STEM Education in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore students’ outstanding performance in international benchmark tests such as PISA and TIMSS has attracted attention from all sectors of education. The PISA and TIMSS mathematics and science results have been extrapolated to imply successful STEM education as these two disciplines are core subjects in most school systems around the world. However, the local and international STEM community remains divided in our understanding of STEM and STEM education. In this chapter, we shed some insights on our understanding of this acronym and provide an overview of STEM education in Singapore. Based upon our understanding of STEM, we show how we have used it to inform our work at our STEM education research centre, the Multi-centric Education Research and Industry STEM Centre at the National Institute of Education (meriSTEM@NIE). We also describe the work of the Science Centre Singapore and the Ministry of Education in catalyzing STEM education in secondary schools. Last, we describe two specialized, independent schools in Singapore that are similar to the elite, specialized STEM schools in the United States. In the final section of this chapter, we raise four key issues and challenges which STEM education stakeholders have to confront as STEM education in Singapore continually takes shape and form.