pink ic pay 3% less then blue ic. not say totally no useOriginally Posted by thomastansb
Newbie
pink ic pay 3% less then blue ic. not say totally no use
Ong lai ah!
Office Boy
Thats why people angry la!
Pink IC = $30K difference of a $1 million PC ?
DKSG
Newbie
50k if this is the first house loh..
Ong lai ah!
Global recession is coming....
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=64931
What happened to SGH? Despite the complaint, the reply is to ask you to "still have to wait"?
And we know some people don't even need to wait! They get the doctors' lunch time appointment! Then, the doctors go for lunch after their lunch time and the rest in the queue have to wait longer!
Some people said "UPGRADE to PRIVATE class patient and you will Immediately get an earlier appointment.". Is this true?
====================
1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Really?
One year wait is rather ridiculous is it? If SGH can't take the case, either increase their staff or refer the cases to other Hospitals that can handle them rather than greedily hang on to their "customers" out of profit?
1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Really?
My husband has been seeing a general practitioner (GP) at Tampines Polyclinic for several years.
In early August, the GP decided my husband needed to see a renal specialist as a blood test showed that his condition was worsening.
We were shocked, however, to find out that the appointment date given by the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) was December next year.
After I called several times to plead and complain, it was moved up to August next year.Why does my husband have to wait nearly a year for his appointment?
Who is responsible if something happens to him in the meantime? Are our hospital staff so overworked that appointments have to be scheduled over a year in advance?
The SGH feedback department claimed that the reason for such a late date was that the GP did not request an urgent appointment.
Isn't it urgent enough if the GP decides that my husband needs to see a specialist and do a scan of his kidneys?
Surely polyclinics do not send patients to specialists for no good reason.This would be a first-time investigative check, and patients would worry over whether or not there is anything wrong with them.
Just because patients like my husband do not complain does not mean they are okay. The health authorities should appreciate such patients and not penalise them by putting them at the back of the queue.
Tay Soh Hoon (Ms)
*Article first appeared on ST Forums (23 Sep)
SINGAPORE GENERAL HOSPITAL: WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO IMPROVE OUR PATIENT EXPERIENCE
[This is a response letter to a patient complaint here: ONE YEAR WAIT TO SEE SPECIALIST]
We are sorry Ms Tay Soh Hoon and her husband had to experience anxiety over the long waiting time for an appointment to see our renal medicine specialist (“One-year wait to see specialist”; Monday).
The Singapore General Hospital sees the highest proportion of renal patients, with more than 34,000 outpatient attendances annually.
Appointments for new patients are prioritized based on the severity and urgency of their medical conditions. For those whose conditions are stable, the average waiting time for an appointment can be longer if there is an increase in new or urgent referrals.
To meet the needs of a growing number of renal patients and the training of doctors, we have been working to increase the number of slots for appointments, and will continue to do so as new clinic facilities are built.
We thank our patients and their caregivers for their patience and understanding of the current situation, as we seek innovative solutions to improve the overall patient experience.
Chan Choong Meng (Associate Professor)
Head, Department of Renal Medicine
Singapore General Hospital
* Letter first appeared in ST Forum (27 Sep)
====================
Yesterday, 09:10 PM
kooldog59
Hall Of Famer
Quote:
Originally Posted by singish0
i went gahmen dental just few years ago, and i shocked the quene can be 6 months ! still i wait and i went and the dental service very very bad ! i nearly choked when dentist dont care and water into your throat ask u dont breathe with your mouth tahan, no air nearly die ! i stopped the dentist's check up and left !
and it's not strange, i long time and always know about gahmen hospitals ! i tink they quite hopeless ! half year is common ...,
In Singapore everything need "GuanXi" or else prepare to pay high high at private clinics...If have "GuanXi", then the doctor will serve you during his lunch time and after that you will not have any problem getting a time slot... This is how they beat the system. They did not jump queue, just bend the rules....
