Singapores education policies are largely influenced by the need to compete :: Economics

Singapores learning policies are largely influenced by the need to compete in a ball-shaped economy. Do you agree? explain your answer.a) Singapores education policies are largely influenced by the need to compete in a world(a) economy. Do you agree? Explain your answer. 12mI agree to a large extent.Ever since Singapore gained independence in 1965, Singaporeseducation policies has played a crucial role in the scotch progressand social changes of the country, and more importantly, the raisingof Singapores standing on the world(prenominal) stage, in terms of both economicmight and international recognition.During the early eld of independence, Singapores main priority wasto deviate away from entrepot trade into manufacturing andindustrialisation so as to improve the economy, and at the same timesolve the hassle of unemployment. As a result of this move towardsindustrialisation, the Singapore government had to prepare studentsfor entry into the workforce by equipping them wit h the necessaryskills. As such, technical education was introduced for the first timein secondary schools in 1969, where all boys and 50% of the girls hadto take technical subjects such as woodwork and metalwork. Inaddition, technical schools and vocational institutes were set up toprovide training in areas such as electricity, electronics andmetalwork. Existing institutions such as Ngee Ann Technical Collegeand Singapore Polytechnic were expanded to embroil courses in similarfields of study. The government also encouraged the study of Englishas a first language, as they realised that the English delivery heldthe key to better jobs and a better economy as it allowed access towestern knowledge and technology, which during that time was one ofthe most, if not the most, advanced in the world. From this, we targetsee that even in the 1960s and 1970s, Singapores education policieswere already tailored to allow Singapore to be able to compete in aglobal economy, by expanding the manufa cturing industry through theequipping of the workforce with the necessary skills, and improvingcommunication with the rest of the world through the introduction ofEnglish as a first language, allowing Singapore to take advantage ofWestern technology and knowledge and hence put her in a betterposition on the global stage.The advent of the 21st century has brought a whole new set ofchallenges to Singapore, and Singaporeans thus have to learn to bemore resourceful and self-reliant in order to survive, live long andprosper in the more competitive global economy. In the past decade,the world has seen rapid growth of the Information engineering science (IT)industry - this has resulted in widespread use of computers and the