Chess improves academic performance, says Singapore education consultant

Jai Sunthush Abeyewardene

Chess has long been recognized throughout the world as a builder of strong intellects and improve the cognitive abilities, rational thinking and reasoning of even the least promising students.

Chess brings out latent abilities that have not been reached by traditional educational means. It promotes logical thinking, instills a sense of self-confidence and self-worth and improves communication and pattern recognition skills. It teaches the values of hard work, concentration, objectivity, and commitment.

Speaking to Daily News, Ram Raj - Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Education Services HUB PTE Limited said "Education is a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace and stability. We plan to play a keyrole in promoting CHESS amongst students in other parts of the country and select promising candidates from islandwide Chess Tournaments and provide them the opportunity to better their lives here in Sri Lanka or in Singapore".

"Singapore is both a country and a city with 5.2 million people and four official languages: Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, and English. Malay is the national language and English is the language of business. The standard of living in Singapore is among the highest in Asia, with state-of-the-art facilities for education, shopping, sports, and recreation.

It has a diverse population of Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian, and other ethnic groups. One cannot help but notice how clean and green the country is and how friendly the locals are to visitors. These observations may be attributed to social campaigns like the courtesy campaign: Keep Singapore Clean and Keep Singapore Green.

With no natural resources of its own, Singapore has leveraged its strategic location as a trading hub, adhered to an open market economy and focused on manufacturing while investing heavily in education. By the 1990s, the country had become one of the world's most prosperous nations with the highest per capita gross domestic product in Asia outside of Japan. The Port of Singapore is the busiest in the world, surpassing Hong Kong and Shanghai."

There is hardly any better place than Singapore to enjoy world class education, only so, because of the immense importance and accentuation that the government renders to it. In fact, the Singapore government spends nearly one-fifth of the annual budget each year on education.

The emphasis on the importance of education is further echoed by the local climate which promotes excellence. Such an environment may somewhat appear to be challenging at times, but there is no doubt that this rigorous education system provides a stimulating environment to push you to challenge your limits and eventually emerge an all rounder - versatile and adaptable - ready to enter the workforce anywhere in the world.

The Singapore education system also follows closely to that of the British, which has a robust educational qualification system that is widely accepted by education institutes worldwide. As such, students can be assured of a competitive edge against their global counterparts should they wish to pursue higher education in other countries as the United Kingdom, Australia, or USA.

Additionally, the bilingual (English and Mother Tongue) language policy put in place, places a great deal of focus on the English language which will make picking up the language a much simpler task than it appears.

As a student in Singapore, you will also be immersed in a setting of diverse cultures and rich heritage which will form a significant part of your distinctive experience here. Apart from the unique social fabric, the cosmopolitan city which is home to many expatriates and foreign students will provide a dynamic and an exciting backdrop to not just learn, but to also garner a global network of friends.

The fast growing economy and the mounting demand for professionals have also opened up numerous job opportunities to students studying in Singapore. Students who have completed 3 or more years of higher education, or have graduated from a local university may apply for permanent residency in Singapore".

Our services are unique by any yardstick they could be summed up as Guardianship; Student Placement; SEEP; Internship. Now what's Guardianship you may wonder? It's probably the most unique service we provide; it's a seamless Guardianship service right from the point of entry up to graduation. SES's guardians meet the students at the airport and take them by the hand to guide them into a new life in the Lion City. We are well known for our 24 - hour and 365 - day availability to provide our Guardianship service for any emergency, be it a request from students residing in Singapore or a Parent's request from overseas.

The Chess Tournament will have 374 participants from 41 Colombo Schools vying each other at the Thurstan College Gymnasium on 27th, 28th and 29th of January 2012. Singapore Education Services will have a special student counselling stall at the venue for students and parents to get a first-hand feel of the incredible SES Formula - chess + Singapore Education an Internationally Benchmarked Professional Credential/the highly sought-after Singapore education system a deluxe lifestyle easily the envy of many that could be in either Singapore or anywhere else in the world.