==========================
29-09-2013, 12:40 PMCome on people. Arent we all sick & tired of all these letters & replies! It is time we make our statements!
1. We are supposed to be an integrated (state-of-the-art, in words?) health care national orgainisation. Am I right?
2. We have a world-class health-for-all, got-money, no-money hub.
3. No one will be left alone.
4. The formation of health clusters is step forward to be more competitive and operationally smoother. Ha, it seems it has gone too aggressively competitive and disastrously waiting.
5, We are promised everything, we are asked not to expect govt to solve all problems (which I agree) inclusive of issues they, the govt, created (this they have to solve it as only they have the blueprints and plans & funds). They just never mention the words: Must wait for the longest time!
6. The only hospital you need not wait is KK! So how about transform a part of it to some overloaded illness units?
7. May I know why can't go other public hospital? No renal dept?
Ppinetree
Re: 1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Rea
With our Medical authorities deciding to make SG into a medical hub, the demand on our medical docs, esp speciaists, is very high.
Imagine rich people from around this region & as far as ME fly here for treatment. Eventually, money talks & locals who cannot afford to compete with these rich foreign patients are squeezed out.
The only way for locals to be given quick treatment is to see private specialists or pay private/"non-subsidized" rates at these restructured hospitals that citizens partly pay from their taxes. But provided that you cannot afford it. If not, then you hardly have any other choice but to wait for your turn & hopefully your illness can await too.
It's a fact that money buys life. SG boasts of excellent medical facilities but if you cannot afford them, the facilities are beyond you.
This is SG. And this is run by the Govt that you elected.
29-09-2013, 12:11 PM
Limos2010
Re: 1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Rea
Oh ...... What SGH had said in a NICE MANNER ....... YOU HAVE ONLY YOURSELF TO BLAME BECAUSE YOU ARE POOR ........ OR GOT MONEY BUT WANT TO SAVE ON THE SMALL SMALL THINGS ........ GOTO A PRIVATE PRACTITIONER WOULD HAVE SOLVE THE PROBLEM.......
tlukay59
Re: 1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Rea
UPGRADE to PRIVATE class patient and you will Immediately get an earlier appointment.
Last edited by teddybear; 01-10-13 at 00:18.
Junior
public transport gone case,
public health care also collapsed.
totally unacceptable.
Newbie
kk oso same... any appt dat u make under subsidised rate - easily 6 months to a year.
Ong lai ah!
Senior
I went to see specialist to do scope last time, he told me if under private patient, can do the next day, if under subsidised have to wait more than 3 months. Is this called busy schedule?
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=64931
What happened to SGH? Despite the complaint, the reply is to ask you to "still have to wait"?
And we know some people don't even need to wait! They get the doctors' lunch time appointment! Then, the doctors go for lunch after their lunch time and the rest in the queue have to wait longer!
Some people said "UPGRADE to PRIVATE class patient and you will Immediately get an earlier appointment.". Is this true?
====================
One year wait is rather ridiculous is it? If SGH can't take the case, either increase their staff or refer the cases to other Hospitals that can handle them rather than greedily hang on to their "customers" out of profit?
1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Really?
My husband has been seeing a general practitioner (GP) at Tampines Polyclinic for several years.
In early August, the GP decided my husband needed to see a renal specialist as a blood test showed that his condition was worsening.
We were shocked, however, to find out that the appointment date given by the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) was December next year.
After I called several times to plead and complain, it was moved up to August next year.Why does my husband have to wait nearly a year for his appointment?
Who is responsible if something happens to him in the meantime? Are our hospital staff so overworked that appointments have to be scheduled over a year in advance?
The SGH feedback department claimed that the reason for such a late date was that the GP did not request an urgent appointment.
Isn't it urgent enough if the GP decides that my husband needs to see a specialist and do a scan of his kidneys?
Surely polyclinics do not send patients to specialists for no good reason.This would be a first-time investigative check, and patients would worry over whether or not there is anything wrong with them.
