When a career fair is mentioned, especially if one is held in a school or university setting, one would expect that all students from that particular institution are welcome. This was apparently not so at a career fair held at NTU last month. According to sources, NTU held a career fair they named NTUtopia which was said to target students from scholar programmes or with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.75 out of 5.
And these selected students are sent an email where they are congratulated on being selected for the fair which clearly states that it is a by-invitation only event, where top employers can engage and possibly recruit the brightest final year students. According to sources, those selected elites were able to hand in their resumes to some choice positions in both the public and private sectors. Among participating government agencies were MOE, MND and IMDA, and those in the private sector includes DBS and OCBC.
And this after the Minister for Education himself said that exams and assessments at the primary and secondary levels are putting too much unnecessary emphasis on grades, when students should focus on the joy of learning. But NTU never got the memo, the elite and exclusive fair says it all. Grades are still the most important thing to get the best jobs in Singapore.
