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EL Education PresentationDone By: Chan Chin Kiat
Chua Song YangDaryl LimLim Yi Fan
Wang Qi Yu
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Contents
Comparison between Singapore’s education system and the Finnish education system.
Comparison between Singapore’s education in the Past and Present.
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Education Presentation- Comparison of education systems between Singapore and Finland
VS
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Why the Finnish education?
Highly different from the education in Singapore
One of the top ranking countries with a good education› OECD’s Education Study› Higher literacy rates in reading,
mathematics and the sciences› Narrowest gap between highest and lowest
performers
Attributes of Finnish education
Egalitarian system› in which the education favours equality and provides
equal opportunities for students
Nordic education system› Emphasises on equality and excellence without
tracking or streaming
"We don't divide at an early stage between students who do well and those that don't manage so well in schools," she says, speaking at Finland's education ministry in Helskini.
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Attributes of Finnish education
Interactive learning style› In Finland, educators believe that learning is
not only linked to rankings etc., however, their education system rather emphasizes a lot on cultivating their students’ interest and passion in learning through interactive teaching and materials.
› They believe that having happier attitudes is beneficial to the students’ learning as with an interest in a particular subject, the students will usually do and understand better with an intrinsic motivation to work harder.
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Finnish Early Childhood Education
Emphasizes respect for each child’s individuality and the chance for each child to develop as a unique person
Encourage students to more people-oriented and develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skills
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2nd stage of Finnish education
9-year basic education in comprehensive schools› Randomly allocated or selected, no
streaming occurs
Students at 16 can choose to continue their education in the:› Academic track› Vocation track (prepares trainees for
manual or practical activities)
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Singapore’s education
Hierarchy› Pre-school education› Kindergarten› Primary School (compulsory 6-year
education)› PSLE Examinations› Secondary Education (Normal-Academic, IP)› O’Level Examinations› Polytechnics› Junior Colleges
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Model structure of education system in Singapore:
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Singapore’s education
Meritocratic in nature› Provide more opportunities for students
who perform better Sports Academics Arts
› Streaming occurs PSLE examinations Gifted Education Programme
Selective School system
Similarities
Both countries place large emphasis on education as they are very small with little natural resources› Human resource› Competition in the education sector
Attracts investments
Differences
Finnish Education System Singapore’s Education System
9 year comprehensive school 6 year primary and 4/5 secondary education
Egalitarian (equal opportunities) Meritocratic (streaming occurs)
Comprehensive school system Selective school system
Free education Subsidised education
No mandatory tests and exams Frequent tests and yearly exams
Why is the Finnish education so successful?
Finnish students only start their education when they are 6, formal schooling at 7
Students go to school for only half a day› 4 hours a day
10-week summer break Singapore students may find themselves
spending 6 hours in school, sometimes even longer for CCAs› However, we score still score lower than
Finland in the literacy test by PISA
Teachers
Finnish teachers are all prepared in academic universities and need a master’s degree to qualify for a permanent job› can have considerable independence in the
classroom to choose their preferred appropriate pedagogical methods;
› are very willing to continuously update their professional skills via post-graduate studies;
› are more willing to work on themselves, are open to new ideas and developed broader perspectives
Full autonomy to plan curricular
Teachers
In Singapore, teachers undergo a series of test and even training in the NIE
However, most teachers are confined to teaching with conventional methods – textbooks, worksheets
Family involvement
In Finland, 3 books are given to the family of a newborn child› Cultivate a culture of reading from young› Encourage parents to influence their
children to read In Singapore, there could be a lack of
family involvement as many parents complain of the long working hours› Lack of family interaction and commitment
Loss of talents
"It's like ice hockey. We let all the girls and boys play, not only the best ones. With this fair play, we can give everyone the same chance to practise their skills - and this also gives us the way to find the best ones." ~ Ms Haatainen, Finnish Minister
Loss of talents
In Finland, talents would not be lost › Education facilitates talent spotting
Students are in the same school for nine years (7 – 16 years old)
Ample time to explore and find their niche areas
In Singapore, streaming happens at the age of 10 for the GEP and PSLE at the age of 12› Some students may be late developers
Evaluation The Finland comparison seems the most
constructive: › Both Singapore and Finland place tremendous
emphasis on their education mechanisms, have comprehensive networks in place, and have achieved equal levels of scholastic excellence.
However, it has been asserted that our Finnish counterparts have been able to attain that level of success with significantly lower stress levels, and where actual processes of teaching-learning take precedence over mutual rankings, results or grades.
Therefore, it is vital that Singapore should learn from the successes of the education model in Finland and probably implement its own accordingly to meet the needs of the students, therefore effectively improve the education system.
Education Presentation- Comparison between education of the Past and Present
Past and Present
Education in Singapore is mainly shaped by the changing economical needs in the country› E.g. In the 1960s, there is a need to shift
into the manufacturing sector. Implementations such as technical courses were implemented
Characteristics of Past Education – 1960s
› Different language medium schools
› Late 1960s made bilingualism compulsory, but was not successful
› Technical Education
Characteristics of Past Education – 1980s
› Streaming at primary level according to linguistic abilities
› Weakest stream took Primary School Proficiency Examination (PSPE) instead of PSLE
› Religious Knowledge classes (deemed inappropriate as Singapore is a secular state)
Characteristics of Present Education
English-medium schools› No more different language medium
schools Bilingualism
› English (1st lang.); Mother tongue (2nd lang.)
Co-curricular activities› LEAPS
Characteristics of Present Education
IP Programme› “Through-Train” – Bypasses GCE ‘O’
Level› Project-based› Independent learners
Filters students and places them in niche schools› i.e. SSS, SST, SOTA, NUS High › Allows room for development of talent
Not necessarily academic-based
Similarities
Both still focus on academics Streaming still occurs
› Though at different levels
Differences
Past Present
Different language medium schools
English-medium schools
Linguistic streaming – PSPE or PSLE
GEP & PSLE streaming
Technical Education Academic-based
Pri-Sec-Technical-UniversityPri-Sec-JC/Poly-(University)
SSS, SOTA, SST, NUS High
Useful links
http://www.icponline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=157&Itemid=51
http://bertmaes.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/why-is-education-in-finland-that-good-10-reform-principles-behind-the-success/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6754703.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading
http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf011210.htm
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Thank You!