The critical importance of schools and school leaders

Abstract

Lee Kuan Yew strongly believed in the importance of schools and good school leadership. To him, there were two important formative influences of children: home and school. He felt that the government could not do very much about influences at home but the government could reform schools. To do so, he looked to school leaders as co-owners of the problem and key partners in the change process. This chapter outlines Lee’s views on the critical importance of schools in nation-building and the role that principals play in leading educational change. It examines how his views are still relevant to the educational landscape today and how various policies and practices in the subsequent years reflected his far-sighted views.