5/07/2012

More upgrading is needed





More upgrading is needed in all jobs. We are now in the first world where everything is about being the best. Our dirty wet market is going and will be a thing of the past. Our hawker centres too will join the dinosaurs. We will keep improving our quality of life and lifestyle. Our universities are producing more and more graduates and the graduates will fill the jobs of those used to be filled by O level certificate holders.



The call for training and upgrading is a necessary call. The housing agents, insurance agents, stockbroking agents, all need to go for courses to upgrade their professionalism and image of professionalism. It is a matter of time that all these agents, excluding secret agents, will need to be graduates. If not, where else are they going to put all the graduates?



Taxi drivers too will need upgrading. So would be train drivers and eventually down to the table and dish cleaners at the new upgraded air conditioned foodcourts. Cleaning tables and washing bowls and plates need specialised skills and the use of modern equipment to improve productivity. Send them for more courses, if not improving their skills and attitude, it is also good to know. But don’t expect any salary increment for attending all the courses and upgrading. Some are necessary, some are good to know and some are good without the need to know.



There are very few professions where there is no need for upgrading or to attend more courses. For those who want to get more salary increment without having to attend courses or the need for upgrading, be a politician. The additional courses or higher degrees are kind of wasteful training as they are mostly not needed. What kind of skills transfer and benefits will there be for a surgeon or lawyer to become an environment minister or housing minister or sports minister? It has been proven that all the politicians, no matter how many PhDs they have or in whatever field, or if they don’t have any, did not make any difference. They will all still become an expert in the ministry they are posted to, quite instantly in some cases. No need for any training or upgrading or good to know courses to attend, to pay for them, and to sit and pass examinations.



Sometimes I wonder if it is the job that is too easy or the incumbent that is too talented to make political appointments and jobs look so easy, and rightfully deserving of more and more increments, and without the need for more training nor productivity increases. Would any smart Alec dare to suggest putting politicians to attend upgrading and good to know courses, make them attend classes, pay to sit for examinations because it is good for them to know?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

After 47 years of independence.
And God knows how many millions or billions of dollars.

Singapore schools still cannot effectively teach Mandarin as a 2nd language.

Does anybody seriously think our Education Ministry is capable of achieving anything on its own merits?

A screwed up Education Millionaire (I mean Minister?) can formulate any ridiculous education policy.
And he will still achieve his KPI's.

Why?
Because Singapore parents are ever ready and willing to cover up the inadequacies of our education ministry and schools with more private tuition.
And the Education Ministry is ever ready to claim success of their education policies without acknowledging the contribution of the private tutors.

Ban private tuition for one year.
Then the true inadequacy of our education system will be exposed once and for all.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

You may have hit the nail on the head. The real teaching in Singapore is the private tuition industry. The schools have decided to teach less and the tuition centres teach more.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

All skill sets become out of date sooner or later. Also, over time systems and the way things are done change.

So it makes perfect sense to keep learning new things or new ways of doing things.

Stop complaining and get off your lazy slack asses and improve lah.

Or you can take the other option: become obsolete and unemployed as a result.

Life's a game. Playing a game means there's winners and losers. When the ball in in your court, whack it hard, with all you've got.

Anonymous said...

More politicians need to be upgraded to George Yeo's & Lim Hwee Hua's status. They can contribute to pte sector growth and earn pte sector pay with pte sector accountability.

Veritas said...

re
////
And God knows how many millions or billions of dollars.

Singapore schools still cannot effectively teach Mandarin as a 2nd language.

Does anybody seriously think our Education Ministry is capable of achieving anything on its own merits?

A screwed up Education Millionaire (I mean Minister?) can formulate any ridiculous education policy.
And he will still achieve his KPI's.
////

I was a former Chinese MOE teacher, I knew as best as an insider all its shit. Not many knew that MOE is able to recruit the best Chinese teacher graduating from the best Normal University in China. MOE did. I really suspect certain conspiracy in MOE that MOE does not want Singapore students to master Chinese.

Even with such super talent of Chinese language in SG, cirriculum was rigged. Teachers were subjected to office politics. Chinese teachers were instructed to teach in a certain way that MOE desire. I ever took over students in Sec 1 who are not able to write pronounce like I, you, he in Chinese.

It is not unlike engineering in SG. We hire from 7 billions people all around the world. Our engineering capability is like shit despite.

This is not a failure of individual engineers as SG engineers are one of the smartest and hardworking in the world. It is the failure of management, the failure of a system.

Instead of doing soul searching, the elites in SG believes that they are no wrong, all the faults belong to the workers. Hence, they import more and more FT to solve the problem. The problem keep on getting bigger each day.

The solution to all our woes is to create a shortage of workers. Then management will improve. And this is implicitly tantamount of shutting our doors to all but the most genius FT.

Will PAP implement this?

Veritas said...

Those PRC FT teachers that MOE import would be able to perform miracle in PRC teaching chinese. We have alot of them here. However, in SG, they failed miserably.

MOE is rotten to the core.