Chapter 7: Concluding Thoughts. Resolution on Meritocracy and its… | by Pranav g r | Nov, 2025
Previous Chapter: The future (cost) of Meritocracies
Writer’s Note
This essay has been split into many chapters, each of which are uploaded separately and in chronological order. Each chapter has been written such that it can serve as a standalone, from which valuable insights can be derived. This is done because the essay itself is very long, and can be exhausting to read. However, I sincerely implore readers to begin from the introduction and read through all the chapters in order to comprehensively understand my talking point. Thank you!
Concluding Thoughts.
I’d like to end this discussion with my personal perspective. As one of the top students in one of Singapore’s elite IP schools, one may postulate that I am a success story of the meritocratic approach omnipresent in our education system. However, I exist in my school as an anomaly. Many of my friends participated in the GEP programme as well as Higher Mother Tongue in primary school, both of which I never had the opportunity to study in. I also come from a higher-middle-class family unlike some of my multi-millionaire peers, and I never once attended a tuition centre. Thus, the reason for my success was always something I contemplated, until I stumbled upon what I believed to be the answer.
I come from a family of teachers, making the emphasis placed on my education quite extreme. Crucially, I developed the ability to think critically from a very young age, questioning any and every phenomenon in my life. My parents nurtured my curiosity and exposed me to astronomy, public speaking and countless other interests from the moment I could walk. Through this, I uncovered a thinking framework that suited me, allowing me to tackle problems step-by-step. I learnt how to think, and I owe that largely to my upbringing.
And that, I believe, is what makes or breaks someone in a meritocracy. Beyond content knowledge, students must know how to approach ideas and break problems into digestible parts. This is where our education system falls short, causing fewer students to attain its definition of “merit”. Schools must invest more effort into streamlining students’ thought processes, and helping them recognise how essential this skill is in and out of the classroom. After all, it is this ability to think critically that meritocracy rewards, not just in school, but in workplaces and in life. A meritocracy that never teaches thinking is not a meritocracy at all, it is simply a hierarchy wearing a halo.
Singapore must thus choose: do we want a system that selects, or one that uplifts?
