Compare and Contrast Concept Map of Philippine, Singapore and Myanmar

Educational System
Learning Activity 4
Leonor M. Bagnos
Comparative Education
How are they alike?

1.English is use as medium of instruction in the school.

2. Kindergarten is compulsory.
3. Primary education is free.
4. They have the same educational aim and that is to provide
productive citizens in the future.
5. Basic education among the three system are funded by their own
 The Strength and Weaknesses of Philippines, Singapore and Myanmar
Educational System
Academic Requirement No. 4
(By Leonor M. Bagnos)
Comparative Education

Education is highly-regarded in Asia countries. Parents believe that the road to

How are they different?
success lies in education. They work hard to give their children access to specific
schools. East Asians also believe that effort produces results. This positive mindset
Philippines Singapore Myanmar
creates the
1.The curriculum expectation that 1.The
framework children can perform
curriculum and excel their 1.The
framework abilities with focused
curriculum framework
has 10 years basic education
effort. Through rote learning,has 10 years
intensive basicsessions,
tuition education. hasother
and various 11 years basic education
before but at present, it has 12 This comprises of 6 years before including kindergarten
technological tools, children in Asia receive access to more knowledge than their global
years excluding the 1 year compulsory primary education but at present, it has 12 years
counterparts,
kindergarten level calledand
the education
K plays
and an important
4 years role in Southeastexcluding
of secondary Asia countries like
the 1 year
to 12 Basic EducationSingapore and Myanmar.
Philippines, education Theexcluding
reasonthe 3 years
is that kindergarten
the progress when K to 12
and productivity
Curriculum. stages of kindergarten. And Basic Education Curriculum
of the government primarily relied on education, even the success and failure of any
students move on post- was introduced in Myanmar in
2. The primary level students go
country can be traced to the secondary
quality of education
institutions they have
based onand the three countries
2016.
through six-year course aimed
mentioned their legibility and choice.
above has strengths and weaknesses. Among their educational strengths
to establish the fundamental 2. The primary level before
literacy and numeracy which 2. The primary
are meritocratic system of education. level students
Singapore’s go system
meritocratic startsisfrom kinder to grade 4
not only
was aligned to the United through six-year course aimed but now it starts from
crucial to its economic
Nations Developmental Goals. growth but is also critical to national stability. Students sit for
at giving them a good grasp of kindergarten to grade 5
tests and examinations that the will English
determine their prospective
language, Mother development pathways at
3.Secondary high school before 3.Secondary high school
a young
lasted 4 years but age.
now Education
it has also Tongue and Mathematics,
in Myanmar and Philippines starts atbeforeyounglasted
age and4 years but now
including Science, Social
additionalstudents
2 years called senior
who do well and excels in their of education are given merits and 2 years called
it has additional
Studies and stages
other subjects
high school. There is no senior high school. Lower
awards. Another whilethe
strength among thethree
secondary level
international educational system is the
entrance examination in public secondary starts from grade 6
focuses on broad-based
secondarypresence
and evenofuniversities
competitiveness among students. Parents in Singapore to meticulously
grade 9 whilesignupper
education.
except for some private schools.
their children up for after-school tuition and enrichment classes in the hope that their 10 to
secondary from grade
3. Kindergarten in Singapore grade 12.
4. Academic freedom
child and
will gain the competitive edge.
has threeBystages
the time Singaporean
which are pupils finish their
expression strongly exist in 4. The Myanmar education
Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and
Philippineprimary school education, they
education. have already embarked on an extensive national test-
give importance to technical
Kindergarten 2.
taking career. Their first crucial test comes in the form of the Primary School Leaving
and vocational and promotes
Examination (PSLE). PSLE, a4.national
Singapore education system
examination system for 12-year-old
engineering education.
students,
places a great emphasis on
determines entrants into secondary
academic school and critically
performance in shapes a5.child’s
Thereeducation
are bridging courses
wherein students who wants
pathways. A rat race ensues grading students
as students and granting
and their parents are driven by the pursuit
to be engineer are selected
them their admissions to
for a better grade and a better future are also present in Myanmarthrough and Philippines.
selection and
special programs and
Another strength Singapore educational examinations and will attend
universities.system Singapore children begin learning
one year study as third year
from age 3 onward while Myanmar and Philippines
5.Singaporean students are not starts formal education
student and at age
must5.passes the
Education also in these threefree to choose
countries aretheir own courses
centralized exam beforeoftaking Bachelor
and the performance
because it all depends on their of Engineering.
students depends on their test result. And another common strength is that their
IQ placement.
education is heavily supported by their government. According to the data from
The concept map above
UNESCO shows
on total theexpenditures
public similarities and differences
allocated among the
to education. Thethree international
countries differ education,
they have similar educational
substantially in their aims and
level of goals, financed
economic by thethe
development; government
wealthiestand primary
country in education are
free. However, they Asia,
Southeast differSingapore,
in educational structures,
has a educational
GDP per capita that ispolicies
20 timesand eventhan
higher educational
the
management.
poorest country, Myanmar. Myanmar spends only slightly more than one percent of
GNP on education whereas the Philippines spend between 3-5 percent of their capita
income.
 Although Philippines and Myanmar maintained good practices in education
and Singapore’s stellar education system, there are loopholes or weaknesses in their
educational system. Among the weaknesses present in each country are the is quality
of education in the Philippines and Myanmar. The PISA 2018 result which was
released on December 3, 2019 revealed that the Philippines scored 353 in
mathematics, 357 in science, and 340 in reading, all below the average of participating
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The
challenge of the lack of quality is pervasive in the education system in Myanmar. To
date, no national quality assurance framework appears to have been developed. At the
level of basic education, a network of inspectorates functions with the expressed aim
of supporting and maintaining the quality of the school system. In fact, however, the
role of these inspectorates seems mainly confined to ensuring compliance by schools
and teachers with Ministry of Education policies and regulations, though some
professional support for individual teachers is also provided. And despite Singapore
high performance in PISA 2018 (ranked as second in Math, Science and reading) but
the emphasis on rote learning and memorization, combined with pressure to succeed,
affects children’s social skills, health and overall happiness which resulted to
streaming, stress and suicides among students. Another weaknesses of Philippine and
Myanmar educational system is the affordability of education and low government
budget of education, although it is free in public primary schools and secondary
school level but it is not free in higher education. Included in Philippines and
Myanmar weak educational system is the poor and lack of schools’ physical and
facilities, insufficient teachers’ qualifications in addition to emasculation and
demoralization of teachers. Teachers, more often than not, are victimized by the over-
worked and underpaid policy of the system of the past and present dispensations. And
among the common weakness in the three international countries is the poor regard to
liberal education and education is considered as competitive world.

