Education in Singapore

    My field lab for Cognitive Psychology was today, and the class went to the National Institute for Education of Singapore.  This is the university where students go to school for teaching.  We were shown powerpoint presentations and given time to talk to students of the program.  Heather and I had great conversation with two of the girls, who we got contact information for.

          Education in Singapore is very successful and different from that in the states.  You do not start Primary school until you are 7, but there are still preschools for kids to go to.  When they learn to read at 7, in about two years they are the same reading level of students in the States that started reading at 4 or 5.  In Singapore, the age at which students are ready to tackle certain things, like reading, is very important. 

          After six years of schooling, some students can go into secondary school for four-five years.  Depending on how they do in these classes, they will either go onto polytechnic school for a diploma, or junior college for a GCEA.  I don’t know what that stands for, but it holds more prestige than a diploma.  If you have done really well, you can then go onto university for your bachelor’s degree of 3-4 years. 

          Although the teachers are a huge part of why students do better in Singapore, the teachers say that most of it is the children’s doing.  Unlike in the US, the children have the ability to sit down and do their work.  They do not fight doing homework, but welcome it.  They are much more hardworking, and with a very involved family that comes with Asian culture, it is easy to get their work done.  There is a very low prevalence of ADHD and other behavior disorders in Singapore when compared to America.

          After learning a little about the education program in Singapore, we brought the students back to the ship to tell them about our education.  Our professor mostly just gave information on Semester at Sea; one student spoke about what life was like on the ship.  The students were then split into groups and given tours of the ship.
       
        I have been emailing a girl, Esther, who I met at the NIE.  She told me that they loved to see what the ship was like, and we have continued to talk about the differences between the States and Singapore!  Attached is the picture of the SAS students with the NIE students; Esther is the girl on the far left of the picture.  She is in her last year of schooling at the NIE and plans to teach Family and Consumer Sciences!