Singaporean students achieve impressive results.  Singapore topped the PISA international league tables in 2015, having come close to doing so in 2012 and in 2009; it has also scored well in other international tests such as TIMSS and PIRLS since the 1980s (Ng, 2017, p.3).  “The fact that we are ranked highly in international league tables means quite simply that we are ranked highly in international league tables (Ng, 2017, p.5)”: nonetheless, it’s hard not to be impressed by students’ achievements. Students were asked to respond to statements such as: "I often worry that it will be difficult for me to take a test"; "I worry I will get poor grades at school"; "I feel very anxious even if I am well prepared for a test"; "I get very tense when I study for a test"; and "I get nervous when I do not know how to solve a task at school". An international study suggests that Singapore students, known worldwide for academic excellence, also experience high levels of anxiety and have been exposed to bullying. The study polled 540,000 students from 72 countries and economies, with the aim of looking at the connection between well-being and achievement in the Pisa tests. Bullying in schools being monitored closely: MOE, Singapore has third highest rate of bullying globally: Study. (source: wearesocial x Hootsuite Global Digital Report 2018).. For reference, there were 4.40 million users recorded on January 2017, so that is an increase of 396,000 users. In all, 5,825 students from Singapore's public schools were surveyed. Healthcare Schemes & Subsidies . That said, we recognise that while there is no certainty of causality, having overly high achievement motivation is also correlated with anxiety levels," it said. 18% of women said this compared to 13 percent of men. Inadequate amounts of sleep can make a child more aggressive and limit his ability to learn, concentrate … "Hence... it is understandable that our students are likely to be more anxious about doing well," it said, noting that in the same survey, more than eight in 10 of Singapore's 15-year-olds also said they enjoyed learning science. Overall, in the global landscape, Singapore's total wellness index dropped 1.7 points to 57.8 as compared to 2018, making the country the fifth lowest globally, with the global average at 62.0. Students often have to manage heavy loads of coursework, in addition to participating in extracurricular activities and holding part-time or full-time jobs. About 89% of the population in India say they are suffering from stress compared to the global average of 86%. New York, Routledge. "So, we recognise that while our students are anxious about doing well in examinations, their enjoyment in learning science has not been dampened," it said. Apart from work related stress, global findings revealed that stress can also arise from financial insecurity. However, it may not be obvious where your true sources of stress lie, and all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Suicide is also the leading cause of death for those aged 10-29 and there are approximately 2.4 times as many deaths from suicides as there are transport accident deaths. Among Millenials and Gen Z, this statistic jumps to 44%, further proving that stress is on the rise among younger generations and presents a … But this is only half the story.  It would be wrong to describe Singapore’s education system without considering testing, tracking and stress; it is equally wrong, but perhaps more common, to overlook the creativity and care of Singapore’s schools and the ambition of Singaporean students.  These are the subject of the next post. Visit the microsite for more. In Singapore, 27 per cent said that they worked 51-60 hours a week, and 16 per cent, more than 60 hours. Social Indicators . At Stress.SG, we specialise in anxiety and depression counselling and therapy and help our clients manage stress and sleep better. This is one of six volumes that present the results of the PISA 2018 … Singapore students may be topping the charts in mathematics, science and reading, but it is exacting a heavy emotional price on them. The findings emerged in a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which conducts the triennial tests called the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa). 17 Jan 2018… Search . Here are eight study findings. ), Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Search for publications, education brochures, statistics on admission rates, waiting times, bed occupancy rates, diseases and more. Discover all statistics and data on Stress and burnout now on statista.com! Aims: The second Singapore Mental Health Study (SMHS) - a nationwide, cross-sectional, epidemiological survey - was initiated in 2016 with the intent of tracking the state of mental health of the general population in Singapore. Education in Singapore: 4) A creative & critical curriculum? Singapore topped the PISA international league tables in 2015, having come close to doing so in 2012 and in 2009; it has also scored well in other international tests such as TIMSS and PIRLS since the 1980s (Ng, 2017, p.3). Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Rowling by Anders Norén. Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. The survey reveals that 1 out of 3 students is suffering from mental stress and depression in Singapore. The second Singapore Mental Health Study (SMHS) initiated in 2016 and spearheaded by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), has been … But a log-in is still required for our PDFs. This raised the suicide rate to 8.36 deaths per 100,000 Singapore residents, up from 7.74 in 2017. SINGAPORE - A study has found that Singapore spends about US$2.3 billion (S$3.1 billion), or 18 per cent, of its total healthcare expenditure on stress … SINGAPORE: Schoolchildren are paying a heavy price for Singapore’s success in global education rankings, with rising numbers seeking psychiatric help as they struggle to cope with the relentless pressure for academic excellence. The success of systems like Singapore’s often evokes criticism.  Critics suggest that this success rests on student stress, rote learning and a conformist approach, to the detriment of students’ happiness and their ability to think creatively or critically.  