Despite calls for education reform and a continual lackluster performance on

the international scale, not a lot is being done or changing within the educational
system. The mechanization and rigid assembly-line methods they use today in
education are spitting out ill-prepared worker clones, rudderless adults and an
uninformed populace. Many Asian countries are practicing the stereotype of the hard-
working, rote memorization, myopic tunnel vision and prefers excellence to equity and
fun in teaching and learning. And if the three countries are serious in their
educational reformation, they need to look into the educational system of Finland.
While education in Singapore, Philippine and Myanmar starts at a very young age.
Finnish children do not start learning until age 7. In Finland, formal testing does not
happen for the initial six years of education, while in Singapore even in the Philippines
and Myanmar, it happens as soon as children go to school and there is a lot of
pressure to do well on tests as they will decide where students go to school at 12 as
well as which academic levels and subjects are taken while in In Finland, the first and
only mandatory standard test occurs at 16. Finland believes all children should be
educated in the same way, a concept they conclude is one of fairness and equality
because it is against the law to put students of different academic levels and
capabilities into varied teaching levels. All students are taught each year in the
duplicate subject material and level regardless of abilities. However, in Singapore, a
student must excel in all learning subjects in order to be granted access in prestigious
schools, even the Philippines observe the same principle while Myanmar on the other
hand looks into engineering courses as the only measurement of success in education.
A lot of the blame goes to the teachers and rightfully so sometimes. But in Finland, the
bar is set so high for teachers, that there is often no reason to have a rigorous
“grading” system for teachers. Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of
Education and writer of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational
Change in Finland? Said that following about teachers’ accountability:

