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Running head: ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS
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Changes in relation to the economic development in Singapore
Singapore became a separate British Colony in 1946 and attained self-governance in
1959. After this, in 1963 Singapore effectively joined the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and
Sabah in order to form Malaysia. At the same time, policy of confrontation has been adopted by
Indonesia against Malaysia. Trade of goods were prohibited that operated within the Indonesian
region. Singapore was highly effected by the outcome as Indonesia served as the second largest
trading partner in the island. As a result, Singapore was separated from Malaysia in 1963 and
since then Singapore operated as an independent republic. This had led to occurrence of several
economic problems that lowered trading structure of the Singapore economy.
Q1: Role of education in Singapore’s development state during 1965-1989
The after effect of the Pacific War in 1945 caused grave social and economic disturbance
for the people of Singapore. The economy performed very slowly during the development phases
of 1960s after which several transformations occurred that strengthened the economic. Singapore
has effectively developed its education system. Singapore’s growth rate has been the biggest as
compared to other OCED countries where most of the improvement occurred during the
development phases where education was the prime parameter (Lai and Samers 2017). The aim
of the paper is understand the changes made in the economic development of Singapore with
respect to education.
The supremacy of the British people was totally shattered after the Pacific War of 1945
as people clamored for economic opportunities and political freedom. The economic
performance slowed down due to frequent industrial strikes, closure of British firms, out flow of
British capital, housing shortages and high rate of unemployment. The government did not
support the Chinese schools and encouraged more of English-stream schools. Chinese education
system was considered under-privileged with no opportunities for tertiary education or

employment in the civil service. From 1965, Singapore became a sovereign state and started
designing ways to improve industrialization which was very difficult due to long periods of
colonialism and imbalanced economic structure. Economist Raul Prebisch recommended for a
strongly developed policy, Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) to decrease the dependence
on the imported ports. This was possible by a small scale production of non-durable consumer
goods with the usage of unskilled labor and unsophisticated technology (Shatkin 2014).
This led to a transition for capital goods production such that the manufactured ports
were replaced with components, raw material and capital goods, which dramatically reduced the
size of domestic market. Although the employment rate went up in 1960s, the manufacturing
sector remained stagnant at about 12 percent gross domestic product (GDP). Manufacturing
activities were limited to light engineering, printing, processing, marine engineering and
assembly of vehicles. This system has effectively improved the economic performance of
Singapore.
Focus was given for the expansion of industrial base with a large amount of export
oriented (EOI) manufacturing activities. The industrial base was limited and economic growth
was possible with the creation of an efficient manufacturing sector. Singapore did not have much
availability of natural resources and they wanted to adopt policies that can support the EOI
strategy. The key solution to these core problem was the adoption of an efficient education
system that can lead to the establishment of technically trained and literate workforce (Gulsrud
and Ooi 2014). Education was used as the most effective tool the meet with the political and
ethnic primordial interests. Priority was given for the establishment of a strong education system
that can lead to economic development. The establishment of new skills and work attitudes was
followed by the formulation of a convenient path. The education system was identified as the as
the only way out to drive out inefficiencies. The government effectively understood the need for

at least 6 years of education from the age of six, without discriminating children on the basis of
language, religion, wealth, sex or status. By the end of 1989, Singapore attracted various
businesses due to attainment of technical efficiency due to investment in education in initial
periods.
The key component was identified as Bilingualism and learning second language became
a compulsory subject, which was extended to most of the schools by 1966. In order to grab the
marketplace, the effectiveness of English literature was focused (Offord 2016). The Bilingualism
model was based on a Latin model where people had to learn English, German or Italian to
facilitate smooth communication and encourage economic development (Economic
Development Board Mauritius. 2020). Singapore adopted for a Five Year Plan in the period,
1961-1965 to upgrade the education standard and provide universal free primary education. The
aim was to treat people equally by emphasizing on the study of science, mathematics and various
other technological subjects to develop an understanding of the markets. Subjects like Tamil,
Malay, English and Chinese were equally treated. This created equal opportunities for the people
and they generated a new system that was effectively based on forward looking modern policies.
Although the government continuously provided a vernacular education system for the people,
there aroused a tendency in parents to enroll their students in English language schools.
In 1959, about 47 percent of the children attained the English medium schools and the
rest went to primary schools. By the end the 1979, the enrollment of children in English medium
school increased to about 91 percent. This led to a dramatic shift in the industrialization sector
where English language dominated the business sectors.