It’s certainly wise to examine context before borrowing a policy: Singapore’s success owes much to political, economic and cultural priorities.  However, It would be equally unwise to assume that we can learn nothing from Singapore, or to accept a narrative of stressed and constricted students uncritically. 1. For example, 66 per cent of students across all OECD countries said they were worried about poor grades at school, but among Singapore students, it was 86 per cent. Latest Data Publications and Methodology Visualising Data Related Info External Sources Nursing students struggle to cope with not only stressors common in higher … Over a third of people said their job was a regular source of stress in 2018. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. Education in Singapore: 4) A creative & critical curriculum? Updated: 2:55pm, 20 Jul, 2018. “Asian students usually may experience a lot of shame, or do not have a lot of knowledge on the mental health issue,” Phoebe Wan, a counselor at Student Health Center at the University of Missouri, said. About Singapore . Post. It emerged that their anxiety levels were significantly higher than the OECD average for all five questions. Step by step: breaking learning down using behavioural psychology, Do they understand this well enough to move on? SINGAPORE — One in seven people in Singapore have experienced a mental disorder such as bipolar disorder or alcohol abuse in their lifetime, an increase from roughly one in … Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month for the first 3 months. Toggle navigation. We have touched and improved the lives of many Singaporeans and Singapore … A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on August 20, 2017, with the headline 'S'pore students suffer from high levels of anxiety: Study'. View all healthcare financing schemes & subsidies available in Singapore … It reports that 1 in 7 of those resident in Singapore will suffer from a mental health … The study polled 540,000 students from 72 countries and economies to look at the connection between well-being and achievement in the Pisa tests. Date of Issue: 11 December 2018 Latest nationwide study shows 1 in 7 people in Singapore has experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime 1. This places Singapore ahead of Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Turkey. Your email address will not be published. In Singapore, 27% of employees live paycheck to paycheck. A study into the prevalence of mental health issues in Singapore has recently released its findings. In Singapore, 76 per cent reported feeling very anxious for a test even if they were well prepared, compared with the OECD average of 55 per cent. Wan is from Hong Kong and studied in the U.S. ... U.S. college students that received health information from their universities 2018… For Public News Highlights; Healthcare Schemes & Subsidies. Singapore News - More teenagers from top schools are seeking help for school-related stress at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). Statistics on education, language spoken and literacy are compiled by the Ministry of Education, Singapore Department of Statistics and the various institutions of higher learning. All done! Most students in Singapore enrol in government schools and government-aided schools in which they access the national curriculum, developed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), at a standardised fee. Your email address will not be published. Education in Singapore: 7) The secret of Singapore’s success This statistic shows the number of smartphone users in Singapore from 2015 to 2019 with a forecast up to 2025. All rights reserved. Their learning journey is regularlypunctuated by streaming, in which students are sorted into different academic programmes based on their performance in standardised exams. There were 397 reported suicides in 2018, compared with 361 the year before. Barry, B. 29 Sep 2018 06:14AM ... physical or predatory threats in the modern society of Singapore, the stress response still remains in us. SPH Digital News / Copyright © 2021 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world, and allow educators and policy makers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries. Ng, P. T. (2017). How extensive is tuition?  Mary estimated that 90% of students go to tuition centres for at least one subject; a 2015 poll put the figure at 70%, with more in primary than in secondary.  Self-help groups provide subsidised support for those who cannot afford tuition.  We visited a tuition centre, where students receive additional teaching and practise taking exams in groups of five to ten.  Homework, tuition and co-curricular activities make for long evenings, but tuition did not seem as extensive as I’d expected: Mary said that most students attend for 2-4 hours once a week; she mentioned an extreme example in which a student attended a second tuition centre for help in the same subject. (2005). Notify me of follow-up comments by email. About 12% students are having anxiety issues, 10% students are suffering from stress and 2% students in Singapore are suffering from depression. (How do you avoid it? The findings emerged in a study … This article is now fully available for you, Please verify your e-mail to read this subscriber-only article in full. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The second such study so far, the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016 started in April 2015 and took into account data from interviews with 6,126 Singaporeans and permanent residents. It’s taken by the wh… The SMHS 2016 aimed to (i) establish the 12-month and lifetime … February 16, 2018 betterkiddy Leave a comment. Photo: Alamy. Stress levels seem to be high in India compared to other countries, both developed and emerging, says a survey conducted by Cigna TTK Health Insurance. owes much to political, economic and cultural priorities, pastoral care and student responses to this pressure, creative and critical aspects of the curriculum, Education in Singapore: 1) Making sense of Singapore’s priorities. Background: Depression affects approximately 350 million people worldwide and is the world's leading cause of disability. An international study suggests that Singapore students, known worldwide for academic excellence, also experience high levels of anxiety and have been exposed to bullying. 