Book 4-1

1. What were our educational goals in the 1960s?

a. At independence, we needed to make sure Singapore would be a place of
peace, prosperity and more importantly, a home (nation).
b. In order to achieve this main goal, there were four separate
goals/strategies:
c. The goal/strategy was to provide every child with an education.
i. Schools would be the place where Singaporeans would be
educated for a variety of reasons e.g. jobs
ii. Without adequate schools, these goals would have been difficult to
achieve.
iii. Hence more schools were built. The number of schools expanded
from 222 in 1967 to 267 in 1967.
iv. This would meet the demand from a rapidly growing population
and help Singapore do the next 3 goals.
d. The 2nd goal was to build national loyalty.
i. In the 1960s, parents tended to send to their children to schools
that taught in their mother tongue e.g. Chinese schools.
ii. They continued to identify with their language groups and even the
countries they originated from.
iii. This meant young Singaporeans would rarely have a chance to
interact with each other and would continue to see themselves as
separate peoples, not one nation.
iv. To deal with this problem, common practices such as daily flag
raising and pledge-taking ceremony were introduced in all schools.
v. This aimed at building a sense of national identity for all races
even though they were separated in different schools.
vi. This practice is still carried out today for the same reason –
building national identity and loyalty.
e. The 3rd goal was to foster social cohesion.
i. In order for the different races to feel they are all one people (one
nation), various schemes were put in place to help different
Singaporeans share a common experience/interact.
ii. Firstly, the government showed that it was fair to all races. It did
this by providing free textbooks for needy students.
iii. It also made everyone go through a common exam such as the
PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examinations).
iv. In 1960, integrated schools that put 2 language streams together
(English and Chinese) was introduced to encourage more
interaction
v. In 1966, bilingualism was also introduced to all pupils in secondary
1. This emphasized the importance of mother tongue as a
language.
vi. It also helped to impart moral and cultural values.
vii. English became the link language among all races – this helped
Singaporeans interact with each other.
viii. ECAs (Extra-Curricular Activities) such as NPCC and NCC also
allowed different races to interact in common activites.
ix. All the above helped to foster social cohesion among young
Singaporeans.
f. The forth goal was to prepare for a new economy/economic
development.

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 i. The serious unemployment in the 60s meant Singapore had to
industrialise to survive.
ii. To industrialise meant that workers/future workers needed to be
equipped with technical skills to work in factories.
iii. This was done through technical education for all boys and 50% of
the girls in lower secondary.
iv. Vocational institutes and polytechnics were set up and expanded
to meet the needs of the changing economy.
v. And by the 1970s, more parents were sending their children to
English medium schools – English was an important language to
learn Western knowledge and new technologies -> this was
where the jobs are.
g. Therefore education was a means to help shape the country in
various ways, be it a sense of national loyalty, social cohesion or
getting students ready for the new economy.

2. What did education policies focus on in the 1970s - 90s?

a. The goals of the 1960s were continued into the 1970s. But there was a
need to improve on those policies because students were still not bilingual
and many students continued to drop out of school. If students left school
early, it would be difficult to achieve goals such as fostering social
cohesion or preparing for a new economy.
b. The first change was the introduction of streaming.
i. The main idea was to allow each child to learn at his/her own
pace.
ii. Based on their primary 3 performance, students were streamed
into 3 streams, the normal bilingual, extended bilingual and
monolingual.
iii. The normal and extended student will eventually move on to
secondary schools after they complete their PSLE, while the
monolingual student will complete the Primary School Proficiency
Examination (PSPE) and move on to vocational institutes to learn
practical hands-on technical skills.
iv. Streaming was also continued on in secondary school where there
was the special/express stream (4 years of secondary education),
and normal stream (5 years).
v. The gifted education programme was also introduced in 1984 for
those exceptionally bright students who needed more challenge
than the usual educational syllabus could offer.
vi. By the 1990s, streaming was further improved. This included
postponing streaming to primary 4 and making all students do the
PSLE.
vii. Secondary streaming was also changed to include the normal
(technical) stream that gave the less academically abled students
who were better hands-on, a technically oriented education. They
would then move on to ITE where they would learn useful skills for
employment.
viii. Thus streaming was meant to cater to the different learning
needs of students. By doing so, we can cut down on
educational wastage due to drop-outs. We can continue to
pursue the basic goals set in the 1960s. And we can maximize
the ability of our only resource – Humans.

