Is elite education really useful?

With reference to the article:
http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html

An elite education is supposed to nurture the cream of the crop. This special group of privileged students undergoes a more intensive, advanced and rigorous curriculum so as to breed a new generation of thinkers who will help to sustain and advance the world into the future. These students are educated for the betterment of mankind.

However, the effectiveness of such curriculums and systems are questionable. Take a look at a very familiar local context –Raffles Institution. Students in this institution are reminded time and time again that they are part of the top few percent of students in each cohort, and how the education they have would make them all ready for their days outside school. “Nurturing the Thinker, Leader and Pioneer”, the tagline of the school is frequently broadcasted as well, and the students are pressurized to excel In education. As a result of this, there exist students who think that this elite education would encompass solely the concept of grades.

I know a great deal of students whose conversation topics never leave the term “GPA”. Questions never fail to arise with regard to the most recent tests, how hard it was, how they think they would fare, and watching these conversations go on every single day leaves me wondering, is it all about the grades? Personally, I would shun all conversations, which kick off in that direction, as grades to me are not the only important things in my education. I admit, yes my grades are not ideal and they should be priority, but do the grades define how you will turn out in the real world? It has occurred to me that to most of my ‘elite’ peers, numerical values, existing as GPAs, seem to define one’s future.

However, grades per se definitely do not prepare us for the real world, the real world requires other skills and competencies as well, some of which an elite education just does not provide. With reference to the article, it can be said that an elite education makes “you incapable of talking to people who aren’t like you”. The Gifted Education Programme, although currently not in effect in RI, brings the brightest students together, to have a somewhat more intensive education. Many of my friends were from GEP in primary school. Yet it irks me at times that there are some people who seem to have drowned far too deep in this isolation. There exist people who have become ridiculously caught up in their grades, that they find it awkward to speak to people who may not be just as smart. Personally, I was rather disturbed at how a few schoolmates described neighborhood school students as ‘twits’, simply because of grammatical errors or the lack of vocabulary. Perhaps, elite education has caused students to be overly confident of themselves at times, that they now place themselves above others.

If we cannot integrate into society, understand how the common people or how others speak, our grades would certainly not be able to bridge that gap.

Having an elite education is supposed to prepare (no s) students for the real world. Yet, brought to us are projects, worksheets, tests, assignments, performance tasks, summaries, the list extends. It appears to be more like an ongoing process of more and more isolation. Throw in the brainwashing of “you are the best of the best” and students forget the human touch. Ultimately, the elite education system translates into a competition of numerical values.

Though I am a part of it myself, numerals are certainly not my cup of tea.

I think elite schools need to teach their students about living in the real world first.