Singapore education is more than just high math and science scores. It is deeper than rigorous testing and tiger moms. It is more than their exported academic math programs. Singapore education is one that attempts to infuse values-personal moral values within each of their pupils. If we really want to be like Singapore, we need to do like Singapore.

Here in the West we often cringe at the words ‘value’ and ‘school’ in the same sentence. We want our schools to be places of academia; institutions where our children learn to read, write, and compute. Of course, since it’s the 21st century, we also believe in teaching to the whole child. Well, sort of. We want schools to meet the social and emotional needs of our children, to teach them how to deal with bullying and conflict. We want schools to have counselors and advisory classes. But we are still on the fence about teaching values.

This week, the Ministry of Education of Singapore decided that students will be responsible for the cleanliness of their classrooms. Each day, time will be set aside to dust cabinets, empty trash bins, and sweep the floor. Pupils will be held accountable for the state of their classrooms, getting assigned marks for their results. Why are they doing this? Is is perhaps to save on the cost of custodian fees or because of limited school budgets? Not even close. The MOE has clearly stated that this daily task is to ensure that students develop good habits for life. You read that correctly. Singapore sees schools as a place that teaches young kids. Not just math and science, not just reading and writing. But how to be a contributing member of society with good habits, strong character and deep values.

In our conversations about the state of education in the US, I wish we too would constantly assess whether our schools are cultivating good habits. Are we holding students accountable for their mistakes? Are we teaching our children that success is deeper than grades and numbers. And most importantly, are we structuring real opportunities for this kind of learning.

Of course, you will find plenty of grade school teachers who may encourage students to contribute to classroom cleanup time. You may even find teachers who don’t allow parents to drop off missing work or ask kids to resolve their own conflict.

But what if, as a society, we started to demand more of character. We looked at it, studied it, made real institutional changes. ‘Clean up time’ stopped being a cheezy 6 year old song and started to become a daily habit. Imagine a 15 year old boy dusting classroom shelves. Or your 16 year old daughter mopping a floor. Imagine they learned that in school. That as a society we taught our kids that in addition to their studies, learning to be a mensch and develop good habits was essential to their education, to a successful future.

What I loved most about my time teaching in Singapore was the lack of entitlement in my students and school staff. Nobody nurtured self-righteous frustrations and students were always expected to treat their teachers with an incredible sense of respect. They took responsibility for their studies and never expected blame to excuse poor work.

I was once conducting a professional development workshop for teachers at an all boys secondary school. The classroom I was using had just been dismissed when the teachers asked a few boys to stay behind to tidy it up. I had never seen anything like it. 5 boys, aged 14, proceeded to clean the classroom spotlessly, sweeping, washing down desk tables, and politely asking how I would like the chairs to be arranged. As I began to form a circle with the chairs, the students followed behind me ensuring that they were evenly spaced! I now know that this behavior can be taught. It was taught. And it could be taught to our students too.

Perhaps if we want to see improvements in our schools, we should not just look at Singapore, but should act like Singapore. We shouldn’t shy away from teaching values and helping students to develop good habits, we should require it. After all, when students can figure out how to empty trash cans, dust shelves and sweep floors, surely they are on the path to building the kind of responsible work ethic that is truly required to achieve a successful future for our country.