Lifelong Learning in Singapore: A Multifunctional Agenda
Tan Choo Kok, Anderson MA in Lifelong Learning 2011
Institute of Education University of London
This dissertation may be made available to the general public for borrowing, photocopying or consultation without the prior consent of the author. Word Count: 21779
To cite this Article: Anderson, T (2011) 'Lifelong learning in Singapore: a multifunctional agenda', biipmi Journal Online, 2013.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Paul Morris and Dr Christine Han, who are both my Supervisors for this MA dissertation, for their unwavering guidance, encouragement, and support throughout this period. I would also like to thank all other tutors of the Institute of Education who had flown all the way to Singapore to provide guidance, knowledge, insights and inspiration into the realm of lifelong learning. These tutors were: Professor Andy Green, Dr Kaori Okumoto, Dr Norman Lucas, Dr Tony Nasta, Dr Andrea Creech, Professor Michael Young, Dr David Guile, Dr Jane Green, Professor Andrew Brown, Dr Will Gibson, and Mr Charlie Owen.
I am grateful too to the Institute of Adult Learning (IAL) of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), for the wonderful support in hosting this MA LLL, as well as the much appreciated part course fee subsidy and also research funding.
Special thanks to Gog Soon Joo, Executive Director of IAL for her encouragements throughout the programme, and my highly inspirational course-mates, without whom this MALLL programme would not have been as intellectually stimulating.
I would also like to thank my colleagues at XpRienz Pte Ltd for their kind understanding in taking over my work commitments during this period.
Last, but not least, I would like to give thanks to Lord Jesus for the periodic moments of epiphany through this MA LLL programme, as well as during writing of the dissertation.
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ABSTRACT Lifelong learning (hereafter abbreviated as LL) has been employed by many governments to manage a wide spectrum of issues. Depictions of LL in East Asia, especially Singapore, have stressed its role as a government-led initiative for up-skilling the workforce. There is little analysis of the use of LL to tackle other socio-economic or socio-political challenges. It is thus the aim of this research to add to this body of knowledge by showing that the LL phenomenon has been used for a range of purposes to tackle a diversity of issues in Singapore, especially as a response to the economic crisis in the year 2008 – 2009. Of particular interest are the public policies introduced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in Singapore which will be examined through publicly available data such as published ministerial speeches, policy documents and newspaper articles. The data will be analysed to identify the purposes and consistency of LL frameworks used by MOM in the areas of policy intentions, and actions.
Existing literature on LL in Singapore (see Ashton, Green, et. al. 2002 and Kumar, 2004) have portrayed the main intention of LL policy as being to raise the skills of workers to meet the effects of economic transformation and globalisation. However, I will argue that the LL strategy has also been used by the Singapore government to manage an acute but short-lived severe unemployment situation during the global recession in 2008/2009. This LL policy has since evolved into a new welfare mechanism known as Workfare for older low-skilled lowwage workers. These are distinctive applications of LL with great potential for implementation by other countries as complimentary social support systems for their citizens.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
i
ABSTRACT
ii
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Research Questions 1.3 Objectives and Significance 1.4 Structure of Dissertation 1.5 Conclusion
1 1 2 2 4 4
CHAPTER 2 - METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Research Design 2.3 Data Collection 2.4 Research Analysis 2.5 Conclusion
5 5 5 7 8 11
CHAPTER 3 - LITERATURE ANALYSIS 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The Concept of Lifelong Learning 3.2.1 Historical Perspective 3.2.2 Rationalisation of Lifelong Learning 3.2.2.1 Lifelong Learning as Rhetoric and Discourse 3.2.2.2 Lifelong Learning as Policy 3.3 Lifelong Learning Models 3.3.1 Market-led Model 3.3.2 Socio-partner Model 3.3.3 State-led Model 3.4 Lifelong Learning Objectives 3.4.1 Personal Development 3.4.2 Active Citizenship 3.4.3 Social Cohesion 3.4.4 Skills Formation and Economic Competitiveness 3.4.5 Social and Political Stability 3.5 Conclusion
13 13 14 14 19 19 21 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 28 35 44 50
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CHAPTER 4 - DOCUMENT ANALYSIS 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Historical Perspective 4.3 Lifelong Learning Agendas 4.3.1 The Social Welfare Agenda 4.3.2 Economic Development Agenda 4.4 Policy Action Embracing Lifelong Learning 4.4.1 Formulation of SPUR 4.5 Stakeholders 4.5.1 Tri-Partism 4.5.2 Championing Lifelong Learning Policy 4.6 Conclusion
52 52 53 59 59 61 64 64 69 69 70 71
CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Summary of the Research 5.3 Limitations of the Research 5.4 Recommendations for Future Research
73 73 73 75 76
REFERENCES
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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
According to Griffin (2008), the functions of education have evolved from understanding physical and metaphysical phenomena and social interactions, to preparing one for employment, to the most recent concept of long term employability. Correspondingly, we see the evolution of the term recurrent education to lifelong education, and more recently, LL and even lifewide learning. Over the past decade, due to globalisation and the advent of the knowledge economy, coupled with ageing demographics, many developed countries have taken drastic measures to implement LL policies to tackle social and economic issues. Griffin (1999) therefore argues that this shift signifies substantive development from a conceptual to a policy-oriented approach. The European countries in general have been very actively promoting LL to achieve the following objectives: (a) personal development and improved quality of life; (b) social equity and cohesion; and (c) economic competitiveness (Green, 2000). Green (2000) argues that these objectives have been fulfilled through three models, based on their core organisational principles: (a) market-led model; (b) socialpartnership model; and (c) state-led model. Although these objectives seem universal, Schuetze argued that “countries do not simply implement concepts developed elsewhere but national governments pick and choose those elements that fit their own political agendas and benefit their main constituencies, interest groups and voters� (Schuetze, 2006: 300).
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The questions which this research study will be addressing are: how has LL been used in Singapore by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and for what purposes has it been used?
My interest in this area of research arose as my academic studies of LL revealed that it is more than just developing systems or pedagogies to allow adult learners to participate in continuing learning. That was my very infant understanding of what LL is. I have since come to realise that LL has multi-faceted purposes, which in turn affect the policies that guide these very purposes. I am intrigued by how rapidly Singapore has adopted and adapted LL, and although the model is primarily state-led, Singapore has devised various policies to shape the LL landscape in the country. One facet of LL that has acutely captured my attention is the use of LL as a tool for social stabilisation. As an adult educator, I have observed that the scale, type and funding of LL programmes administered depend very much on the purposes they are being used for as well. As such, it should be of interest to the research community to be aware of the less publicised purposes of LL employed by the Singapore government, and the effects of the schemes administered. These are not adequately recognised in the literature which has so far portrayed LL policies in Singapore as economically driven with little mention of the social objectives of LL.
OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE
Academics in many European countries have, for the past three decades, been researching intensely on the impact of LL on policies, but those in Asian countries only started such
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research at the beginning of the 21st century. Edgar Faure first published the ‘Learning to Be’ report in 1972, which at that time was regarded as the founding document for the concept of ‘Lifelong Education’ (Faure, 1972). Consequent to this report, organisations like the OECD, the Council of Europe, and the World Bank, published their own policy documents advocating learning beyond the youthful years and beyond educational institutions. Following the report by OECD in 1996 entitled ‘Lifelong Learning for All’ (OECD, 1996a), Europe became the centre of research on LL. The research interests then were very varied, focusing on different aspects of LL, ranging from interpretations of the concept of LL, objectives, models, systems, and even the curriculum of LL. Not surprisingly, many of these studies highlighted Western perspectives. In the Asian context of the late 20th century, LL centred primarily on adult education linked to literacy and non-formal education to achieve economic objectives. It was not till the turn of the 20th century that Asian countries followed the footsteps of the European counterparts to put political will to promoting LL. This can be seen in the conference proceedings published by UNESCO in 2002 titled ‘Institutionalising Lifelong Learning: Creating Conducive Environments for Adult Learning in the Asian Context’ (UIE, 2002). This was followed closely by the ILO (2003) report released during the ILO Regional Tripartite Meeting in Bangkok in 2003. Singapore took a step by forming a dedicated government agency, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) in 2003 to look into developing a continuing education and training system as part of its LL strategy. It is the objective of this research to contribute a different perspective to the body of research in LL, and particularly, to highlight certain distinctive uses of LL that have not been central to coverage in the existing literature. What will be presented will go beyond the standard focus of LL on manpower and skills development which has very much dominated the literature, especially in Singapore. The findings of the research are significant as they
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could be used as a reference by other governments considering the use of LL to tackle related social concerns, or employ similar strategies to augment their social welfare or safety systems.
STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION
This dissertation is divided into five chapters. This chapter is the introductory chapter. Chapter Two will present the methodology and methods used in this research. Chapter Three is the Literature Analysis, which will explore in detail, in existing literature, the development of LL from rhetoric to policy, as well as the various models to achieve different national objectives. Chapter Four will present the Document Analysis of various documents to support the findings that LL can be used to achieve the social and political stabilising objectives when the severe global recession in 2008/2009 threatened Singapore’s economy, resulting in potentially high unemployment. Chapter Five will conclude this dissertation by summarising the findings, and discuss the limitations and prospects for further research.
SUMMARY
LL has evolved over the past three decades from the concept of education to learning, reflecting the shift for greater personal responsibility in managing the rapidly changing continuing education landscape. The turn of the millennium witnessed the most active proliferation of LL at the policy level across many countries. Different models of LL came into being, to achieve various objectives. These will be further discussed in Chapter Three. But for this dissertation, I will be exploring how LL has been employed in Singapore as a policy for social and political stabilisation particularly during the period of high economic uncertainty and high unemployment in the 2008/2009 period. -4-
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CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY AND METHODS
INTRODUCTION
To examine how Singapore has implemented LL, and to weigh this against the policy intentions and actions, it is necessary to provide a historical perspective to the development of LL over the years in Singapore. To map out this development requires going through policy papers and publicly released documents as well as news articles. However, to understand the policy intents and actions and relate that to the implementation of the LL polices, there is a need to critically analyse published reports, press releases, ministerial speeches and research reports, and understand the contexts in which these texts and talks were made.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The first part of the research, presented in Chapter Three, involved an extensive literature study to map out the key developments of LL as documented by academics. The emphasis of Chapter Two is to present the theories and perspectives of LL from existing literature on LL, which will then form the basis for situating the research questions argued in this dissertation. The literature analysed comprised mainly of published academic texts, international policy documents, as well as some international research reports.
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The second part of the research, presented in Chapter Four, involved an in-depth document analysis based on Singapore’s context. To examine the implementation of LL by any government of a country is a very broad study, as a democratic government would comprise of the executive, legislative and judiciary organs and each organ might implement LL differently, and with different intentions. As it is probably the first attempt to perform a systematic study on policy intentions, actions and implementation at the organs-of-state level, only one ministry, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) was looked at in this research, mainly due to resource (viz. time) limitations. This is to allow for more focused and in-depth study. MOM is selected because of its jurisdiction over manpower related issues, and LL policies have the greatest impact on the adult population, a significant portion of which are concerned with employment and employability issues. LL, which is an alternative to the front-loaded model used on education of the youths, has been a central theme of MOM over the past decade, and many government policies have been established based on this. To focus the research even more, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) was examined. SWDA was formed in 2003 with the intention of re-skilling the workforce to meet the demands of a fast changing economy and labour-market. Hence for this research, I looked at how and what functions MOM employs LL for, by examining its policy intentions, and related those to the intended actions, and finally how the policies are actually carried out at the ground level through the efforts of SWDA and other associated stakeholders (commercial enterprises and social partners). Attention was placed on identifying the reasons for which LL is being used by MOM, and how LL programmes are affected by the purposes.
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DATA COLLECTION
Data for the document analysis were collected through an extensive review of published policy texts which included press releases, ministerial speeches, strategy documents, curriculum documents, consultation documents, web content, research reports, published reports, government statistics, and newspaper articles. An article would be considered as a valid policy text for use in this study if it contained any of the following key words: (i) lifelong learning (ii) adult education (iii) continuing education (iv) adult training (v) lifelong education (vii) CET (Continuing Education and Training). Since the study sample had been confined to just one ministry, snowball sampling (Sudman and Kalton, 1986) to saturation (Emery, Lee, Curry, Johnson, & Sporer, 2010) was used to collect the data. This meant that if a concept was found to be relevant to the research, I would attempt to find out more data on that concept through the various policy texts till the texts were exhausted, or till new texts only contribute marginal further insights. Even though they were only from one ministry, the amount of data was still very voluminous. As such, the snowball sampling was conducted in two tiers: Tier 1 comprised of official documents (ministerial speeches and web contents). Tier 2 comprised of relevant published academic reports and newspaper articles. What this entailed was that as much of the online data sources from MOM websites were checked, and those whereby LL is mentioned were catalogued; and from there, other referenced sources were also examined, and general trends of LL implementation and programmes were drawn. Other than these primary data, secondary data such as demographics or economic statistics were also sourced to further substantiate arguments where the primary data was not sufficient. These secondary data are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the LL policies used in tackling the distinctive social concerns. These data were sourced from relevant government websites, such as MOM (for employment statistics), Ministry of Community Development, -7-
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Youth and Sports (for social welfare statistics), and Ministry of Trade and Industry (for other economic statistics).
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
The data collected were read as text and analysed as discourse. Trowler (2003) differentiates the two by analysing policy from the ‘bottom up’ and the ‘top down’ approaches respectively. Analysing policy as text would be working from ‘bottom up’, analysing for “points of contestation and change, as it is negotiated in practice” (Appleby and Bathmaker, 2006). Analysing policy as discourse is a ‘top down’ approach, whereby the language used is scrutinised to understand the structures the policy is trying to create. Ozga (2000) adds to this policy analysis by highlighting that there is a distinction between research for policy which fixates the policy agenda, and research on policy, which takes a critical view on policies. Policy research is therefore neither neutral nor free from value of the researcher. This dissertation is a research on policy.
Since policy analysis is only driven by the insight of the researcher, rather than the research participants (which in this case there was none, as the research participants (policy texts) do not respond to any interrogation!), to provide a robust analysis, I adapted the analytical framework constructed by Hodgson and Spours (2006). Her framework comprises of four related dimensions for “policy engagement” or policy-making – political eras; the education state; the policy process and the concept of “political space”, focusing on the postcompulsory 14 – 19 education segment. She suggests that the framework could also be used for other areas of education policy. However, as I will be analysing LL policies and actions -8-
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rather than the process of policy making, I adapted Hodgson’s four dimensions according to the following framework:
The first dimension on political eras looks at the historical perspective and broader contextual analysis, particularly on significant moments and the ideological basis in the policy process. Hodgson suggests that this can be done by studying the societal and political developments when using the historical perspective. For the purpose of this research, the “political era” that I considered is framed by the advent of globalisation in the late 1990s; the four economic downturns that hit Singapore in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2008/09, as well as the formation of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency in 2003.
The second dimension on the “education state” can be envisaged as the effect or response of the political era. For this dimension, I looked at the LL agendas by studying the setting up of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) and the roles of other stakeholders (such as expanded roles of social partners like the trade unions); the implementation of the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) as the LL strategy; as well as the Workfare schemes.
The third dimension of the framework looks at the policy-making process from formulation to implementation. This is the complex and messy part of the analysis as commented by Hodgson and Spours: It recognises that below the level of political and ideological intentions and within the education state, there are a complex set of actions and players that contribute to the policy process. This part of the analytical framework has to be able to accommodate and explain inequalities in the exercise of power, why crises occur, how new ideas -9-
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enter the policy process and the relationship between policy and practice. (Hodgson and Spours, 2006: 688)
However, this third dimension is not that relevant in my study, as this research does not look at policy-making process but on policy intents and actions. Hence, for this dimension, I looked at the policy actions for LL instead, focusing on the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), as well as the Workfare schemes, which comprise of the Workfare Training Scheme (WTS), and the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme, two potent policies formulated by the government to tackle the acute and highly uncertain unemployment situation as well as the widening knowledge and consequent income-gap between low-skilled and high-skilled workers.
The fourth dimension of “political space” is about the access that various stakeholders have in influencing the policy process. Access to the political space can be through “battle of ideas”; intentional reform process; unintentional process (for example due to crises) or could be reinforced by “tipping debates” (Hodgson and Spours, 2006: 690) which is similar to the thresholds hypothesis proposed by Jamison and Lau (1982) and discussed in Chapter Two. This fourth dimension is also not as relevant for this research, as the stakeholders (tri-partite partners as referred to in this research) are not involved in the policy-making process but more on the administration of certain policies. Hence, for this dimension, I looked at how the Singapore government allowed various stakeholders such as the trade unions and industry partners access to the policy-administration process through the tri-partite arrangement to enhance the LL policy inclusion and adoption.
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The findings in this research will be used to analyse how the discourse of LL has been used in Singapore by the MOM and for what purposes LL has been used. The data will also be used to understand whether such a vertical analysis using organs-of-state approach to LL implementation would be able to yield new insights.
I am aware that there might be some weaknesses inherent in this research. The key challenge is access to data. There is no doubt that while the data collected, which are primary or secondary data from published or official sources, are readily verifiable and accurate; their validity to the thesis might be arguable. This is because to analyse political intent is not an easy task, as the context in which the document is prepared and presented has to be understood, and this can prove to be daunting. To mitigate this, I used data from various other sources (e.g. economic, demographic, and other publicly available statistics) to triangulate and substantiate the arguments.
CONCLUSION
To conduct a research on the policy intent and implementation of LL will be a challenging task, particularly when LL is such a loosely defined concept internationally, and in Singapore as well. Although there might be a large amount of literature on LL, such information might be limited when it pertains to Singapore’s context. Access to policy texts might be difficult, and opinions can only be based on publicly available texts, which might only present limited insights into policy intentions and actions. It is hoped that through using the adapted Hodgson’s analytical framework for the document analysis, I will be able to highlight certain distinctive features of LL actions in Singapore, and their associated dilemmas. This study - 11 -
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will be based on publicly available information gathered mainly from the Ministry of Manpower, and other supporting agencies.
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CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
The concept of LL, simple as it seems, has shown itself to be complex and intriguing. Its multi-faceted characteristics have drawn much analysis from academics, manipulation by politicians, and marketisation by enterprises. It has also evolved over the past two decades, and is still establishing its foothold in many countries, being used by various stakeholders to pursue different agendas.
In this chapter, I will look at the development of the LL concept, drawing references from European, as well as Asian countries, with particular emphasis on its adoption and interpretation in Singapore in Chapter Four. I will trace the historical perspective of LL, and explore the rationalisation of LL as rhetoric, discourse, and policy. There will then be a critical analysis of the various LL models, viz. market-led model, socio-partnership model, and the state-led model, as well as the objectives of LL such as personal development, social equity and cohesion, and economic competitiveness. It is at this juncture that the less explored LL objective of social stability will be discussed, which will form the basis for this dissertation.
