Reforming Curriculum in Singapore and Hong Kong

Abstract

The curriculum reforms in Singapore and Hong Kong are not only about meeting the economic competitiveness challenges but also about inculcating civic, political and social identity among the younger generation so as to keep the “local” alive in the “global” environment. While rationales and policy contexts for curriculum reforms can be found in both city-states, the ways the reform policies were, and are, formed and implemented differ from each other. This chapter compares and contrasts how curriculum reforms in both city-states are similar and different from each other, and also discusses how the state factor affects the formation and implementation of policy and reform initiatives. It argues that while globalization is a major trigger, different reform policies found in both city-states are best seen as an action of integrating between the local and the global for the state’s role in shaping education and curriculum policies while different, remains prominent.