Degree No Guarantee

Teacher, teacher Maths is tough
Numbers alone are not enough.
Wordy questions twist my mind
Leaving my parents in a bind.

Maths was simpler in his day
But Dad is stumped in every way
When I show him my problem sum
His eyes would roll and his his heart would jump.

So tutor, tutor comes along
Without one I’d get all wrong.
Helping me tell head from tail
Without one I’ll surely fail

SA1 and SA2
My marks tell me I’m such a fool
But if I can dream and I can choose
I’ll put my Daddy in my shoes

Fail, fail, fail, I’m sure he will
And see my stress and burning tail.
English, Science are harder too
Since schools must show what they can do.

Harder and harder the questions get
Cram and cram and then forget
Surge and surge ahead of time
Prune and groom to look sublime.

But Daddy who knows not what I must learn
Is a provider still and able to earn.
So what need is there for me to know
The things that you pile on me like snow?

How hard I’ve cried, how hard I’ve cried
When failure on me is like branded hide.
If the trophy afar is some guarantee
I accept the weakness of failure me.

Then all of a sudden, you finally say
A choice degree may not make my day.
Paper of course we cannot eat
But passing exams is no mean feat.
So why do you make it such a pain
When passing and failing is just a game?

O please O please Mr Minister
We’ve known all this since the dawn of time
So why make learning so sinister
And failing tests like some awful crime?
O all the judgement and all the pain
Are all our tears shed just in vain?
So why did your system filter me out
When winner’s future is also in doubt?

© Chan Joon Yee

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