35% of women said this compared to 29 percent of men. Education in Singapore: 3) Why do students like school? Nearly 75% of respondents here do not feel comfortable talking to a medical professional about their stress … Introducing hinge questions. Required fields are marked *. Bringing the Recovery Message to Residents in the North East - National Addictions Awareness Day 2018. This could be related to the fact that Singapore students were also more driven. For example, 66 per cent of students across all OECD countries said they were worried about poor grades at school, but among Singapore students, it was 86 per cent. Her multicultural background helps Wan to work closely with the Chinese international student group and understand their unique stress… Prevalence of Anxiety in College Students . 25.2. Sleep allows a student’s body and brain to recharge, and it helps to keep the immune system strong. In Singapore, there is an average of more than 1 suicide a day; in 2016, the total number of suicides was 429. More than two-fifths of employees said that they work more than 50 hours a week, the survey found. What makes professional development effective? We have high success rates, reflected by positive reviews on Facebook and Google. The following infographic revealed the key statistics across countries: Singaporean students achieve impressive results. One question asked if they wanted to be top of their class. "Research has shown that stress at appropriate levels can be a motivating force to energise us for the challenges we face. Learning from Singapore: The power of paradoxes. Singapore tracks students into different ‘streams’ at an early age.  Education is intended to prepare them for a role in Singapore’s economy (more here).  A 1978 report from Goh Keng Swee, then Deputy Prime Minister, argued that one-size-fits-all schools were failing to cater for students’ needs.  Singapore’s current approach is the result: tracking is designed to cater to individuals’ needs and to prepare them for work efficiently.  One percent of pupils enter a Gifted Education Programme in Grade 4 of primary school, but the key event is the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) at age twelve.  Students’ results permit access to schools (there is particular social capital attached to ‘brand name’ schools like Raffles Institution) and to streams within those schools – technical, academic or express.  The streams lead to different qualifications (or the same qualifications but at a different pace) and, in turn, access to vocational or higher education and to jobs.  It has become easier to move between streams if students do particularly well, but it remains unusual: Mary, a tuition centre owner, described the PSLE as judging students’ potential accurately. Furthering Research in Depression and Psychosis. We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. When asked to comment on the finding on test anxiety, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the 15-year-olds in Singapore who were surveyed comprised largely of Secondary 4 students preparing for their N- and O-level examinations. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. The gift link for this subscriber-only article has expired. Education in Singapore: 1) Making sense of Singapore’s priorities. Remaining posts: Why you can trust SCMP . Education in Singapore: 3) Why do students like school? Get the ST Smart Parenting newsletter for expert advice. What influences people? Why social justice matters. In Hong Kong, 32 per cent worked 51 … The next three posts explore students’ experiences of Singapore’s success.  This post examines stress, tuition and tracking.  Subsequent posts examine pastoral care and student responses to this pressure, and the creative and critical aspects of the curriculum.  I hope to show that the criticisms have merits, but risk blinding us to the achievements of Singaporean students and teachers. Singaporean students are learning a huge amount.  No credible analysis can dismiss this success lightly, nor ignore the opportunities this creates for individuals and society.  A curriculum designer also noted that success in schools is motivating for students. Singapore in Figures 2018 . "To get ahead, a student has to not only do well, but well above his peers. The National Youth Survey (NYS) is NYC's flagship survey that looks into the major concerns and issues of schooling and working youths in Singapore. Education in Singapore: 8) Borrowing policies for England? The study found that students who reported they wanted to do well in school performed better. The OECD average was 60 per cent. Common external sources of stress. Singapore seems particularly honest about the importance of educational success.  Students are under pressure to succeed at school because a comfortable life and choice of careers depends on passing the marshmallow test and working hard in school.  We can criticise Singapore for pressuring or tracking students, but the mechanism by which success can be achieved is at least relatively transparent and meritocratic. "The changes to the Primary School Leaving Examination scoring system and aptitude-based admission into post-secondary institutions are among the measures that will hopefully lessen anxiety and increase the enjoyment of learning among our students.". As of January 2018, number of social media users in Singapore have grown 9% since January 2017. 198402868E. No. In the light of this, our schools focus on helping students gain a wider perspective, looking beyond achievement, by helping them manage their expectations and understand their strengths and weaknesses. You have reached your limit of subscriber-only articles this month. Education in Singapore: 1) Recognising Singapore’s priorities. Link Copied. "Hence, while we are encouraged that our students are highly motivated to learn and achieve, we are cognisant that this must not come at the expense of their well-being," said the ministry, adding that schools put in much effort to help students understand the meaning of their learning, instead of focusing solely on their achievements. Improving teaching and learning: ideas for heads of department, 28 hinge questions to use, adapt and refine. Read 3 articles daily and stand to win ST rewards, including the ST News Tablet worth $398.  