Singaporean Students Coming to Australia

INTRODUCTION

Background

In a few decades, Singapore – a former British colony has transformed itself into a thriving nation. This is especially true of its economic and educational aspects. The purpose of this report is to explore why Singaporean students are coming to Australia, and determine whether Singaporean methods would work in Australia, given the cultural differences.

It is important to consider the context of Singapore’s education and make a comparison with the Australia’s education system. In fact, Singapore is ranked having the best performing education system in the world (OECD, 2010) and is a leading model for other countries. However, despite the educational excellence of Singapore, many local students are seeking to pursue an academic degree internationally (Davie, 2015).

This report will explore the issue by investigating the following two questions:

1. Why are Singaporean students choosing to study in Australia?

2. Should Australia follow the Singaporean model of education?

ANALYSIS OF FINDING

Question 1: Why are Singaporean students choosing to study in Australia?

Increasing in the number of Singaporean students are choosing Australia as their oversea destination for higher education has been noted in recent years. Leaving Singapore – a country with an excellent educational reputation seems enigmatic. This question attempts to explore why a stressful Singapore’s pedagogy, a signing of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the nature of location result in the rise of Singaporean students in Australia.

To begin with, Singaporean model of education has often been criticised as a competitive system for students. Fong (2016) asserts that ‘The country has many talented students with good grades but professional degree courses are competitive and can only take in so many students’ (cited in Teng, 2016, para. 9). Davie (2015) supports this idea by providing statistics, in 2015, from approximately 70,000 applications, only 15,000 of them have been given a seat in six universities across Singapore. Moreover, despite the fact that Singaporean government expanded university places, students continue to seek for prestigious foreign degrees because they believe it would distinguish themselves from others doing local qualifications (Davie, 2015). Along with the lack of spaces is the obsession with tuition (How, 2015) because Singapore knows that people are the only national resources and the investment in education is imperative (Matthews, 2013). A high demand of studying to get forward of a society governed by meritocracy might cause a poor quality of life (How, 2015) and putting significant stress on young students. Undoubtedly, this instrumentalist mindset is a ‘treadmill’ life and explains to some extent a leak of Singaporean students to Australia.

Additionally, the signing of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) between Australia and Singapore in May 2016 is believed to be a primary reason for Singaporean students to pursue university degrees away from home. Under the agreement, Singapore recognising Australian university qualifications in the fields of law, post-graduate medicine and allied health (Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2016). According to Khamid (2016) and Teng (2016), there are 8,165 Singaporean students studying in Australian institutions. Following the statistics, Teng (2016) asserts that with growth in recognition of various degrees, and students whose parents can afford the costly international tuition fee, the number of students is predicted to pick up quickly. Similarly, Davie (2015) also supports this idea by stating an investigation in the Singaporean universities that 12 of 21 students who received an offer locally still choose to study internationally. Moreover, ‘British and Australian universities say that they are keen to have Singaporeans as they are high-performing students’ (Davie, 2015, para. 13). The objectives of Singapore-Australia CSP is to provide Singaporean students more opportunities to undertake these competitive courses and then return to Singapore with a high probability of finding a well-paid career as well as adding diversity to the workforce.

Another potential factor is Australia – the country itself is a popular destination for Singaporean students to pursue an academic career. Factors such as universities ranking, living standards, safety, cultural integration, etc are equally important in consideration for the place (Chan 2013, cited in Ng 2013). Noticeably, proximity from home is a distinct advantage since Australia is significantly nearer to Singapore than Britain or The United States (Teng, 2016), therefore, reducing homesickness abroad. Furthermore, the student’s effort to assimilate into society has a high successful rate since Australia is a multicultural country, limiting racial conflict. The country is highly proud of its cosmopolitan nature plus the Australians are very friendly and accommodating (Neo, 2014). Besides, the adventurous life also fulfills student’s interest to study in Australia: ‘Engaging in activities such as hiking or taking road trips makes my university experience all the more exciting and memorable’ (Thia 2016, cited in Teng 2016, para. 18). Last but not least, Singapore official language is English and it might be a tremendous advantage for Singaporean students to study in an English-speaking country. In short, the nature of location makes Australia remains an attractive and famous study destination for Singaporean students.

The number of Singaporean students coming to Australia is anticipated to increase in the following years due to the effects of CSP. However, Singapore is moving towards a more balanced education system (Nayak, 2016), making it significantly less stressful for all students. At the moment, outdoor activities are also included in the curriculum, apart from the academic study to enhance the learning experiences and maintain a good mental health for Singaporean students. Hence, the number of Singaporean students coming to Australia might drop gradually. 

Question 2: Should Australia follow the Singaporean model of education?

Education plays an essential role in the miracle transformation of Singapore in less than half a century. Singaporean model of