Just because patients like my husband do not complain does not mean they are okay. The health authorities should appreciate such patients and not penalise them by putting them at the back of the queue.
Tay Soh Hoon (Ms)
*Article first appeared on ST Forums (23 Sep)
SINGAPORE GENERAL HOSPITAL: WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO IMPROVE OUR PATIENT EXPERIENCE
[This is a response letter to a patient complaint here: ONE YEAR WAIT TO SEE SPECIALIST]
We are sorry Ms Tay Soh Hoon and her husband had to experience anxiety over the long waiting time for an appointment to see our renal medicine specialist (“One-year wait to see specialist”; Monday).
The Singapore General Hospital sees the highest proportion of renal patients, with more than 34,000 outpatient attendances annually.
Appointments for new patients are prioritized based on the severity and urgency of their medical conditions. For those whose conditions are stable, the average waiting time for an appointment can be longer if there is an increase in new or urgent referrals.
To meet the needs of a growing number of renal patients and the training of doctors, we have been working to increase the number of slots for appointments, and will continue to do so as new clinic facilities are built.
We thank our patients and their caregivers for their patience and understanding of the current situation, as we seek innovative solutions to improve the overall patient experience.
Chan Choong Meng (Associate Professor)
Head, Department of Renal Medicine
Singapore General Hospital
* Letter first appeared in ST Forum (27 Sep)
====================
Yesterday, 09:10 PM
kooldog59
Hall Of Famer
Quote:
Originally Posted by singish0
i went gahmen dental just few years ago, and i shocked the quene can be 6 months ! still i wait and i went and the dental service very very bad ! i nearly choked when dentist dont care and water into your throat ask u dont breathe with your mouth tahan, no air nearly die ! i stopped the dentist's check up and left !
and it's not strange, i long time and always know about gahmen hospitals ! i tink they quite hopeless ! half year is common ...,
In Singapore everything need "GuanXi" or else prepare to pay high high at private clinics...If have "GuanXi", then the doctor will serve you during his lunch time and after that you will not have any problem getting a time slot... This is how they beat the system. They did not jump queue, just bend the rules....
==========================
29-09-2013, 12:40 PMCome on people. Arent we all sick & tired of all these letters & replies! It is time we make our statements!
1. We are supposed to be an integrated (state-of-the-art, in words?) health care national orgainisation. Am I right?
2. We have a world-class health-for-all, got-money, no-money hub.
3. No one will be left alone.
4. The formation of health clusters is step forward to be more competitive and operationally smoother. Ha, it seems it has gone too aggressively competitive and disastrously waiting.
5, We are promised everything, we are asked not to expect govt to solve all problems (which I agree) inclusive of issues they, the govt, created (this they have to solve it as only they have the blueprints and plans & funds). They just never mention the words: Must wait for the longest time!
6. The only hospital you need not wait is KK! So how about transform a part of it to some overloaded illness units?
7. May I know why can't go other public hospital? No renal dept?
Ppinetree
Re: 1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Rea
With our Medical authorities deciding to make SG into a medical hub, the demand on our medical docs, esp speciaists, is very high.
Imagine rich people from around this region & as far as ME fly here for treatment. Eventually, money talks & locals who cannot afford to compete with these rich foreign patients are squeezed out.
The only way for locals to be given quick treatment is to see private specialists or pay private/"non-subsidized" rates at these restructured hospitals that citizens partly pay from their taxes. But provided that you cannot afford it. If not, then you hardly have any other choice but to wait for your turn & hopefully your illness can await too.
It's a fact that money buys life. SG boasts of excellent medical facilities but if you cannot afford them, the facilities are beyond you.
This is SG. And this is run by the Govt that you elected.
