a) School education
The education system in Singapore was recently hailed as equal to the best in the world by British education minister Michael Gove. It is a well established and forward –thinking system with continued development having occurred since independence. Students start school at age 5, and engage in compulsory education for 6 years. Tertiary education is highly valued and has become a significant foreign income earner as large numbers of international students enrol in Singaporean institutions.
The structure is based upon a 3-2-4-4-3/2 model. Recent developments include initiatives to move away from rote learning practices to ones which include more critical thinking and greater understanding of concepts.
Pre- Primary Level
There are over 200 kindergartens in Singapore, which receive some level of government funding.
Primary Level
Primary education, being the first six years, is structured into two stages: Foundation (2 years) and the Orientation (4 years) stages. The Orientation stage culminates in an examination for completion and subsequent entry into secondary levels. The focus in primary levels is upon building skills in English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Moral education. There are a total of 174 primary schools with 133 being government funded and 41 receiving some level of government assistance in conjunction with tuition fees.
Secondary Level
Given that attendance at secondary school is not compulsory, yet education itself is valued, there are a range of options for students. These include vocational education institutes such as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) , the Singapore Sports School or a school with an Integrated Programme. Completion is determined by the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'O' Level, or a vocational certificate depending upon the school. Alternate pathways for those not academically able exist in vocational and sports areas resulting in a two year certificate. There are a total of over 170 secondary level schools, with approximately 120 being government-funded and the remainder receiving some level of government assistance in conjunction with tuition fees. Of these, there are over 10 specialist academic extension schools to meet the needs of accelerated students. The International Baccalaureate is becoming increasingly accepted as a desirable educational program with a growing number of schools offering this pathway.
Non-Government Schools
The government has a complex system of funding for privately-operated schools, with some blurring between the public and private sectors and the level of funding received. The Ministry of Education sets the standards for curriculum for all types of private and publicly operated schools. A network of International schools meets the needs of many expatriate students.
a) Vocational education and training (VET)
Students wishing to obtain a diploma in areas of vocational education may attend one of the many polytechnics that specialise in this area.
b) Higher education
Pre-Tertiary and Tertiary Education
There are four universities operating in Singapore: National University of Singapore(NUS);Nanyang Technological University;Singapore Management University; and SIM University. NUS has a total enrolment exceeding 30,000 and is now the largest university in Singapore. It was created in 1980 through a merger of University of Singapore (1905) and Nanyang University (1956). Nanyang Technical University specializes in learning and research in the areas of engineering and technology.
In addition, there are six foreign universities with some level of direct involvement in offering courses and a host of others with a lower level of course offerings, all operating in Singapore.
Distance education in the form of ‘virtual campuses’ are offered by three of the four universities: Nanyang Technological
University, National University of Singapore, and SIM University. These are to promote increased qualification and training
for adults and specifically for professionals already in the workforce. Further, there are other specialist programs in operation
such as PurpleTrain.com, Asia's first e-Learning provider and, with over 72,000 users, the largest e-Learning provider outside
the United States.
Universitas 21 Global (U21Global) is a joint educational venture-based in Singapore comprising of an international cooperative
of other universities. International partners include Lund University, the National University of Singapore, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, Tecnológico de Monterrey, the University College Dublin, the University of Birmingham, the University of
Queensland and several others.
Overview of Distance Education
For many years, Singapore has been predominantly a consumer of distance education programs offered by foreign universities. However, this situation is changing rapidly as a result of the wider adoption of e-learning technologies. Many of polytechnics in Singapore have adopted online technologies to deliver courses to part-time learners. There is also growing interest in the university sector from both foreign and Singaporean institutions in the use of media rich e-learning to support both blended and distance education.
The use of distance education in secondary schools in Singapore is limited. The small size of the city-state and the high standard of local existing educational facilities mean that there has been little demand for distance education programs at the school level.
There are currently more than 1,000 private education institutions in Singapore enrolling more than 100,000 students. Many of these institutions provide blended or distance learning courses. For this reason, only a broad outline of this field is possible here.
The five Singapore Polytechnics are at the forefront of the current trend towards e-learning. Each of these institutions has established an online blended learning environment to meet the needs of on-campus, part-time and continuing education students.
There are also a number of smaller private TVET providers active in Singapore that offer distance education programs to an international market. These providers aim to meet the demand from the rest of Asia for high-quality training. Typically, such institutions offer high school certificates (or equivalent) or diplomas in vocational subjects. Teaching is either by correspondence or online.
Many of the world's major universities are active in Singapore. Many have established a physical campus or have joint teaching programs in association with local universities and polytechnics. Some of these institutions allow students the choice of studying independently or attending local classroom-based instruction. There are also a number of overseas universities from countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom that have local students studying by distance mode.
Universitas 21 Global is an international consortium of universities offering graduate education. University 21 Global has been based in Singapore for more than a decade. The consortium offers online postgraduate certificate and diploma level programs in the areas of business management and IT management. Universitas 21 Global also provides a MSc in Tourism and Travel management in association with the University of Nottingham. Most Universitas 21 programs are delivered by e-learning with all content online. Universitas 21 Global has over 9,000 students and alumni from 72 countries.