"There's no word for accountability in Finnish… Accountability is something

that is left when responsibility has been subtracted." — Pasi Sahlberg

All teachers are required to have a master’s degree before entering the
profession. Teaching programs are the most rigorous and selective professional
schools in the entire country. If a teacher isn’t performing well, it’s the individual
principal's responsibility to do something about it. The concept of the pupil-teacher
dynamic that was once the master to apprentice cannot be distilled down to a few
bureaucratic checks and standardized testing measures. It needs to be dealt with on
an individual basis. And while Philippines, Singapore and Myanmar are so concerned
with increasing test scores and comprehension in math and science, they tend to
forget what constitutes a happy, harmonious and healthy student and learning
environment. Many years ago, the Finnish school system was in need of some serious
reforms. The program that Finland put together focused on returning back to the
basics. It wasn’t about dominating with excellent marks or upping the ante. Instead,
they looked to make the school environment a more equitable place. There is a general
trend in what Finland is doing with its schools. Less stress, less unneeded
regimentation and more caring. Students usually only have a couple of classes a day.
They have several times to eat their food, enjoy recreational activities and generally
just relax. Spread throughout the day are 15 to 20-minute intervals where the kids
can get up and stretch, grab some fresh air and decompress. This type of environment
is also needed by the teachers. Teacher rooms are set up all over Finnish schools,
where they can lounge about and relax, prepare for the day or just simply socialize.
Teachers are people too and need to be functional so they can operate at the best of
their abilities.

Therefore, the following are good recommendations or propose educational

reforms/ideas from Finland. One is to implement No standardized testing, All
children throughout Finland are graded on an individualized basis and grading system
set by their teacher. Tracking overall progress is done by the Ministry of Education,
which samples groups across different ranges of schools. Observe Cooperation not
competition, Finland’s educational system doesn’t worry about artificial or arbitrary
merit-based systems. There are no lists of top performing schools or teachers. It’s not
an environment of competition – instead, cooperation is the norm. Implement also the
principle of Starting school at an older age. Here the Finns again start by changing
very minute details. Students start school when they are seven years old. They’re given
free reign in the developing childhood years to not be chained to compulsory
education. It’s simply just a way to let a kid be a kid. There are only 9 years of
compulsory school that Finnish children are required to attend. Everything past the
ninth grade or at the age of 16 is optional. The education system in Asia should
implement Providing professional options past a traditional college degree. In
Finland, there is the Upper Secondary School which is a three-year program that
prepares students for the Matriculation Test that determines their acceptance into a
University. This is usually based off of specialties they’ve acquired during their time in
“high-school”. And most of all, to adopt the Finland’s A more relaxed atmosphere,
there is a general trend in what Finland is doing with its schools. Less stress, less
unneeded regimentation and more caring. Students usually only have a couple of
classes a day. They have several times to eat their food, enjoy recreational activities
and generally just relax. Spread throughout the day are 15 to 20-minute intervals
where the kids can get up and stretch, grab some fresh air and decompress. This type
of environment is also needed by the teachers. Teacher rooms are set up all over
Finnish schools, where they can lounge about and relax, prepare for the day or just
simply socialize. Teachers are people too and need to be functional so they can operate
at the best of their abilities.
Reference:

Education in the Philippines. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Philippines

Education Policy Outlook: Finland. Retrieved from

http://www.oecd.org/education/policy-outlook/country-profile-Finland-
2020.pdf

Education System in Myanmar Brief Description of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary

Education. Retrieved from http://afeo.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/09/Education-System-in-Myanmar-Brief-Description-
of-Primary-Secondary-Tertiary-Education.pdf

Meritocracy in Singapore: Solution or problem?. Retrieved from

https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/gia/article/meritocracy-in-singapore-solution-or-
problem

PISA 2018 results. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/pisa-

2018-results.htm

10 Reasons why Finlands Education System is the Best in the World. Retrieved from
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/10-reasons-why-finlands-
education-system-is-the-best-in-the-world

What Finland Is Really Doing To Improved Its Acclaimed Schools. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/30/what-finland-is-
really-doing-improve-its-acclaimed-schools/