EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE

Education in Singapore

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Education in Singapore

Ministry of Education
Minister	Ng Eng Hen
National education budget (2006)
Budget:	S$6.966 billion
General Details
Primary Languages:	English
System Type:	National
Total:	95.4
Enrollment
Total:	532225
Primary:	290261
Secondary:	213063
Post Secondary:	28901
v · d · e

Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), which controls the development and administration of state schools receiving government 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 government aid and funding, tuition burden on the students, and admission policy.^[1]
Children with disabilities attend special education (SPED) schools run by Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), which are partially funded by the Ministry of Education. Education spending usually makes up about 20 per cent of the annual national budget, which subsidises state education and government-assisted private education for Singaporean citizens and funds the Edusave programme, the costs for which are significantly higher for non-citizens.
In 2000 the Compulsory Education Act^[2] codified compulsory education for children of primary school age, and made it a criminal offence for parents to fail to enroll their children in school and ensure their regular attendance.^[3] Exemptions are allowed for homeschooling or full-time religious institutions, but parents must apply for exemption from the Ministry of Education and meet a minimum benchmark.^[4] Special needs children are automatically exempted from compulsory education.
The main language of instruction in Singapore is English, which was officially designated the first language within the local education system in 1987.^[5] English is the first language learned by half the children by the time they reach preschool age and becomes the primary medium of instruction by the time they reach primary school. Although Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil are also official languages, English is the language of instruction for nearly all subjects except the official Mother Tongue languages and the literatures of those languages; these are generally not taught in English, although there is provision for the use of English at the initial stages. Certain schools, such as secondary schools under the Special Assistance Plan (SAP), which encourages a richer use of the mother tongue, may teach occasionally in English and another language. A few schools have been experimenting with curricula that integrates language subjects with mathematics and the sciences, using both English and a second language.
Singapore's education system has been described as "world-leading" and in 2010 was among those picked out for commendation by the British education minister Michael Gove.^[6]

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Contents [hide] 1 Kindergartens 2 Primary education 2.1 Foundation stage 2.2 Orientation stage 2.3 Primary School Leaving Examination 3 Secondary education 3.1 Grade and scoring systems 3.2 Co-Curricular activities 3.2.1 Uniformed Groups 3.2.2 Performing Arts 3.2.3 Clubs and societies 3.3 Gifted Education Programme 3.4 Integrated Programme 3.5 Admission to post-secondary institutions 4 Pre-university 4.1 Junior college 4.2 Centralised Institute 5 Diploma and vocational education 5.1 Polytechnics 5.2 Institute of Technical Education 6 Universities 7 International and private schools 8 Home Tuition 9 Education policies 9.1 Meritocracy 9.2 Bilingualism (Mother Tongue) 9.3 Financial assistance 9.3.1 Financial Assistance Scheme 9.3.2 Edusave Merit Bursary 10 Development and future plans 10.1 Student exchange programmes 11 Statistics 11.1 Key statistics 11.2 Education qualification of population 11.3 Schools and Enrollment 12 International comparisons 13 Criticisms 14 References 15 External links

Kindergartens

Kindergartens in Singapore provide up to three years of pre-school for children ages three to six. The three years are commonly called Nursery, Kindergarten 1 (K1) and Kindergarten 2 (K2), respectively.
Kindergartens provide an environment for children to learn how to interact with others, and to prepare them for formal education at primary school. Activities include learning language - written and oral - and numbers, development of personal and social skills, games, music, and outdoor play. Children learn two languages, English and their official mother tongue (Chinese, Malay, or Tamil). Many private or church-based kindergartens might not offer Malay or Tamil, so non-Chinese pupils might also learn some Chinese in these kindergartens.
The kindergartens are run by the private sector, including community foundations, religious bodies, and civic or business groups. There are more than 200 kindergartens registered with the Ministry of Education. Kindergartens are also run by child care centres as well as international schools.

Primary education

Primary education, normally starting at age seven, is a four-year foundation stage (Primary 1 to 4) and a two-year orientation stage (Primary 5 to 6). Primary education is compulsory and free, though there is a fee of up to SGD 13 monthly per student to help cover miscellaneous costs.

Foundation stage

The foundation stage is the first stage of formal schooling. The four years, from primary 1 to 4, provide a foundation in English, mother tongue (which includes Chinese, Malay, Tamil or a Non-Tamil Indian Language (NTIL)) and Mathematics. Other subjects include Civics and Moral Education, arts and crafts, music, health education, social studies, and physical education, which are taught throughout Primary 1 to 6. Science is taught from Primary 3 onwards.

Orientation stage

All pupils advance to the orientation stage after Primary 4, where English Language, Mother Tongue and Mathematics are taught at the appropriate level according to the pupil's ability. Schools are given the flexibility to develop their own examinations to match pupils with the levels that suit them. The streaming system has been adjusted: previously, pupils were divided at Primary 5 to the EM1, EM2 and EM3 (English and Mother Tongue at 1st, 2nd and 3rd language respectively) streams, but since 2008 they are streamed according to subject. They can take their Mother Tongue at the higher, standard or foundation levels; Science and Maths can be taken at the standard or foundation levels.

Primary School Leaving Examination

Main article: Primary School Leaving Examination

At the end of Primary 6, the national Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is held. The examination determines whether the student is ready to leave primary school by passing; places in secondary schools are allocated according to students' performance in the examination.

