When the mathematician Pak Tee Ng (Singapore, 1970), an expert in leadership and educational policies, is congratulated in an email for the results in the PISA Report of his city-state of 5.4 million inhabitants – first in the three competencies (mathematical, scientific and reading) – he answers with a few laughs and downplays the fact: “PISA is a good reference, but remember that it is not our report card.” Pak Tee, associate professor at the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University, the entity that centralizes all teacher training in the country, is the most visible face of the success of this system thanks to his videos on the Internet, his participation as lecturer around the world and his book Learning from Singapore: The Power of Paradoxes (Learning from Singapore: the power of paradoxes). EL PAÍS interviewed Pak Tee within the framework of WISE, an educational meeting of the Qatar Foundation held in Doha a week before the educational barometer was released.
Ask. I would like to write about the miracle of Singapore, which has gone from being a poor country without training to an educational power.
Answer. Oh, thanks for saying that!
Q. Why are they so successful in PISA?
R. We care a lot about our children’s education, but not about PISA. We are in the test to know how we position ourselves in the world, but not to compete. It helps us understand and learn from the process. Of course, it’s nice to be at the top of the ranking, but it’s not our report card. The story begins in 1965, when we won independence. Our history is very short. It was beneficial that we were so poor then. Many people thought: I can’t have a good life, but I work very hard to send my children to school so that they have the option of living a better life. That is the wish of many parents. We have nothing else: there is no oil, no agriculture, no wood, no rubber… We only have human resources and education is the great building of our national development.
Q. You take great care in selecting teachers.
R. It’s like that. We are able to recruit from the top third of each college graduate cohort. For each teaching position we have at least ten applications. They want to be teachers because we have worked hard to make teaching a respectable profession. They are the architects of our nation, who help build our country. It can be said that teachers are people who plant trees so that others can sit under them and no one knows who planted them. We have to make sure people respect them and then we can get a better education.
You are not going to get rich as a teacher, but you are going to live comfortably
Q. And do they pay them well?
R. Yes. They work very hard and their salary is on par with many other professions. Most enter teaching not to be well paid, but because they want to be good teachers. But even if people are motivated to teach, as a country you have to pay them well. You are not going to get rich, but you are going to live comfortably. When you go to a reunion of your high school class and say that you are a lawyer or a doctor, it sounds good, but in some parts of the world people do not have that high regard for teachers, it seems that you have no better option. At the meeting in Singapore you can proudly say: “I am a teacher.” And people say “wow.” You know, architects, builders of the nation.
Q. Their teachers rotate a lot.
R. National policy does not say that you have to change centers, but we encourage a certain movement. Not everyone has to change, it is too unstable. Taking the experience to another school is useful. It is very common for a professor to be promoted to department head, but in another school. And then another as deputy director and the next as director.
Q. Do you send as much homework to your students as in China?
R. In Singapore there is quite a bit of homework and we are reducing it. We want to create spaces for them to learn new things and playing is part of learning. We are reflecting: is it absolutely necessary for you to do so much practice of a certain thing? Of course we have to practice something, because if not we quickly forget it, but there can be an excess of practice to the detriment of other areas of development that concern us.
Character and citizenship education are important
Q. They are concerned about the emotional aspect.
R. Yes, mental well-being. We want them to receive a comprehensive and healthy education; that they grow up to become good, productive citizens and good people. That is why character and citizenship education are so important.
Q. Aren’t you stressed by the test you are subjected to when you finish primary school at 11-12 years old?
R. Yes, things like that can be stressful, but an appropriate amount of stress can be helpful. We just changed the way we do our primary final exam. Instead of each dot counting, we use note bands. This basically means that the tool is not as sharp. What we tell them is: exams are important, but not the only important thing in life, don’t stress yourself so much chasing every point, but learn and do it well.
We go around the world trying to learn from everyone and not the other way around.
Q. But to enter university they need high grades.
R. Before we were poor, trying to solve other bigger problems, and there were few educational avenues. Now we want young people to be able to find a path that suits them based on their different personalities, strengths and attitudes. If they could find that path, our reasoning is that they would be happier, they would be more motivated. People have the idea that we only focus on math, science… but now we have many different types of schools, art schools, essay schools… and more problems than solutions. That’s why we go around the world trying to learn from everyone and not the other way around.
Q. His educational success is reflected in the Shanghai ranking, with two universities in the top 100.
R. Again, that shouldn’t be our goal. If we only aim to improve in the rankings, we could lose sight of some of the most important things for young people and the country and become more narrow-minded. We have to ask ourselves: are our children growing in a healthy way? Ask ourselves if at all stages our education is holistic, good, in every sense, instead of only pursuing the ranking.
Q. What would you recommend to Spain to improve its results in PISA?
R. I cannot advise others. I am from Singapore and we have our circumstances. Each country is different. There are some things that are important to us and it’s fair to say that. In Singapore, education is an investment, not an expense. Even in difficult times, education is not cut back so that there is consistency in investment; and so that principals and teachers know that they can move forward. Children need education, regardless of whether times are good or difficult. We are in the OECD average, we do not spend large amounts. It is very important for us to invest in the professional development of our directors and teachers. And we must ensure that the financing and the effort are coherent. We attract good people who are really interested in teaching, we train them well and we have a very good education system. It is very hard work and can be exhausting not on the mind, but on the heart.
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