29-09-2013, 12:11 PM
Limos2010
Re: 1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Rea
Oh ...... What SGH had said in a NICE MANNER ....... YOU HAVE ONLY YOURSELF TO BLAME BECAUSE YOU ARE POOR ........ OR GOT MONEY BUT WANT TO SAVE ON THE SMALL SMALL THINGS ........ GOTO A PRIVATE PRACTITIONER WOULD HAVE SOLVE THE PROBLEM.......
tlukay59
Re: 1 year wait to see specialist. SGH says they did their best. That their best, Rea
UPGRADE to PRIVATE class patient and you will Immediately get an earlier appointment.
Junior
unfortunately, there is a finite amount of healthcare resources and our public healthcare model is screwed up. so if you are a subsidized patient and your case isn't an emergency, you have to wait.
we are slowly transforming into the likes of UK, Australia but still have to pay out of pocket (even as subsidized patients), unlike the latter
Junior
let me speak up objectively. the doctors in public healthcare institutions are really slogging and are swarmed with cases. on a good day, they have time for a quick 15-30 min lunch or else, it's just a 5min daily exercise to wolf down sandwiches.http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=64931
What happened to SGH? Despite the complaint, the reply is to ask you to "still have to wait"?
And we know some people don't even need to wait! They get the doctors' lunch time appointment! Then, the doctors go for lunch after their lunch time and the rest in the queue have to wait longer!
Some people said "UPGRADE to PRIVATE class patient and you will Immediately get an earlier appointment.". Is this true?
.
this is a legacy of years of screwed up government policy (all thanks to a useless ex-healthcare minister).
- limit the supply of doctors (and keep the beneficiaries in an exclusive 'club' hint: read up on ngiam's latest interview),
- refusal to increase healthcare expenditure while spending billions of dollars on missiles and fighter jets without batting an eyelid and
- insisting on healthcare consumers to pay out of pocket despite having billions of surpluses each year.
Junior
Waiting eagerly for our government to shut down tooshould be very fun
US just shut down their government, shiok shiok shiok
Junior
there is an article in today's Today with Ngiam Tong Dow who has blunt words to say about the state of Spore today.
Junior
yes, busy schedule.I went to see specialist to do scope last time, he told me if under private patient, can do the next day, if under subsidised have to wait more than 3 months. Is this called busy schedule?
time slots for subsidised cases are all fully booked.
lets say there are 20 time slots per day, allocated only 2 for subsidy cases.
it is all about managing time and money.
we spend our time working to get money.
we spend money to save time, shorter waiting time.
those who dont want to trade money for time, then have to wait longer.
Junior
that is not true, i reckon it's 80-20 (80 for subsidized and 20 for private patients)
there is simply too little healthcare resources to cope with a already burgeoning (and aging) population
Junior
ok, so if there are available slots for private patients, can the available slots be used for subsidized/walk-in?
Junior
what irks me if gynaes get called for emergency labour. waiting time can be extended for a few hours.
govt should passed a law mandating caesarian 2-3 weeks before date due is compulsary, no more natural delivery. like that there will be more certainty not only for the expecting mother, the other patients would not have to spend so much time waiting for the gynae.
poor planing on their part.
Junior
A doctor I know complained that when he was working in public sector, the CEO or COO told him off for spending too much time with the C class (subsidised) patients rather than the A class (private) patients. This was 20 years ago or even more.
I am not sure that there are too little healthcare resources. They could be inefficiently deployed. We don't know for sure.
Another of my friends who was a doctor in the public sector muttered something about being pawns in the hands of the hospital administrators for them to play their power games.
Junior
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...nd-politicians
If Singapore becomes an international medical centre, it might create more pressure points, especially in the public sector. What are your thoughts?
In my view, the public sector should compete. If Singapore is to become a medical centre, we have to develop our public hospitals, as they are at the forefront of local Medicine.
If you have a very serious, complex illness, you would probably not go to a private practitioner, but engage an established and experienced medical team who sees a high volume of such a disease, who can get to the problem immediately ... We should develop our public hospitals, instead of running them down, so that doctors will want to stay on and not leave once they get higher qualifications.
The issue is whether our hospitals can cope with the rising number of foreign patients coming into Singapore.
