Singapore to introduce compulsory education in 2003

Asian Economic News, August 21, 2000

SINGAPORE, Aug. 15 Kyodo

The Singapore government will introduce compulsory schooling in national schools for elementary- school-aged children from 2003, the Education Ministry said Tuesday.

The plan has sparked controversy among the country's Muslim community, however, which fears the move will lead to the demise of Islamic schools.

The government will introduce a bill in parliament before the end of this year to enact a Compulsory Education Act, under which

parents could face fines or jail if they do not send their children to national schools or government-approved Muslim schools.

The move is to boost national integration and to ensure that all children are well-equipped for a knowledge-based economy, the ministry said.

Only a small number of Singapore children do not go to national schools, and the move is apparently aimed at the growing trend among the minority Muslim population to send their children to Muslim schools.

About 3%, or 1,677, of children who reached school age in 1997 did not go to national schools, according to the Education Ministry. Of these, about 452 entered Muslim schools.

Muslim schools offer mainly religious curricula, and therefore do not meet government-recognized requirements for elementary schooling.

There are six Muslim schools in Singapore, and admissions to them have been growing in recent years. Muslim parents have said they hope that by studying at Islamic schools, their children will become religious scholars and will be able to preserve Islamic values.

However, the government has said it believes students from these schools will be less-equipped for the knowledge-based economy, as the schools focus less on English, mathematics and science.

After consultations with the Muslim community here earlier this year, the government agreed to exempt Muslim schools from the law on condition that their students sit for national examinations, which focus on the English language, mathematics, and science.

Those schools whose students fail to meet the minimum standards required by the government will not be allowed to admit any new students, effectively shutting them down.

The committee also recommended that the total intake of students to Muslim schools be capped at 400 annually.

The Malay-Muslim community in Singapore accounts for about 14% of Singapore's 3.7 million population.