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THE CONCEPT OF LIFELONG LEARNING
Historical Perspective
It may seem puzzling as to why it is of interest to trace the historical development of the concept of LL. Indeed, learning itself is not a recent concept, being around as long as the human civilisation has been in existence. It is also obvious that people learn throughout their lives; and from conscious efforts to as sub-conscious as walking and breathing. The interest is in how something so common, has actually garnered so much limelight in the political context in the recent few decades, and how the term LL has gotten to where it is today – a term that has permeated the education, social and economic policies of many countries. Fieldhouse (1996) puts forth a critical review of the historical development of adult education in Britain. Although it cannot be said to be internationally representative, the historical trends observed in Britain as she evolved her adult education systems are very useful in juxtaposing against how Singapore developed given the colonial heritage. In the 18th and 19th century, education was a privileged lifestyle accorded only to the elite youths of the society. Arguably the most structured form of education then was provided for the masses by the churches through their Sunday School systems, which aimed to: furnish opportunities of instruction to the children of the poorer part of the parish, without interfering with any industry of the weekdays ‌ the children are to be taught to read and to be instructed in the plain duties of the Christian religion, with a particular view to their good and industrious behavior in their future character of labourers and servants (Sylvester, 1970, cited by Fieldhouse, 1996)
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This utilitarian approach towards education was greatly exacerbated with the arrival of the industrial revolution in the early 19th century, not only for the youths, but also for adults who had missed the opportunity to be adequately schooled. The industrial revolution fundamentally transformed the British society into an economic machine, and the need for a radically different type of workforce that could handle complex machines. With an increasing need to educate the workforce to be able to read instructional manuals, the challenge of providing a higher level of general education to the working class raised a political dimension. In a parliamentary debate in 1807, Member of Parliament Davies Giddy argued that broad scale education of the working poor might result in them being more conscious of their lot and their rights, and subsequently lead to social tensions. However, the demands of industrialisation over-ruled potential political consequences, and many employers, together with the employees themselves and other philanthropists, contributed to the development of educational outfits to prepare mechanics for their industrial roles (Fieldhouse, 1996:2). The employees saw the benefits of higher salary with better skills, while employers saw the benefits of having employees who could better handle their equipment.
Other than the dramatic transformation of the production systems brought about by the industrial revolutions, many aspects of Britain’s society also underwent major restructuring. From division of labour and formation of class strata, the creation and polarisation of wealth, to the emergence of new knowledge and technologies, there was a stronger intellectual desire to manage the rapidly changing environments. Fieldhouse (1996:3) argues that this further lent credence to the drift from the laissez-faire, self-help ethos which largely characterised the earlier part of the nineteenth century towards a comprehensive system of collectivist intervention by
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the end of the century and, in the 20th century, to the growth of the welfare state… allowing greater centralised planning “for the good of the nation”. (1996:3)
This drift represented an ideological shift, which saw the state investing in massive educational systems in the mid 19th century till the present. This shift from individualistic self-help to state controlled education was mainly to enable Britain to be more competitive industrially, as other European countries as well as the United States of America rose in power. It took the two world wars to contribute to changes in the way adult education evolved. There was a new trend then that adult education was taking on the role of developing citizenship, helping to build national identity and community. This was especially so when the Cold War erupted in the mid 20th century and the threat of communism was perceived to justify the need for intensified ideological control. As the USA rose in strength against the communist states, Britain lost her industrial supremacy, resulting in rising unemployment in Britain. The oil shock in 1973 saw rapid inflation, deepening unemployment, and massive deskilling of the workforce as manufacturing slumped. While the British government saw the need for adult education to be more vocational so as to revive the manufacturing economy, the rapid rise of the knowledge industry and globalisation gave adult education yet another new dimension to tackle.
Faure (1972), in his influential report ‘Learning to Be’, first mentioned the term LL alongside terms like ‘adult education’ and ‘recurrent education’. His approach to LL was less focused on promoting economic goals, but rather on how LL could be used to enhance the personal development of the individual as well as his social commitment. It became a term that gained wide political acceptance internationally, as it encompasses many aspects of earlier educational concepts pertaining to adult training and education. For example Britain, along - 16 -
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with the European Union, designated 1996 as the ‘Year for LL’, while Taiwan declared theirs two years later, “not to mention the stream of government policy documents from the UK and elsewhere which use the term ‘LL’ in their titles and liberally throughout their pages” (Hodgson, 2000). Hodgson (2000) further argues that another reason why the LL term is so popular with politicians is because “it can be tailored to the particular requirements of the country or organisation from which the policy document originates” (ibid. 2000:2). This can be seen in the OECD report (1996a) which used LL to encompass all aspects of education from pre-school and span across to adult education. On the contrary, The Learning Age (DfEE, 1998a) prefered to look at LL at a systems approach for post compulsory schooling period targeted at work-related learning, and also excludes all forms of informal learning. The Commission of the European Community (CEC) (1994) recognised in 1994 that in order to tackle the demands of the knowledge economy, All measures must therefore be necessarily based on the concept of development, generalising and systemising LL and continuing training. This means that education and training systems must be reworked in order to take account of the need – which is already growing and is set to grow even more in the future – for the permanent recomposition and redevelopment of knowledge and know-how. (CEC, 1994:136)
It can be observed that the initial uses of lifelong education and LL focused more on personal development over the lifetime, and less on economic goals. It was near the turn of the 20th century that LL uses in the political arena began to show a more pronounced economic slant.
In Singapore LL was probably first officially mentioned in 1997 when the former Education Minister, Mr Teo Chee Hean mentioned: - 17 -
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Our Masterplan for IT in education will have four goals. First, to enhance linkages between the school and the world around it, so as to expand and enrich the learning environment. Second, to encourage creative thinking and lifelong learning. Third, to encourage innovative processes in education; and fourth, to promote administrative and management excellence in our education system. (Teo, 1997, author’s emphasis)
The term was subsequently referred to in an Institute of Technical Education Paper by Law, et. al. (Law, 1997). The initial uses of LL in political speeches by Singaporean politicians were not explicitly elaborated. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the reference to LL in Singapore could have been due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 as it started in the same year as the beginning of the Crisis. In response to the Asian Financial Crisis, there was a need to re-engineer the workforce to better adapt to rapidly changing economies. Hence in 1999, the MOM launched its Manpower 21 masterplan, which aims to transit the workforce into a knowledge economy. The National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) was thus introduced. This again is a significant move towards LL, as it provides a mechanism to recognise the prior learning and skills of workers. Even while Singapore was trying to develop a system to support the continuing education of her workforce, her economy suffered another downturn in 2001, which saw rapid hollowing out of Singapore’s manufacturing sectors due to a number of large manufacturing companies shifting their production plants from Singapore to lower-cost countries like China and Vietnam. This hollowing-out resulted in structural unemployment that saw the Singapore government responding by studying the feasibility of investing more into the services industry. A key policy effect that took place consequently was the setting up of a national Continuing Education and Training (CET) framework to transform Singapore’s workforce (ERC, 2003). That was the boom of LL in
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Singapore with the SWDA, a statutory board emerging from the recession, championing LL on a magnified economic front, both as a policy intent and policy in practice.