If I may say so, that would be a pleasant problem for us. When you’ve got the demand, it’s up to you to organise to meet the demand. You only need to start worrying when you have no demand, when you pa bang (Hokkien for “swatting flies”, meaning “lack of business”).
The other interesting thing is that when local patients see people from all over the world coming to our hospitals, they will realise that they’re also getting good healthcare services. But now, Singaporeans don’t realise that.
FOLLY OF SUPPLIER-INDUCED DEMAND?
Some health economists have been known to say that supply induces demand. The more doctors you produce, the more demand you create, the more healthcare costs would go up, which will result in severe health expenditure repercussions. What is your take on this?
Yes, a very influential local health economist in Singapore once said that. He was referring to the backwards sloping supply curve, and thus felt that we needed to restrict the number of doctors ... I completely disagree with him because he has missed the wood for the trees.
The demand for doctors does not come only from our own population, but also from the regional economies. As the middle class becomes richer, they want better medical services, and this is true today! If you look at all the paying patients, the demand is coming from the Indonesian and Vietnamese. In fact, we are very worried about the increase in the costs of Medicine.
My point is there will be greater economies of scale if you serve not just your own people, but also that of the region. With economies of scale, you can restrain the growth of health expenditure. Today, it is 4 per cent of the gross domestic product ... Great credit should be given to our private sector; it consists of businessmen who bring in all the patients who indirectly help us restrain, not add to, the rising costs of Medicine.
Junior
it isn't called "emergency" for nothing - you can't plan for it. unfortunately, there can't be a buffer to address contingencies as resources are stretched thin
Junior
he's just being polite. the ugly truth is to restrict the number of doctors so that the beneficiaries can maintain their earnings
Junior
the slots (not all) tend to be double-booked, e.g. think like airline, to cater for no-shows. hence, even if one doesn't turn up, the slots are still overbooked.
Junior
that was then. some hospitals even had a weekly/monthly meeting where a "blacklist" is flashed up - doctors who prescribed expensive, state-of-the-art medicine for patients. why? cause' it results in hospital losing $$
come have a tour around the hospital/polyclinics and see for yourself. actually, the politics are being played out by the doctors themselves. non-medical administrators don't get a sniff at power play
Junior
i am pretty sure if natural delivery is banned, and caesarian have to be done 3 weeks (not 1 week) before expected due date, the number of such "emergency deliveries" would fall dramatically.
sure, a caesarian would leave a scar and due to that, those narcisssistic mother-to-be would impose their troubles on other mothers-to-be.
all my children is by caesarian, 3 weeks before expected due date and already 3kg+. no fuss. no occupying the doctors' time and other people's time unnecessarily. i trade money for time.
one particularly bad case was my wife's appointment was 1pm and doctor see my spouse only at 11pm due to some deliveries.
Junior
there are lots of conditions that can result in an emergency delivery - e.g. hyper/hypotension, pre-eclampsia, placenta detachment, accident, etc
besides, how can we ban natural delivery?! even communist systems don't do that.....
Junior
Well I have been offered a tour/job at public hospitals in the past. Politely declined them with various excuses.
Junior
for the sake of cheaper, better, faster.
a caesarian is much faster than an natural delivery.
a doctor can handle more c-sections in a day than natural births.
ok, if cannot ban natural delivery, then govt could make natural delivery 5x more expensive than c-section. why should an operation that takes more time be cheaper than an operation that takes less time?
then everybody would opt for c-section, resulting in greater productivity for singapore as a whole as waiting time is cut down.
Junior
a c-sect consumes more resources than natural delivery; period. and it poses higher risks than natural delivery, period.
you can't just look at time being the only resource. what about space? if i convert 1 OT into a labor ward, i can fit maybe 5-6 beds in it and ta da, my productivity shoots up too. recovery time is quicker for natural delivery as compared to c-sect too and so ta da, more beds can be freed up for other patients.
