In both Singapore and Finland, opportunities for receiving an education is present and accessible. In Finland, according to the Finnish National Board of Education, a “basic education is completely free of charge (including instruction, school materials, school meals, health care, dental care, commuting, special needs education and remedial teaching).”Under their comprehensive education system, “schools do not select their students but every student can go to the school of his or her own school district. Students are neither channeled to different schools nor streamed.” In addition, education is compulsory by law from the ages of 7-16.

In contrast, in Singapore, basic education is not free but heavily subsidized. While this may seem like a little difference, schooling costs can be high if other incidental costs like textbooks, commuting and school uniforms are taken into account. While there are avenues for assistance, the Singapore government’s stance against “welfarism” means that it is not given as a right but any assistance would have to be sought. While the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore, have made it harder for students to drop out, there are still loopholes that allow for this to occur, especially after primary education (12 years old). Bear in mind that the Compulsory Education Act of 2000 only is targeted only for students up to that age and not after.

In addition, while in both systems, school-based remedial programs are available, there is perhaps a marked difference between the two. If looked upon at a systems level, the absence of high stakes examinations and the emphasis on a formative and nurturing learning environment mean that the degree of remedial action is less in Finland.  In Singapore, the emphasis on high stakes examinations mean that the perceived need for “remedial action” is multiplied.  It is common in Singapore schools for whole classes to come for regular “extra” or “remedial” classes. This is because schools (and the school principals) see these extra classes as vital to ensure that the students excel in their examinations in the light of the competition for places in the higher levels of education or because of the streaming of students. School principals are also concerned because of the ranking of their schools (and their own ranking too I suspect) is very much linked still to the schools performance in high stakes examinations. If one drives around Singapore, one is bound to be struck by the number of banners hung prominently on the school fences to highlight the performances of their best students. These banners will even highlight these students examinations score in big, bold numbers! This is done so parents will send their children to these schools (Add on: and the competition for places will mean that they will get a “better” cohort of students).

In addition to this, in the Singapore system, the overly heavy examinations focus means that parents will also scramble to ensure that their children will have extra after school tuition classes in various subjects. The MOE has blamed parents for being indulgent and for putting additional pressure on their children with these additional classes but seriously, most parents will see it as a necessary evil since the MOE is the one responsible for introducing student ranking and streaming, and competition for places at the higher levels of education. Parents send their children for these tuition classes not only to get them to pass the high stakes examinations but also to make sure they excel. What all these mean is that parents who have the financial means to support all these additional classes and all additional learning materials and programs, are likely to have the edge over those less well-off. So while there are equal opportunities for education in Singapore, on closer examination, the system supports the elite.

Another aspect of the less than “equal opportunity” system in Singapore is that the elite schools have been given greater freedom to move away from examinations like the GCE O levels on the grounds that the students in such schools will do well anyway. Students in such schools have opportunities for a more varied curriculum with more emphasis on the “newer” approaches to learning as opposed to the schools for the rest of the masses where rote-learning and routine mechanical operations is the norm in the teaching. It shows a bias in the minds of the MOE officials who cannot understand that perhaps many of the students do not perform as well in the average Singapore school because of the sheer senselessness and tedium of such approaches to teaching. This is in spite of MOE initiatives like “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN)” and “Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM)”. These students may actually excel with a different and more exciting approach to teaching and learning. It is as if the MOE has not heard of any other type of intelligences. One can’t help also feeling that the rest of the school population that is not in the elite schools has been set up for mediocrity. In contrast, in Finland, the absence of school league tables (ranking), streaming of students and the absence of high stakes examinations means that schools are more egalitarian in the opportunities that it offers. All schools are created equal.

In Singapore, the government has also created the Special Assistance Plan (SAP)schools to ensure that the survival of the Chinese culture and Mandarin. The Chinese schools at one time were in danger of being closed down due to their increasing unpopularity in the face of competition from the English medium schools. The MOE decided that these schools needed help and they were changed overnight into SAP schools and overnight these schools were able to attract the best students and today are considered among the elite schools in Singapore. In comparison, the Malay medium and Tamil medium schools were closed down for their “unpopularity”.

In comparison, in Finland, its Swedish-speaking and Saami-speaking minority are given equal treatment. According to the Finnish National Board of Education, “The national languages are languages of instruction in educational institutions on all educational levels.” A look at the place given to the Saami, the language of the Laplanders who number only approximately 1800 people or 0.03 of Finland’s population. They have the right to receive services from society in their mother tongue. There are schools and universities which are conducted in both the Swedish language and Finnish.

Obviously from this comparison, what is said to be equal educational opportunities for all in both Finland and Singapore is not quite equal. It sounds almost Orwellian in Singapore as some are more equal than others.

(To be continued)

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