Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and 4 educational ideas "gifted" to Vietnam

During Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's visit to Vietnam in 2007, many meaningful ideas about special education were raised.

During his return to Vietnam in January 2007, former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew affirmed to President Nguyen Minh Triet: "If we win the education race, we will win in economic development."

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew "gave" 4 educational ideas to Vietnam

1. Must know how to keep talented people

In the late 1970s, about 5% of Singapore's educated population left. The talent shortage became more acute when Western countries changed their immigration policies to accept Asian immigrants.

While leaders of some countries in the region at that time seemed happy because they thought that the brain drain phenomenon was actually a "bleeding of troubles", Mr. Lee Kuan Yew vigorously implemented a policy of retaining domestic talent and attracting foreign resources for jobs that the economy needed.

He set up two committees. One committee was to help talented people find the right job and the other committee was to bring them together in society. For the best people, this committee tried to harvest early by offering them jobs even before graduation.

In addition, he also established two agencies to attract talent from India and other countries in the region. In order to “retain” qualified people and attract more capable human resources from abroad, his Government also abolished the regulation prohibiting female Singaporean citizens from bringing foreign grooms to immigrate.

“If we don’t fill the gap with foreign talent, we won’t be able to make the country go to the top. They are the additional megabytes that add to the Singapore computer.”

That is an extremely important lesson for Vietnamese education when it joins the WTO.

2. English: The key to avoiding falling behind

How not to fall behind? There is only one way to answer this question: That is to be good at English. Schools in Singapore all use English as a compulsory language. For the Singaporean Government, choosing English as a working language helps prevent ethnic conflicts from arising, bringing a competitive advantage.

To “gain a competitive advantage”, according to Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, it is necessary to persistently pursue the “many voices, one language” policy to bring English into schools. “Today, Singapore has a great advantage thanks to that. This is an unexpected reward for Singapore when implementing this regulation”.

According to him, “Vietnamese universities should have English textbooks in important fields such as engineering, technology... because if they only use Vietnamese books, they will certainly fall behind. If all Vietnamese students in the future cannot listen and speak English fluently, just being able to read will already be behind.”

3.Education is only allowed to be excessive, not deficient.

Mr. Ly clearly expressed his view on education: "Always educate to have surplus, not to have shortage. If we calculate enough training, we will not be able to supply enough market demand."

To illustrate this, he cited the following example: Malaysia is currently facing stagnation because old industries are no longer developing, while the demands of new industries are not fully met. And Malaysia is paying the price for its lack of training.

4. Let's nurture students' ambitions

“If asked for advice, I think the Vietnamese government should send students from the North, from Hanoi, Hai Phong... to the South to learn how to make money, how to do business. This is a good way to start an ambition. And vice versa, find the elite in Ho Chi Minh City to "plant" in universities in the North, in Hanoi”.

Mr. Ly has given such advice to Vietnam's university education. According to Mr. Ly, no matter what job they do, whether it is a doctor or an engineer, students need to be fully trained and provided with the necessary skills to work.

When commenting on Vietnamese students, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew did not hesitate to praise the "hard-working, diligent" students, "always the top students" at Singaporean universities when they come here to participate in training programs with scholarships or self-funded study abroad programs.

According to baogiaothong.vn