Ready for the unknown in a changing world

In an interview with The Straits Times, SMU Provost Professor Lily Kong shared her views on the future of education. She predicted that admission to tertiary-level courses will be based on ability, not age, noting that classrooms will go inter-generational. “As information becomes ubiquitous, criterion of admission to a specific course will be ability, not chronology, so the range of student ages will widen, with younger and older students joining the hitherto standard university-going age group,” Prof Kong said. She added that younger students, whose self-directed learning has prepared them sufficiently for a university course, need not wait till the requisite age, while older workers who have spent their earlier years on other pursuits may now sit in the same course.In an interview with The Straits Times, SMU Provost Professor Lily Kong shared her views on the future of education. She predicted that admission to tertiary-level courses will be based on ability, not age, noting that classrooms will go inter-generational. “As information becomes ubiquitous, criterion of admission to a specific course will be ability, not chronology, so the range of student ages will widen, with younger and older students joining the hitherto standard university-going age group,” Prof Kong said. She added that younger students, whose self-directed learning has prepared them sufficiently for a university course, need not wait till the requisite age, while older workers who have spent their earlier years on other pursuits may now sit in the same course.