Making university learning more enjoyable

FOR a society that's widely seen as achievement-oriented, better known for its hard-driving pursuit of merit than for merry-making, recent policy changes by two Singapore universities on the easing of grade requirements for students have been surprising, to say the least.

In May, National University of Singapore (NUS) announced that incoming freshmen would be able to purge poor grades in up to five modules in their first semester from their records. NUS has also lowered the entry criteria for its honours courses in four schools, and will rename the degrees, doing away with the first-, second- and third-class classifications in favour of US-style "distinction" or "merit" designations. Nanyang Technological University (NTU) also said last week that it will allow its freshmen to drop F grades in up to six courses in the first year so as not to tarnish their grade-point average. The idea is to reduce the pressure on students and shift the focus away from grades, with NUS in fact mulling the possibility of an entirely grade-free first year. And in the case of its honours programmes, NUS said the easing of entry requirements is to enable more students to graduate with honours. Both universities insisted that their moves would not lead to a decrease in the quality of graduates.

Indeed, given Singapore's rigorous and demanding education system, typically seen as too focused on exams and grades, the latest changes in NUS and NTU would seem like a breath of fresh air, and may well be the way to go as the local tertiary scene evolves in line with global norms. Yet, questions also arise, especially in light of another recent and somewhat controversial change: a new scaled-down Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) for military men, to enable more of them to pass the fitness test. Are young Singaporeans too mollycoddled ? Where does one draw the line between being responsive to changing circumstances and pandering to populist demands?