Toward a better future : education and training for economic development in Singapore since 1965

Abstract

The Singapore economy has undergone significant stages of development since the 1960s. It has grown from its traditional role as a regional port and distribution center in the 1960s to an international manufacturing and service center in the 1970s and 1980s, and now into a center of science-based manufacturing and knowledge-intensive technical services. Much has been written to explain this success. Emphasis has been placed on the early adoption of an export-oriented strategy for industrialization, high savings and investment rates, a stable macroeconomic environment, and even socio cultural traits that support successful industrialization. This volume documents a less-explored aspect of Singapore's economic development: it examines the transformation of the education and training system since the country's independence in 1965 and how the process contributed to skills formation and, hence, economic change.