INT. J. OF LIFELONG EDUCATION, VOL. 23, NO.

6 (NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2004), 559–568

Lifelong learning in Singapore: where are

we now?

PREM KUMAR
International
10.1080/0260137042000311479
TLED230604.sgm
0260-1370
Original
Taylor
2004
0
6
23
00000November-December
and
& Article
Francis
(print)/1464-519X
Francis
Journal
Ltd
Ltd
of Lifelong
2004
(online)
Education
People’s Association, Singapore

The term lifelong learning has been used in different contexts and in policy application for
a wide variety of purposes and initiatives. Singapore’s approach to lifelong learning is prag-
matic and rational. It is one of the economic drivers used by policy makers to enhance
Singapore’s competitiveness and is viewed as an antidote against unemployment. With the
emergence of a more integrated and interdependent global economy, the premium placed
on ideas and continuous learning becomes critical to an individual, organization and the
country. This paper offers a snapshot of some of the current responses to the challenges and
the perceived issues from the perspective of the government, organizations and individuals.
The discussion would also cover a number of policy implications that may overlap and inter-
connect in practice.

Introduction
No country can dismiss the impact lifelong learning will have on the future for
sustainable economic, socio-political and cultural growth within their society. In the
twenty-first century, the use of human capital in an information economy becomes
all the more critical. It is not information per se but how information is translated to
knowledge, its use and ‘value’ that would make a difference. Lifelong learning is
therefore an important policy consideration for governments. One of the policy
issues for America, termed ‘twenty-first-century literacy’ was that:

The current and future health of America’s 21st Century Economy depends
directly on how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level of literacy—
‘21st-century literacy’—that includes strong academic skills, thinking, reason-
ing, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology. (Twenty-First-
Century Workforce Commission 2000)

The Commission proposed nine keys to success to enable the workforce to prepare
for future IT jobs. Some of these pertained to expanding continuous learning, shap-
ing a flexible immigration policy, raising student achievement, access to technology
and internet connectivity, etc. Singapore faces similar challenges; in addition to this,
she has a small population of about 4 million people (comprising about 77%
Chinese, 14% Malay, 8% Indians and 1% others) on an island of 658 square

Prem Kumar, PhD, is currently Assistant Director (Corporate Planning), People’s Association, Singapore.

International Journal of Lifelong Education ISSN 0260-1370 print/ISSN 1464-519X online © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/026037042000311479
560 P. KUMAR

kilometres without any natural resources. There are four official languages (English,
Malay, Tamil and Chinese). Policy formulation has to takeinto account the
geographical, political, economic, social and other aspects of Singapore’s unique
characteristics. It is not the intent of this paper to cover all of these aspects; however,
it is acknowledged that these characteristics do have an impact on policy formula-
tion and implementation and the creation of an environment for lifelong learning.
There is no one precise definition that captures lifelong learning is shared by
everyone. Lifelong learning is interpreted by various stakeholders in many different
ways. What appears to be common however is that the idea relates to learning that
continues throughout a person’s lifetime, from cradle to grave, of acquiring the apti-
tude, skills, knowledge and qualifications of processes through formal, non-formal
and informal modes of learning, use of technology to enhance learning, of providing
learning opportunities, of becoming a learning society or nation, amongst others.
From the functional perspective to learning, the working groups at the Global
Conference on Lifelong Learning organized by the World Bank (2002) identified
three categories of competencies required. These were the ability to act autono-
mously, the use of tools interactively and functioning in socially heterogeneous
groups. For each of these categories there are a set of ‘inter-related practical and
cognitive skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values, that together can be mobilized for
effective action (2002: 9).
A number of significant reports (Faure 1972, Delors, 1996) are of particular rele-
vance and importance to lifelong learning. The Delors report proposes four pillars
of education for countries to use as a framework to guide reforms and practice.
These are: learning to know, to do, to live together and to be, coupled with one of the main
themes on learning throughout the lifespan both in the formal and non-formal
sectors. Delors (1996: 20) sees the concept of lifelong learning as one that:

… goes beyond the traditional distinction between initial and continuing

education. It meets the challenges posed by a rapidly changing world. This is
not a new insight, since previous reports on education have emphasized the
need for people to return to education in order to deal with new situations aris-
ing in their personal and working lives. That need is still felt and is even
becoming stronger. The only way of satisfying it is for each individual to learn
how to learn.

This statement taken within the Singapore context raises a number of questions, for
example, as to the ability of our educational, social, cultural and political system to
meet the changing and growing economic and social demands. How can we prepare
ourselves for this? How can we tap the potential of our limited human resource? Are
we able to create ‘knowledge’ that is of value? Can we continue to remain competi-
tive? Some of the responses to the challenges will be discussed from the perspective
of the government, organizations and individuals.

