Education isn't only about academics: Kevin Sim

Kevin Sim holds the world record for most admissions to Oxford University, Cambridge University and the Ivy League colleges. He is the former head counsellor of Raffles Institution, which is the highest performing school in Singapore. Sim has been counselling for over two decades.

Sim spoke to Khaleej Times about counselling trends and Singapore's benchmark education system.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What is S1G? How is it unique to Singapore and a project headed by you?

S1G was created when I left the school system after two decades and wanted to continue to push for access for a specific demographic — for kids who are the first generation to head to university. Our counselling is holistic, not only in understanding the various opportunities available locally and abroad, but also about careers, academic planning as well as how to access the various financial aid systems across different institutions both at home and abroad.

My access work started years ago with a development programme in the Maldives, which involved schools and community. There is a Cambodian project where we work with extremely motivated students to apply for foreign universities as well as financial aid.

Since leaving the Singapore school system, I have also worked on several significant education projects promoting access and equity for marginalised communities.

Will S1G be open for international students as well?

S1G is restricted to Singaporeans as it is a project helmed by myself and a few ex-counsellors. But often, some compelling individuals have reached out to us and we have tried our best to support these individuals.

You are the former Head Counsellor of the College Admissions Counselling Office at Raffles Institution. Take us through the glorious history of the city state's oldest institution that was founded in 1823.

Raffles Institution, like many other great schools in Singapore, are incredible institutions of learning. If I have to speak about a few superlative things about it, they would be:

Whether you are a first-generation college student or a humanities-loving student, there is a space for you to aspire, and like-minded individuals who become your fellow journey mates on your educational journey. A school is an aggregation of students; a school doesn't make a student, but rather it is the students who make the school. The same can be said about the country.

Of course, with the environment comes also the great support the government gives to local schools, in making them accessible and affordable.

In my time, people talk about the record numbers of students going to world renowned institutions, but it is good to observe that the numbers are just natural manifestations of the students' aspirations. In any given year, we have students who apply to a wide number of institutions across the world. We also have students who chose to take non-traditional pathways and choices. We celebrate the diversity of choices and visions. More importantly, we are doubly joyous for the kid who had to climb a steeper road to get where he/she is today, regardless of the eventual outcome.

What are the discernible trends in counselling for college admission that you have come across in your illustrious career?

Admissions these days, especially to popular destinations and institutions, literally make me wonder why things have gotten so complicated. How many milestones do we expect an individual to cross before they can be admitted? But I do believe it is unfair to level criticism at the universities.

Think about these two factors:

In the world we live in today, people are so much more mobile, people are more willing to invest in a foreign education and have the means to do so. International student application numbers, from all levels of schooling, have skyrocketed.

Society has increasingly become more sophisticated, if not complicated. Look at what college students have to do these days just to get an internship and how much earlier they have to work on this process.

In many ways, admissions complexity is merely a reflection of many of the changes that have gone on over the past 20-odd years I have been a counsellor.

How have students evolved through the years as far as counselling for college admission is concerned?

Having been around for so long, I would be fairly obtuse to not recognise that each generation of students are innately different. But this is also a circumstance of how the times have changed. As economies and societies evolve, naturally, the children who are the inheritors of the world to come are consequently and necessarily different.

Can counselling make a difference in a student's approach towards a course?

- joydeep@khaleejtimes.com