Why scoring As is vital

I REFER to the letter “Education is more than just scoring As” (The Star, April 10). First of all, we need to ask ourselves why parents push their children so hard to get good grades in school. It is simply because parents want the best for their children. They want to prepare their children for life in the dog-eat-dog world out there, so don’t blame them – or the teachers, for that matter.

There really is a vicious world out there, which is why our society is very kiasu about the As. To secure scholarships (be it from the government or private companies) for tertiary education, students need to have very good grades. It is explicitly mentioned in advertisements that they need to have a certain number of As just to qualify to apply for scholarships!