Are SAP schools still relevant today?
- ejorigin
- May 2, 2024
- 4 min read
Written and Designed by: Bernita Rayen (23-I1)
The Origins
Special Assistance Plan schools, more commonly known as SAP schools, are institutions which carry out bilingual education only for Chinese students. These ‘special’ schools were established in 1979 in order to preserve the top Chinese-stream schools and nurture academically excellent students “inculcated with traditional Chinese values”.
The birth of these institutes came about with the advent of English based education and its ever growing importance within early Singaporean society. This led to the closing down of many Tamil, Malay and Chinese medium schools due to a shift in preferences. It was then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who had suggested that radical action be taken to preserve specifically Chinese-medium schools, placing heavy emphasis on the preservation of Chinese culture and language.
The Argument
There is an understanding that SAP schools came about in a time where the preservation of Chinese culture, values, and the language were key to strengthening the foundation of Singaporean society. This policy also stemmed from pragmatism, in which Singapore stood to gain benefits by forging better economic and political relations with China. However, this has created ethnically homogenous schools which do little when it comes to creating a more racially cohesive, empathetic and respectful society.
Moreover, SAP schools only admit academically excellent students who are the top ten percent of their primary school cohorts. This not only leaves out students who do not fit these institutions' definitions of academic excellence but also those from various socio-economic backgrounds, as independent SAP schools charge higher school fees, thus creating a far more visible and tangible divide.
In a multicultural society such as Singapore which takes great pride in treating every person with equality ‘regardless of race, language or religion’, there begs the question of why Indian and Malay minority communities don’t have their own SAP schools. I ask this question with the assumption that such promised societal equality should extend to the educational sector : are minority languages not important enough to preserve? Although these languages are taught and activities are conducted in schools for students to learn more about their cultures, why is it that specially funded schools do not exist for these communities?
Today, Singapore is an economically prosperous country, with excellent geopolitical ties with global superpowers. The early and arduous years of nation building are arguably behind us. With the ever growing diversity of Singaporeans, is it still traditional Chinese values which rule our society? In my humble opinion, it's not! Although our society is Chinese dominant, every race should have an equal and welcomed place in Singapore. As such it does not make sense to me that there are ‘special’ government funded schools that only accept Chinese students who are the “cream of the crop”.
Some may rebut and say that students in SAP schools are adequately exposed to other cultures and have a good understanding of various cultural practices. Yet, Racial Harmony Day celebrations and learning Malay in lower secondary can often come off superficial or tokenistic. Students are hardly going to remember these practices unless they have actual sustained interactions with other students of other cultures. Moreover, since many SAP school students are educated in these schools for anywhere between 6 to 12 years, from primary school through Junior College, they spend a considerable amount of time in a space where they are not exposed to true diversity. When these students go out into society as individuals, their lack of perspectives and understanding of cultures may come across as offensive or even uneducated. These students who are ‘book’ smart may lack ‘street’ smart skills or finesse, some of which are shaped through exposure to a variety of different people.
My Thoughts and Conclusion
As an individual who belongs to the Indian minority, it is easy for me to feel offended at the lack of ‘equality’ when it comes to SAP schools. It would be easy for me to say that SAP schools should not exist at all and that its outdated founding belief is no longer relevant in today’s society. But that is easier said than done! In the spirit of journalism and fairness, I do see a certain sense of importance that SAP schools hold today. With globalisation and heavy influences of western media, it is so common to hear the phrase “I am not good in Chinese”, a phrase I admit to hearing even amongst my own friends. But this phenomena expands across all the ethnic groups in Singapore, highlighting the common loss of culture through the loss of language. This is where SAP schools may have a vital role to play in the preservation of rich Chinese cultural history and more importantly, language! But this privilege of preservation should extend to the other races.
However, I still stand by my opinion that SAP schools perpetuate harmful divisions that do little to no good for our society. Besides a divide in social classes, SAP schools rob young impressionable students of the opportunity to experience the joys of diversity. When exposed to a multitude of people, experiences and cultures students develop a sense of open- mindedness, nuance and empathy. In order to bridge these gaps, more non-superficial activities and constant engagement with various groups of people within the Singaporean society is needed, perhaps even more scholarships and bursaries for students of various socioeconomic backgrounds to enter independent schools. Beyond schools, parents who are important role models have the responsibility to raise and educate their children. Children pick up on their parents’ remarks, and when that comment is racially offensive or distasteful, it tends to perpetuate a cycle of harmful stereotypes that manifests itself in casual racism and blatant ignorance for others.
To conclude, I believe that more needs to be done to present accurate and useful education to students about various cultures, and for the education system to strive to move away from just academic and holistic excellence. There needs to be more heart within our schools which can only arise if we teach our children to not just be tolerant but to be empathetic. Racial tolerance will only take our society so far. But true understanding and kindness needs to be taught in schools, which should further be reiterated by parents. Those on the receiving end of hurtful or offensive remarks also have a responsibility to reciprocate with empathy and understand that sometimes, such comments don’t come from a place of malice but a place of ignorance.
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