My nephews & nieces

[malcontent]

I’ve got an interesting mix of 12 nephews/nieces, all born and raised in various locations, but all within 1,000km of Singapore.

Their parents are a mix of Singapore citizens, PRs and Ex-PRs, and all of these kids went to either Singapore local schools or Singapore International Schools (outside Singapore).

What is fascinating (to me anyway) is to see where they are going for higher education. These 12 are going to be spread across four different continents, but all getting degrees from top institutions.

The oldest nephew is a Singapore citizen working on a degree from NUS. He has two siblings who are also citizens. One is bound for the UK this fall at an elite school, the other currently doing NS, planning to study at NUS.

The next oldest nephew just graduated from a top U.S. university. He has three siblings. One is just finishing A-levels, and will be going to a top university in China. The others are still young, but at least one will likely go to the U.S.

The next oldest nephew is a U.S. citizen by birth, after O-levels he went to junior college in the U.S. and is planning to transfer to a top U.S. university. He has a younger sibling who finished PSLE and will be heading to a top U.S. high school this fall.

The next oldest nephew is enrolled at a foundation school in Australia. He is planning to transfer to a top uni there. He has two younger siblings who will be going down the same path.

There must be something special in their gene pool, because they are very consistent about getting kids who not only pursue degrees, but get into great schools.

I’m surprised that the topic of higher education doesn’t get much discussion on this board.

[abbby]

Wow a family of super good smart genes, how lucky..
I find for singaporeans the unis here are just too few, and limited slots in each course and it's highly competitive so I understand a small pool of locals are willing to spend money for their children education overseas since locally it's hard to get in ie: medical. My relative's son went to Australia to study as locally there werent enough slots..They were the lucky ones who had the resources, not many can afford it or take that plunge.

[malcontent]

Wow a family of super good smart genes, how lucky..
I find for singaporeans the unis here are just too few, and limited slots in each course and it's highly competitive so I understand a small pool of locals are willing to spend money for their children education overseas since locally it's hard to get in ie: medical. My relative's son went to Australia to study as locally there werent enough slots..They were the lucky ones who had the resources, not many can afford it or take that plunge.

Yes, I’ve always felt that Singapore lacks adequate educational options and is also too rigid with the high stakes, single shot - “make it or break it” methods.

Had I studied in the local system, my equivalent path would have been N(T) levels -> ITE -> Poly -> Uni… however, I probably wouldn’t have gotten past Poly because of how competitive the universities are.