Let's stop collecting badges and start focusing on what really matters
Degrees and other formal course credentials are representations of what we can possibly offer, not reality. We should value the realisation of impact instead.
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IN THE recent parliamentary Budget debate, one of the "radical" ideas mooted by a Member of Parliament was to place an expiry date on degrees conferred by Singapore's institutes of higher learning. Like road tax renewal, the suggestion was for graduates to have to attend courses for upgrading every 5 years to renew the validity of their degrees - short of which, their credentials would lapse, along with the entitlements and benefits of being a degree holder.
In response, I wrote a LinkedIn post sharing how I struggled to understand how piling on more formal education and credential stacking solves the skills gap. I was genuinely surprised by the overwhelming reaction, with more than a thousand reacting and sharing their own stories in less than 24 hours. What I believe this reveals is a fundamental mismatch, and badge collection has been mistaken for education.
The badge collecting phenomenon
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