Government

Singapore’s investment on education is second after defence (Ministry of Finance,

FY 2003 Budget). Lifelong learning is seen as one of the important drivers in ensur-
ing Singapore’s transition to a knowledge-based economy.
LIFELONG LEARNING IN SINGAPORE 561

Singapore’s brief history of successful economic growth since independence will

be challenged by other countries not only in Asia but globally, as most of them have
an abundance of human capital and other resources to compete with. Lifelong
learning should allow us to continuously refresh and reinvent ourselves.
There have been more than a hundred speeches delivered by various ministers
on the importance of lifelong learning (SPRInter, website). The Prime Minister Goh
Chok Tong (1998) in his May Day rally speech pointed to the challenges and the
path that Singapore has to take to remain relevant and competitive in the global
marketplace:

Looking beyond the immediate future, we must focus on lifelong learning and
employability for the long term. Our future prosperity will be built on a knowl-
edge-based economy. That is why we are revamping our education system to
produce thinking students. The future economy will be driven by information
technology, knowledge and global competition. The types of jobs change, and
change rapidly. This means that workers must have broad basic skills and the
capacity to learn new skills. Only then will they have employable skills through-
out their working lives. So we must have Thinking Workers and a Learning
Workforce.

In fact, the whole country must become a Learning Nation. We must make
learning a national culture. We will have to evolve a comprehensive national
lifelong learning system that continually retrains our workforce, and encour-
ages every individual to learn all the time as a matter of necessity.

One of the important policy documents is enshrined in the Manpower 21 plan. The
strategies espoused, amongst other things, the concept of ‘lifelong learning for life-
long employability’. The key recommendations were the establishment of a school
of lifelong learning to address the needs of the workforce at all levels. This involved
the setting up of a national skills recognition system, incentives for employers and
individuals to stimulate lifelong learning, one stop-career centres, and so on.
The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) was therefore set up in
September 2003. The function of the WDA (website: wda.gov.sg) is to ‘act as a cata-
lyst and champion of workforce development. It aims to enhance the employability
and competitiveness of both employees and job seekers’. The Prime Minister had at
the official opening of the WDA highlighted its role as ‘building a first-class lifelong
education and training system for our workers’ with an ‘immediate priority to tackle
unemployment’ and ‘the longer-term challenge is to help workers remain employ-
able’ (Goh 2003). He also shared the commitment and importance of the WDA that

the government will set up its efforts to help every Singapore achieve ‘lifetime
employability’. Since 1979, the Skills Development Fund has provided some
$1.7 billion to support 8.5 million training places. We have also put $1.5 billion
into the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund. We plan to raise this to $5
billion when we have budget surpluses.

However, lifelong learning is not an end itself but a journey, one that involves
making choices: often one piece of learning creates the need for further learning.
The metaphor of learning journeys points to the different ways for individuals and
nations to access knowledge. Setting performance indicators, benchmarks and
562 P. KUMAR

having periodic After Action Reviews are examples of ways that enable countries and
organizations to link learning with performance. Double-loop learning…
One such review that would be worth highlighting is on how the government had
responded to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Koh (2003) reflects
that ‘the government made some mistakes initially. It was, however, quick to change,
in the light of new information and experience. The people responded well, with
the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers showing courage, commitment
and grace under enormous stress’ and among other things, ‘the government, the
private sector and civil society joined hands in waging a campaign to raise the stan-
dards of personal and public hygiene, to take one’s temperature daily, to wash one
hands thoroughly, and to avoid certain bad habits’.
Lifelong learning for the longterm involves building capabilities and having the
capacity to respond quickly and effectively to changes in the external environment.
Singapore was also able to quickly adapt its new technology used by the defence
technology agency in the form of thermal scanners. These were installed at strategic
locations within the country, while some were exported to other countries. The Brit-
ish Chamber of Commerce in a letter to The Straits Times (30 April 2003) commented
that ‘Singapore’s move to install non-intrusive thermal scanners at Changi Airport
to detect anyone with an abnormally high temperature was surely the ultimate in
global social responsibility and showed that the Republic was leading the world in
dealing with SARS’. The Ministers too shared the lessons learned from SARS at
conferences. Koh (2003) concludes that ‘the Singapore SARS story is worth record-
ing because it is a defining moment in Singapore’s history and because it is a good
case study for students of public policy and crisis management’.
It is difficult to fault the government for all its efforts at building a lifelong learn-
ing culture. The policies are periodically fine-tuned as the society continuously
evolves. One of the challenges for the education policies has to be that of acquiring
critical thinking skills. This would imply changes in, for example, the role of the
government in a learning society, how the schools are run, the expectations of the
parents, the change in the role of teachers, and the ability of workers to adapt,
relearn and acquire new skills within a short time and developing new learning
methods. The government had set in motion various initiatives to prepare its educa-
tional system to the challenges of the new economy, that relies on not only on knowl-
edge as a competitive advantage but also one that is driven by results. Some of these
relate to the vision of Thinking Schools, Learning Nation launched by the Prime Minis-
ter in 1997, a vision for Singapore’s education in the twenty-first-century, with an
emphasis on creative and critical thinking skills, use of IT, developing world-class
universities, developing Singapore as a centre for educational excellence and the
setting up of a ‘technopreneurship’ 21 Ministerial Committee to oversee and guide
technopreneurship development in Singapore.
Ngiam (2004) commented on the challenges faced by Singapore, that:

If size alone counts, then countries like China and India would have domi-
nated the world, as indeed they now can by opening up their societies and
economies. What then are the options for small states like Singapore? As
competition in the global economy moves from a resource base of land, labour
and capital, to a knowledge-driven race in education, technology, skills, and
organization, sheer population size is no longer decisive—if it ever was. What
counts is the average level of academic of the bulk of the population …
LIFELONG LEARNING IN SINGAPORE 563

In a knowledge-based world of global competition, sheer numbers alone are

not enough. What counts is the quality of the numbers. I venture to suggest
that the average level of education of Singaporeans should be at least A or poly-
technic levels …

By most measures of academic achievement, our schools, polytechnics and

universities have done well. Both Singapore and MNC employers acknowledge
that our graduates are competent. They know ‘how to get things done’, but
when faced with a roadblock, they often cannot figure out the ‘why’.

With the actions it has taken, the government has provided a model of lifelong learn-
ing, showing that it is prepared to respond to new challenges as they arise.
What are the next challenges Singapore needs to address on its learning journey?
I believe that one of the key issues is that of measurement. With a heavy investment
in lifelong learning there will be a need to develop indicators that measure both the
quality and quantitative aspects of the programmes. It will not be easy given the
complexity of lifelong learning process (especially those in the informal sector)
however, this is one area that is underdeveloped and in need of better measurement
and assessment tools. This should not only apply to the government but also schools,
tertiary institutions, trade unions, statutory boards, organizations and others.
The global conference (World Bank 2002: 10) noted that

policy-makers increasingly need information with predictive capacity. In this

context, the value of education attainment diminishes over time while the
value of measuring skills and competencies increases. However, it is impor-
tant to bear in mind that while some people will continue to learn, and
polish and develop their skills, others will lose them. This type of change (or
lack of it) will become a new source of inequality. Information systems must
be able to account for this … Another important challenge is to understand
how the informal system interacts with the non-formal. Currently there are
systems that can help track what happens in the formal system but they are
unable to show what happens in the other systems, let alone to visualize how
they interact.

Organizations

Organization learning concept is not new and has been defined by many writers.
Various theories and dilemmas have been discussed by scholars. For example Argyris
and Schon (1978) proposed six categories of definitions relating to organization, as
a group, agent, structure, system, culture and politics. Senge (1990: 14) contends
that it is the organization’s continuous expansion of ‘its capacity to create its future’.
Kofman and Senge (1995: 32) ‘believe a learning organization must be grounded in
three foundations: (1) a culture based of transcendent human values of love,
wonder, humility, and compassion; (2) a set of practices for generative conversation
and co-ordinated action; and (3) a capacity to see and work with the flow of life as a
system’. De Gues (1997: 21) proposed that we need ‘a new way of thinking about the
measurement of success in our companies. By outsiders, we are judged and
measured in economic terms: return on investment and capital assets. But within the
564 P. KUMAR

company, our success depends on our skills with human beings: building and devel-
oping the consistent knowledge base of our enterprise’. Only time will tell if compa-
nies are able to balance this tension. Anecdotal examples and case studies appear to
illustrate some success.
For example, Purington and Butler (2003) shared their learning journey of how
they went about transforming an aerospace giant Rockwell Collins into a learning
organization. The results were that in less than three years, the overall cost of learn-
ing was reduced by US$ 23 million, and the training offerings expanded by 400%—
making learning and development activities accessible to more than 17 000 employ-
ees worldwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This was achieved through a
comprehensive strategic plan for change tied to the organization’s business goals
and all the learning activities were linked to the business objectives.
A number of the key challenges that I believe organizations here face identified
by Purington and Bulter (2003), the need to gather, share and capture the corpo-
rate data that resides in individuals. The challenge they said was to

find a way to cull the knowledge that is being so carefully guarded by employ-
ees who have learned how to survive in your knowledge-is-power culture. You
must also create processes to save the knowledge carelessly discarded by those
who do not value it or have fidelity to you…every time one of your employees
moves on, that individual takes away your knowledge—the only commodity you
have to differentiate yourself in this rapidly changing economy … few compa-
nies have strategies in place to gather the valuable knowledge held by depart-
ing workers. They also haven’t put much thought into the impact of mass
retirements on their knowledge structure.

The only way to secure your knowledge—and your competitive advantage—is

to turn your company into a learning organization where information sharing
is integral to the business process (pg. 2).

A recent publication in Singapore (Kumar 2003) explored the concept of organiza-

tional learning and how some local public and private sector organizations were
attempting to apply the ideas. Can and how do organizations learn? Establishing a
learning culture would require the people to reflect on their actions, think critically
and ‘question’ authority without fear of retribution (be it perceived or real) from
their supervisors. Kumar (2003: 41) espouses that the syndrome of not questioning
may be more prevalent in the ‘Asian context as it could be seen as a loss of face if
one does not get the right answer the first time, or as “intimidating” or a “threat” by
the boss’. The price paid for not learning from experience can be costly. The
Columbia Accident Investigation Board had in their report mentioned that funda-
mentally the space agency did not learn from experience and had not shown the
characteristics of a learning organization after the Challenger disaster. If people do
not learn than the organization will not either. The issue of organizational learning
becomes much more complex within organizations that require both individuals
and communities to share and learn from each other. The impact of the SARS
outbreak on organizations, for example, tested their ability to respond—to learn
and adapt within a short span of time.
One organization that caught the attention of Professor Roger Hallowell et al.
(2001) of the Harvard Business School, was Singapore’s public libraries: how the
LIFELONG LEARNING IN SINGAPORE 565

public libraries were able to transform from unimaginative dusty, dank rooms with
smelly, ageing book collections and a stagnant membership to a ‘hip and happen-
ing’ hangout for book and IT lovers, young and old alike. The National Library
Board’s value proposition was to support the national aim of becoming a ‘learning
nation’. The success was measured through a double-digit increase in membership,
improved service standards (e.g. ease of access, reduction in queues and waiting
time to borrow/return materials, etc.), amongst other indicators.
Singapore’s success at organizational learning tends to be focused on the training
and development activities provided by the public sector organizations. There may
be some private sector organizations including small- and medium-sized enterprises
that could be seen as success stories. However, policy consideration for lifelong
learning would need to take into account the various needs, industries and type of
organizations that require help for long-term sustainability in human capital devel-
opment. Policy has to also be guided by research in this area that takes a holistic and
co-ordinated approach to address the issues and challenges. Private organizations be
they multinational corporations or small- and medium-sized companies require a
paradigm change towards a more balanced approach on the need to make quick
profits versus taking a long-term view of growth.

Individuals

Singaporean industralization in the 1960s was dependent on low cost and unskilled
labour intensive industries. This worked well then. Our more fundamental challenge
now is tp provide job opportunities for workers above 40 years old and who only
primary education. An article in Singapore Business (1992) illustrated some examples
of workers who were above forty years and trapped in a low-skilled, low-waged cycle.

Mr Tan Lian Hin is a 44-year-old pressman with a Primary Six education. For
the past 13 years, he has been manning the newspaper printing machines at
Singapore Press Holdings’ Jurong Plant – hot, noisy, ink-smudged work that
has essentially remained the same since his first day on the job.

‘It’s not difficult work, but it’s quite dirty,’ he says in Mandarin. His future job
prospects? ‘Offset printing is all I know,’ he says resignedly. Where else can he
go, and what else can he do?

This is a dilemma 265 000 workers in Singapore, who are aged 40 and above
and armed with only a Primary Six education, eventually face up to … Many
like Mr Tan, speak only Mandarin and dialect. They can be found in the more
traditional industries like ship-repair, printing, and packaging. Many are
production and transport workers employed by small local companies. They
are our machine operators, lorry drivers, packers, cleaners, shop assistants and
manual labourers, taking home wages of about $600–$1000 a month.