Junior
u are right about space. from MOH website. recovery time is 2days for normal and 3.2 days for c-section at KKH.
let me put on my thinking cap
Newbie
c-section pose higher risk den natural birth - still need to tink ah?u are right about space. from MOH website. recovery time is 2days for normal and 3.2 days for c-section at KKH.
let me put on my thinking cap
Ong lai ah!
Junior
sometimes risk is misunderstood.c-section pose higher risk den natural birth - still need to tink ah?
for eg, the risk of death is double if you do B instead of A. doing B sounds terrible & scary right?
but risk of A is only 0.000000000001%
and risk of B is only 0.000000000002%.
Global recession is coming....
Finland students do as well as top-performing Singapore pupils BUT NO TUITION, NO GEP Programme, NO IP Programme!!!
There must be something wrong with Singapore's education system then? So much tuition and tuition money spent, so much emphasize on giving gifted kids the best, but still can't beat Finnish kids who have ZERO TUITION, ZERO GIFTED EDUCATION PROGRAM, NO SPECIAL PRIVILEGE AND SPECIAL INTENSIVE TRAINING TO BRING OUT THE BEST FOR THEIR FINNISH BRIGHTEST KIDS!
And I like this best:
"And if there is something that Finland can show others, it is what equity and equal opportunity in education look like. And it is possible to achieve excellence along with equity."
This basically makes a mockery of the GEP programme, with their class size being almost half of the normal schools. GEP programme is a smack in the face of the Singapore National Pledge, which says:
We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.
Does GEP programme with all their half-the-normal class size, better teachers, special curriculum that cannot be shared with others non-GEP students/parents a sign of practising "justice and equality"?
Ditto for the IP Programme!
=================================
Learning - the Finnish way
By Sandra Davie
The Straits Times
Monday, Sep 30, 2013
Like Singapore, Finland, which has a population of 5.4 million, is an education superstar.
Only Finland's best become teachers
Free to play and free to learn at Finnish pre-schools
Its students consistently do as well as top-performing Singapore pupils in international maths and science tests.
But a recent study trip by The Sunday Times sponsored by Lien Foundation found that Finnish students take a completely different route to academic excellence.
Before going to Primary 1 at age seven, all that Finnish children in pre-schools seem to do is play.
And once in school, they do not undergo formal assessments or examinations until they are 18, when they sit for a matriculation examination to enter university.
There is also little homework for primary and lower secondary students, and no nationwide standardised testing.
And tuition? That is a concept foreign to most Finnish parents.
Teachers say the equivalent of Singapore's gifted education scheme or Normal or Express streams would be illegal in Finland because its education policy calls for all children to be given the same opportunities.
The only "streaming" allowed occurs at age 16, when students, after being graded by teachers, get to choose whether to take the vocational or academic route.
And yet, the Finns have consistently performed in the top tier since the first Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) survey was conducted in 2000.
This study compares 15-year- olds in different countries in reading, mathematics and science.
So how does Finland do it without the intense pressure and competition that are so much a part of Singapore's system?
Finnish educators list a combination of factors, from the strong reading culture - Finnish people borrow more books from libraries than anyone else in the world - to highly educated and well-trained teachers.
Many also attribute the success of the Finnish education system to the strong foundation in learning laid in pre-school, where the focus is on cultivating intellectual curiosity and a love of learning in the young.
The emphasis is on learning through collaboration, not competition.
"All children are given equal opportunities. We put equity ahead of producing top students," says Dr Pasi Sahlberg, who wrote the much-talked-about book, Finnish Lessons, which details how the country improved its mediocre academic results and produced top-performing students.
The 53-year-old director-general of CIMO (National Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation) at the Finnish Ministry of Education explains how Finns aim to have good schools for all students, echoing the Singapore Education Ministry's (MOE) recent slogan that "every school is a good school".
Dr Sahlberg says Finnish parents really do believe that all Finnish schools are equal. That would explain the puzzled looks given by Finnish parents when The Sunday Times asked how they select a school for their children. The answer: They pick the one closest to home.