Rationalisation of Lifelong Learning
LL as Rhetoric and Discourse
From the initial visionary reference of LL by Faure (1972), till the current widely researched perspectives of philosophy, social science and education (Knapper and Cropley 1985, Wain 1987, Candy 1991, Duke 1992), much ambiguity still lingers in the actual meaning of LL. Even though LL has been used extensively in national and international policy papers, Griffin (1998:21) argues that it still retains its conceptual appeal. He also argues that LL as a rhetoric of public policy has to be weighed against its reality, as these two might not always coincide. He further asserts that rhetoric is inherent in democratic politics, while “policy is the outcome of a particular discourse� (ibid. 1998:22). It therefore warrants a closer look at what rhetoric mean and how LL is involved in the process.
Aristotle, in his edited version of The Art of Rhetoric (1975), mentioned that Rhetoric, in the general sense of the use of language in such a manner as to impress the hearers and influence them for or against a certain course of action, is as old as language itself and the beginnings of social and political life (Aristotle 1975:xi) Hence, before getting the buy-in from the people that LL requires the establishment of specialised systems to manage it, the people would have at some point believed in the benefits of LL. Rhetoric, therefore, is used as a form of logical evidence, and is dependent on - 19 -
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who the target audience is. Griffin (1998:24) observes that “an overwhelming majority of policy documents in the field of LL are intended to be read by those already convinced of the logical and political arguments in favour of it”, and that if the gap between rhetoric and reality exists, it is between the ‘believers’ and those who are ‘not-yet-believers’.
Aristotle had also suggested that rhetoric can appeal to our feelings and emotions, particularly to “general moral principles such as equity, justice, freedom, citizenship and so on” (Griffin, 1998:26), which Griffin terms as “moral persuasion”. He again observes that many policy documents on LL skillfully mix rational and moral persuasion to convince the audience. Hence, it is common to read about the importance of LL in enhancing skill development and competitiveness (rhetoric rationalisation), as well as social equity and liberation (moral rationalisation). Notwithstanding, Griffin also raises a caution that as the same policy may be advocated from various moral perspectives, it is important that policy analysis also uses the concept of discourse to analyse the possibly undisclosed agendas of the policy process. Discourse, as argued by Foucault (1977, 1980, 2003), is about the inter-relations between knowledge and power. On the one hand, knowledge, beliefs and practices might be able to construct the subjects, power relations on the other hand can produce or constrain the truth related to the subjects. LL, with its nebulous and indefinite conception, is therefore commonly subjected to discursive engagement. For example, the policy of using LL to tackle skills upgrading in the face of global competition could also be framed as introducing another layer of social welfarism (which I will be exploring in Chapter Four), or the transfer of governmental responsibility for providing education to individuals (Griffin , 1999).
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Lifelong Learning as Policy
As the concept of LL became more discursive among academics and policy-makers, what began as a rhetorical term very quickly found its way into policy documents. This “sheer instrumentality of lifelong education policy” has been likened to a “policy fashion” by Griffin (2008:261). As with any policy fashion, which has to evolve through time before gaining wide-spread acceptance, LL went through an evolution before becoming entrenched in policy documents internationally.
The Council of Europe (1970) first formulated permanent education as a policy approach towards providing educational opportunities throughout an individual’s life. It was an approach that integrated compulsory and voluntary education, and also vocational and liberal education. It was meant to offer a critical perspective to using education as “an active force in social change”, with the “aim at the development of a critical attitude towards technology, in its industrial, social and educational use” (Council of Europe, 1970:469). Following from this, the United Kingdom formulated the continuing education to formally incorporate the above approach into national policy (ACACE, 1982). However the focus on developing a policy for the formation of a competitive workforce and enhancing employability was a move that did not promote the development of a ‘critical attitude’. Rather, it paved the way for assimilation of education for adults into social and economic policies, of which the economic objective rapidly overpowered the social objective. It developed to encompass continuing professional education (CPE), which became continuing professional development, which is testimony to the effects of policy.
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The Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proposed the concept of recurrent education as a strategy for LL. “It proposes a frame within which LL will be organised, this being the alternation and effective interaction between education, as a structured learning situation, and other social activities during which incidental learning occurs” (OECD, 1973:236). The key feature of this approach is to recognise the value of informal, non-formal or ‘incidental learning’ and attempts to integrate into the formal educational structures. Another strategy emanating from this was the paid educational leave (PEL), a strategy that was adopted by Singapore in the formulation of her own LL policy which I will elaborate further in Chapter Four. Lifelong education became a popular policy term also about the same period as recurrent education, but it has a more enduring existence in policy documents due to its integration of both vocational and adult liberal education with the personal development component. Even with all these years of evolution, the line between policy and strategy of implementation has not always been clearly drawn, and the ambiguity between learning, education, and training in the development of human and social capital still exists today. And because of this ambiguity, LL, though highly visible in many policy texts, has not been an easy policy to be implemented with “measurable and quantifiable outcomes for purposes of evaluation” (Griffin, 2008:267). Griffin has therefore argued that there must be a clearer distinction between the term education and learning, so as to analyse which can be an object of policy. Based on his argument, education can be an object of policy, as systems and structures can be developed for it, with clear, measurable and assessable objectives. Learning, on the other hand, is more attributable to the person, and cannot be mandated or controlled directly by the policies or systems. Hence, individual learning is the objective of the strategy (which is described as actual practice) of LL policy. So that the idea of “learning itself, rather than the conventional conceptions of work,
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functions as the source of political, social, economic and cultural solidarity” (Griffin, 2008:267), can be achieved.
Within a short span of about four decades whereby the concept of LL was conceptualised and incorporated into policy-making, it has evolved from the initial motivation of liberalism and personal development approach to one focusing on economic and employment-related policy tool, with this transition gaining pace near the turn of the millennium. As LL policy develops various custodian models of LL start to emerge and take shape, in order to fulfill the policy objectives.
LIFELONG LEARNING MODELS
As LL plays out in the policy-making arena, whereby the focus of these policies is to distribute learning opportunities throughout a person’s lifetime, which subsequently shifts towards more economically driven motivations, it is then inevitably connected to the concept of the learning society and also the knowledge economy. Green (2000: 35) posits that “the learning society implies that these opportunities should be available to all and occur in all areas of society, from the school and college, to the home, the community and the workplace”. He argues that the learning society is required to cope with rapid challenges in technology and changing work organisations and skills needs, as well as a changing demographics where longevity puts greater strain on learning needs. Green has identified three ideal-type models that characterise most learning societies: market-led model, socio-partnership model, and state-led model. He argues that these models, which are differentiated by their organisational principles, are not distinct and mutually exclusive, but rather they tend to exist in a - 23 -
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continuum. The three models exist in different countries as they are trying to provide the balance-point to meet the demands of various stakeholders: the employers who require employees with relevant skills; individuals who seek affordable and flexible learning opportunities to further their career and personal development needs; and training providers who need to sustain their business operations. The challenge to policy makers is to devise mechanisms to fund these LL provisions.
