A Study On Issues And Challenges Of Hinese Curriculum And Its Review Strategies Under Education Streaming In Singapore

Singapore has been implementing bilingual education since the founding of the nation. The system stipulates that all students must study two languages. In the 1980s, building on the foundation of the bilingual education, an education streaming system was implemented. Based on the result of an assessment test taking place in primary three, students were streamed into different courses and hence completed their fundamental education at different paces.In view of the fact that English was, and still is, the main teaching medium language in schools, the competency level of English language thus directly affected the test result. Students strong in English are enjoyed complete superiority in the streaming test and the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which enabled them to enter the upper streams. Students whose competency levels of English were rather unsatisfactory suffered from poor results in the streaming test and PSLE, which caused them to enter the lower streams. Under the present education streaming system, the level of the students' Chinese language is very much determined by their overall results which depend very much on the results of individual subjects which used Enghsh as the teaching language. Students whose overall results are unsatisfactory end up studying Chinese language at a level beneath their learning capabilities, even though they may have obtained prominent results in the Chinese language.The over-emphasis on the English language has deprived many students who have a good foundation in Chinese. It has also reduced the proficiency level of Chinese language for Chinese students as a whole. According to data gathered, upon completion of their fundamental education after 10-11 years, the Chinese students could only reach the spoken language ability. Their reading and writing abilities are extremely weak. The present Chinese curriculum prevents students from having a deep understanding of Chinese culture. The cultural knowledge of secondary students is hence very superficial. The present Chinese curriculum does not equip its students with enough cultural knowledge and language skills in meeting the future needs when they eventually join the work force.The change of the social language environment has led to the increased usage of English as the main household language among Chinese families in the younger generation. The entire social environment does not favour the study of Chinese, and students lack the motivation to study Chinese. At the same time, the growth of economic strength in China has raised the Chinese language and culture fever internationally. The global trend of studying Chinese has evocated the revival of Chinese education in many Southeast Asian countries. The rise of Asia in the 21st century makes mastering the Chinese language an advantage in strengthening the global competitive power for each country.Facing the domestic as well as the foreign, and entirely different, Chinese environment, the Chinese curriculum under the present education streaming system faces an arduous challenge. The education streaming system must free students from this situation, in which the competency level of Chinese language is being constrained by English ability. It should manifest the education principles of equality, democracy, suitability and selectivity.There are altogether five chapters in this thesis.The first chapter summarises theories of education streaming, both from ancient and contemporary schools in the East and the West. It then elaborates on the three major functions of education streaming. At the end of the chapter, streaming principles are then discussed. The second chapter elaborates on the development and evolution of the Chinese curriculum in Singapore. It divides the historical development of Chinese curriculum into four time periods, with emphasis on the post-independence period in Singapore. Critical review on four influential reports pertaining to education streaming as well as the transformation of Chinese curriculum will be done. The third chapter analyses the contemporary issues which have stemmed from the present Chinese curriculum. Three instruments used in the analysing process will be presented and discussed. Based on the data gathered from the three instruments, the research will analyze the problem of contemporary Chinese curriculum from five aspects, namely: the social status of Chinese, the Chinese culture, the quality of Chinese curriculum and teaching, the attitude of Chinese students towards the study of Chinese, and the nurturing of Chinese elites. The fourth chapter analyses the issues of Chinese curriculum from a global perspective. It elaborates on the Chinese economic influence on the world as a whole and on Southeast Asian in particular. It further introduces a number of Southeast Asian countries with great economic potential and their phenomena to revive Chinese education as a result of Chinese economic influence. It then goes on to elaborate the importance of nurturing innovative Chinese talents for the 21st century. The fifth chapter mainly proposes some strategies for improving the education streaming system and curriculum development in the social context of Singapore. A new framework for Chinese curriculum under the education streaming system will be recommended. In the last section of the chapter, some strategies on the implementation of differentiated curriculum and pedagogy are introduced with the objectives of helping students acquire a greater balance of language skills, cultural knowledge and ability.