The breakthrough experience of Asia Tiger States (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore) in their education sector development hitherto from previous colonial legacy

The breakthrough experience of Asia Tiger States (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore) in their education sector development hitherto from previous colonial legacy

The breakthrough experience of Asia Tiger States (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea) in their education sector development hitherto from previous colonial legacy

Introduction

The story of Asian Tiger states’ (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea) economic success cannot be separated from their outstanding educational policies over times and which have been documented in countless articles and books. At one point, academics, economists, and international observers began referring to the city-state’s economic achievements, especially during the 1970s and 1980s, as a “miracle”. The ‘Four Asian Tigers’ rose to prominence in the boom years of the 1960s by taking advantage of emerging technology and globalization, and they have held onto their position as economic leaders ever since (Gaw, 2016).
According to Morris (2000), in the early 1960s, the global economy was just starting to recover after the traumas of the Second World War and the Korean War of 1950-1953. Tentative world peace combined with major advances in air travel and telecommunications meant that borders were opening up around the world, and the four ‘tigers’ were perfectly positioned to benefit. All four countries boasted long-established ports and developed trade economies, highly educated populations, as well as robust post-colonial infrastructure (as a result of the British influence in Hong Kong and Singapore, the Chinese in Taiwan, and the Americans in South Korea).
The four ‘tiger’ governments took this opportunity to invest heavily in industrialization, building major industrial estates, offering tax incentives to foreign investors, and implementing compulsory education for its young population in order to secure the future of the workforce. Today, they regularly feature on the IMF’s list of the world’s most prosperous and stable economies which can be attributed to their technical know-how through their domestication of educational policies (IMF, 2017).
These four countries invested heavily in the developing their intellectual abilities of their human talent, fostering and retaining their educated population to help further develop and improve their respective countries. For example, all four countries have become top level global education centers with Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong high school students consistently outperforming all other countries in the world and achieving the highest top scores on international math and science exams. Additionally, these four countries are home to some of the most prestigious top ranking universities in the world such as National Taiwan University, Seoul National University, National University of Singapore , Nanyang Technological University and University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Dentistry , which as of 2017, was ranked as the number one top dental school in the world (Gaw, 2016).

Hong Kong and its Home Gown Educational Policies

The economy of Hong Kong really started to take off in the 1950s, making it the first of the Four Asian Tigers. Cheap labor, technical education  and favorable tax incentives attracted many medium and large sized corporations to the city, and the 1970s and 1980s saw a period of city-wide construction, with skyscrapers, public housing and commuter train lines all funded by the country’s new-found wealth. Between 1961 and 1997, the GDP of Hong Kong grew by 180 times, making it one of the world’s wealthiest countries. A supportive government, strong regulation and lack of public debt means that it is well placed for continued growth, albeit at a less dramatic pace (Kozma, 2005).
Education: While under British colonial rule, education was a tool to meet political and ethnic primordial interests. In 1965 and after, an intimate link between education and economic development of the small city-state was strongly emphasized (Gaw, 2016). The government took the conventional path, developing new skills and work attitudes to accommodate new economic strategies. While the economics of education was in focus, the role of education in socialization and the nation-building process, especially in terms of developing a Hong Kong identity, was not forgotten (Morris, 2000). National integration through a national education system was seen as the key condition for economic survival. To attain these national objectives, the government rightly recognized the necessity to provide every child with at least six years of education from the age of six - without discrimination on the basis of race, language, sex, wealth, or status.

Singapore and its Home Grown Educational Policies

Like Hong Kong, Singapore’s high growth economy is rooted in technical and home grown educational system. As result of that Singapore is now one of the world’s foremost currency exchange centers, and boasts an incredibly diverse expat community which is indicative of the high volumes of foreign investment received over the years. Today, Singapore has the highest GDP of all the Four Asian Tigers (Gaw, 2016).
Education: The question remains: How does one explain Singapore’s successful transformation of its education system within the short span of a few decades? In one of its key documentations on the “economic miracles” of the East Asian “Tiger” economies, the World Bank (1995) strongly suggested that substantial investment to achieve universal, high quality primary education (and also secondary and vocational education) in these countries produced important payoffs for economic efficiency and equity (Kozma, 2005). Excess demand created by primary education for secondary and tertiary education was to support the rapid transformation of education and manpower training,
Singapore has always placed great emphasis on enhancing the technological literacy of its people. Indeed, the city-state is consistently ranked as one of the top nations in the world in information and communication technology (ICT) application and development for economic growth. The government has always been clear about the objective of education. The mission of the Ministry of Education (MOE) is to mold the future of the nation (Gaw, 2016). Thus, MOE, which oversees Singapore’s educational system, works closely with various other government ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and the EDB, to formulate and implement education policies. There are three tiers in the Singapore educational system:
Free, compulsory primary education for up to six years, leading to a common national examination, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Heavily subsidized (monthly school fees of S$5), noncompulsory secondary education for up to five years. The academic stream leads to the Singapore Cambridge General Certificate of Education at the Ordinary (O) level, and the technical stream leads to the Certificate at the Normal (N) level.
Highly subsidized tertiary education at a university (following two years of preuniversity education), polytechnic, or technical institute.
Furthermore, the years 1959 to 1965 were significant or even epochal in the history of Singapore’s educational transformation. In May 1959, Singapore was given self government status, and a Five-Year Plan (1961–1965) to boost the educational standards of the people was soon implemented. The priority at this point was to provide universal free primary education. It consisted of three main features:
Equal treatment for the four streams of education: Malay, Chinese, Tamil, and English.
The establishment of Malay as the national language of the new state.
Emphasis on the study of mathematics, science, and technical subjects.

