Abstract
Over the past half century, the spectacular economic development of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan has been based to a large extent on particularly successful educational development. In the framework of the developmental state, education planning has been an integral part of economic planning in all three countries. Reforms of the education system have been deeply integrated, both in terms of content and structure, into the sectoral changes in the economy. At the same time, the essentially Anglo-Saxon education systems followed recent global pedagogical trends, especially in the timely development of mathematics and science education. The development of education has created the human conditions for the establishment of knowledge-based economies and will certainly contribute for further development.
A study prepared in the research project „From developmental states to new protectionism: changing repertoire of state interventions to promote development in an unfolding new world order” (NKFI FK_124573)”, led by Judit Ricz, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies—Institute of World Economics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The recent evolution of the develpmental state in the framework of globalisation is comprehensively analysed by the studies of Gerőcs—Ricz, 2021.
- 2.
At the same time, this direction of the education system made an important contribution to the development of nation-building.
- 3.
As it is well-known, Singapore became independent (from Malaysia) in 1965. In Taiwan, the Republic of China was re-established in 1949/50, after the end of civil war in China with the political takeover by Kuomintang. The civil war in Korea was ended with an armistice in 1953 (therefore, we can count the independent development of South Korea from then).
- 4.
In Taiwan, it happened under the pressure of the new political ruling forces, while in Singapore, it was the outcome of a sovereign political decision:
- 5.
https://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-overview.pdf, Downloaded 16 June 2022.
- 6.
- 7.
The four provinces/municipalities represent economically the most developed part of China.
- 8.
The sample included 79 countries; the OECD average means the average of the 38 OECD member-countries.
- 9.
That means, they were ranked in one of the five (out of nine) higher level.
- 10.
The most time-effective teaching/learning systems are those of Finland, Sweden, Japan, Czech Republic, and Switzerland.
- 11.
Nevertheless, this port secured control of a particularly important maritime trade route through the Strait of Malacca.
- 12.
However, that English and (Mandarin) Chinese-language private schools (including secondary schools and colleges) were considered by far the best schools in the region, so children from the middle classes of neighbouring countries who wanted to study in high-quality English or Chinese schools, flowed into Singapore from the early twentieth century.
- 13.
As English became the official language of public administration in 1978.
- 14.
“The seven different major south Chinese dialects spoken in Singapore made it easier to persuade all to convert to Mandarin. Had we been like Hong Kong with 95% speaking Cantonese, it would have been difficult if not impossible. For many Chinese Singaporeans, dialect is the real mother tongue and Mandarin a stepmother tongue. However, in another two generations, Mandarin can become their mother tongue” (Lee, 2000, 155).
- 15.
See: Ghim—Chew, 2016.
- 16.
It took about one and a half decades of political tensions and disputes to achieve that: the Malay and Indian minorities have accepted English as the language of instruction, but the Chinese community strongly opposed it (Lee, 2000, 145-149).
- 17.
About the innovation-driven economy, see Szalavetz, 2011.
- 18.
Therefore, education is the largest employer in the government sector, with 55, 008 people employed by the SMoE in 2021—the Ministry of Interior, including the police, had 30, 042 employees. Source: https://data.gov.sg/dataset/government-fiscal-position-annual?resource_id=4b9846f9-f629-4e29-b493-f5d02df92d72, Downloaded 22 June 2022.
- 19.
The NIE began operations on 1 July 1991 as a highly autonomous institution of the country's second major public university, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The strategic vision 2018-2022 is about future-oriented thinking, about preparing for lifelong purposeful and not simply outcome-oriented learning, which makes learning, and therefore necessarily education, "life-long, life-deep, life-wide and life-wise" (NIE, 2018). For the 2020-21 academic year, 722 students are enrolled in BA and BSc programmes, 1, 354 in MA and MSc programmes and 193 in research programmes. The NIE awarded 542 undergraduate degrees in the academic year. (Source: ntu.edu.sg/about_ntu/corporate-information/facts&figures, Downloaded 22June 2022)
- 20.
A monthly fee of S$13 per child is charged to cover "miscellaneous costs".
- 21.
This is even more essential as more than half of higher education programmes are science and technology oriented.
- 22.
This is well reflected in the outstanding rankings of two major Singapore universities in the major global academic rankings, in addition to their excellent results in the PISA surveys, as described above.
- 23.
About further details of South Korea’s PISA performances, see point 2.1.
- 24.
Korean Ministry of Education, source: http://english.moe.go.kr/sub/info.do?m=050101&page=050101&num=1&s=english , Downloaded 24 June 2022.