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 c. The second change was to introduce moral education.
i. Other than making sure every citizen was prepared for
employment, schools needed to educate students in life-long skills
and social responsibility.
ii. Thus moral education was introduced in 1981 to ensure that
desirable moral values were imparted to students to make them
responsible and loyal citizens.
iii. Religious knowledge was also introduced in 1982 to reinforce
values taught in moral education. Students were given a choice of
religion to study in.
iv. But parents eventually objected to the syllabus as they contended
it was encouraging students to convert to other religions.
v. This was replaced with the Civics and Moral Education which
emphasized what it means to be a Singaporean and how different
cultures in Singapore have shared values that brings us together
as a nation.
vi. Through exposure in the moral education programme,
Singaporeans would develop a national identity, be respectful and
responsible to everyone and help shape attitudes that would
continue Singapore’s development.
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d. The 3 change was to encourage creativity.
i. This policy came directly as a consequence of the 1985 recession
in Singapore that made many jobless. Singaporeans were
generally too expensive to hire yet were not providing much value-
added quality products.
ii. To improve this, schools needed to produce more creative
students with better skills and ideas to overcome this economic
challenge.
iii. Because of this, principals were given more freedom in proposing
changes that would improve their students’ learning needs and
abilities. Teachers were also challenged to be more innovative in
their teaching.
iv. Established schools e.g. Raffles Institution or Anglo-Chinese
School became independent schools where they could recruit their
own teachers and offer subjects and courses not normally
available in schools e.g. joint research programmes with NUS or
offer ballet as a CCA.
v. Schools who had done well consistently were also given the
opportunity to become autonomous schools where they were
given more freedom and money to develop more challenging
programmes for their children.
vi. The goal was to stretch principals, teachers and students to
produce more creative Singaporeans who would give us that extra
economic edge. This would help us overcome our economic
limitations.

3. What did education policies focus on from the 1990s onwards (meeting the
21st century challenge)?
a. By the late 1990s, economic competition was getting very intense.
Information technology became common place, making knowledge
obsolete very quickly. It became impossible to teach students everything
they needed to know. Our educational focus now shifted to giving students
important brain skills that would help them survive in a rapidly changing
world.

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b. We now needed to equip students with critical and creative thinking
skills.
i. First students are taught how to acquire (get) information and
gather what they need from the vast amount of information
available now.
ii. Students are then given opportunities to analyse problems and
find solutions independently.
iii. This was done through activities such as project work where skills
like teamwork were introduced. Coursework such as Design &
Technology also helped create students who were more
independent learners.
iv. Examinations requiring more critical thought (think source-based
questions in SS) were also introduced to challenge students
thinking.
c. With the widespread use of computers globally, students were also taught
information technology.
i. Students are now given work on computers for some of their
projects either to surf and search for information.
ii. Students are also tasked with creating a final product such as a
powerpoint presentation or an animated show.
iii. Teachers are also pushed to incorporate use of technology to
make their lessons more interactive and interesting.
iv. Schools are also challenged to use technology such as websites
to become more efficient.
v. In all, the idea is to give students more opportunities to learn and
use technology to become better able to handle a technology
driven world.
d. We also realized that there are many talents that were not developed in
our school system. Thus the challenge now was to develop talents.
i. Schools in general now offer a variety of opportunities for every
child to explore non-academic goals e.g. cultural dances, singing
competitions, drama and art courses.
ii. Elective programmes for Art, Music, Theater and Drama, and the
foreign languages were also introduced to help those with talents
in these areas to develop their abilities.
iii. Specialised schools such as the Singapore Sports School were
also set up to cater to students who are gifted in sports
iv. With all the above, Singapore can maximize the potential of every
child by giving them opportunities to develop their special interest
or gifts.
v. This would help Singapore become a more vibrant society with so
much more to offer her people and the world.
e. But the need to make sure Singaporeans remained one people who lived
harmoniously and are committed to Singapore remains a key concern.
Because of this, National Education was introduced.
i. To build social cohesion, events such as Racial Harmony Day and
Total Defence Day are celebrated to remind students that we need
to continue to have strong bonds and work together to succeed.
ii. NE is also introduced in lessons to teach responsibility and
commitment to family, community and country.
iii. CIP was also introduced to help cultivate good citizens who are
responsible to society and country e.g. taking care of senior
citizens and cleaning up the environment.

