Education in Singapore: Taking Stock, Looking Forward

Abstract

‘Education in Singapore: Taking Stock Looking Forward’ is a book that, as the title suggests, considers several key policies implemented and attempts to ‘make predictions’, in the words of the editor of the book, ‘for the immediate future’. The latter is addressed, more comprehensively, in some chapters than others. Typically, the chapters commence with a brief sketch of the background, which sets the stage for discussions and provides a shared context for understanding. The chapters on ‘What is National Education? ‘The Origins and Introduction of the “National Education” Programme in Singapore’ and ‘Information and Communications Technology in Education’ relate the unfolding narrative of two major reform initiatives under the framework of ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’ which was introduced in 1997 with the intent of developing thinking individuals capable of meeting future challenges. The chapter on ‘What is National Education? The Origins and Introduction of the “National Education” Programme in Singapore’ is particularly ideally timed, given the recent announcement that National Education (NE) would be subsumed under the new Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) framework after remaining for more than a decade as a stand-alone programme. While the chapter adheres to the fidelity of providing readers with a scrupulous description of the origins of NE and its enactment in schools, and it rightly points out that the implementation of NE in the curriculum inclines to be excessive, it ends on a contradictory note. It asserts that CCE, like NE, is poorly conceptualised, and it argues in the same breath that ‘it is still too early to comment on the impact of CCE as it is still in its early stages’. Similarly, the chapter, ‘Information and Communications Technology in Education’ provides a comprehensive overview of the information and communications technology (ICT) masterplans, paying particular attention to the third phase (MP 3) which was implemented in 2009 and scheduled to end in 2014. Although it devotes a considerable amount of space to the discussion of self-directed learning, which is one of the goals of MP 3, it also outlines the barriers that impede its realisation. The same, however, cannot be said of collaborative learning, which is the other goal of MP 3. While it presents some suggestions on ways to encourage collaborative learning, they are not expressly ICT related. Also, in its discussion