INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS IN SINGAPORE AND THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

Abstract

The independent schools were set up in the midst of a national movement towards excellence. They are not simply private establishments because the government rationale for their being set up is linked to national ideals and economic goals, and attached to two important principles: meritocracy and equal opportunity. This study identifies that “excellence” is still vaguely defined by the government and variously interpreted by independent and non-independent principals, teachers and the public. It attempts to crystallize the concept of excellence and interpret it as a rationale for the freeing of control by the Ministry through a Sociology of Education approach. As such, it is not an attempt to describe independent schools per se, but an effort to study them in the broader societal context.