Beauracrat’s guide to answering a letter
82% of A*Star scholars had GPA of 3.8 and above - Jan 13, 2006
82% of A*Star scholars had GPA of 3.8 and above
I REFER to the letter by Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan, ‘Why top S’pore students aren’t world beaters’ (ST, Jan 10).
Contrary to his view, the vast majority of A*Star scholars are able to attain the high academic standards set.
Currently, A*Star has 141 National Science Scholarship (NSS) scholars pursuing their Bachelor of Science (BSc) studies at the best universities abroad.
One hundred and twenty-seven NSS BSc scholars sat for their examinations in Spring 2005 and 104, or 82 per cent, achieved Grade Point Average (GPA) scores of 3.8 and above, or 1st Class Honours; 47 among the 104 attained the maximum GPA scores of 4.0 or 1st Class Honours with grade A or equivalent in all subjects.
Twenty scholars, or 16 per cent, attained GPA scores from 3.6 to below 3.8, or 2nd Class Upper Honours. Only three scholars, or 2 per cent, attained GPA scores of below 3.6.
A*Star’s NSS, launched in July 2001, is the only scholarship programme in Singapore which funds a combined programme of overseas undergraduate (BSc) and graduate (PhD) studies.
The three-year NSS BSc scholarship funds the pursuit of undergraduate studies in Science and Engineering at an overseas university of the scholar’s choice from our select list of universities.
These select universities are top-tier institutions in specific biomedical science or engineering areas, and have attained their high ranking due to the excellent quality of their education.
Most overseas universities also require scholars to take humanities courses to broaden their education, in addition to advanced science or engineering courses necessary for graduate studies.
For example, Mr Vijay Chandrasekhar, from the NSS (BSc) 2002 batch, completed his studies in three years with GPA of 3.97 and graduated with a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering, a Minor in Economics and a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Melon University. He is now back for his one-year research attachment and will proceed for his PhD studies in August/September.
Scholars who complete their BSc studies with a GPA of 3.8 and above will return home for a one-year research attachment, and are then considered for funded PhD programmes at top graduate schools abroad.
A*Star sets a high academic standard - 3.8 GPA and above - to ensure that our scholars get into the very best PhD programmes in top universities. Only those with excellent academic scores and specific interest in research will be funded fully for these top PhD programmes.
Scholars are also assessed on their interest and ability to undertake original research through an eight-week research attachment completed during their undergraduate studies, as well as through a one-year research internship at an A*Star research institute after their BSc studies.
Scholars who achieve a GPA score of above 3.6 but below 3.8 are individually reviewed by a Select Panel. They may be considered for PhD programmes locally, to benefit from closer support and supervision, under the A*Star Graduate Scholarship programme.
This programme is tenable at NUS and NTU, and through select joint local and overseas PhD programmes, such as the A*Star-Imperial College PhD Partnership (UK), the A*Star-University of Illinois PhD Partnership (US) and the A*Star-Karolinska Institut PhD Partnership (Sweden).
Thus, 98 per cent of our NSS-BSc scholars qualify for either overseas or local support for their PhD programmes. The 2 per cent who fail to attain a GPA of 3.6 will be offered administrative and executive positions at A*Star.
Investment in human capital is a long-term effort and high standards must be maintained.
Timothy Sebastian
Director
A*Star Graduate Academy
This letter is, i believe, a typical beauracratic response that could easily have been written by a machine. It has all the hallmarks of a beauracrat : The letter evades the pertinent points raised by Dr Huang, goes on and on in an almost vainglorious tone and trots out a phlethora of statistics to overwhelm the reader.
“There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics“- attributed to various sources, among them Mark Twain and Benjamin Disraeli.
The response by Timothy Sebastian focuses on how most of the scholars are able to meet the 3.8 GPA requirement, and i have no doubt about the competancy of the scholars. Certainly i believe that most of them have the capability to do so. But Tim misses the point that Dr Huang raises.
It is not so much that scholars cannot make the 3.8 requirement, but the necessity of the 3.8 requirement that is questioned. There is the very vaild point raised that this obsession with specific grades that stifles creativity and passion. This, Dr Huang argues, prevents scholars from taking they subjects they really want, they subjects that best suit him in favour of subjects that they can score in. A perfectly pragmatic choice, when you consider that their scholarship is at stake. And in this debate about why Singapore students are among the top in academic grades in their schoolyears, but fail to be “world beaters” in their adulthood is precisely because of this macabre obsession with grades and perfect scores.
A* Star’s policy of 3.8 is in itself an artificial controll that prevents the scholars from taking challenging courses in favour of safer, managable courses: a policy that looks good on paper, but is ultimately counterproductive in the long run. In fact, this policy is deeply reflective of the Singaporean psyche regarding the obsession with A grades. To a certain extent, such pragmatism is also seen in the education system, where subjects that are perceived as being difficult to score (literature) or of little practical value (literature, philosophy, art etc) is sidelined in favour of “core” subjects like mathematics.
The requirement of a 3.8 GPA is a damocle’s sword that hangs over the heads of scholars when they choose modules to take. I do not dispute A* Star’s need to require accountability on the part of the scholars- they are after all using taxpayer’s money to pursue an education. We can’t have them flunking exams and getting kicked out. However, this must be tempered with the freedom to choose subjects that they really want and not be so constrained. Only then can we ever hope to start cultivating talents that can be stand on the world stage.
