Principles Of Meritocracy

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The principle of meritocracy in its simplest term is one that provides equal opportunity to all individuals based on merit and regardless of personal attributes. The infamous Wee Shu Min incident in 2006 resulted in louder calls for the government to address the ills of meritocracy in Singapore such as the rising elitist sentiments and particularly the growing inequality. However, ensuring equal outcomes has never been a feature of meritocracy. Therefore, the fault lies not in the principle of meritocracy but its application. Still, it is widely agreed that there is no other principle preferentially better than meritocracy especially in terms of being non-discriminatory. Therefore in this paper, I will argue that meritocracy will remain as …show more content…

Therefore there is a need to develop its human resource to the fullest potential so as to promote economic growth and in turn legitimise their rule. Accordingly, it is unsurprising that the principle of meritocracy is exemplified most obviously in Singapore’s education system, with “merit” being narrowly defined as academic achievements. With success closely tied to the achievement of good grades, an obvious consequence is an excessively competitive environment, where individuals would be self-centred and adopt the zero-sum mentality, advancing their own interest at the expense of others and unwilling to render help. In addition, being evaluated using the same yardstick would also mean that a significant population whose forte lies in non-academic aspects will be left on the sidelines while resources are being unfairly channelled to the …show more content…

In addition, school cultures especially those of “elite” schools should be reshaped through policies such as restrictions on school spending and activities. On one hand, this would ensure that facilities in schools nationwide would not deviate too far from one another, hence downplay the belief that “elite” schools are only suitable for students from wealthier families and hence attract a greater mix of students. This would decrease social distance between students from different family backgrounds and strengthen mutual understanding and thus avoid elitism. Also, since only primary-level education is compulsory, it is very important to establish an equal playing field as much as possible through the quick identification and coaching of weaker students so that they can all move on to the next level through a fair

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