EDUCATIONAL

PRACTICES IN
REA T. PIL
 EDUCATION 110A 7:00-10:00

SINGAPORE
GENERAL BACKGROUND
 Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the Singapore Institution (now known
as Raffles Institution) in 1823, thereby starting education in Singapore under
the British rule.
 Later, three main types of schools appeared in Singapore: Malay schools, Chinese
and Tamil (together) schools, and English schools.
 Malay schools were provided free for all students by the British, while English
schools, which used English as the main medium of instruction, were set up by 
missionaries and charged school fees. Chinese and Tamil schools largely taught
their respective mother tongues. Students from Chinese schools in particular were
extremely attuned to developments in China, especially in the rise of 
Chinese nationalism.
 Singapore's educational success-story is the quality of training that teachers
receive. Only the top 5% of graduating students qualify to enter teaching, and the
training is delivered centrally by the National Institute of Education.
Goals of Singapore Education
 Singapore articulates clear and comprehensive system-wide goals for education.
These goals, which the nation revisits regularly, emerge from widespread
discussion with partners in the system and with the public, as well as from
extensive benchmarking of other leading education systems. Singapore structures
policy initiatives around its education goals and creates benchmarks to measure
progress. For example, in 2013, Singapore held a National Conversation to gather
input on a vision for the 2030 education system strategic plan. Goals included
improving character and citizenship education, strengthening digital literacy,
building more knowledge and understanding of the history and cultures
throughout Asia, expanding supports for disadvantaged students, and building
more adult education opportunities. 
 In addition, Singapore’s leaders monitor educational research and benchmark best
practices from around the world so that the system can continue to match the
performance of the world’s best.
The Formal System
 In Singapore, the system includes six years of primary school, followed by four to six years
of secondary school, and one to three years of postsecondary school. The curriculum for
primary schools is common for all students in years one to four. 
 For years five and six, students can take individual courses at the foundation or standard
level. Foundational level courses are designed to provide more support for students. As they
enter secondary school, students, their parents, and their teachers jointly agree on one of
three bands or “streams” they will join: Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal
(Technical). All streams offer the same course of study, but Express is accelerated and
Normal (Technical) offers more applied work. In most cases, students’ scores on the Primary
School Leaving Examination (PSLE) are the primary determinant of the stream they will
join, but parents and students can advocate for different streams if they demonstrate
accelerated learning or need more help.
 Singapore is piloting and implementing a system under which students choose streams for
specific subjects, rather than their overall course of study, a practice known as subject-based
banding.
 In the Singaporean system, English is the language of instruction for most subjects, although
all students from a very early age will also study their ‘mother tongue’ language, and often
other languages which are commonly used in the region.
Administrative and Supervisory Structure
and Operations
 Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (MOE).
  It controls the development and administration of state schools receiving 
taxpayers' funding, but also has an advisory and supervisory role in respect of
private schools. For both private and state schools, there are variations in the
extent of autonomy in their curriculum, scope of taxpayers' aid and funding, tuition
 burden on the students, and admission policy.
 The Ministry of Education oversees the development of the national curriculum, which
includes “Desired Outcomes of Education.” The desired outcomes are student excellence
in life skills, knowledge skills, and subject discipline knowledge organized into eight core
skills and values: character development, self-management skills, social and cooperative
skills, literacy and numeracy, communication skills, information skills, thinking skills and
creativity, and knowledge application skills.
Educational Finance
 Education policy in Singapore is designed to ensure that no child is
disadvantaged because of their financial background.
 The Ministry of Education directly funds all schools based on the number of
pupils. In addition, all schools receive a set grant (called an Opportunity Fund) to
use for their low-income students and students from ethnic minority groups.
Although this supplemental funding is distributed by the Ministry, schools can
choose how to spend it. The Ministry also provides funding directly to students
from low-income families in the form of subsidies, called Financial Assistance
Schemes, for educational materials and activities and funds for school meals. In
addition, the Ministry in 1970 created the Education Fund, which collects
contributions from Singapore residents to both support all students and low-
income students through scholarships and by providing textbooks, meals and
uniforms for students who need these but do not otherwise qualify for financial
assistance. 
Curriculum Development and Teaching
Methodology

 Singapore's education system has been consistently ranked as one of the highest
in the world by the OECD. It is believed that this comes from the style of teaching
that is implemented in Singapore. Teachers focus on making sure that each of their
students thoroughly move through the syllabus before moving on. By doing this
teachers in Singapore teach a much more narrow but deeper type of instruction.
  Furthermore, it has been described as "world-leading" and in 2010 was among
those picked out for commendation by the Conservative former UK 
Education Secretary Michael Gove. According to PISA, an influential worldwide
study on educational systems, Singapore has the highest performance in
international education and tops in global rankings. In 2020, Singaporean students
made up half of the perfect scorers in the International Baccalaureate (IB)
examinations worldwide.
The System of Examinations, Promotions
and Certification
 Singapore’s career and technical education (CTE) offerings take place primarily at the
postsecondary level. At the primary and secondary levels, the emphasis is mainly on career
exploration and guidance. A career guidance curriculum has been mandatory since 2014,
and the Ministry of Education has created a web portal that enables students to examine
their own strengths and interests and explore careers that match them. In addition, students
pursuing the Normal (Technical) route in secondary school take coursework that prepares
them for entrance exams at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore’s primary
postsecondary CTE institution.  
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and
Research
 Teachers perform continuous assessment of their students at all levels of education. On a day-to-day
basis, this assessment is informal and based on student work in and out of the classroom. Previously, all
students in primary school took school-based exams throughout the year and at the end of each year,
but in 2019, the government dropped the exams for Primary 1 and 2 and in 2021 dropped the mid-year
exams for Primary 3 and 5, as well as Secondary 3. By removing these exams, the government hopes to
shift focus away from grades and competition and toward learning for its own sake. 
 In 2021, the Ministry began to update the PSLE scoring process. Going forward, students will be
graded based on individual performance in subjects rather than benchmarked against each other. These
scores will be translated to Achievement Level tiers, which will help students determine their stream
for lower secondary education, as well as which school they will attend. Students send their
examination scores to up to six lower secondary schools, ranked in order of preference. 
 Schools in Singapore conduct annual self-evaluations of their practices and outcomes using the
Ministry-developed School Excellence Model, which includes nine criteria for performance. Schools
then develop improvement plans based on the results. Additionally, external inspectors evaluate each
school every five years. The external inspectors, made up of university professors and successful
school leaders, provide feedback to the schools and offer coaching and support for improvement.
NEW NORMAL TEACHING AND LEARNING
MODALITY USED
 In 2020, after students shifted to periodic home-based learning in response to the
coronavirus pandemic, Singapore decided to make home-based learning via SLS
a permanent feature of the education system.
 Starting in 2021, secondary school students will have up to two days a month of
online learning, and all secondary school students will be provided with a device. 
 Singapore plans to pilot online learning strategies in primary schools to determine
the best approach to building these skills for younger students.
 The Ministry believes that students will benefit from having self-directed learning
time at home that complements in-person instruction. 
References
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Singapore#:~:text=Sir%20Thomas%20Stamford%20Raffl
es%20founded,)%20schools%2C%20and%20English%20schools
.
 https://ncee.org/country/singapore/#:~:text=In%20Singapore%2C%20the%20system%20includes,in%
20years%20one%20to%20four
.
 https://wise.com/gb/blog/singaporean-education-overview
 https://www.tutorcity.sg/blog/why-singapores-education-system-is-the-worlds-best
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aB9Tg6SRA0
ASSIGNMENT:

 Write a short essay