Educational System and Curriculum in Singapore

Among the educational system, Singapore stands out for its stellar academic
performance in international assessments. For example the primary 4 and secondary 2
students in Singapore have consistently outperformed students from other countries in
Mathematics and Science in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMSS). In the most recent TIMSS 2001, Singaporean students were ranked in the first
two positions for both the subjects and grades (Martin, Mullis, Foy & Stanco, 2012;
Mullis, Martin, Foy & Arora, 2012). Singapore also emerged among the top performing
economies in the 2009 and 2012 Program for International Student Assessments
(PISA) for reading mathematics and science (OECD, 2015).

The impressive academic performance of Singapore within a short span of fifty

years signifies that it has achieved educational success, with the support of an effective
school system, well-run schools, highly qualified teachers and resilient students. It is
therefore instructive to understand the evolution, success factors and on-going
challenges of an educational system in Singapore. This chapter introduces the
education system in Singapore. This chapter introduces the education system in
Singapore by discussing its educational developments since its independence, its
current educational system, its salient features and the key challenges it faces in an age
of globalization.

The understanding the educational system in Singapore, it is helpful to note that

there were three places in the education developments in Singapore since its
independence (Tan, 2008). The first phase was ‘survival-driven’ where the aim was to
produce trained workers in the early years on Singapore’s independence and
industrialization (Chen, 2000). This reflects the instrumental aim of educate students for
the workplace through linguistic and technical skills.
 Another major reform was the introduction of bilingualism and bilingual policy in
1966. Bilingual in Singapore is defined not as in proficiency in any to languages but as
proficiency in the English language (EL) which is recognized as the first language, and a
second language, known as the ‘Mother Tongue Language’ (MTL). All students in
Singapore must study two languages in schools; the English language (EL) and their
Mother Tongue Language (MTL). Three MTLs have been selected by the government
for students in Singapore – Chinese Language (CL) or Mandarin for Chinese students,
Malay Language (ML) for Malay students, and Tamil Language (TL) for Indian students.
( five more Indian Languages have since been added to cater to the diverse linguistic
needs of the Indian students.) Pragmatically, the choice of English language as the first
language was motivated by pragmatic considerations since it was and still is the
language of commerce, of science, technology and international intercourse. This smart
move gave the students a head start in employment opportunities in Asia and accessing
to the science and technology of the west.

Further educational changes were introduced in the mid 1980s due to changing
economic circumstances during the decade, Singapore was affected by the recession in
the mid 1980s that revealed that the country’s labor force was under-educated
compared to those in the US, Taiwan, and Japan (Gopinathan, 2001). In 1987, a report,
Toward Excellence in School, called for a number of policy initiatives to produce
students who are educated, creative, and innovative. (Prinipals’ Report, 1987) the report
also suggested improvements in vocational and industrial training programs to ensure
that Singapore stayed ahead in having skilled workers for the economy.

Current education is Singapore this gives a brief overview of the current

educational system in Singapore. The majority of the schools from primary to the pre-
university levels are state schools (known locally as national school) under the Ministry
of Education (MOE) this means that this schools are administratively controlled and
funded by the MOE. Prior to primary school, the children maybe enrolled in a pre-school
institution that is for children aged 4 to 6 years, the parents can choose if they want their
children to be enrolled in a private or public. The current publicly-funded cohort
participation rate (CPR) is 26% which translates into more than one in four students
from each Primary One cohort obtaining a place in one of Singapore’s publicly-funded
universities (Ministry of Education, 2015).

In analyzing the success of educational system in Singapore, we can identify

three salient features in the current ability-driven education. The first feature is
educational system that offers a variety of school types of programs. The shift from an
efficiency-driven to an ability-driven paradigm witnesses a change from the previously
unified, rigid and hierarchical educational system. Secondly, the curriculum that has
been revised or change to promote the customized and inter-disciplinary study, which is
a departure from the former curriculum that was common, rigid and classified under
different-matter disciplines.

The third feature concerns the shift in the role of the teacher under an ability-
driven education. Teachers are no longer just experts and dispenses of content
knowledge. The aim is for teachers to be better by engaging the students and preparing
them for life, rather than merely teaching more for test examinations (Tharman, 2004)