Dr Sahlberg points out that the Pisa results show that the gap between high and low achievers in Finland is the smallest in the world.
The main aim of its policymakers since the 1980s has been to ensure that every child should be given the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background or income.
In Finland, education is free from pre-school to university level. Government spending on education makes up 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
All Finnish schools offer free meals, free health care, free psychological counselling and free individualised student guidance.
The country's education system did not start out this way. Back in the 1960s, less than 10 per cent of students continued their education until the age of 18. There was nationwide standardised testing for children at age 11. Children who scored in the top 25 per cent went to private schools that charged high fees.
But starting in the mid-1970s, education reforms were introduced. Private schools were scrapped and all schools became publicly funded. Pre-school teachers attended a three-year degree course, while those heading to teach in primary and secondary schools studied for five years up to master's level.
Streaming of students to put them on either the vocational or academic tracks was pushed to a later stage, at age 16.
Class sizes were kept to an average of 25 students. Teachers were allowed to design their own lessons. Instead of examinations, teachers assessed students using tests they designed themselves. Grades in report cards were based not just on test scores, but also on projects and class participation.
Periodically, the Education Ministry would track a few sample groups of children across a range of schools to make sure the system was working.
There was opposition to the reforms at first, with some groups calling for a return to examinations and streaming.
But the results of the first Pisa studies in 2000 and the second in 2003 changed people's minds. Finnish children were among the top performers in mathematics, science and literacy.
Soon, educators from around the world were flocking to Finland, hoping to learn the secret to its success.
"Once, people used to come to Finland to learn about Nokia. Now, they come here to learn about our school system," says Dr Sahlberg, who receives numerous invitations from around the world to give talks and attend education conferences.
Dr Sahlberg, who has been appointed visiting professor by Harvard University, says: "When the first Pisa study came out, most Finns didn't believe it. But we came out tops again in the second survey. The best thing that Pisa did was that it silenced those who wanted to go back to having private schools and national examinations."
But he is quick to correct any misconceptions among visiting educators that the system, from pre-school to university, is laid-back. He notes that although examinations and streaming do not exist in the lower levels, students have to sit examinations at age 18.
At 16, more than 90 per cent of students choose to further their education through either "general" or "vocational" upper secondary schools.
Vocational students usually head to polytechnics or enter the job market. Those in the academic general stream have to sit a national examination to get a place in university.
Universities also set their own entrance tests to select students for specific courses.
However, there are those who believe the Finnish system is not suitable for all countries, including Singapore.
While Finland's population is similar in size to Singapore's, it is largely homogeneous, with people speaking the same language, Finnish.
Also, Finland has a generous social welfare system where education and health care are free. But Finnish taxes are among the highest in the world at 44 per cent of GDP, reported Reuters. The income tax rate ranges from 6.5 per cent to 31.75 per cent. On top of that, Finns pay municipal tax ranging from 16.25 per cent to 22 per cent.
Dr Sahlberg says Singapore is admired for the way it teaches mathematics and science, and for its recruitment and training of teachers.
But one thing that Singapore should consider doing away with is the Primary School Leaving Examination, he says, echoing the views expressed by Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond in a recent interview with The Sunday Times.
"Singapore is one of the few countries in the world to have a high-stakes examination for 12-year-olds," says Dr Sahlberg. "So I wonder why Singaporeans are arguing over scores or bands. Shouldn't the debate be about whether the exams are appropriate for children at such a young age?"
He is aware of the anxiety felt by Singapore educators over the widening gap in school performance between children from disadvantaged homes and those from privileged backgrounds.
Stressing that many elements of the Finnish school system are interwoven with the country's social welfare policies, he says: "As the OECD (Pisa) report stated, the highest-performing education systems are those that are able to combine quality with equity.
"And if there is something that Finland can show others, it is what equity and equal opportunity in education look like. And it is possible to achieve excellence along with equity."
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