Innovation and Enterprise in Singapore Education

Three months ago, the Government of Singapore has announced that it will improve its entrepreneurship program in schools as posted at GovMonitor1 last 15th of November 2010. It is an effort by the government to promote the spirit of Innovation and Enterprise (I&E) in all schools in Singapore in order to prepare the students meet the demands of the competitive global economy2.

The movement that involves both the private and public sectors to create a more entrepreneurial environment in Singapore, called Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), has recently conducted a survey among its youth. The report said that 26 percent of the respondents aged below 26 strongly agree that their barrier to entrepreneurship is the fear of losing their jobs and income. The percentage rises to 35 percent for those aged 26-30, and 44 percent for those aged 31-35. Another findings also found that youths are more likely to be inspired by successful entrepreneurs, with 75 percent of 267 young respondents agreed. The said findings reinforce ACE’s belief in focusing on youths in its effort to foster an entrepreneurial culture and mindset, which are encouraged to start a business while they are still young. This framework motivated the revision of its national school curriculum to inject innovation and enterprise in Singapore’s education system. According to Dr. Vivian Balakrshnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports that, for Singapore to succeed in the future, it will not be enough to have first world infrastructure, nor having the rule of law with honest civil servants and consistent reliable regulatory frameworks, nor enough to improve productivity to be cheaper, better, or faster. These are necessary so as to make steady progress yet risky being overtaken by global competition. The only way to generate exponential growth is for innovation and enterprise to flourish3. This is part of Singapore’s strategy, since its near-saturated domestic market means that the country has to create external economies with strong links with domestic ones. Thus, its government’s mindset is to start the entrepreneurial culture within its academic institutions.

Education in Singapore is both underpinned by Realism-Pragmatism ideology. Realism generally see its academic institutions develop the students‘ abilities in reasoning, observation and experimentation. Pragmatism on the other hand, generally see schools as more than academic institutions, but also aims to develop the students’ cognitive capabilities4,5. From self-government in 1959 until the mid 1990s, the government has used Realist method of education. Its system is highly centralized and structured, and students were streamed into different tracks based on their academic performance. All the schools adopted a uniform of curriculum where subjects such as English language, indigenous languages such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and moral and civics education were compulsory for all students. The schools also used standardized textbooks, and prepared students for centralized national examinations. Its method of teaching was mainly teacher-centered and the role of the teacher was to teach essential skills for their students to find jobs later in life. However, since 1997, the government has increasingly adopted the Pragmatist method of education under the Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) vision. It is a move from a unified, hierarchical educational system to one which offers different types of schools and programs in Singapore. The curriculum has also been revised to promote customized and interdisciplinary study, rather than a curriculum that is common, standardized and classified under different subject-matter disciplines. The role of the teachers has also changed as it no longer just experts and dispensers of content knowledge, but also as resource persons to facilitate the students‘ learning through creative and student-centered activities. Both of these methods - the Realist and Pragmatist approaches are applied into the system of Singapore’s education2.

The Thinking Schools, Learning Nation is an umbrella vision introduced in 1997 by Mr. Goh Chok Tong, then Prime Minister of Singapore, as part of its national strategy. According to the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE), Innovation and Enterprise (I&E) is not new in the system but a strategic part of TSLN. Clarified by then Acting Education Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, that what they are trying to achieve in I&E is not a new set of activities or programs, but a set of mental attitudes amongst their young, a new culture or outlook on life. What they wanted to nurture are the mental traits that will serve these students well in the future full of challenge and opportunity - a robust spirit of inquiry, a willingness to take untried paths, and a certain ruggedness of character. These are the intangible factors that will make the difference for Singapore in the future, the minister said.

References:
1 GovMonitor
2 From School to Economy: Innovation and Enterprise in Singapore by Pak Tee Ng and Charlene Tan Assistant Professors for Policy and Leadership Studies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
3 Search SMB Asia, searchsmbasia.com
4 Ozmon, H.A., & Craver, S.M. (2003). Philosophical Foundations of Education, 7th Edition, New Jersey: Pearson Merill Prentice Hall
5 Gutek, G.L. (2004). Philosophical and Educational Voices in Education. Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon