CITIZENSHIP AND EDUCATIONAL SOCIALISATION IN SINGAPORE : A STUDY OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME, 1997 - 2001

Abstract

National Education was introduced in 1997 with the objective of developing and shaping positive knowledge, values and attitudes of Singapore's younger citizenry towards the community and nation. The primary means in which the programme is delivered is through educational socialisation in the formal school environment. As a premier nation-building initiative in recent years, National Education has received considerable attention from the Singapore government, which is evidenced by the radical changes made to the school curriculum to facilitate the integration of the programme into the educational system.

This thesis's study of National Education aims to examine the various components of the programme and evaluate its effectiveness in achieving the stated objectives. Also, the study will look at the strengths and limitations of National Education and highlight some salient constraints and contradictions faced by the programme and propose some recommendations. This study concludes that while National Education has been relatively effective in raising students' cognition level in terms of awareness and knowledge of Singapore, it has been less effective in shaping attitudes and values relating to Singapore as a nation. The reasons have been the lack of positive reinforcement by other socialisation agencies as well as the conflicting values that are advanced in the educational system itself and in society at large, which has considerably weakened the potency of National Education in terms of values transmission. The essential point is that for educational socialisation to be effective, it must be reinforced by other socialisation influences that will transmit and promote compatible values and attitudes.