School News

Singapore: Smartest kids in the world

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Dec 02, 2016

Singapore has been scientifically proven to have the highest number of intelligent students as of 2016.

The Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) global average is set as 500 and Singapore achieved an impressive scored of 597 and 621 respectively.

The government of Singapore and the Department of Education recognised the importance of mathematics and science back in the 1980s and have been working towards a high quality education ever since.Singapore's education system was developed in the early 1980s while considering different teaching methods from various countries such as Canada and Japan. In 1997, the Singapore education system started to change into an ability-driven one after then prime minister Goh Chok Tong outlined his "Thinking Schools, Learning Nations" vision. Under this policy, more emphasis was given to national education, creative thinking, collaborative learning as well as ICT literacy.(Image via: Vine Pair)Singapore’s claim to the title is largely due to three factors: style of teaching, quality of teachers, and competitive environment.

1. Style of teaching

According to OECD’s education director, Andreas Schleicher, “The emphasis on the application, the creative use of knowledge is very, very strong in Singapore and other Asian countries.”In Singapore, students are not separated according to their abilities and learning pace. The same practice in Finland schools as well. Teachers instead, treat students in a class as a whole, electing instead to wait for the academically weaker pupils to master the basics in each chapter or concept before moving on. This allows the students who have quicker mastery of the subject to sharpen their skills and at the same time, cut down the costs of having teachers hold extra classes.Additionally, there’s less emphasis on rote learning and more focus on problem-solving skills. The idea is to do away with memorising formulas, but to put more thought into how to find the answers.

2. Quality of teachers

According to Marc Tucker, the president of the US National Center on Education and the Economy, “Singapore source their teachers from among the best kids coming out of their high schools,” which helps Singaporeans retain their smartest citizens in the country. This in turn, strengthens their education system, contributes to the economy, and maintains their status as the country with the smartest high-school kids in the world.

3. Competitive environment

In a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Singapore kept it's position as having the world’s second-most competitive economy in 2015, behind Switzerland. The study also shows that Singapore has shown consistent performances across economies in a study that includes categories such as infrastructure, health and education, and technological readiness.(Image via: Pure Talents)Singapore continues to improve their education system that places them in a prominent global position. The education system now focuses on competencies like collaboration, creativity and problem-solving and character qualities like persistence, curiosity and initiative to complement their academic excellence.Malaysia recently announced a revamp to the country's education system by introducing new syllabus that does not only focus on the academics. Though Malaysia still has a long way to go to place ourselves amongst the world's best, we are confident that things will shape up.