new 'A' level subject (2)

If this works out with the first batch of guin... oops er i mean students of course... then maybe the other, more established examination boards will take it up. Especially if the universities are offering it at B.A. and M.A. level, and if there's demand for these courses -- which i know for sure there is. Demand outstrips supply, in fact, in the UK and US. And as for Singapore ... Well, we've got Robin Hemley starting up a creative writing programme at Yale-NUS. There's the NTU creative writing M.A. and Ph.D (which, to be fair, i don't know very much about). Things are just starting to get going here. Perhaps, in a few years' time, after the tertiary programmes have become more established and reputable, there might be a need for programmes at 'A' level as well.
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Taking creative writing as an 'A' level subject doesn't have to necessarily lead to a career as a writer. i mean, how many people who take, Geography, for instance, at 'A' level, go on to do anything even vaguely related to Geography? Or, more to the point, how many people who do Music or Art at 'A' level end up as professional musicians or artists? But they may use the skills they learn in other ways: interior design; working with soundtracks... Who knows. The possibilities are myriad. People who do an 'A' level in writing could go into any of the creative industries: the media, advertising, heck, even civil servants might benefit from knowing how to write more persuasively. But basically, the idea is that the world (and certainly Singapore) could benefit from better writing in ALL areas of life and industry, and not just in High Art. And, given our current drive towards a knowledge-based innovation-driven creative-destruction-oriented non-outsourceable-services economy......
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Obviously, there won't exactly be a deluge of people in Singapore taking up this option even if it were ever offered in schools here. (And it would take years for that to happen here, if it does happen.) But i see a critical space here for creative writing to be offered as an 'A' level elective, in the same way as art and music, perhaps with selection tests / entry criteria so that only those who can manage will get in, and to prevent it from becoming another grade-churning mediocrity-producing machine. It can be taught as part of a special programme, like the AEP or MEP, with specially-trained teachers (or even published writers without any teaching qualifications per se who want to make the switch into a teaching career -- they can always be trained). And it would give people who want to do some creative writing, but who may not necessarily want to write full-time, a means of keeping in touch with the writing world, and also passing on their skills and knowledge to the next generation.
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i actually think this is LONG overdue. After all, art and music have been taught at 'A' level for ages. It's the same thing, isn't it -- creative writing is to literature what composition is to music, or making art is to art. Why do we not teach our students how to create literature in addition to critiquing it?
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