When making decisions about their children's educational needs, many parents choose to take the long-term view, envisaging how their young ones might someday contribute to society as adults. And while forecasting potential career opportunities for your infant may seem a little futile given the rapid pace of socio-economic change, one thing is for certain, at least according to business leaders: countries in Asia will likely experience a significant shortage of individuals with the ability to lead and innovate (see box).
David Wu, a Beijing-based partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which recently conducted a global survey of 1,250 CEOs, largely attributes the situation to schools. 'Our education system is designed for following, for obeying, for not standing out. That makes it a challenge for us to produce good people with the talent to lead and innovate,' he says.
Many educators have long felt the same, taking steps to ensure that their programmes and facilities not only steer children towards the standard markers of academic attainment, but also equip them with traits beneficial to society.
Cheung Siu-ming, principal of Creative Secondary School (CSS) in Tseung Kwan O, is one such educator.
Hong Kong's school system, he says, still reflects society's bias towards quantitative, tangible, 'useful' subjects such as science, maths and economics, which has resulted in the best and brightest being channelled into 'left brain' courses, and the downplaying of subjects such as literature and arts, which stimulate originality and free thought.
'That kind of mindset is very deeply rooted in our society and has to change,' Cheung says. 'You need a broad and balanced curriculum. And in our school, design and creativity has its place.'