The University of London has over 12,000 students studying in Singapore for a University of London qualification. Courses on offer include both undergraduate degrees (BSc, BA, LLB) and postgraduate masters-level qualifications (MA, MSc, LLM, MBA, MRes), as well as undergraduate diplomas, certificates and short courses. University of London students in Singapore are able to study independently or attend classroom instruction at local centres.
The Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) is an innovative collaboration between the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Founded in 1998 to promote global engineering education, the SMA provides students resident in Singapore with synchronous and asynchronous online access to teaching staff in both Singapore and the United States. The SMA offers five programs: Advanced Materials for Micro- and Nano-Systems (AMM&NS); Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering (CPE); Computation and Systems Biology (CSB); Computational Engineering (CE); and Manufacturing Systems and Technology (MST). SMA has two levels: a dual MIT Masters degree and an NUS Masters degree and a NUS PhD progamme.
Administration and Finance
The Higher Education Division (HED) oversees the provision of tertiary and technical education in Singapore as well as registration of private schools. It oversees nine statutory boards — five Polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), the Science Centre Singapore (SCS), the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and the Council for Private Education. HED also oversees the development of four autonomous universities (the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University, the Singapore Management University and the Singapore University of Technology and Design). HED also oversees the provision of publicly-subsidised places in the following institutions: SIM University, Singapore Institute of Technology, LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.
There is also no central authority in Singapore that assesses or grants recognition for degrees obtained from overseas universities. Professional degrees such as those in engineering, medicine, law, and accountancy should be those recognised by the respective professional bodies.
Higher Education Reforms
The Government has made the promotion of research excellence a major focus of higher education reforms. Ten Research Centres of Excellence (RCEs) will be established in local universities. These Centres will build upon the existing academic strengths and research competencies. Since 2007, five RCEs have been approved. They are the Centre for Quantum Technologies, the Cancer Science Institute Singapore, Earth Observatory of Singapore, Mechanobiology Institute and the Singapore Center on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering.
Future Direction of Tertiary Education
The Government intends to establish Singapore as a key regional education hub. To this end, it has encouraged the growth of private higher education institutions and new public universities. The fourth public university is scheduled to begin operations in 2012. This is the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). The Government also intends to transform the role of the five existing Polytechnics. These institutions will be partnered with suitable overseas institutions and will begin to offer selective degree programs.
Information and Communications Technology Initiatives
a) Information society strategy
All public schools in Singapore are linked to the Internet and share access to the iSHARE content management system. The iSHARE system allows teachers to share their self-created ICT resources with their peers and to use shared resources in their own teaching. There is also a central student data administration system, School Cockpit. This system manages student data, stores and processes assessment results. School Cockpit also allows school administrators to as track students’ attendance and monitors the submission of weekly lesson planning records.
b) Major e-learning initiatives
During recent years, Singapore has made the development of interactive digital media in education a priority goal. The Ministry of Education works with the National Institute of Education, local universities, polytechnics and private industry to develop the country’s capabilities in this area. The Ministry’s goal is to push the frontiers of research in use of interactive digital media for learning. It currently funds projects on interactive digital media in education that:
- Facilitate engaged learning for students in both the school and higher education sectors.
- Develop educational models and tools to equip students with the right skills and competences for the future media rich environment.
- Realise ways for Singapore to generate commercial returns from its existing strengths in computer technology and education.
c) Benchmarking e-learning
The eLearning Chapter (eLC) of the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) is has adopted the benchmarking of e-learning in the city-state as one of its core objectives.
d) Support for OER
The Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) has been actively involved with the MIT OCW project since 2005. The SMA has contributed dozens of courses on biomedical science, materials engineering, computing science and physical science to the MIT OCW repository.
e) Government entities
Academic Research Council (ARC)
Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Council for Private Education (CPE)
National Institute of Education (NIE)
Ministry of Education (MOE)
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA)
National Research Foundation (NRF)
f) Associations and networks
Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation
g) Distance education journals
None identified.
Interesting Distance Education Initiatives
Since 1997, the Singapore Armed Forces have followed the Self-Paced, On Time, On Need (SPOT-ON) training concept. For many years, distance education-based officer training was based on printed reading materials, diskettes and CD-ROMs. Advances in information technology have transformed the situation. The Singapore Armed Forces now use online learning programs to deliver training to middle and senior level commanders prior to the residential phase of their courses. As many of these officers are frequent travellers overseas, this new approach has been of great benefit. Officers now study online anywhere and at anytime before they come for the formal courses.
The FutureSchools@Singapore program aims to encourage innovation and enterprise in local schools by leveraging Singaporean expertise in computer technology and interactive digital media to deliver enhanced and more engaging learning experiences for students. Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and a broad range of education and technology agencies, the six schools selected to participate in the program are developing new interactive digital media solutions that support innovative teaching methods. These schools are exploring how teaching and learning can be more effective and engaging with the right usage of technology. The first six schools in the program were Beacon Primary School, Canberra Primary School, Crescent Girls’ School, Hwa Chong Institution, and Jurong Secondary School and the School of Science and Technology (SST). Two more schools have since joined: Nan Chiau Primary School and Ngee Ann Secondary School. By 2015, up to 15 schools will participate under the FutureSchools@Singapore program, serving as beacons of excellence for the wider education community. The FutureSchools@Singapore program was launched in 2007.