
On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
More from On Diversity
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e3-the-plight-of-buskers/">Season 2 Episode 3: The Plight of Buskers, with Yeo Ying Hao, Co-chairman of Buskers Assocation, and Louis Ng, Nee Soon GRC MP </a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e2-stay-at-home-dads/">Season 2 Episode 2: Stay-at-home Dads, with Kelvin Seah, full-time stay-home-dad of two, and Tam Wai Jia, Medical Doctor</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s2e1-conversations-about-race/">Season 2 Episode 1: Conversations about Race, with Dr Daniel Goh, Associate Professor of Sociology at NUS, and Haresh Tilani, Co-founder of Ministry of Funny</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s1e9-tech-and-the-token-female/">Season 1 Episode 9: Tech and the Token Female, with Anna Gong, CEO and Founder of Perx Technologies, and Wynthia Goh, Head of NCS NEXT Digital</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ipscommons.sg/ips-on-diversity-podcast-s1e8-of-marriage-and-migration/">Season 1 Episode 8: Of Marriage and Migration, with Dr Kalpana Vignehsa, Research Fellow at the Governance and Economy Department at IPS, and Colin Miles, Co-CEO of Zilliqa Research Pte Ltd</a></li>
</ul>

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme.

In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

On Diversity features new episodes every week.

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme.
In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.
On Diversity features new episodes every week.

IPS On Diversity Podcast

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society. On Diversity features new episodes every week.

"On Diversity" is a podcast series of new insights and fresh discussions, inspired by IPS’ Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, IPS Associate Director Liang Kaixin will chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society. On Diversity features new episodes every week.

Advertisement