The Ministry of Education oversees the educational policy in Singapore. It is in charge of the regulation of both private and public schools operating in the country. The country is highly educated; about 20% of Singapore's GDP is spent on education and the literacy rate is 95.4%.
From the ages three to six children can go to kindergarten, which has three different stages (one each of the three years). Kindergartens are all private schools. Children typically attend five days a week for three to four hours a day. The educational focus is on basic skills that are needed for success during the next level of schooling, primary education.
Children enter primary education which is mandatory around the age of six. This portion of schooling lasts for six years. A student may chose to receive their primary education from either a private school or a public school. To get through primary education, the student needs to pass the PSLE or Primary School Leaving Examination. This examination is also used to place students into different secondary schools which have four different “tracks”.
Depending on what “track” the student is in, secondary schooling can range from four to five years. At the end of secondary schooling, most students take a test that measures success in each one of the six academic fields the student has studied. A one is a perfect score for a field, so a six is a top score for the examination.
After secondary education, students may choose to continue studying at a Junior College. Here there are both public and private. The public schools generally require a monthly fee of around S$30 per student. There are also scholarships and subsidies offered from the government based on academic performance and family income. This provides an additional two or three year pre-education route students take to increase their chances of getting accepted to university. Between both public and private schools, only 15-20% of students pursue this option.
There are a number of world-class national universities in Singapore. In addition, there are a number of international institutions that have established campuses there: such as INSEAD, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and Duke University.