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 iv. All the above aims to create a nation who would stand up to
challenges of the future.
v. This was recently tested when Singaporeans worked together to
contain the SARS epidemic. Thus National Education is important.
f. Ultimately, all that we want to achieve in education cannot happen if
children are not enrolled in schools or drop out too early. Because of this
compulsory education was introduced.
i. Since 2003, every child must go through at least 6 years of
education.
ii. While they are in school, educational goals such as building
national loyalty or skills like critical thinking can be imparted to
students.
iii. It is also an opportunity for children from all backgrounds to mingle
and learn to get along with each other.
iv. All the above would help us foster a stronger sense of national
identity + social cohesion.

Switzerland

1. What is the educational system like in Switzerland?

a. There are some similarities and differences between Singapore and
Switzerland’s educational system.
i. Unlike Singapore where the Ministry of Education controls all the
schools up to the university, in Switzerland, the cantonal
government (canton – an area in the country e.g. Jurong West or
the state of Johor) is the one that controls the schools. This means
each canton would have different programmes for their schools
depending on what the people there want.
ii. But some things are fixed. For example, in all cantons, primary
and secondary education is compulsory – total 9 years. (Singapore
– only primary school is compulsory).
iii. The Federal government (government for the whole country)
however does make sure that university examinations are of a
certain standard.
iv. It also ensures that education in the country is geared towards
business and industry needs (making sure it is what employers
want).
v. The Federal Government also controls the examinations for
vocational training (skills e.g. ITE style education in Singapore).
vi. All the above helps to maintain an educational system that is
relevant (useful) to the economy (jobs).

2. Discuss the importance of vocational training in Switzerland’s success.

a. Vocational training is a very important reason for Switzerland’s success.
Only 3 out of 10 students would go on to higher learning such as the
university. Thus the bulk of workers in Switzerland were trained through
vocational institutes.
b. Vocational institutes emphasize practical, job-related skills that are being
used in companies. Students are trained in these areas so that they
become competent in practices related to their workplaces even before
they graduate.
c. This form of training is also known as apprenticeship.
d. Apprenticeships are available in over 400 different types of professions
and crafts. They include jobs in banking (services), engineering, food and

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 nutrition (manufacturing), hospitality management (tourism),
pharmaceuticals and quality craftsmanship products e.g. watches.
e. This provides Switzerland with a ready pool of trained professionals who
know their jobs well and help value-add.
f. Graduates from these institutes can also go on to study in the technical
colleges or universities.
g. Therefore, vocational institutes are the backbone of the Swiss economic
success. They provide practical, relevant industry training for students
who would eventually help make Swiss products and service well-known
for the high quality and value-addedness in both manufacturing and the
services industry.

3. What other goals does the Swiss educational system have other than just
preparing their people for jobs?
a. Both Switzerland and Singapore share similar concerns about using
education to achieve economic (jobs) and non-economic goals.
b. Swiss schools prepare students for their responsibilities as citizens
i. Swiss system of direct democracy means everyone gets to vote on
issues ranging from national issues such as national service
(army) or smaller concerns like what to teach in schools.
ii. Everyone 18 years and above gets to vote.
iii. To prepare students for real life, schools practice direct democracy
even among the younger children to help them learn how to vote
responsibly.
iv. For example, teachers and students were given a vote to actually
decide how much time was given to Arts education in a school.
v. This helps students learn the Swiss way of life.
c. Swiss schools practice a Bilingual policy.
i. Switzerland is made up of 4 different groups, the German-
speaking, the French-speaking, the Italian-speaking, and the
Romansh.
ii. All students learn English as the international language. Like
Singapore, English is also the link between the different groups as
well as to other countries.
iii. Students are then required to learn their mother tongue e.g.
Germans learn German language.
iv. They are also required to learn a 2nd national language e.g.
Germans also learn French. This is to help everyone understand
each other better.
v. Thus, not unlike Singapore, this language policy is used to build
social cohesion and create a national identity that is unique to
Switzerland.
d. Swiss also emphasis social education
i. Because each canton is a different language/culture, Swiss
schools make an effort to teach local history, traditions, cultures
etc.
ii. This is done to instill pride in being e.g. a German in a German
canton.
iii. At the same time, this also helps to make all Swiss proud of their
country as Switzerland is well known for her peace and harmony
among the different language groups. It builds a special national
Swiss identity known as willensnation – or “a nation by will”.
iv. Students also build very strong bonds with the school and their
communities through various activities such as sports, school
outings, project work and community service (something like CIP).