Market-led Model
The market-led model, as the name implies, is a ground-up approach of organisation of LL opportunities. In such a model, individuals take primary responsibilities of their learning rather than depend on the state for directions. Organisations invest in such learning for their employees based on their own assessment of the expected benefits, and there is very limited state intervention and public funding. The market-model is a laisser-faire approach towards LL, the rationale being that policy-makers believe the market is in the best position to decide which skills and learning requirements are needed in the fast-changing global economic landscape. This model has earned comments from critics that the state is shunting away the responsibility (Griffin, 1999) of managing the longer term learning needs of the country. The UK approach is very much market-led, as it is not mandatory for companies to participate or contribute to any training initiatives. Although the government has developed a national qualification system to recognise employees’ skills to enhance their portability and employability, participation is still low. Even government measures like tax rebates and exhortation, were not effective in convincing companies and individuals to take responsibility of their own learning.
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Socio-Partner Model
In this model, the state plays a defining role in developing the frameworks, as well as the responsibilities and operational boundaries of the partners, and leaves the actual implementation (planning and coordination) of the learning activities to the partners at the national and workplace levels. Green (1995) mentiones that in this model “coherence, consistency and transparency in provision and qualifications remain primary goals but these are sought through negotiating procedures that ensure maximal flows of information and equitable representations of legitimate interest groups�. Hence this model addresses some of the negative concerns of the market-led model, but Streeck (1987) commented that it can be inflexible and unresponsive to market needs, especially if there is a lack of consensus between partners. Germany is a good example where the socio-partner model thrives. Their apprenticeship system is controlled by the state that sets the legal framework, while the employers carry out the training. The system is maintained by representatives from all the stakeholders, viz. employers, employees, educators, and state officials.
State-led Model
In the state-led model, the state is the driving force behind practically every aspect of the system, from manpower planning, framework development, licence-to-practice laws, training obligations of companies, and funding, either through state funds or mandatory contributions from employers to a specific state fund. Such a model allows for long-term planning, more equitable learning opportunities for individuals, and more transparent and reliable qualification. The main disadvantage of this model is the bureaucratic inefficiency, lack of flexibility and diversity (Green, 1995; OECD, 1996a). The French Continuing Vocational - 25 -
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Training (CVT) and Singapore’s WSQ system are examples of state-led models, whereby the state determines the training framework, imposes a training levy to fund the system, as well as establishes the qualification standards.
It is to be expected that the approach towards LL varies among nations. Each model has its strengths and weaknesses, and oftentimes a country might need to periodically evaluate and shift her position along the LL model continuum to better meet the objectives of LL.
LIFELONG LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the heart of all policies is the question: what are the policies trying to achieve? Similarly with LL policies, it is necessary to ask what the objectives are as the political intents and actual implementations might show some level of dichotomy. The European Commission, in one of its reports, mentioned that LL should be construed as all learning activities undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competencies within a personal, civic, social, and/or employment related perspective (EC, 2001:9, author’s emphasis)
In the literature on LL, there is a broad consensus on the four objectives of LL, much akin to those four perspectives identified by the EC. Below I elaborate on these four objectives, and proceed to show, in Chapter Four, how Singapore has used LL to meet her social security objectives during the Global Recession in the period of 2008-2009, which has not been evident in the literature.
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Personal Development
Jarvis (2008) argues that learning is “an existential phenomenon that is co-terminal with conscious living”, meaning that as long as one has a life to live, one has to learn, and therefore learning is a lifelong affair. He previously elaborated that LL is the combination of processes throughout a life time whereby the whole person – body (genetic, physical and biological) and mind (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, emotions, beliefs and senses) – experience social situations, the perceived content of which is then transformed cognitively, emotively or practically (or through any combination) and integrated into the individual person’s biography resulting in a continually changing (or more experienced) person. (Jarvis, 2006: 134)
From this perspective, LL is individualistic and for personal benefit and development. This gives LL much political value when it is used as a policy concept, as it readily gains political acceptance. Hence, even Jarvis concedes that although LL in its most fundamental definition is existential in meaning, literature on lifelong long learning tends to portray a social aspect, more gravitated towards education, which can be easily incorporated into national policies. It is no wonder then that LL policies will always highlight the contribution of LL to personal development, without the need for much elaboration. Essentially this objective sells itself, and is one that is heavily exploited by policy makers as rhetoric when introducing LL policies.
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Active Citizenship
Kiwan (2008) highlighted the three conceptions of citizenship which will be useful in our understanding of the second objective of LL: formal conception, participatory conception, and existential conception. The formal conception encompasses the rights of an individual accorded by the state (e.g. suffrage) and responsibilities expected of the individual by the state (e.g. national service). The participatory conception of citizenship refers to the level of knowledge and engagement that an individual undertakes in a particular context. The participation would include processes like civic engagement, discovering, networking, debating, negotiating and sharing. The knowledge for participation is generic and publicly accessible, but has to be learned and applied in context, sensitive to peculiarities of communities (Field, 2000). The emphasis of participatory conception is on the participation, rather than the person as a member of a community (or citizen). The existential conception, on the other hand, refers to the emotive component of citizenship, the individual’s experience and response to a community, from which an identity is developed. The use of community herein could refer to something as local as an institutional group, or as global as an ethnic group. In many policy documents, the participatory conception of citizenship emerges as the dominant form, as its participatory characteristics are most influenced by learning: In 1998, however, the Commission acknowledged that citizenship could not be taught, since it had cognitive, affective and practical dimensions – it could be learnt, however, and learning for active citizenship became an aim of LL. Here, the teaching of citizenship is not enough – it is the learning of citizenship which is essential … Learning for active citizenship includes access to skills and competencies that young people will need for effective economic participation under conditions of technological
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modernisation, economic globalisation, and very concretely, transnational European labour markets. (EC, 1998:6, author’s emphasis)
It is therefore apparent that in the view of the EC active citizenship, through LL, facilitates social inclusion, as participation is a prerequisite for sustained inclusion. This is echoed in ‘Making a European Area of LL a Reality’, where LL “promotes the goals and ambitions of the European countries to become more inclusive, tolerant and democratic” (EC, 1998:7).
