Global Education Executives
SINGAPORE
Singapore, a city-state located in Southeast Asia, is the prime example of what it means to truly pursue quality education. Despite its small land area, it reigns as one of the top performing countries in the world, boasting of high development rates in technology, economy, and education. With a growing population of 6 million, it is rich in ethnic diversity, having four official languages and a government-backed pursuit to honor all represented ethnicities, and utilizes its access to many resources, resulting in one of the highest GDPs in the world.
Singapore boasts of a very centralized, well-rounded, and well-funded education system, but this was not always the case; in fact, back in the 1900s, most of the population had been illiterate. In 1965, prime minister Lee Kuan Yew began to implement changes and advances to the education system, with the understanding and intent that education was at the root of what he hoped to accomplish in the country. Education began to receive major government funding, starting with primary schools, and Singapore to this day still supports the principles that were set back then, which includes specially developed programs, adequate access to resources, and professionally-trained teachers.
Singapore has been able to achieve all of this without pressure or resources from external global sources, an impressive feat that can only be explained by the motivation and drive for a collective, national identity—understandably a byproduct of Asian cultural beliefs on the importance of education. Because of this cultural motivation to upkeep a certain national identity, parents and teachers contribute to Singapore’s successful education as well; education is mandatory for all ages, and teachers follow a “highly-scripted” and “uniform” curriculum across all grades and subjects. Like some other high-performing Asian countries, a lot of the classroom instruction helps students memorize factual information for end-of-school performance exams, which produce high scores in international assessments. In general, because of the well-funded and centralized nature of their education system, Singapore has been able to achieve some of the highest standards of global education, showcasing their prowess and emphasis on the importance of quality education.
Of course, not every system is perfect; despite all their efforts towards education, Singapore still sees some discrepancies, like the large gap between the highest performing and lowest performing students in the country. However, on the whole, Singapore has proven in a short period of time that their prioritization of quality education bears good fruit, manifesting in how fast they have risen to the ranks of a global power in modern times. Thanks to the government’s efforts, the future of Singaporean youth is bright.
References
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Hogan, David. February 11, 2014. Why is Singapore’s school system so successful, and is it a model for the West? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-is-singapores-school-system-so-successful-and-is-it-a-model-for-the-west-22917
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NCEE. (n.d.). Top Performing Countries: Singapore. The National Center on Education and Economy. https://ncee.org/country/singapore/
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Wikipedia. (n.d.). Singapore. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore