Frankly, My Dear: A (grade) valedictorian

By Kenji Kwok, Managing Editor 

GRAPHIC: WONG SU JUN ANDREW

Checking my email is part of my daily morning routine. I respond to the urgent ones, delete the spam I never signed up for, and give the mass emails from my school nothing more than a cursory glance.

But more than a month ago, one of those mass emails caught my attention. “Convocation 2016 – Vote for your Valedictorian”, read the subject title.

As a graduating student, my curiosity was naturally piqued and I opened the email. In the body, three students were named as nominees for the honour.

“The valedictorian has the honour of representing your class in a speech he or she will make at the ceremony,” the email read. “Three students with top GPAs have been shortlisted for this honour.”

As I browsed through the names and the accompanying write-ups on their accomplishments, I was left thinking: Why weren’t some of my other classmates nominated?

The NTU convocation website describes a valedictorian as a person who displays leadership qualities, actively participates in extracurricular activities including community service, and possesses good public speaking skills.

Granted, the three nominees boasted outstanding GPAs and were the cream of the academic crop. But as someone embodying the cohort’s spirit and achievements through a speech at convocation, I believe the valedictorian should also demonstrate excellence in other fields.

It was baffling to me then that my school did not consult its students when deciding the shortlist of nominees. If the valedictorian is to be someone who can represent his batch, it seems only logical for us to have a say in who these nominees should be.

Prefacing the email by mentioning how the prospective valedictorians hold the highest GPAs will only breed a stubborn obsession with grades. This shortchanges other important displays of character, such as helping others through community service, which can play a key role in moulding one into a better person.

Earlier this year, Acting Education Ministers Ng Chee Meng (Schools) and Ong Ye Kung (Higher Education and Skills) said that reducing the excessive emphasis on grades will help bring out the best in every child.

This begs the question of whether valedictorians should be measured against the academic yardstick and why such processes are not keeping up with the direction of Singapore’s holistic education system.

The valedictorian should be someone whom peers can heartily endorse and stand by.

Ideally, if the voting system is to stay, students should be able to nominate their classmates and be involved in an election process similar to that of student executive committees.

Critics of this proposed model will probably argue that choosing a valedictorian may inevitably end up becoming a popularity contest and that grades are the fairest way to decide. But let’s leave that to the Dean’s List.