Singapore's educational administration model has not copied the British model, but has experienced the evolution from local decentralization to centralization. This is not accidental, but the inevitable result of the development of Singapore's economy and multicultural society, and also the inevitable result of its educational management development.

(1) background, advantages and disadvantages

Before self-government, the long-term rule of Britain and the trampling of Japan for three years made Singapore under the leadership of the People's Action Party face the mess left over by colonialism: economic backwardness, population expansion, serious unemployment and low people's living standards.

Secondly, there is a shortage of basic consumer goods and a large balance of payments deficit; What's more, during the colonial period, the people's mental outlook was decadent and their national consciousness was weak. This makes the government face to abolish and reform the old system, develop the economy and cultivate all kinds of

All kinds of talents at all levels are a severe challenge to enhance the cohesion of the country and the nation. Therefore, only by vigorously developing education, and to develop education, education can only be managed and controlled by the state and centralized, which is conducive to mobilizing the whole society.

The enthusiasm of the people, concentrate the country's manpower, material resources and financial resources to run education, increase the enrollment rate of children nationwide, implement universal education, change the situation that education was only occupied by a few privileged people in the past, and cultivate the urgency of national construction.

Need a lot of talents. If education is only occupied and served by a few people, the development of education will be seriously restricted and the interests of the country will be harmed.

Singapore has a small land area of only 626 square kilometers, and 90% of its population is concentrated in Singapore, which is actually a "city country". The integration of the state and the city will also be conducive to the implementation of a highly centralized educational administrative management model, which will put education in all parts of the country under the management of the Ministry of Education.

13. From the special national conditions of multi-ethnic groups in Singapore, adopting a highly centralized system to manage the education of all ethnic groups is conducive to making the original four schools: English School, Chinese School, Indian School and Malay School uneven.

Uneven and unbalanced education is placed under the unified leadership of the state, thus narrowing the gap and helping to establish a harmonious multi-ethnic and cultural. If Malays are allowed to compete freely with other ethnic groups, such as Chinese with a good educational foundation,

Developing education by market regulation, rather than centralized leadership by the state, will inevitably lead to Malay education becoming more and more backward and at a competitive disadvantage, thus widening the gap with other ethnic groups, which is not conducive to national unity.

Conducive to the formation of national consciousness. In fact, through the overall arrangement of the state, the state has always adopted economic preferential policies and educational preferential policies for Malays, such as allocating funds to the promotion committees of Malay communities for Malay college students.

Set up more scholarships than other ethnic groups. Consciously improve the cultural quality of the Malay nation.

Centralized system is conducive to the overall arrangement of the country, focusing on the development of a number of specialties and disciplines necessary for national construction, such as shipbuilding, ship repair, electronic appliances, tourism, construction, etc., which can directly bring economic benefits to Singapore.

Applied major with economic benefits. The National University of Singapore has trained a large number of high-level scientific research and applied talents for more than ten years and has become the most important training base for advanced talents in building the country. At present, it is not only first-class in China.

University, and ranked 57th in the global ranking of 100 universities (1992), becoming one of the internationally renowned universities. The rapid development of national universities depends on the direct leadership of the Ministry of Education, which represents the country.

The guidance and management of the state has poured its financial resources into it, providing a strong financial guarantee for its development, and at the same time ensuring its rapid development through the state's principles and policies.

Of course, with the development of education, economy and society, the centralized educational administration mode will inevitably produce some disadvantages that are not suitable for the development situation. If it is highly centralized, it is inevitable that the whole country will be across the board.

March in a hurry, regardless of the actual situation in all parts of the country, killing diversity and differences; Too much management of education by the state is not conducive to the macro-management of education by the state, nor to the self-initiative of schools.

Sexual and creative games. In addition, due to the vertical leadership of the Ministry of Education on education, information transmission is slow, generally only top-down information transmission, and there is little bottom-up information transmission, which makes communication between superiors and subordinates difficult and affects education.

The decision-making and planning of ministries also affect management efficiency.

(2) Reform and development trend

Based on the above reasons and changes in the political and economic situation at home and abroad, Singapore's Ministry of Education was reorganized twice in 1979 and in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which made the organization of the Ministry of Education increasingly lean and efficient, more conducive to the scientific and institutionalized principles, policies, rules and regulations, and at the same time changed its functions to help grass-roots units play their enthusiasm and creativity.

For example, 1979 The reorganization of the Ministry of Education has three characteristics:

One is to set up a system department under the Planning and Inspection Bureau, whose functions are not only to formulate policy planning and development plans and improve the functions of information systems, but also to assist the school bureau in implementing development plans and making necessary reforms to the education system;

Secondly, the school bureau is composed of professionals or experts;

Thirdly, the Singapore Curriculum Development Center (CDIS) was established and the Education Development Board was abolished. 198 1 the first deputy prime minister and minister of education declared that "the newly reorganized Ministry of Education is ready to implement professional leadership", that is, the Education University.