- 25.
According to WHO data, there were 28.3 suicides per 100,000 people in South Korea in 2015, two and a half times increase compared to 1995. According to an OECD analysis, suicide is the most common cause of death among South Koreans youth under 40.
- 26.
That is the highest ratio among OECD member-countries ( Hultberg et al., 2017, 3).
- 27.
Seoul National University, Korea University és Yonsei University.
- 28.
Large industrial and trading conglomerates, following the Japan model, which became global conglomerates (e.g., Samsung, Hyundai, LG etc.) as "national champions" of the industrialisation programme launched in the 1960s. In 2010, the five largest Korean companies accounted for 58% of GDP.
- 29.
From then on, Taiwanese schoolchildren had to learn in a foreign language - their mother tongue was a dialect of southern China, and very few people in Taiwan spoke traditional Mandarin Chinese.
- 30.
A very small minority has been allowed (and financially able) to choose private schools.
- 31.
Source: Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan), http://english.moe.gov.tw/ctasp?xItem=14504%26CtNode=11430%26mp=1és. https://stats.moe.gov.tw/enchartweb/ ,Downloaded 26 June 2022.
- 32.
Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan), https://english.moe.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=14504&CtNode=11430%26mp=1, Downloaded 26 February 2022.
- 33.
Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan), https://stats.moe.gov.twenchartweb/Default.aspx?rptvalue=eng_f4 , Downloaded 26 June 2022.
- 34.
Earlier, the compulsory learning period was 6 years—as it had been introduced under Japanese colonial rule.
- 35.
Preschool education is not part of Taiwan’s mandatory education system; it is, however, strongly supported by the government by financial assistance to financially disadvantaged families to enrol their children in kindergartens. In 2012, the Early Childhood Education and Care Act consolidated the education and care of young children (between 2-6 years of ages) under a single administrative system. Since the early 2000s, 96% of children aged 5 years, or more are enrolled in education. (Ministry of Education. Source: http://english.moe.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=7089&ctNode=502, Downloaded 27 June 2022.)
- 36.
The current law mandates 9 years of free and compulsory education (between the age of 6 and 15), but a substantial reform is under way to extent it to 12 years.
- 37.
In details, see it in point 2.1.
- 38.
In the 2012 PISA survey, there was an unexpected improvement (7th place), but Taiwanese students have subsequently returned to the results seen before 2009.
References
Amsden, A. H. (1989). Asia’s next giant: South Korea and late industrialization. Oxford University Press.
Amsden, A. H. (1979). Taiwan’s economic history: A case of etatisme and a challenge to dependency theory. Modern China, 5(3), 341–379.
Ashton, D., Green, F., Sung, J., & James, D. (2002): The evolution of education and training strategies in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea: A development model of skill formation. Journal of Education and Work, 15(1), 5–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080120106695
Barrett, R., & E. & Whyte, M. King,. (1982). Dependency theory and Taiwan: Analysis of a deviant case. American Journal of Sociology, 87(5), 1064–1089.
Bourguignon, F., Fournier, N., & Gurgand, M. (2001). Fast development with a stable income distribution: Taiwan, 1979–1994. Review of Income and Wealth, 47(2), 139–163.
CIEB. (2021). South Korea: Learning System. Center of international education benchmarking, https://ncee.org/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-instructional-systems/, Downloaded 23 June 2022.
Chu, C., & Yu, R. (2010). Understanding Chinese families. A Comparative Study of Taiwan and South-East China. Oxford University Press.
Csáki, Gy. (2016): Developmental state, globalisation, crisis—Taiwan’s macroeconomic adjustment. In D. Karalekas, & Cs. Moldicz, (Eds.), Miracles do happen: Taiwan’s economic development. Budapest: Budapest Business School University of Applied Sciences.
Csáki, Gy. (2021): Educational developmentalism: The case of Taiwan. InT. Gerőcs & J. Ricz (Eds.), The Post-Crisis developmental state. (pp. 125–151). Perspectives from the Global Periphery Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71987-6
Davison, G. M. (2003). A short history of Taiwan: The case for independence. Praeger Publishers.
Diem, R., Levy, T. & van Sickle, R. (2021): South Korean education. Asia society center for global education. https://asiasociety.org/education/south-koreaneducation#%7Etext=The%20Korean%20public%20education%20structure,three%20years%20of%20high%20school.&text=Upon%20completion%20of%20primary%20school,comprises%20grades%20seven%20through%20nine, Downloaded 23 June 2022.