This situation was in the 1990s and has not changed much since. In fact, it seems
that, in the future, no one—even graduates—will be immune to the effects of global-
ization. There is a limit to what the State and companies can do to create opportu-
nities for growth. Lifelong learning has to take into account the individual initiative
566 P. KUMAR

to want to learn and change as well. This can be in the form of learning basic skills,
e.g. literacy, on-going education off the job, reflection on experience on the job,
readiness to help others with their learning, and so on.
Singapore has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world and a rapidly ageing
population (BBC News 2002, Channel News Asia 2004). This changing demographic
and population profile will impact how learning is transmitted, and the type of learn-
ing that one needs to acquire within one’s lifespan. It is not my intent here to discuss
learning theories. Some of these—such as the social, behavioural, cognitive, human-
istic and experiential theories—have been discussed extensively (see Jarvis 1995).
However, I would like to point to the challenge for educators in Singapore as passive
learning (teacher-directed—taking in instructions, memory and role learning) will
have to shift towards active learning (learners directing their own learning and
engaging actively in the learning process and teachers as facilitators).
Along this similar tread, one of the challenges was highlighted in a survey by
Gallup on how engaged Singapore workers were by their organizations (Gopal
2003); they were ranked among the lowest in the world. Another survey by Interna-
tional Survey Research (The Straits Times Interactive 2002), a global management
consultancy, who interviewed 60 000 Singaporeans, found them to be the least
committed workers in the world. Some of the reasons cited were due to the disen-
chantment with corporate leadership (that the companies are well managed but not
well led), leaders’ lack of intellectual capital and ability to craft aspirational goals
and the lack of emotional intelligence necessary to achieve them, lack of develop-
ment opportunities and management skills of their supervisors, not being given
enough authority to do their jobs, and the tendency of Asian bosses not to work on
bonding with their employees.
Lee (2001) in his second reading speech on the lifelong learning endowment
fund bill emphasized again the importance of lifelong learning:

we need lifelong learning to remain up-to-date and in possession of skills to

drive the economy. This is why the neighbourhood mechanic is facing more
competition. The new cars come with a computer engine management system.
The old mechanics do not know how to service such hi-tech gadgets. Car-
owners prefer to send their cars to the agents who have trained mechanics to
maintain these new cars. Mechanics who cannot or do not want to be upgraded
may have to look for another vocation. To put it simply, lifelong learning is no
longer an option but a necessity.

The government has initiated Lifelong Learner Awards to acknowledge outstanding

individuals with inspiring learning attitudes and commendable accomplishments
some are chosen as Learning Ambassadors to help promote the spirit of lifelong
learning. There is also the Singapore Learning Festival initiative to help change
mindsets and promote a new lifelong learning for employability culture (Ministry of
Manpower 2003a).
What these initiatives and challenges suggest is that individuals themselves have
to respond to the need for development of leadership capability. Singapore has put
in place basic literacy programmes including learning basic information technology
skills. Entrepreneurship and innovation are critical areas that the government is
focusing on. The European Commission (www.cordis.lu/trendchart) has developed
a thematic TrendChart scoreboard to address the potential gap between lifelong
LIFELONG LEARNING IN SINGAPORE 567

learning and innovation by identifying 15 indicators on lifelong learning of rele-

vance to innovation. This is one area that Singapore could work towards.

Conclusion

Lifelong learning does not take place in a vacuum. Kumar (1995) argues that in the
case of Singapore, the needs of the nation precedes that of individual needs and that
the evolution and development of philosophies of learning are very much the prod-
uct of historical, sociological and cultural evolutions.
Lee (2001) in his second reading speech on the lifelong learning endowment
fund bill emphasized again the importance of lifelong learning:

we need lifelong learning to remain up-to-date and in possession of skills to

drive the economy. This is why the neighbourhood mechanic is facing more
competition. The new cars come with a computer engine management system.
The old mechanics do not know how to service such hi-tech gadgets. Car-
owners prefer to send their cars to the agents who have trained mechanics to
maintain these new cars. Mechanics who cannot or do not want to be upgraded
may have to look for another vocation. To put it simply, lifelong learning is no
longer an option but a necessity.

Singapore’s system of lifelong learning requires new skills and competency, an

effective and efficient governance system and appropriate options for financing,
and an education and training system reform that goes beyond conventional frame-
works.
Learning communities, be they formal, non-formal or informal networks, need
to develop new and creative responses for some of the challenges that were identi-
fied. Some of these have to be initiated by the various stakeholders. Lifelong learn-
ing, to be sustainable, has to be embedded within the wider context of how
governments, organizations, and individuals continuously learn and relearn from
experience, thus creating knowledge that is of value for survival and prosperity.

Note

1. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not in any way represent those of
the organization.

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Development-Co-operation and the German State of Badan-Wurttemberg. Stuttgart, Germany, 9–
20 October.