Thursday brings us a new revelation from the Singapore civil service: Up till the start of this year, it had been classifying its staff by "Divisions", which are defined by the education levels.

Division I: the top one, for university graduates.

Division II: for diploma and A-level certificate holders.

Division III: for O-level certificate holders.

Division IV: for PSLE certificate holders.

The existence of these "divisions" may have created the popular notion that certain stages of career development would not be open to public service staff who might fall into the levels apart from I and II. These inherently hampered progression opportunities for them, no matter how loyal, hardworking or effective they were in their work.

The Straits Times reported, then, that the public service's "division" system has been scrapped since Jan 1, leaving all officers to be ranked solely by pay grade, which reflects job scope and pay range. It quoted the Public Service Division as saying:

"The change is in recognition that this administrative classification could leave a perception that our officers' capabilities and potential for higher-level work are determined or limited by their educational qualifications, which is not so."

In other words, they're saying: this entire "divisions" thing has not impacted how public service staff (people who work for the government — in agencies, ministries or stat boards) are promoted, get pay raises or receive new responsibilities.

Here's how the Internet is responding to this:

Some saw the story as, well, wayang (for show):

There were those who did their calculations:

Screenshot from The Straits Times Facebook page

And even among those who commented substantially and seriously on the issue, some important points were made:

Screenshot from The Straits Times Facebook page

With this change, will folks who don't have degrees have equal opportunities to ascend the career ladder meaningfully — and we're not just talking about the one in 10,000 success stories?

We'll have to wait and see.

Top photo by Flickr user David Teo.

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