Greatly improved the professional level of education management of the Ministry of Education, and gradually moved from amateur leadership to expert leadership. At the same time, since 1980, the basic management principle adopted by the Ministry of Education is to give schools autonomy as much as possible.

Increase the autonomy and flexibility of schools;

On the other hand, it is also conducive to the macro-management function of the Ministry of Education, that is, leading the overall principles and policies, while the micro-management power is delegated to schools. In this way, 198 1 February, the Ministry of Education established the school committee again.

General meeting. The establishment of the school committee marks an important first step of Singapore's education administration from centralization to decentralization. Because the current education management system has two weaknesses:

The first is too obedient;

The second is to keep secrets too much. In 198 1, the Minister of Education clearly stated these two shortcomings: "Obedience is undoubtedly the most rude form of obedience to superiors, and at the same time, subordinates are required to obey their words without any counterattack."

Divorce is considered disloyalty. Many examples show that it is impossible for junior officials to know some secret materials. "They are not conducive to information exchange between superiors and subordinates. The establishment of the school Committee has solved this problem well. This quilt

The school committee, called by the Minister of Education as "the only activity for the public to participate in the management decision-making process of the Ministry of Education", has the following advantages:

(1) Give the decision makers of the Ministry of Education the opportunity to have regular and free dialogue with the grass-roots leaders of the school;

Because of convenient communication, grassroots leaders can better understand the thinking and basis of the Ministry of Education in formulating policies;

(3) Horizontal information and exchange of views have strengthened the connection between schools.

In the 1980s, Singapore was implementing the "Second Industrial Revolution" plan, with the goal of transforming into technology-intensive industries, realizing computerization and automation, and further improving labor productivity. This requires the government

Including the Ministry of Education, can better adapt to the ever-changing economic and social environment. The increasingly dynamic and complex environment requires the Ministry of Education to strengthen macro leadership and gradually expand the autonomy of schools.

Therefore, the focus of education management in the 1980s was to emphasize the leadership and management functions of school principals. 1987 February, the report entitled "Pursuing School Excellence" was published.

Another important milestone is the decentralization of the education power of the Ministry of Education and the further increase of the power of school principals. This report is from June 1986 1 1 to mid-February, after 12 senior principals were sent by the Ministry of Education to visit Britain and the United States.

Written by research. Many suggestions in this report were called by the Ministry of Education as "largely the result of school principals, not the collective result of the Ministry of Education" and adopted by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the Ministry of Education announced the further decentralization of education power.

Education administration. In the context of the school, this means that the principal will play a greater role and have more authority and responsibility, which is the key factor for the school to play its initiative and creativity. Like 1988, the previous religion

Chen Qingyan, Minister of Education, said: "The Ministry of Education must provide the basic framework and resources. How to give full play to their advantages depends on the principals and teachers of the school. The idea of school reform and the formulation of school internal policies are the first.

After weighing, manage resources correctly, etc. It's each school's own business.

This is the so-called "bottom-up" method.

The significance of the method) ... "... Of course, this method poses a new high challenge to the principal, as the highest official of the school, in his leadership position in the professional and management fields. So decentralization is the same.

At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the management skills training for principals and leading bodies in order to improve their comprehensive quality.

In the 1990s, that is, the last decade of the 20th century, how to deal with the challenges faced by 2 1 century education is another problem that the Ministry of Education must face. Therefore, in the 1990s, Singapore's Ministry of Education was reorganized to better

Effectively lead national education. Part of the responsibilities of the former functional departments of the Ministry of Education: Education Service Bureau and Planning Information Bureau have been readjusted and planned, and renamed as Information Service Bureau and Curriculum Planning Bureau. This reorganization is not

In order to meet the challenge of high-tech and international competition in the 2 1 century, modern management means and methods and the modernization of course content are often emphasized.

In addition, in the formulation of the principles and policies of the Ministry of Education, more emphasis is placed on developing in a flexible direction that can give full play to students' personal potential, and more attention is paid to imparting basic knowledge so that students can enjoy a higher quality education. Push

Privatizing school management, developing independent schools, improving the quality of independent schools and giving them greater autonomy and flexibility will be one of the goals that the Ministry of Education has been striving to achieve throughout the 1990s. In addition, the Ministry of Education also

Relax the administrative and financial management of non-autonomous schools. All these will make the school more dynamic and train students more competitive.

Singapore's educational administration model has undergone a transformation from decentralized system to centralized system, and in the process of implementing centralized system, it has been continuously reformed and developed in the direction of giving full play to its advantages and overcoming its disadvantages. that is

The combination of centralization and the expansion of school autonomy has made centralization move towards democratization, and gradually changed from relying solely on administrative leadership to relying on legal and scientific leadership, which has adapted to the development of educational administrative management mode in the world.

Exhibition trend, is about to develop from the poles of centralization and decentralization to the middle.