Social Cohesion
Green (2003) mentions that the term “social cohesion is widely used, but rarely defined”. To some people (see Putnam, 1993) it might mean a society that is harmonious, with high levels of civic trust. To others (see Ulsaner, 2003) it might include tolerance and equality. Yet to even more others (see Maxwell, 1996) it might also include shared social norms and core values, as well as common identity and belonging. To better understand what social cohesion is, it would be useful to understand social exclusion, social inclusion, social integration and belonging. The term ‘social exclusion’ can be traced to the French socialist government’s policy documents of the 1980s, whereby it was used to refer to people who are marginalised by society, and who have little access to the social security system (Percy-Smith, 2000). Dahrendorf defined social exclusion as a lack of access to opportunities: People who are or feel excluded detract from the wealth of the nation, both in the sense that they cannot contribute, and in that of absorbing unproductive social energies as well as welfare benefits. Our concern is not with inequalities as such, but with privilege,
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and with lack of access to opportunities, to the labour market, to civil society, to political participation. (Dahrendorf, 1995:38)
Field (1995) suggests that social exclusion should go beyond the economic realm, and should include other social aspects (e.g. gender), curtailment of rights (e.g. unwed mothers, illegitimate children, racial or religious discrimination), as well as spatial aspects (e.g. geographical distribution). Field (1995:47) expresses concern of the possible “emergence of an underclass, uneducated and uneducatable, prone to criminality and operating on the margins of the labour market”. Hence, many social policies in the European Union, and elsewhere the world over, are aimed at minimising social exclusion to enable social inclusion. Social inclusion has been defined as a “feeling of belonging to different communities” (Haahr, 1997:8), and is the antithesis of social exclusion. Hence to be included means to overcome deficiency, to move away from deviance, and gravitate towards the mainstream, and is a “central attribute of a cohesive society” (Drodge and Shiroma, 2004: 179). Social integration, on the other hand, goes beyond social inclusion. Giddens (1979) defines social integration as “regularised ties, interchanges or reciprocity of practices between either actors or collectivities. ‘Reciprocity of practices’ has to be understood as involving regularised relations of relative autonomy and dependence between the parties concerned” (Drodge and Shiroma. 1979: 76, original emphasis). Giddens focuses on personal interactions, emphasising participation and accessibility to institutional resources over values and beliefs. Social integration should also not be confused with belonging. Bagnall (2010) highlights that there are three conception of belonging (relying on the work of Kiwan (2008)): formal, participatory, and existential. In the formal conception, belonging means being part of the homogeneous national membership. In the participatory conception, belonging means participating in the knowledge, skills, and values of the engagement, with emphasis on - 30 -
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communication and interaction. In the existential conception, belonging is about developing a sense of identity with a particular community, which can be based on ethnicity, locale, and even political. Existential belonging tend to encourage heterogeneous communities (such as multiculturalism, pluralism, and collective individualism).
Having highlighted what social exclusion, inclusion, integration, and belonging could mean, we are in a better position to understand what social cohesion is. Jenson (1998) notes that discussions of social cohesion surface most fervently when societies are going through rapid changes, and globalisation in the 21st century is the wind of change more powerful that industrial capitalism in Europe in the 19th century. Jenson cites a definition from the French Commissariat Général du Plan which states that “social cohesion is a set of social processes that help instil in individuals the sense of belonging to the same community and the feeling that they are recognised as members of that community” (cited in Jenson, 1998:4). Jenson emphasises equality and respect for individual, and sense of belonging to shared identities, goals and communities. This resonates well with Maxwell’s (1996) definition: “social cohesion involves building shared values and communities of interpretation, reducing disparities in wealth and income, and generally enabling people to have a sense that they are engaged in a common enterprise, facing shared challenges, and that they are members of the same community” (Maxwell, 1996). However Jenson (1998) cautions that excessive value conformity might stifle universal freedom and respect for multiculturalism. Green, Janmaat and Han (2009), in their extensive research on social cohesion, propose this definition: Social cohesion refers to the property by which whole societies, and the individuals within them, are bound together through the action of specific attitudes, behaviours, rules and institutions which rely on consensus rather than pure coercion (ibid. 2009: 21)
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Green et. al’s definition of social cohesion highlights that for a society to be cohesive, there has to be social inclusion with active citizenship to achieve social integration through consensus rather than coercion, so as to enhance social belonging though participation rather than conformity.
How important then, is LL in fostering social cohesion? Durkheim emphasised the importance of education in the survivability of societies: “Society can only survive if there is a sufficient degree of homogeneity” (Durkheim, 1956:81). Education “perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child, from the beginning, the essential similarities that collective life demands” (Durkheim, 1956:70). It should not be too much a stretch to equate Durkheim’s reference of survivability to cohesiveness within the society, which as elaborated previously, requires consensus in certain shared values, which can be equated to Durkheim’s reference of ‘homogeneity’. While Durkheim stressed the importance of education in promoting social cohesion, there were other policy makers who advocate the use of education to tackle some social problems, mitigation of which would support social cohesion. Hence, as early as the 1960s, there were numerous social policies formulated for such purposes. The Newsom Report (1963) suggested that children should spend more time at school, with a greater exposure to vocationalism, so as to better prepare them for adult life. There was a call for “schools in slums” to be given “special consideration if they are to have a fair chance of making the best of their pupils” (Newsom, 1963: 18). The Plowden Report (1967) recognised that there were “educational priority areas” which are “deprived” communities that needed more resources to enable them to improve. Hence the threat of social exclusion arising from lack of education is a concern of policymakers. These reports were typical of the approach to policy making before the advent of LL insofar as they addressed some social problems by reforming aspects of formal schooling for young people, - 32 -
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which probably led to greater emphasis on early or front-loaded education, or what some educational sociologists termed as ‘compensatory education’, which was common in the United States and United Kingdom. However, while such educational policies benefited those who are in the system, these front-loaded systems would effectively exclude latejoiners. Using the classification by Ulrich Teichler and cited by Halimi (2005), there are three categories of lifelong learners who might be late-joiners: (a) postponers are people who had the opportunity but chose to put off front-loaded education till later on in life for various reasons; (b) returners are people who have already benefitted from the initial education, but return for a second helping, so as to upgrade their knowledge; and (c) second-chancers are those who missed the opportunity to participate in the early academic learning. A LL system with multiple points of entry would help to mitigate social exclusion arising from lack of access to front-loaded education. What this means is that a LL system should depart from the current ‘tunnel system’ – only one entry point connecting to the exit. No one should be disadvantaged just because he or she decided to, or could only, join the educational system later in life, for whatever reasons. Such a learner should have sufficient access to similar learning opportunities offered to front-loaders, albeit of a different setting or context. Denying late-joiners such access to learning opportunities is akin to excluding them from enhancing their competitiveness.
