WHAT WE CAN DO DIFFERENTLY
Instead of simply portraying kiasu parenting as a troubling feature of society and asking parents to change their mindsets, we should do more to reduce the conditions that make kiasu behaviour feel necessary.
First, the perceived cost of being “wrong” early needs to be lowered.
The more irreversible early sorting feels, the more obsessive optimisation becomes. Strengthening credible second chances and permeability across pathways reduces the sense that one exam or one school “decides everything”.
