‘Still on remarkable lessons from Singapore’
AS I was saying on beyond the contextual reporting of the strategy for Singapore’s success through education quality, it should be noted that Singapore’s education system was not designed de novo by the iconic Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues. Rather, it was built on the very solid foundations inherited from Singapore’s British colonial past. Just like Nigeria. In contrast to many of his contemporaries among post-colonial leaders, Mr. Yew was not afraid of embracing whatever elements from that past that would prove useful to the enterprise of nation building.
Nowhere has this approach been more evident than in education. Many of the country’s premier educational institutions for example, the National University of Singapore (founded in 1905), Raffles Institution (founded in 1823), and the Anglo-Chinese School (founded in 1886), significantly predate independence.
Moreover, the curriculum for secondary education is modelled on the British O-level and A-level qualifications (with some adaptation to account for the generally higher average attainment levels of students in Singapore). And, though infrastructure is by no means neglected, the key focus of educational investment is students and teachers. Our leaders who recruit imbeciles as teachers they don’t pay regularly, should please note this about Singapore. If you don’t recruit and pay good teachers, you can’t expect miracles of education quality.
Accordingly, in Singapore, a national system of generous scholarships enables the best students to avail themselves of an education at some of the world’s premier universities, even as Singapore develops its own world-class institutions. With starting salaries above the national median, the teaching profession attracts, develops and retains some of the best graduates.
The OECD and Project Syndicate report that Singapore’s education system is specifically meritocratic (some might say elitist) in its focus on identifying and developing the very best talent and, equally important, directing it towards public service. Government scholarship recipients are obliged to serve in the public sector for a minimum of two years for every one year of study. The same meritocratic approach governs the development and promotion of teachers.
In this connection, top-performing teachers are given leadership responsibilities without excessive regard to tenure, and there is a revolving door between the education ministry, classrooms, and school administration. Educators are frequently seconded to carry out policy work. Many subsequently choose to return to the classroom because it is not demeaning.
Even the World Economic Forum reports this: that the elitist tendency in Singapore’s education system is tempered by the fact that quality education is available for all levels of academic aptitude. Singapore is rightly proud of its elite secondary and tertiary academic institutions, but one could argue that the hidden gems of the system are the hundreds of neighbourhood schools, the Institute of Technical Education, and polytechnics that provide high-quality education for all.
Singapore’s education system is relentlessly forward-looking. From adopting bilingualism with English in addition to the mother tongue of Mandarin, Malay or Tamil, to its focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Singapore anticipated many of the key education strategies being adopted by today’s policymakers.
According to Stavros, the choice of English was driven by history and a multi-ethnic society’s need for a common language. But it was also a prescient recognition of English’s rapid emergence as the lingua franca of global commerce and science, and that once entrenched it was likely to remain so for decades, if not centuries, to come.
In this regard, too, Mr Yew distinguished himself from other post-colonial leaders of his generation. Rather than pandering to narrow nationalist sentiment and opting for the majority language and culture, he and his colleagues chose to adopt a global language for a global city (country).
This is worthy of note too: Singapore’s education system evolves with the times and in the light of new evidence. In the 1990s, Singapore’s policymakers, concerned that their approach to education might be somewhat regimented and overly focused on STEM, began to provide avenues for excellence in the humanities, arts and sport.
That rebalancing is still ongoing, with a new emphasis on identifying ways to foster creativity and entrepreneurship. This is the light education should provide for citizens. For Singapore’s founding father, education went beyond formal schooling. As he put it in a speech in 1977: “My definition of an educated man is a man who never stops learning and wants to learn.” Indeed, Singapore’s world- class education system will continue to be one of Mr Lee’s most enduring legacies.
There is, therefore, so much brilliance to borrow from the legend, Lee Kuan Yew whose biography we brandish everywhere without studying the content.
Let’s advise our new leaders at all levels to get cracking with radical, result-oriented education reform. It is a time to get the right technocrats to lead the pack to do the legwork. That is the first weapon we need to get us ready to lead the black race. And here is the thing, our restructuring priority should be anchored on how to rebuild Nigeria’s education to be world-class too. Let’s get all Africans to come to Nigeria for tertiary education quality.
