Singapore

Singapore provides a 10-year education at the primary and secondary levels. Two major revampings of these levels took place in 1979 and 1991. In 1991, the Ministry of Education issued "The Next Lap: Singapore 1991," which outlined the basic goals of education. These were:

• to educate each individual to his/her "maximum potential"
• to develop thinking individuals with "creative and flexible skills"
• to nurture leadership qualities and good work ethics
• to cultivate civic and moral values.

Primary education covers the first six years of education, at the end of which there is an examination. At this stage, the aim is to give a good proficiency in English, the mother tongue, and mathematics. Those who pass the examination become eligible to enter the secondary level of education, which lasts four years. Those who fail the primary school examination and have reached the age of 14 may leave school and take a two-year course provided by the Adult Education Board.

Primary education is organized into two stages—the Foundation Stage and the Orientation Stage. The Foundation Stage extends over the first four years. At this stage, the emphasis is on basic literacy and arithmetic. Eighty percent of the classroom time is given to acquiring a working knowledge of English and a good grounding in the mother tongue. The study of English includes general information on health education and social studies. Instruction is provided in the mother tongue in civics and moral education. Some time is devoted to teaching music, arts and crafts, science, physical education, and extracurricular activities. Science is taught beginning in year three and social studies in year four. At the end of the third year, parents are informed of their children's performance in languages—mother tongue and English—and mathematics, and are given recommendations made for channeling the students at the end of year four to go along appropriate "streams." At the end of four years of primary schooling, students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). This determines a student's ability and places him/her in the appropriate secondary school courses to suit his/her "learning pace and aptitude."

The secondary education may take four to five years depending on a student's ability. Those in the Special and Express courses take the General Certificate of Education "Ordinary" Level (GCE "O" Level) Examination at the end of their fourth year. Students in the "Normal Course" may take the Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) course, both of them leading to the GCE "N" Level examination at the end of their fourth year. Those who do well at the "N" Level may take a fifth year in preparation for the GCE "O" Level.

In 1996, for postsecondary and pre-university education, there were seven "Pre-U Centres and Centralized Institutes" with an enrollment of 2,193 of whom 796 were males and 1,397 were females. There were 149 teachers of whom 54 were males and 95 females. In the 14 junior colleges, there were 20,202 students, with 9,580 males and 10,622 females. Of the 1,426 teachers, 566 were males and 860 were females.

The general literacy rate in Singapore was fairly high and had been improving. In 1986, it was 86.3 percent for residents aged 15 years and older. It climbed to 92.2 for the same age group in 1996. The primary school enrollment ratio of children aged 6 to 17 years in 1996 was 92.5 percent.