A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM REFORM IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

In recent years, the subject of higher education curriculum reform was given a great deal of emphasis and remains high on the agenda of the political elite in many countries. The problem highlighted was that there exists the phenomenon of overspecialization where the student's academic interest is concerned. Moreover, another problem that was given a great deal of attention was that graduates trained under the traditional academic structure were unable to cope with the challenges brought forth by the new millennium. In the case of Singapore, our educational system is increasingly modeled after the educational system of Japan, Great Britain as well as the United States of America. Needless to say, the problems that the educational system of these three countries faced is similar to those faced by Singapore. Moreover, the curriculum reform efforts that was under-taken by the relevant authorities in Singapore is in tune with what the educational system of the above mentioned three countries have undertaken. In the case of Singapore, a sociological analysis using the Functionalist paradigm is very applicable when we want to do a in-depth analysis of the higher education curriculum reform efforts that had been undertaken. We must understand that curriculum reform is a continuous process. It is done when there is a divergence between the needs of the society and the outputs of the educational system. This study will help to highlight the specific cases of higher education curriculum reform that had been undertaken as well as provide a sociological analysis of it. At the end of the day, the question of "Is the curriculum reform efforts undertaken in the right direction" and the question "Are these efforts enough" would be addressed. Another area of concern would be the unintended consequences as well as the possible negative impact that the recent higher education curriculum reform brings forth. Nevertheless, although the main frame of analysis would be Functionalism, other theoretical apparatus are equally applicable where the analysis of higher education curriculum reform is concerned. In this case, the "Correspondence Principle" advocated by Bowles and Gintis as well as the notion of "governmentality" put forward by Foucault would be addressed.