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 v. All the above helps to build social cohesion, national identity and
loyalty – create a sense of belonging.
Health Care in Singapore

1. How did Singapore tackle the healthcare issues?

a. Just like education policies, the government took a step-by-step approach
in constructing the health care infrastructure.
b. Healthcare is important because we need healthy, robust and productive
people in the workforce.
c. Thus there needs to be a system to make sure everyone’s healthcare is
well looked after.
i. The focus in the Healthcare in the 1960s was to provide basic
healthcare services.
ii. This meant setting up more hospitals, clinics and outpatient
dispensaries.
iii. Moreover, the government also started island-wide inoculations
against diseases such as tuberculosis and small pox.
iv. Medical officers and nurses were also sent to schools to do health
checks.
v. All the above helped to tackle the medical needs of the
population at that time by providing basic medical needs as
well as screening.
vi. But good health is also dependent on a good environment.
vii. This was a problem as there were many overcrowded and
unsanitary squatters and slums where diseases could spread
rapidly.
viii. This was not helped by the Singaporean habit of indiscriminate
littering.
ix. Industrialisation also brought about pollution issues.
x. Thus to create a cleaner environment, the government enacted
stringent laws to control pollution.
xi. They also started a mass public housing programme to deal with
the housing issue (see 4-3 notes).
xii. Finally, cleanliness needed to be a way of life. Thus, public
campaigns such as the “Keep Singapore Clean” campaigns were
introduced in the 1960s
xiii. Through the above means, Singapore adopted a prevention
and cure method to deal with Singapore’s healthcare needs.
d. The focus in the 1970s shifted to improving Healthcare:
i. With a better economy, people were now more affluent and
educated, hence they could afford and demanded better
healthcare.
ii. Outpatient dispensaries were replaced with the polyclinics where
they would provide outpatient medical care, maternal and child
healthcare facilities.
iii. These polyclinics were built in convenient locations in town centres
all over Singapore.
iv. Facilities in government hospitals were also improved. For
example, the Singapore General Hospital established the Plastic
and Reconstruction Department in 1972.
e. By the 1980s, healthcare shifted to dealing with new concerns:
i. Due to better technology, equipment and better trained healthcare
workers; cost of healthcare has been climbing.

