The end of the Pacific war in 1945 created severe social and economic woes, especially in the education sector that was stifled by the British colonial policies (Gopinathan 1999, p.21). Gopinathan (1999, p.297) observes that these policies limited the growth of racial integration and the sharing of the common destiny and identity by the people of Singapore, for example, the government did not attempt to regulate and support the number of Chinese schools and even encourage the growth of English-stream schools. However in 1965, there was the realization of the need to change and implement policies on education and manpower development (Chiang 1998, p.88).
Singapore’s effort for efficiency-driven education started to bear fruits in 1995, when Singapore youth performed exceptionally well on international tests on mathematics and science, progress attributed to the structural changes and education initiatives were matched changes in education funding (Mok & Tan 2004, p.71). The government of Singapore committed itself to increase spending on education from 4% in 1991 to 5% in 1995 (p.74). Prior to this in 1991, an innovative scheme, Edusave Scheme, was started to meet some specific education expenses, for example, expenses for the enrichment of programs outside the formal school curriculum, educations visits to other countries and many other (Chiang 1998, p.129). The financial provision for the program incorporated an element of choice in the use of funds that were meant to serve and customize the use of educational facilities in line with the needs (p.133). The government endowment recurrent expenditure on education per student increased from S$2,013 per primary student in 1991 to S$3,541 in 2005 and S$2,843 per secondary student in 1991 to S$5,390 in 2005 respectively (MoES 2006, p.2).
According to Singapore Ministry of Finance, the education expenditure in Singapore was 3.7% of GDP in 1995 and the average expenditure on education between 1995 and 2008 is about 4% of the GDP, a figure that Mankiw (2008, p. 74) says is not particularly high as compared to other OECD countries like Taiwan. Presently, the country spends about 18.22% of the total annual budget on education (p.75).
The total government recurrent expenditure in 1995/1996 financial year was S$2682419000, a figure that rose to S$4276896000 in the 2000/2001 financial year (60%) (MoES 2006, p.4). Furthermore, the figure rose to S$6795535000 in the 2007/2008 financial year, signifying about 59% increase. Likewise, the education development expenditure on similar periods of time was S$761438000 in 1995/1996 and rose to S$1590611000 in 2000/2001 (11% increase) (pp.4-5).
The recurrent expenditure on universities increased three-fold from S$310 million to S$1,125 million between 1987 and 2001 (MoES 2006, p.5). As for polytechnics, the same figure increased six-fold from S$99 million to S$594 million during the same period of time (p.6). Despite the fact that Singapore has experienced economic recession in recent years particularly after the 1997/1998 financial crisis in Asia, the Singapore government has continued to put in money for higher education (p.7).
The latest data indicate that between 2001/2002 and 2005/2006 financial year primary education expenditure increased from S$1044 million to S$1148 million (10% increase), secondary education from S$1060 million to S$1347 million (27%), polytechnics from S$593 million to S$625 million (5.4%), and universities reduced from S$1115 million to S$1013 million (9%) (MoES 2006, pp.6-7).
The 1997 period saw the information technology “kick-off” in Singapore’s schools and tertiary institutions (Chiang1998, p.71). The first Master Plan in this year was based on the rationale that ICT would provide an arena for it to be integrated into the “thinking curriculum” to motivate students to be creative and independent learners (p.712). This motivated the setting aside of S$2 billion to introduce ICT in the schools for the period of 1997-2002, ensuring that the pupils spent 30% of curriculum time learning with, or through, computers (Gopinathan1999, p.295). The rationale motivated the adoption of the second Master Plan, with the adoption of ICT as a key enabler in making student-centered learning and assessment a reality, and in helping to reach the objective of ability-driven education (p.299). It thus adopts a systematic and holistic approach through the integration of all key components in the education system curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, professional training and culture (pp.300-301).
Current Prices (Nominal GDP) vs. Constant Prices (Real GDP)
GDP measures the total spending on goods and services in all markets in the economy (Mankiw 2008, p.69). In case total spending rises from one year to the next, at least one of two things must be true:
- The economy is producing a larger output of goods and services,
- Goods and services are being sold at higher prices (p.70).
From the education perspective, when educations standards change over time, just like the economy do, the education experts may measure the total number of beneficiaries in the educational change (economists will measure the number of goods and services produced) (Dixon 1991, p.341). This can be done by the use of real GDP, which Mankiw 2008 (p.75) says would help answer the hypothetical question: what will be the value of goods and services produced this year if we valued these goods and services at the prices that prevailed in some specific year in the past? Hence, real GDP shows how the economy’s overall production of goods and services changes over time.
Nominal GDP on the other hand uses current prices to place a value on the economy’s production of goods and services. In other words, nominal GDP reflects both the quantities of goods and services the economy is producing and the price of those goods and services. It is thus worth noting that real GDP is never affected by the changes in prices of goods and services (Mankiw 2008, p.76).
Reference
Chiang, M 1998, From Economic Debacle to Economic Miracle: The History and Development of Technical Education in Singapore, Singapore, Times Edition.
Dixon, C 1991 South East Asia in the World Economy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Gopinathan, S 1999, “Preparing for the Next Rung: economic restructuring and educational reform in Singapore”, Journal of Education and Work, (12) 3: 295-308.
Ministry of Education Singapore (MoES) 2006, Education Factsheet, Web.
Mankiw, N G 2008 Principles of Economics, London: McGraw-Hill Publishers. Pp. 515-519.
Mok, K & Tan J 2004, Acomparative Analysis of Hong Kong and Singapore, Hong Kong, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 69-78.