As of 2003, Singapore students are required to participate in six years of compulsory education. Although this is the least amount of required schooling in any of the top-performing countries, students in Singapore almost universally choose to remain in school for at least another four years beyond primary school. Ninety-nine percent of students also attend preschool for one to three years. The education system is comprised of six years of primary school, four of secondary school (which most other countries call lower secondary school and in Singapore ends at age 16), and one to three years of post-secondary school (which most other countries call upper secondary school), at which point students are between the ages of 17 and 19 and can continue on to higher education either in universities or in vocational education institutes.

After leaving primary school, students have many options. They are assigned to bands based on their performance on the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE). University-bound students can enter an integrated program which combines secondary school (ages 13-16) with junior college (16-18), or a secondary express course (ages 13-16). Both of these pathways lead to General Certificate of Education (GCE) O-levels and A-levels; the former is taken at age 16 at the end of secondary school, and the latter at age 18, at the end of junior college. Alternately, students can enter the secondary normal academic course, which leads either to the GCE O-level examinations or GCE N-level examinations, depending on student preference. The examinations differ by level of difficulty, though students who choose to take the N-level exams can study for an additional year and then take O-levels. Students who pass the GCE O-levels can go on to junior college and the A-level examinations, or on to a Polytechnic for vocational training.

Students who choose not to enter an integrated course, a secondary express course or a normal academic course have the option of taking a normal technical course, which also leads to the GCE-N level. Or, students can choose to enter a technical or vocational school at the age of 13, and from there go on to a higher institute of technical education at the age of 16. The express, normal academic and normal technical courses differ from traditional tracking in that all students study the same subjects; the differentiation is in level of complexity of the materials and projects rather than content areas. Major differences in the content studied occur at the post-secondary level (ages 16-18).

Approximately 60% of Singaporean students enter the “express,” or pre-university track after primary school. Nearly all of the remaining students enter either the normal academic or normal technical tracks, with very few choosing a wholly vocational track or leaving school altogether. Following secondary school, 30% of students enter junior colleges, 40% enter polytechnics, and 20% enter Institutes of Technical Education. All of these options lead to higher education, ranging from university to higher vocational and technical education. In sum, Singapore makes available a wide variety of options, both academic and technical, to its students, all with the goal of helping students reach their full potential at school and eventually in the workplace. This has paid off in the form of an upper secondary completion rate of more than 98%.

Curriculum

The Singapore Ministry of Education oversees the development of the national curriculum, which includes “Desired Outcomes of Education.” The desired outcomes are student excellence in life skills, knowledge skills and subject discipline knowledge organized into eight core skills and values: character development, self management skills, social and cooperative skills, literacy and numeracy, communication skills, information skills, thinking skills and creativity and knowledge application skills.

The primary school curriculum is focused on ensuring that students have a good grasp of English language, mother tongue language (instruction in mother tongue language is available for Chinese, Malay and Tamil speaking students), and mathematics. There are also several additional curriculum elements, including civics and moral education, pastoral care and career guidance, national education, physical education and project work. Science and social studies are incorporated in later phases of primary education.

Until 2005, students in primary school were divided into three separate ability groups. Though they were taught the same subjects, the curriculum involved different levels of complexity based on student ability. Now, students are placed into subject-based bands, rather than comprehensive ability-based groups, so they can mix and match subject ability levels based on their strengths and educational needs. This continues through secondary school.

Although students are sorted into bands beginning in secondary school, there is a national curriculum for students aged 12-16 that is essentially the same across the bands, with students in the more difficult tracks expected to perform at a higher level of competence.  Core subjects at this phase include English; mother tongue language; mathematics; science; literature; history; geography; arts, crafts and design; and technology and home economics. Students are also required to continue their education in several non-exam subjects: civics and moral education, physical education, music and assembly. In upper secondary school, students spend a minimum of eight hours a week on their “A” level subjects (these subjects are chosen by each student) and an additional four hours a week on civics and moral education, assembly and physical education. University-bound students also complete interdisciplinary project work intended to promote collaborative problem solving, literacy and communication and creative thinking skills.

The Ministry of Education has a great deal of control over how the curriculum is implemented. As it promoted a shift from instruction based on teacher lectures and student memorization to one that emphasizes student engagement and creativity, ministry officials met regularly with school leaders and developed an extensive series of professional development opportunities for teachers as they rolled out the new system. However, in recent years, the ministry has sought to loosen their control over the curriculum, encouraging schools to consider the curriculum as a framework, and to adapt and work within the framework to meet the needs of their students.

Instruction

Singapore is particularly well known for its math instruction. “Singapore Math” is currently being exported to other countries, including the US. Singapore’s approach to math instruction was developed in the 1980s, and is focused on mastery of central mathematical concepts. The role of the teacher is to instill “math sense” in students, so they will know how to approach unfamiliar mathematical problems without being drilled on problems first. Teachers rely on visual aids, and take the approach that there is no one right approach to solve a problem. As a result, Singaporeans leaving the sixth grade have approximately the same math skills as US students leaving the eighth grade, and have already been exposed to basic concepts in algebra and geometry. All Singaporean teachers receive training in this unique math curriculum. Instruction in science and the humanities draws on the lessons from the Singapore math curriculum. Learning is viewed as a form of inquiry, and teachers promote the idea that there is no one right answer, particularly in more creative disciplines like the humanities. Students are encouraged to view academic subjects as useful outside of school, and so teachers place emphasis on how scientific concepts affect everyday life.