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 ii. The government used to give generous subsidies to help make
medical care cheaper for the people. But rising healthcare cost
has made it difficult to continue subsidies. The government would
have to increase taxes to maintain the higher subsidies.
iii. The solution was to work on self-reliance, to have
Singaporeans be responsible for their own healthcare.
iv. The government implemented 2 schemes to help people pay their
own medical expenses. The Medisave scheme which aims to help
people save a portion of their CPF contributions for hospitalization
fees incurred by themselves or family members;
v. and the Medishield scheme which is an insurance paid through
Medisave to help pay for the balance of large hospitalization bills
normally incurred through serious illnesses or medical procedures.
vi. However, the Medishield will only pay up to a certain limit, while
the rest must be paid up by the individual and their family
members. Thus self reliance is maintained.
vii. The government also needed to help those who could not
help themselves e.g. lower income group.
viii. Recognising the limitations of the lower income, the government
would continue to heavily subsidise their healthcare needs up to
about 80% of the bill in class “C” wards.
ix. The remaining amount however would still need to be paid by their
Medisave and Medishield.
x. This would ensure every Singaporeans regardless of income
levels would have access to affordable healthcare.
xi. At the same time, it would continue the principle of self-reliance.
xii. However, for Singaporeans who still find difficulty after these
subsidies and have inadequate Medisave and Medishield, the
government introduced the Medifund scheme in 1993.
xiii. Patients would need to apply for this fund at the hospitals where
they seek treatment (financial assistance).
xiv. The elderly population is also not neglected.
xv. Through the “many hands” approach, elderly Singaporeans are
helped by the above subsidies, Medisave and Medishield
schemes.
xvi. As part of this approach, they are also helped by community
hospitals, nursing homes, day rehabilitation and day care centres,
all of which provide the elderly specialized geriatric care.
xvii. The government also provides grants to many of these voluntary
welfare organizations to help senior citizens.
xviii. In this way, no Singaporean will be left behind in medical care, yet
at the same time, self-reliance is also practiced.
xix. Eventually, prevention is better than cure. The best way to
reduce medical cost to an individual is to adopt a healthy
lifestyle.
xx. By promoting good health habits, it would help Singaporeans
reduce the need for medical care.
xxi. Regular exercise and healthy eating is constantly promoted
through health education.
xxii. Excessive habits such as smoking and drinking are discouraged
through campaigns against smoking and laws e.g. age limits for
the purchase of cigarettes and alcohol.
xxiii. Singaporeans, especially the adults are reminded to go for regular
healthcare checks for detection of diseases such as hypertension
(high blood pressure), diabetes and heart diseases.

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 xxiv. More recently, the government has also started a campaign to
screen for breast cancers.
xxv. Early detection and treatment of all of the above tends to reduce
the need for serious medical care eventually.
xxvi. Therefore, it is the individual that must first be responsible for
his/her own health before the government comes in to help, and
this helps maintain an efficient and effective healthcare system
that does not over burden the country with huge healthcare debts.

2. How did Britain tackle the healthcare and related issues?

a. Britain however took a very different path. They believed that it was the
government’s duty to put an end to poverty, disease and employment.
b. This was because the conditions in Britain before the 20 th century and just
after WWII were very bad with many of her citizens unable to help
themselves at all.
c. This is why the British adopted the welfare state concept where the
government would provide basic help for everyone in healthcare and
employment to overcome the hardships of poverty.
d. However, the man behind the idea, Sir William Beveridge did stress that
the welfare state should not be so generous as to discourage people from
working. He believed that the people should not be dependent on the
government forever.
e. So the intention behind the welfare state was a good one. Unfortunately,
as we shall see later, it was mismanaged and abused, and became
ineffective in its goal.
f. To achieve the goals of Sir Beveridge, the British government started to
do the following:
i. The government started Nationalising Utilities (power and
water companies) and Industries such as the railway, bus
companies and coal mining.
ii. This was meant to provide affordable services like electricity and
water to the masses at an affordable price, at the same time
provide employment.
iii. The idea was to remove the profit motive (private companies) so
that prices could be kept down.
iv. In this way, Britons would not be at the mercy of rising prices for
such basic necessities.
v. They would also be able to find jobs.
vi. Examples of these companies include British Telecoms and British
Airways.
vii. The government also created a safety net called the “cradle-
to-grave” welfare benefits.
viii. This provided financial help from the moment a person is born till
the day he dies.
ix. For example, a maternity grant and allowance is given to the
mother at childbirth, followed by child benefits to help the family
raise children.
x. Should the person be sick, injured or unemployed, the government
would pay welfare benefits to help them meet daily expenses.
xi. This would continue into old age where the government would
provide a pension and eventually a death grant is given to help
with funeral expenses.
xii. All of the above aimed to provide every Briton a basic standard of
living at any stage of their lives.

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 xiii. However, the money required to fund all these “services” would be
collected in taxes from the government. This later became a
problem as taxes to meet growing welfare demands.
xiv. The money collected also helped provide basic health and
medical care.
xv. The NHS (National Health Service) was set up to provide free
medical and dental services to all citizens.
xvi. All basic services such as dental needs and even optical treatment
were paid for by the government.
xvii. The money to fund this came from taxes as well as worker health
insurance.
xviii. Started in 1948, the NHS was very popular and drew long queues
in the 1st year of service.