One critical teacher suggested we examine suicide rates.  Some interviewees also noted that the biggest pressure to succeed came from peers.  Yet, when I asked the three high school students what should be done, I received the same answer many teachers and students gave: educational success is critical; the pressure they feel is both temporary and necessary. Share gift link below with your friends and family. 3. They can read the article in full after signing up for a free account. National Institute of Education don Jason Tan said the finding on high anxiety levels is not out of step with a school system that uses exams to channel students into different secondary and post-secondary pathways. (Everyday Health) Everyday Health’s 2018 workplace stress stats show that over 30% of all respondents marked their job or careers as regular causes of stress. Rewarding students: should we? Education in Singapore: 6) “The best trained teachers in the world” Some 82 per cent said they did. Here are other statistics that examine the impact of anxiety on college students. 5 Mar 2018. Since educational results lead to different streams, parents do all they can to support their children, notably through tuition, “the partner for a student’s life”, in Mary’s words.  One parent suggested that up to 90% of children learn from the school syllabus in pre-school.  Another described empty desks in offices during exam season as mothers take leave to tutor their children.  While Mary had felt uncomfortable about tuition, she had learned “the hard way as a mum” that it was unavoidable, a ‘necessary evil’: she felt that schools do not cover PSLE material well enough, pitching teaching low so all students can succeed in lessons.  Schools ‘own’ their successes, but Mary argued that they do not realise the help that has gone into it: both schools and tuition centres publicise their students’ successes. The pressure students are under to work hard – from their peers, parents, culture and the economy, and themselves – is part of this success.  Rising standards and pressure on students have a reciprocal effect: pressure on students increases standards, increasing standards add pressure.  As Brian Barry noted, education is a ‘positional good’: “in the job market, what matters is not how much education you have but how much you have in relation to others (2005, p.176).”  Students who want a choice of career must learn more than their peers: rising standards push them to work harder; tuition and societal pressure are consequences of this, as well as causes.  If Singaporean education is an escalator, students must climb faster and faster, as their peers race around them and the escalator accelerates. To date, the time-series study has been conducted in 2002, 2005, 2010, 2013 and 2016. On average, the most motivated students scored the equivalent of more than one school year higher in Pisa than the least motivated ones. One question that the 5,825 Singapore students who were polled did not have to answer was on how satisfied they were with life, but their responses to the other questions revealed that most were anxious about tests and grades. The PSLEconstitutes the first major hurdle of the doe-eyed student. Conscious of the importance of education to their futures, likely receiving tutoring, students are under pressure to achieve.  Stress was the first thing three high school students mentioned in describing the Singaporean system.  One parent said that she thought “children are generally very miserable”: her daughter had visited Europe and seen how much less students her age do there – now she wanted to emigrate.  Another parent reported being asked why her son did not know the alphabet already: “He’s four: he should be playing!”  A third suggested that while early-childhood education was enjoyable and secondary schools were creative, primary school was rigid. A Singapore Government Agency Website. The study employed the same methodology as the first survey initiated in 2010. Our clients range from PSLE students, working professionals and even retirees. Only about 8 percent reported low or very low stress levels. Regarding the correlation between motivation and stress, it acknowledged both sides of the coin. Singapore students may be topping the charts in mathematics, science and reading, but it is exacting a heavy emotional price on them. Students who don’t have healthy sleeping habits or don’t get enough sleep at night are more likely to feel stressed than students who get plenty of sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. "Ultimately, stress and anxiety is a personal response arising from one's expectations and the ability to manage challenges. 16% of adults said they had self-harmed as a result of stress. 5. 11 Dec 2018. IMH Nurses Celebrate 90 Years of Psychiatric Nursing. That so many college students are affected by anxiety is not surprising. By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy. This will also help our students develop more resilient and positive mindsets.". Cambridge, Polity. Latest nationwide study shows 1 in 7 people in Singapore has experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime 3 Aug 2018. Singaporean children deal with exam stress and extracurricular lesson from primary school. Education in Singapore: 8) Borrowing policies for England? 39% of 18-24 year-olds said this compared to 25 percent of adults aged 55 and over. 9 Mar 2018. 32% of adults said they had experienced suicidal feelings as a result of stress. Specifying behaviour change techniques, Identifying effective professional development: forms and mechanisms, Blended learning – a reflection on the past six weeks, How do you catch coronavirus? So it is not surprising that our students are anxious about exams and grades," he said, noting that in recent years, the MOE has introduced various measures to lessen stress and anxiety.