Singapore invests heavily in education because people are its primary resource.
Its education system is designed to groom a bright and literate population armed with skills and talent that are relevant to growing Singapore’s economy and ensuring its survival.
The Singapore Education brand spans the full-range of formal education; education is compulsory for children between 6 and 15 years of age, or up to Primary 6 level. Most children here attend national schools that abide by a broad-based public education system which is respected and emulated in other countries. Private education exists to offer alternative routes and courses, especially at tertiary level.
There are three universities in Singapore: the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University. Working adults can enrol in the Open University Degree Programme run by the Singapore Institute of Management.
Singapore’s polytechnics offer tertiary education through a wide-range of diploma courses; these are practical-oriented with plenty of group work. Disciplines included are tourism, biotechnology, digital media, engineering, business studies, mass communications, accountancy and hospitality management. The five polytechnics are Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, and Temasek Polytechnic.
Expatriates who wish to enrol their children in schools with a curriculum similar to that of their home country can enquire with the various international schools around.
In 2002, Singapore launched an initiative known as the Global Schoolhouse to raise the standards of education here as well as to develop the nation into a global talent hub. Since then, the country has become home to 16 leading foreign tertiary institutions and 44 pre-tertiary schools which offer international curricula.
Singapore’s vibrant and diverse community of world-class pre-tertiary, tertiary and corporate training institutions have been of great appeal to foreign students, faculties, professionals and researchers. To date, Singapore has 86,000 foreign students from more than 120 nationalities, mostly from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam. Also, up to 20 percent of the undergraduate population in Singapore’s top universities are made up of foreigners.
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