Secondary education

Students having assembly in the hall of Nan Hua High School.

Raffles Institution (Secondary), the oldest school in Singapore.

The Ministry of Education Language Centre.

Based on results of the PSLE, students are placed in different secondary education tracks or streams: "Special", "Express", "Normal (Academic)", or "Normal (Technical)"
"Special" and Express are four-year courses leading up to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O' Level examination. The difference between these two courses is that in the "Special" stream, students take 'Higher Mother Tongue' (available for Chinese, Malay and Tamil only) instead of 'Mother Tongue'. A pass in the Higher Mother Tongue 'O' Level Examination constitutes the fulfilment of the Mother Tongue requirement in Singapore, whereas Normal Mother Tongue Students will have to go through one more year of study in their Mother Tongue after their 'O' Levels to take the 'AS' Level Mother Tongue Examinations and fulfil the MOE's requirement. A foreign language, either French, German, or Japanese, can be taken in addition to the mother tongue or can replace it. This is especially popular with students who are struggling with their mother tongues, expatriates, or students returning from abroad. Non-Chinese students may also study Chinese and non-Malay students Malay as a third language. This programme is known as CSP (Chinese Special Programme) and MSP (Malay Special Programme). Mother Tongue teachers conduct these lessons in school after usual hours. Students of Higher Mother Tongue languages are allowed to have up to two points taken off their O-level scoring,^[7] a scoring system discussed below where a lower value is considered better, if they meet set benchmarks. The Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC) provides free language education for most additional languages that other schools may not cover, and provides the bulk of such education, admitting several thousand students each year.
Normal is a four-year course leading up to a Normal-level (N-level) exam, with the possibility of a fifth year followed by an O-level. Normal is split into Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical). In Normal (Technical), students take subjects of a more technical nature, such as Design and Technology, while in Normal (Academic) students are prepared to take the O-level exam and normally take subjects such as Principles of Accounting. In 2004, the Ministry of Education announced that selected students in the Normal course would have an opportunity to sit for the O-level exam directly without first taking the N-level exam.
Ongoing debates have been revolving around the psychological effect of streaming and whether the concept of streaming should be entirely stripped away.
With the exception of schools offering the Integrated Programme, which leads to either an International Baccalaureate Diploma or to an A-level exam, most students are streamed into a wide range of course combinations at the end of their second year, bringing the total number of subjects they have to sit at O-level to between six to ten, with English, Mother Tongue or Higher Mother Tongue Language, Mathematics, one Science and one Humanities Elective being compulsory. Several new subjects such as Computing and Theatre Studies and Drama are being introduced in tandem with the Ministry of Education's revised curriculum. Subjects usually taken at O-Level are:
Languages group:

1. English Language
2. Mother Tongue Languages (Chinese Language, Malay Language and Tamil Language)
3. Non-Tamil Indian Languages (Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu languages)
4. Higher Mother Tongue Languages (Higher Chinese Language, Higher Malay Language and Higher Tamil Language)
5. Foreign Languages (French, German, Japanese)
6. Asian Languages (Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia)
7. Other Third Languages [Chinese (Special Programme), Malay (Special Programme)]

Humanities group:

1. Humanities electives (History/geography/literature electives and social studies)
2. History
3. Geography
4. Literature in English
5. Chinese literature
6. Malay literature
7. Tamil literature
8. Higher art (Art Elective Programme)
9. Higher music (Music Elective Programme)
10. Principles of Accounting

Mathematics & Science Group:

1. Mathematics
2. Additional mathematics
3. Physics
4. Chemistry
5. Biology
6. Combined Sciences (any two from Physics, Chemistry, Biology)
7. Integrated Sciences

Others:

1. General art
2. Design and technology
3. Music
4. Computer Applications
5. Elements of Office Administration (until 2008)
6. Elements of Business Skills (2009 onwards)
7. Food and nutrition
8. Religious studies (Confucian Ethics, Buddhist Studies, Islamic Religious Knowledge, Bible Studies, Sikh Studies, etc.)
9. O-Level School-Initiated Electives [OSIEs] (Economics, Computer Studies, etc.)

The list above is not exhaustive, and does not include new subjects such as Computing and Theatre Studies and Drama, or less common subjects, such as Integrated Sciences.
Compulsory Subjects for a GCE 'O' Level candidate

1. English Language
2. Mother Tongue (Chinese, Tamil, Malay, Others)
3. Mathematics (Elementary)
4. Combined Humanities (SS+GEOGE/HISE/LITE/ECONSE)
5. Science (Either 1 combined science or 2 pure sciences)
6. One other subject (Art, POA, DnT, FnN etc.)

Candidates must take at least 6 subjects which must include the above core (EL, MT, MA, HUM, SCI) subjects.

Grade and scoring systems

Most schools commonly follow the kind of grading system awarded at the Singapore-Cambridge GCE "O" level examination, which a student sits at the end of four or five years of secondary education, taking at least 6 subjects. The level of achievement in each subject is indicated by the grade obtained, with A1 being the highest achievable grade and F9 the lowest:

• A1/A2 (Distinction)
• B3/B4 (Merit)
• C5/C6 (Credit/Pass)
• D7 (Sub-Pass/fail, that is, passing at a lower standard in the exam or fail)
• E8/F9 (Fail)