3. Why did the welfare state run into problems?

a. The intention behind the welfare state was a good one. Unfortunately, the
effect was in ineffective system that became too costly to maintain. This
was because of a few reasons.
i. The system suffered from low efficiency.
ii. Government owned companies such as the public utilities
company did not worry about making profit.
iii. Hence employees in these companies did not worry about
efficiency because the government would continue to provide
funds to run the company regardless of how it performed.
iv. Because of this, the companies ran up huge losses and needed
more government money to salvage them from bankruptcy.
v. The NHS also suffered from low efficiency. With ever growing
queues of patients, there was a lack of doctors and nurses to care
for these patients.
vi. Free healthcare meant that people misused the system for “non-
urgent” cases, this overloaded the NHS system and contributed to
the long queues even for urgent cases.
vii. Patients who were wealthier soon moved over to the more efficient
private wards where they paid for whatever they need.
viii. But poorer Britons had no other option but to stay in the queue no
matter how long it took.
ix. At times the waiting times for surgery can stretch from months to
years.
x. The government also started spending more and more.
xi. The rush for free medical care and spectacles in the 1st year
catered to those who probably needed the care but could not
afford it in the past.
xii. It was also thought with each passing year of patients being
treated, there would be fewer patients requiring the NHS.
xiii. However, government spending continued to spiral upwards.
xiv. For example, in 1979, the cost was at 7 billion pounds. By 1983, it
had doubled to 14.7 billion pounds.
xv. In some ways, this was cause by the misuse of the system by
ordinary Britons.
xvi. But doctors also contributed to the problem by freely prescribed
medicine and treatment with no care of cost. This made things
worse.
xvii. Add the high expenses incurred by inefficient state run companies
such as the power companies and you have a serious budget
crisis.

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 xviii. The “why work” attitude also undermined the welfare state.
xix. Since the poor were taken cared of by the welfare state, many of
them lost the motivation to work.
xx. There was no personal responsibility and people merely depended
on the government to help them.
xxi. This decreased even motivation to do well in studies for the middle
class children since their lives were effectively taken cared of by
the government.
xxii. The belief was, why bother to look after yourself if the government
promises to do it for you?
xxiii. To make matters worse, the idea of giving basic employment
and nationalizing companies drove businesses away.
xxiv. This was because private companies could not compete against
public companies that don’t seem to be worried about cost.
xxv. Moreover, the high taxes meant to sustain the welfare state meant
companies now ventured overseas to avoid the heavy taxes.
xxvi. In consequence, this removed jobs for the people and made
matters worse.
xxvii. Therefore the welfare state while good in intentions, created more
problems than it could solve.

4. How did Britain move away from the welfare state?

a. The spiraling cost and problems of the welfare state meant that changes
need to be made before it got out of hand.
b. It was no longer possible for the British government to continue the
generous benefits.
c. Thus by the mid-1970s the British government decided to reduce welfare
spending.
d. It was hoped that with less government spending, and less taxes, more
people would be motivated to work, while companies can reinvest more of
their profits for the greater good and create jobs.
i. One way this was done was to privatize the public utilities and
healthcare.
ii. In 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher privatized companies
such as British Telecoms, British Railway and the London bus
service.
iii. It was hoped that with the need to watch cost and profits, it would
help save government money.
iv. It should also make them more efficient.
v. Medicines and dental treatment were no longer free except for
students under 19 years old, expectant mothers and mothers with
children under a year old.
vi. Non-medical services such as laundry, cleaning and catering were
also out sourced to companies to save cost.
vii. Many attempts have also been made to improve the efficiency of
the NHS as a whole.
viii. Thus we see the British welfare state moving from one that tried to
do everything for everyone, to one that lets market forces decide.
ix. More importantly, it has tried to restore more personal
responsibility into the system in the hope of making it more
efficient and cost-effective.
x. However such attempts are constantly opposed by a people used
to the welfare state and this continues to be a problem today.
xi. Any government that attempts to drastically change the welfare
programme runs the risk of being elected out of office.

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 xii. Hence, welfarism is a trap that one should avoid as far as
possible.

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