‘Korea: Education as a driving force of national development’
South Korea is a country that boasts of a 5,000-years-old history. A classical scholar’s attitude* and humanitarianism have been highly valued and are deeply embedded in Korean society and history.
This has led to the creation of the Korean alphabet, the invention of the world first printing technology, and a rich cultural and spiritual heritage. Hence, Koreans have highly valued studying and cultivating one’s mind to develop one’s abilities and honor the family. Koreans have also considered contributing to national and social development as the ultimate goal of studying and cultivating one’s mind.
In 1866, a French naval officer, who experienced the French navy’s attack of Ganghwa-do to fight against the massacre of Catholics, depicted the education fever in Korean society then as follows. “We cannot help but admire this place and found something that really crushed our ego. Here, even the poorest have books in their homes. There is almost no one who is illiterate and the illiterate are looked down upon.” This is a story that shows well the education fever of Korea.
Korea is no longer a country of a calm morning of the East. It is now a powerful and responsible player in the international community.
Let’s study, therefore, how education contributed to such dramatic national development.
South Korea is a country with almost no natural resources. And the Korean War in the early 1950s left the country in ruins. The leaders found some architecture in the debris. Korea overcame its despair and rapidly grew economically to create the Han River Miracle in the 1970s. The miracle was possible, thanks to the education fever that has been handed down for several hundred years. In the 1980s, Korea was called one of the four Asian dragons and has continued to grow rapidly. The country has played host to G-20 Summit Meeting and so has become a member of G-20—50 Club, a hallmark of a powerful country in the global economy.
In other words, Education was the energy that drove Korea to become an advanced country. Despite several national crises, it has amazingly grown since its independence in 1945. Behind Korea’s success was the people’s passion for and state investment in education.
After the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea in 1948, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. But it grew into the world’s top 15th economic stronghold. From exports of USD 54 million in 1962, it surpassed USD 548 billion (as of 2012). In addition, Korea became a member of the 20-50 Club, a hallmark of an economic stronghold in 2012 (national income of USD 20,000 and population of 50 million).
Korea also overcame the oil crisis in the 1970s, the Asian financial crisis in 1998, and the global financial crisis in 2008. Korea is currently recognised as an IT, shipbuilding, and automobile manufacturing powerhouse. Samsung and LG are dominating the global smartphone and TV markets and Hyundai is a global leader in the shipbuilding and automobile industries. Korea is, however, not resting on its laurels, and dreaming of another leap forward through a creative economy, all thanks to knowledge development through quality research.
In sports and culture, Korea is also exerting much influence in the world. It successfully played host to the 1988 Summer Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup (co-hosted with Japan). In addition, Horea was on hand for the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018. Furthermore, it is spreading its pop culture through the Korean Wave, drawing the interest of people worldwide in Korean culture.
In 2010, Korea became a member of Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and switched from being an aid recipient to a donor. Besides, it hosted the 2010 G-20 Summit Meeting, the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) in 2011, and the APEC Education Ministerial Meeting in 2012, playing the role of a bridge between developed and developing countries.
And so behind such unprecedented rapid growth was the education fever and the excellent Korean educational system that has produced excellent manpower according to the demands of different eras.
‘Current state of Korean education’
Korean education guarantees the right to a quality education to all through steady investment and is educating excellent manpower. Excellence of the educational process has been really significant. The Korean government has since Korea’s independence continuously expanded the provision of free education to all students step-by-step. Starting with free primary education in 1959, it expanded free education to middle school (1985~2005) and expanded to high school in 2017.
‘Everyone is entitled to excellent teachers’
Teachers in Korea are one of the most coveted jobs excellent students choose. Excellent institutions educating teachers are enabling teachers to get high-quality education. In addition, support is stably provided for teachers to focus on teaching only and systemic re-education and training opportunities are provided for them to effectively teach. Of all teachers, 30.8 percent have degrees over a master’s degree (as of 2012).
Let those who are also praying fervently for Nigeria to fulfill destiny note that miracles don’t just happen. We need to encourage our leaders at all levels that they need to invest more in education beyond the revival of the still-hazy Student Loan policy. Meanwhile, let our new leaders note that education is too important to be left to mediocre education ministers and commissioners at time that digital technologies shape at the speed of thought.
May be continued.
Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sundays. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Mondays.