Global InformationEducation in Singapore information
 | |
| Ministry of Education | |
|---|---|
| Minister responsible | Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education |
| National education budget (2022) | |
| Budget | S$13.2 billion[1] |
| General details | |
| Primary languages | English, Singapore Chinese/Mandarin, Malay, Tamil |
| System type | National |
| Literacy (2021) | |
| Total | 97.6%[2] |
| Male | 98.9%[2] |
| Female | 96.4%[2] |
| Enrollment (2022) | |
| Total | 422,555[3] |
| Primary | 235,116[3] |
| Secondary | 162,208[3] |
| Post secondary | 25,231[3] |
| Attainment | |
| Secondary diploma | 99%[5] |
| Post-secondary diploma | 63.1%[4] |
| Percentage of GDP: 2.5% | |
Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (MOE).[6] 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.
Education spending usually makes up about 20 per cent of the annual national budget,[7] which subsidises state education and government-assisted private education for Singaporean citizens and funds the Edusave programme. Non-citizens bear significantly higher costs of educating their children in Singapore government and government-aided schools. In 2000, the Compulsory Education Act codified compulsory education for children of primary school age (excepting those with disabilities),[8] and made it a criminal offence for parents to fail to enroll their children in school and ensure their regular attendance.[9] 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.[10]
The main language of instruction in Singapore is English, which was officially designated the first language within the local education system in 1987.[11] 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 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), encourage a richer use of the mother tongue and may occasionally teach subjects in Mandarin Chinese.
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.[12] 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.[13][14] In 2020, Singaporean students made up half of the perfect scorers in the International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations worldwide.[15]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
FY2023was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
singstattable2021was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
edustats2023was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
singstat2022was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Singapore – Education System and School Accountability" (PDF). Department of Education, Western Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
- ^ "TOTAL ESTIMATES OUTLAYS FOR FY2020 BY HEAD OF EXPENDITURE" (PDF). singaporebudget.gov.sg/.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
compulsory eduwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Compulsory Education Act (Chapter 51)". Singapore Statutes Online. 2000.
- ^ "Singapore: Compulsory education". Archived from the original on 6 July 2006. Retrieved 1 May 2006.
- ^ "Going back to the basics of effective English-language teaching". The Straits Times. 9 November 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ^ "What other countries can learn from Singapore's schools". The Economist. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Schools 'in a curriculum vacuum'". BBC News. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
- ^ Coughlan, Sean (6 December 2016). "Singapore first place in school rankings". BBC News.
- ^ Ang, Jolene (3 January 2020). "IB results: Singapore wins big with 35 out of 69 perfect scorers globally". The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 January 2020.