Driskell, N. (2014). Global perspectives: Explaining Taiwan’s dramatic improvement in Pisa reading. National center on education and the economy. October 27. http://ncee.org/2014/10/global-perspectives-explaining-taiwans-dramatic-improvement-in-pisa-reading/, Downloaded 27 June 2022.
Gerőcs, T., & Ricz, J. (Eds.). (2021). The Post-Crisis developmental state. Perspectives from the global periphery. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ghim, P., & Chew, L. (2016). From third world to first: A case study of Lee Kuan Yew and language management in Singapore. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 11(1), 31–50. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v11i1.19181
Goh, C. B., & Gopinathan, S. (2008): Education in Singapore: Development since,. (1965). In B. Fredriksen & J. P. Tan (Eds.), An African exploration of the East Asian education (pp. 80–108). The World Bank.
Hultberg, P., Calonge, S. D., & Kim, S. ù-H. (2017). Education policy in South Korea: A contemporary model of human capital accumulation? Cogent economics & finance, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2017.1389804
Johnson, C. (1982). MITI and the Japanese miracle. The growth of industrial policy, 1925–1975. Stanford University Press.
Kim, G. -J. (2002). Education policies and reform in South Korea. In J. H. Bregman, G. -J. Kim,F. J. M. A. Rameckers, & S. Stallmeister, (Eds.), Secondary education in Africa: Strategies for renewal.(pp. 29–40). The World Bank .
McKinsey. (2013). Beyond Korean style: Shaping a new growth formula. McKinsey (Global Institute), April 1, 2013. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/asia-pacific/beyond-korean-style Downloaded 25 June 2022.
Ministry of Education. (2020). 2020 Education in Korea. http://www.koreaneducentreinuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2020EducationinKorea.pdf , Downloaded 23 June 2022.
Lee, K. Y. (2000). From the third world to the first: The Singapore story 1965–2000. Singapore and the Asian Economic Boom. HarperCollins Publisher.
Lee, S. K., Goh, C. B., Fredriksen, B., & Peng, T. J. (2008). Toward a better future. Education and training for economic development in Singapore since 1965. The World Bank.
Mani, D., & Trines, S. (2018, October 16). Education in South Korea. World Education News + Reviews, https://wenr.wes.org/2018/10/education-in-south-korea, Downloaded 23 June 2022.
NIE. (2018). NIE Strategic Vision 2022. https://www.nie.edu.sg/about-us/nie-strategic-vision-2022/, Downloaded 22 June 2022.
OECD. (2011). Singapore: Rapid improvement followed by strong performance. In Strong performers and successful reformers in education lessons from PISA for the United States. (pp. 160–175). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264096660-en
OECD. (2020). PISA 2018 results. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/pisa-2018-results.htm, Downloaded 16.06.2022.
Schleicher, A. (2020). PISA 2018. Insights and interpretations. OECD Publishing.
Seth, M. J. (n.d.). Popular demand and education in South Korea: An historical overview. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51179771.pdf, Downloaded 25 June 2022.
Singapore Ministry of Education, (SMoE, 2021). Education Statistics Digest 2021. https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/about-us/education-statistics-digest-2021.ashx?la=en&hash=9E7EFD9B8088817C207F8AE797037AAA2A49F167, Downloaded 22 June 2022.
Sorensen, C. W. (1994). Success in Education in South Korea. Comparative Education Review, 38(1), 10–35.
Stiglitz, J. E. (2004). The Post Washington Consensus Consensus. Working paper, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, New York.
Szalavetz, A. (2011). Innovációvezérelt növekedés? [Innovation-driven growth?]. Közgazdasági Szemle, 8(5), 460–476.
Tan, C. Y., & Ng, P. T. (2007). Dynamics of change: Decentralised centralism of education in Singapore. Journal of Education Change, 8(2), 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-006-9016-4
Tan, C. Y., & Dimmock, C. (2014). How a “top-performing” Asian school system formulates and implements policy: The case of Singapore. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 42(5), 743–763. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213510507
Tan, A. -L. (2018). Journey of science teacher education in Singapore: Past, present and future. Asia-Pacific Science Education, 4(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41029-017-0018-8
Wade, R. H. (1990). Governing the market: Economic theory and the role of government in East Asian industrialization. Princeton University Press.
World Bank. (1993). The East Asian miracle. Economic growth and public policy. The World Bank.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
György, C. (2023). Educational Developmentalism: A Key to the Success of the East Asian Developmental States. In: Ricz, J., Gerőcs, T. (eds) The Political Economy of Emerging Markets and Alternative Development Paths. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20702-0_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20702-0_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20701-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20702-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)