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The Education System in Singapore

Singapore’s Education System

Singapore, a compact city state is a dynamic Knowledge based economy due to total lack of any natural resources. Due to this, it has always focused on a strong education system. Top Govt. officials are invariably highly qualified scholars, who are spotted on early in schools as gifted students and groomed via scholarships at local and global Ivy Leagues. This is a self perpetuating cycle that yields rich results for the society.

In recent years, Singapore Govt. has embarked on a well thought out vision of making it a world class education hub of the future. As a result education standards are assured as a norm, although limited exceptions to this do exist. The quality is monitored via a voluntary opt-in CASE Trust certification. Due to this workld class Education hub vision, 11 of the world’s top universities have a presence in Singapore. e.g. Top b-schools like INSEAD, IIM, Chicago, Medical schools like John Hopkins.

§ Schools that offer integrated programs, independent schools, autonomous schools, and mainstream schools with niches of excellence have autonomy over admission of students. These schools also have direct admission to secondary schools.

§ Specialized Independent and privately funded schools have full autonomy over student admissions.

§ Admission to Junior Colleges or Polytechnics is under the discretion of the institution.

§ Government/Government-aided schools include mainstream schools, autonomous schools with niche programs, and independent schools with greater autonomy in programs and operations.

§ Vocational schools are available to students that would benefit more from a customized and practice-based curriculum.

§ Specialized Independent Schools are for students with talents in specific areas such as sports, music, mathematics, science, and the arts.

§ Students with special needs July attend special education schools

§ Privately funded schools provide students with more options

Level	Age
Pre-nursery/Play School	3 years old and younger
§ Pre-nursery or playschool education in Singapore is optional. However, there are an increasing number of children that attend
Nursery	4 years old
§ Nursery is also optional for children at the age of 4
Kindergarten 1^st year 2^nd year	5 years old 6 years old
§ Majority of children attend Kindergarten for two years once reaching the age of 5
PriAprily 1 to 6	7 to 12 years old
§ Formal education starts at priAprily school which has six levels, PriAprily 1 through PriAprily 6 § Broad-based mainstream curriculum. Niche programs in aesthetics, sports, and gifted education are offered in some schools.
Secondary - 1 to 4 - 1 to 5	13 to 16 years old 13 to 17 years old
§ Children attend secondary school after passing the PriAprily Six Leaving Examination (PSLE). Secondary school has two streams: o Special/Express Stream o Normal Stream § Academic course – 5 years § Technical course – 4 years
Junior College (2 years) Pre-University (3 years) Polytechnic (3 years) Institute of Technical Ed	17 to 20 years old
§ At the end of secondary school, students that pass the GCE ‘O’ level exam will compete for admission into either: o Junior College o Polytechnic o Pre-University Center
University (3 to 5 years)	19 years old and older
§ After Junior College or Pre-University, students that pass the GCE ‘A’ level exam or at the end of the Polytechnic year, students will compete for entry into a local university

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