BUILDING HUMAN CAPITAL LESSONS FROM COUNTRY EXPERIENCES How Singapore Does It Abstract Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 1 Analytical Framework..................................................................................... 1 2. Singapore’s Economic Performance and the Role Played by Human Capital ................................................................................... 2 3. Driving Economic Growth in a Resource-poor Economy .............. 4 Capitalizing Learning...................................................................................... 5 Capitalizing Health ......................................................................................... 6 4. The Making of a World Class Schooling System ........................... 7 Round One of Education Reform .................................................................... 9 Round Two ................................................................................................... 10 Round Three ................................................................................................. 12 Financing Education ..................................................................................... 13 5. Making Human Capital Healthy .................................................. 16 Controlling Disease and Mitigating Effects of Heat ...................................... 16 Staffing and Providing Healthcare ............................................................... 17 6. Key Lessons on Building a World Class Education and Training System ............................................................................................ 25 7. Singapore’s Healthcare Recipe ................................................... 30 8. Concluding Observations ............................................................ 32 References ...................................................................................... 35 Table of Figures Figure 1 : Per Capita GDP of East Asian Economies: 1975–2017 ........................................................ 3 Figure 2: Knowledge Capital and GDP Growth: Comparing East Asia with LAC 1960 –2000 ............. 5 Figure 3: Singapore Education System Timeline 1965–2015.............................................................. 8 Figure 4: Literacy Rates for Singapore 1960–2016, Total, Male, and Female .................................... 8 Figure 5: Mean Years of Schooling, Total and by Gender, 1980–2016 ............................................... 9 Figure 6: Public Expenditure on Education as a Percentage of the Government Budget 1970–2014 .................................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 7: Public Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP, 1970–2016 .................................................. 15 Figure 8: Tax/GDP ratios 1990–2014 ................................................................................................ 15 Figure 9: Healthcare Coverage and Responsibilities in Singapore.................................................... 19 Figure 10: Organization of Singapore’s Healthcare System .............................................................. 20 Figure 11: Life Expectancy at Birth in Singapore in comparison with Finland, South Korea, Sweden and Hong Kong, 1960–2017 ...................................................................................................... 22 Figure 12: Infant Mortality in Singapore in comparison with Finland, South Korea and Sweden (per 1,000 live births), 1960–2017 ................................................................................................... 23 Figure 13: Healthcare Expenditure in Singapore as a Percentage of GDP........................................ 23 Figure 14: Shares of Public and Private Expenditures on Healthcare in Singapore ......................... 24 Figure 15: Healthcare Spending as a Percentage of GDP for Selected OECD Countries, 1980 –2017 .................................................................................................................................................... 24 Figure 16: Annual Spending on Healthcare in Singapore .................................................................. 25 Figure 17: Elements of Singapore’s Development Strategy .............................................................. 34 Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Analytical Framework • • • 2. Singapore’s Economic Performance and the Role Played by Human Capital 0F 1F 2F 3F 4F 5F 6F 7F 8F 9F 10F 1F Figure 1 : Per Capita GDP of East Asian Economies: 1975–2017 12F 13F 14F 15F 3. Driving Economic Growth in a Resource-poor Economy 16F 17F Capitalizing Learning 18F 19F 20F Figure 2: Knowledge Capital and GDP Growth: Comparing East Asia with LAC 1960–2000 Source: Hanushek and Woessmann (2016) 21F 2F 23F 24F 25F Capitalizing Health 26F 27F 28F 29F 30F 31F 32F 3F 4. The Making of a World Class Schooling System 34F Figure 3: Singapore Education System Timeline 1965–2015 1960–1970 1970–1980 1980–1990 1990–2000 2000–2010 Survival-driven Efficiency-driven Ability-driven Thinking Schools, Teach Less, phase phase phase Learning Nation Learn More 1960 1970 1987 1995/1999 2002 Bilingualism Universal Secondary English taught as a Trends in Integrated Education first language in International Programme 1965 Singapore schools Mathematics and Universal Primary Vocational and Science Study 2003 Education Industrial Training (TIMSS) Innovation and Board (VITB) Enterprise 1965–1970 1997 Enrollment in 1976 Launch of master plan secondary schools Technical Education for IT in education almost doubled 1979 By 2000 Introduction of Curriculum content streaming cut by 30 percent Figure 4: Literacy Rates for Singapore 1960–2016, Total, Male, and Female Figure 5: Mean Years of Schooling, Total and by Gender, 1980–2016 Round One of Education Reform 35F 36F 37 F Round Two 39F 40F 41F 42F 43F 4F Round Three 45F 46F 47F 48F Financing Education 50F ; 51F Figure 6: Public Expenditure on Education as a Percentage of the Government Budget 1970–2014 Figure 7: Public Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP, 1970–2016 Figure 8: Tax/GDP ratios 1990–2014 5. Making Human Capital Healthy 52F 53F Controlling Disease and Mitigating Effects of Heat 54F 5F 56 F 57F 58F 59F 60F Staffing and Providing Healthcare 61F • 62 F • 63F • • 64F 65F Figure 9: Healthcare Coverage and Responsibilities in Singapore 6F Figure 10: Organization of Singapore’s Healthcare System 67F 69F Figure 11: Life Expectancy at Birth in Singapore in comparison with Finland, South Korea, Sweden and Hong Kong, 1960–2017 Figure 12: Infant Mortality in Singapore in comparison with Finland, South Korea and Sweden (per 1,000 live births), 1960–2017 Figure 13: Healthcare Expenditure in Singapore as a Percentage of GDP Total Expenditure/GDP % 5.0% 4.4% 4.4% 4.2% 4.5% 3.9% 3.6% 3.7% 4.0% 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 3.2% 3.2% 3.0% 3.2% 3.2% 3.2% 3.5% 3.0% 2.9% 3.0% 2.5% 2.0% 1.5% 1.0% 0.5% 0.0% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Figure 14: Shares of Public and Private Expenditures on Healthcare in Singapore 80.0% Private expenditure % Government expenditure % 72.1% 68.7% 67.5% 67.0% 66.1% 66.5% 65.1% 64.1% 70.0% 63.7% 62.9% 62.7% 62.9% 60.7% 58.3% 55.0% 60.0% 52.9% 52.7% 51.8% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Figure 15: Healthcare Spending as a Percentage of GDP for Selected OECD Countries, 1980–2017 Figure 16: Annual Spending on Healthcare in Singapore 6. Key Lessons on Building a World Class Education and Training System 71F 72F 73F 74F 75F 76 F 7F 78F 79F 80F 81F 82F 83F 84F 85F 86F 87F 8F 89F 90F 7. Singapore’s Healthcare Recipe 91F 92 F 93F 94F 8. Concluding Observations 95F 96F Figure 17: Elements of Singapore’s Development Strategy References Report on the Ministry of Education ”