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Desired Outcomes of Education

Introduction: The Singaporean - an Individual, a Citizen

Education does two things: it develops the individual and educates the citizen.

Education is about nurturing the whole child. Indeed, this is the traditional Asian understanding of the term. Education means developing the child morally, intellectually, physically, socially and aesthetically.

The foundation of a person is his values. From these spring his outlook on life and his goals in life. Together with the home, our schools have to work carefully and painstakingly to shape the morals of our children. Our children also have to learn to relate to other people - their elders and their peers, people who are like us and people who are different. Education also develops each child’s unique talents and abilities to the full. Education teaches him to keep fit and healthy for life. And education teaches him to appreciate the finer things in life and the beauty of the world around him.

“An educated person is one responsible to himself, his family, and his friends.”

But all of us also see beyond ourselves, our family and our friends, and look towards society and nation. It is society at large which gives us a sense of identity and purpose, security and confidence. In turn, we have obligations and responsibilities to the community. Therefore, our schools will teach our children to identify Singapore as our home; a home to live in, strive to improve, and defend.

“An educated person is also someone who is responsible to his community and country.”

These two roles of education reinforce and complement each other. What we would all want to develop in each individual child overlaps with what we desire of every citizen.

What are the outcomes for?

Knowing exactly what we want allows us to assess how well our education system is doing. In the end, it is neither what we do nor how much we do that matters. What we have to assess is whether all that we do contributes to achieving the outcomes that we desire.

The Outcomes of Education

The following list shows what we want from and expect of our children when they graduate from our Institute of Technical Education, Polytechnics and Universities.

All Post-Secondary and Tertiary Students should:

  • be morally upright, be culturally rooted yet understanding and respecting differences, be responsible to family, community and country
  • believe in our principles of multi-racialism and meritocracy, appreciate the national constraints but see the opportunities
  • be constituents of a gracious society
  • be willing to strive, take pride in work, value working with others
  • be able to think, reason and deal confidently with the future, have courage and conviction in facing adversity
  • be able to seek, process and apply knowledge
  • be innovative - have a spirit of continual improvement, a lifelong habit of learning and an enterprising spirit in undertakings
  • Think global, but be rooted to Singapore

The following list also shows what we expect of our young who aim to be national, community, business or professional leaders.

Potential leaders should:

  • be committed to improving society
  • be proactive in surmounting our constraints
  • have compassion towards others
  • be able to inspire, motivate and draw out the best from others
  • be able to chart our destiny and lead
  • be able to forge breakthroughs in a knowledge-based economy
  • be creative and imaginative
  • have the tenacity to fight against the odds and not quit

Intermediate Outcomes of Education

The next table shows what we hope our children will be at each stage in our schools. Each level will build upon what has been done before. It will also lay the foundation for what will continue to be built at the next level. For example, primary schoolchildren start by learning to love Singapore. But at the same time, they will also begin the next stage of learning to know it. When they become secondary schoolchildren, they will learn both to love and know Singapore. And they will also start preparing for the next stage, which is to look into the principles by which Singapore is led and governed. There is therefore no sharp dividing line between each level.

Primary

At the end of primary school, pupils should:

Secondary

At the end of secondary school, students should:

Junior College

At the end of junior college, students should:
be able to distinguish right from wrong have moral integrity be resilient and resolute
have learnt to share and put others first have care and concern for others have a sound sense of social responsibility
be able to build friendships with others be able to work in teams and value every contribution understand what it takes to inspire and motivate others
have a lively curiosity about things be enterprising and innovative have an entrepreneurial and creative spirit
be able to think for and express themselves possess a broad-based foundation for further education be able to think independently and creatively
take pride in their work believe in their ability strive for excellence
have cultivated healthy habits have an appreciation for aesthetics have a zest for life
love Singapore know and believe in Singapore understand what it takes to lead Singapore

Help us to give our children the education they deserve.