In tune with the government policy of equal treatment for all four language streams of education, the government scheme for the loan of free textbooks offered assistance to pupils in all four language streams. This was done in accordance with the “Textbook for All” policy that no needy children from lower-income families should be denied an education merely because of inability to purchase textbooks (Kozma, 2005).

Taiwan and its Home Grown Educational Policies

Taiwan’s proximity to China has allowed the island to flourish alongside its neighbor. Chinese investment has helped establish a futuristic city filled with skyscrapers, high speed trains, and a strong education system, while foreign investment has meant that Taipei is home to some impressive headquarters such as Foxconn (where Apple’s products are made). In the early 1960s, Taiwan had a GDP per capital of just $170, but in 2015 it was $22,469 (Gaw, 2016). It may not be the wealthiest ‘tiger’, but it has arguably experienced the most notable growth.
Education: Hence, the key to success of Taiwan has been largely attributed to the strict implementation of educational policies which focus on improving the capabilities of teachers and students to effectively integrate ICT into the curriculum through constant innovations in their classroom practices.  To build the teachers’ capability to innovate in their classroom practices, the Taiwan government has continued to do the following: Build communities of practice for teachers that will enable them to engage and support one another in professional sharing and to exchange success stories of innovative ICT-based practices for adoption in their classrooms. Build school leaders’ capability and expertise in technology planning to enable them to implement effective school wide integration of ICT into the curriculum. Work toward a seamless ICT-enabled teaching and learning environment (Morris, 2000).

South Korea and its Home Grown Educational Policies

Once an agricultural country, South Korea spent much of the 20th century driving modern industries such as electronics, robotics and software development. This strategy has paid off dividends - according to the World Bank, South Korea’s GDP grew by an average of 10% per year between 1962 and 1995 and it is now regarded as one of Asia’s most advanced economies.
Education: Though the increasing number of polytechnic and university graduates did help to change the profile of the workforce, the government recognized that, to become a technologically advanced city-state, the country needed a sustainable supply of indigenous scientists and engineers. For South Korea to develop its own indigenous technological capability, the lion’s share of the supply of scientists and engineers had to come from native-born students educated and trained in local universities and polytechnics (Kozma, 2005).
The increase in the number of graduates in science and engineering was sustained throughout the 1980s. Most significant: The number of engineering graduates doubled between the periods 1980–85 and 1986–89. This was an indication of the success of the government manpower planning “in meeting the needs of the economy for trained personnel at all levels” (Gaw, 2016).  However, the government confirmed that “the major constraint on the expansion of technical education has been the number of qualified trainees, not the demand for graduates or the availability of places.
The breakthrough experience of Asia Tiger States in their education sector development and Lesson for Nigeria

The question is: What can we learn from the success of the Four Asian Tiger states?  According to Kozma, (2005). There is an argument to be made that the Four Asian Tigers benefited from being in the right place at the right time - war was over, colonialism was coming to an end, and globalization required at least one strong Asian trade hub. However, behind the scenes, the ‘miracle’ growth of these economies was largely down to good governance and right educational policies.
Hence, the above examinations of Asian Tigers have shown that the governments of the states have always been clear about the objective of education. The use of  ICT in education in those countries has contributed immensely in the development of the states. Therefore, Nigerian educational system should leverage on ICT and globalization to motivate students and teachers to learn and to create the necessary conditions for that learning to occur.  Nigeria should also exploit the potential integration of emerging technologies into the curriculum to enhance learning.
Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea are currently sitting high on most of the global economic rankings, and as long as they keep on doing what they have always done there is every reason to believe that they will stay there for the foreseeable future.

References
Development and Globalisation (2018). The Asian Tigers. Retrieved on May 10, from:
https://www.developmentandglobalisation.weebly.com/the-asian-tigers.html

Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects (2008). A Handbook for Developing Countries. Washington,
DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank.

Gaw, K (2016). The Story behind the Four Asian Tigers. Retrieved on may 6 from:
https://www.idealsvdr.com/blog/the-four-asian-tigers/

Hung, J. and Koh. T (2004). Singapore’s Learning Science Lab: Seeking Transformations in ICT-
Enabled Pedagogy. USA: Educational Technology Research and Development.

Kozma, R (2005). National Policies that Connect ICT-Based Education Reform to Economic and Social
Development. Retrieved on May 6, 2019 from: http://www .humantechnology.jyu.fi/articles/volume1/2005/kozma.pdf

Ministry of Education (1998). Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn: Towards Thinking Schools,
Learning Nation. Singapore: Ministry of Education.

Morris, P. (2000). Asia’s Four Little Tigers: A Comparison of the Role of Education in their
Development. Retrieved on may 10, 2019 from:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3099602?seq=1#page-scan-tab-contents

The World Factbook  (2019).  Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on May 8, 2019 from:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publication/the-world-factbook

Velocity Global (2017). Why the Four Asian Tigers should be on your Radar. Retrieved on May 8, 2019
from: https://www.velocityglobal.com/four-asia-tigers.

Wikipedia (2019). Four Asian Tigers. Retrieved on May 6, 2019 from:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-Asian-Tigers

Asia Tigers States
Date of Independence
Colonizer
Area Per Km2
Population (2018) est.
Human Development Index (2018)
GDP Nominal Per Capital USD (2017)
Hong Kong
1997 (transferred to China)
Britain
1,104
7,448,900
0.933(7th)
46,109
Singapore
1965
Britain
721,5
5,638,700
0.932(9th)
57,713
South Korea
1948
Britain
100,210
51,635,256
0.903(22nd)
29,891
Taiwan
1949
Britain (under Qing dynasty)
36,193
23,577,271
0.885 (28th)
24,577