The Department for Education and Employment (DfEE, 1998) made many references in their policy documents on the roles that LL play in improving competitiveness and promoting social cohesion, with economic competitiveness being the main objective (Edwards, 2002; Field, 2000). Edwards also argues that LL play(s) an influential role in catering for active, enterprising selves and subjecting them to educational and training practices that attempt to instil flexibility and enterprise as - 33 -
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desirable and desired ways of being. In developing LL, an aim is to fashion more flexible learners and workers, who are themselves more enterprising. (Edwards 2002: 359) LL is therefore seen as an important tool in fostering social cohesion by offering adults multiple accesses to participation in education. This is in the hope that they could be better included in economic progress and integrate better in social developments.
Insofar as the use of LL for social cohesion is concerned, the discussion above centres very much on minimising social exclusion by focusing on meeting the educational and thus economic needs of the various societal groups. Several countries have attempted to strike a balance between these aspects, and the social components. Korea is one such country that has taken a comprehensive stock-taking of her LL approach to becoming a learning society. Korea implemented her first National Lifelong Learning Promotion Plan from 2002 to 2006 (MEST, 2007), which succeeded in establishing LL as a major policy agenda for the central government, as well as raised the recognition of LL among the general Korean public. The Second National Lifelong Learning Promotion Plan was implemented from 2007 to 2012. The Second Plan has a vision of ‘Learning together, Working together, Living together’. The vision encompasses (i) joyous learning, focusing on using LL to release the innate creativity of the learner; (ii) future learning, which employs LL to guide the learner through an uncertain future; and (iii) integrated learning, which deploys LL as a policy tool to tackle ageing population, low fertility rates, social segregation, poverty, and other emerging social challenges. The objectives of the Second Plan are to “nurture creative workers”, “foster social cohesion and integration by means of minimising social risk factors”, and to “establish efficient LL infrastructures”. The key strategy that Korea is employing is to tailor the LL strategies for specific stages of the human life framed around the three pillars of self- 34 -
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actualisation, improved employability, and social integration. Korea is not the only country that has given social integration and cohesion greater emphasis. Japan is investing in developing sustainable learning cities like Okayama (Fien, 2006), whereby LL is used to enhance social cohesion by bringing people together to work on programmes involving environmental conservation, gender equality, and fitness and health. Australia, through her LL Council, adopted a strategy of using LL as “a vehicle for individuals within learning communities to make their own contributions measured by the extent to which they form a civil society of ‘good will’ where there is coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit. People can learn to take charge of their future, realise more of their potential and give direction to their personal, spiritual, social and economic development as well as that of the communities they live in” (LLCQ, 2002). And to implement this vision, the LL Council has directed resources to not-for-profit sector of post-compulsory learning as these organisations tend to work for the benefit of the larger community.
Skills Formation and Economic Competitiveness
The policy intent that LL has on economic competitiveness is very evident in many policy documents all over the world. In fact, economic competitiveness is the dominant objective of LL. LL has been seen by many governments as the panacea to tackle the effects of globalisation. Although globalisation is not a new concept in the 21st century, the pace at which information communication technologies change, and financial and social transmigration sweep across the world, many policy-makers are re-looking at how to optimise the human and social capital (OECD, 2001). While the industrial revolution favoured largely mass formal education, the new knowledge economy calls for more - 35 -
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workplace education due to the shorter economic lifespan of knowledge (Tuijnman, 2003). Kumar (2004:559) claims that “Singapore’s approach to LL is pragmatic and rational”. This is not much different from that of many other countries. Advances in technology have led to rapid phasing out of skills that were once economically productive. Unless new skills and competencies are introduced and learnt, jobs could be made redundant over short periods of time. The former Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong (1998) in his May Day rally speech, mentioned the need to stay competitive in the global economy: Looking beyond the immediate future, we must focus on LL and employability for the long term. Our future prosperity will be built on a knowledge-based economy. That is why we are revamping our education system to produce thinking students. The future economy will be driven by information technology, knowledge and global competition. The types of jobs change, and change rapidly. This means that workers must have broad basic skills and the capacity to learn new skills. Only then will they have employable skills throughout their working lives. So we must have Thinking Workers and a Learning Workforce. (Goh, 1998, author’s emphasis)
Singapore government’s strong emphasis on education for economic competitiveness has captured the attention of academics like Ashton, Green, et. al. (2002). They argue that Singapore’s economic prosperity was largely due to “state intervention in the process of skills formation”, whereby the government anticipated the skills needed for future economic developments, and influenced the education and training outcomes through strategies (such as joint ministerial policy alignment whereby education policies are aligned to economic directions), funding, and associated institutional structures (such as vocational institutions). While their argument focussed on the skills formation model of LL to meet the requirements of a skilled workforce during the industralisation phase before the Asian Financial Crisis in - 36 -
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1997/1998, the government’s approach towards competitiveness and employability through LL merits a more thorough analysis to better understand the changing intents post 1997/1998. Two important concepts are evident in Mr Goh’s speech: competitive (and competitiveness), and employable (and employability). How is competitiveness linked to employability, especially in the light of LL? It would be useful if we look at the specific meanings of the two terms.
Competitiveness is a term that is used in many aspects of human interactions and interface, e.g. in competitions, examinations, and businesses. In the context of this dissertation, I will only be looking at competitiveness related to economics, and that which have policy implications. Competitiveness can be taken at different levels viz. micro-, meso-, and macro-. At the micro level, I am looking at the personal competitiveness, how one person is more valuable to his or her organisation when compared to another person, giving him or her an edge over others when it comes to being retained, or promoted within the organisation. At the meso level, the focus is on the collective competitiveness of the organisation to compete with other organisations in delivering a product or service. Collins English Dictionary defines such competitiveness as being “sufficiently low in price or high in quality to be successful against commercial rivals” (Collins, 2011). When it comes to the macro level, it would mean national competitiveness, of which OECD (1996b) defined it as “the degree to which it can, under free and fair market conditions, produce goods and services which meet the test of international markets, while simultaneously maintaining and expanding the real incomes of its people over the long term”. The national competitiveness is normally measured using the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per head, or per capita GDP.
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The term ‘employability’, on the other hand, is a heavily-loaded word, encompassing two aspects in the labour-market policy segment. The first aspect deals with the labour component of personal factors (or supply-side), while the second aspect deals with the external market circumstances (or demand-side factors). McQuaid and Lindsay (2005) in their paper ‘The Concept of Employability’ cite a number of definitions for employability, of which the Northern Ireland Executive provided a wider working definition: Employability is the capability to move into and within labour markets and to realise potential through sustainable and accessible employment. For the individual, employability depends on: the knowledge and skills they possess, and their attitudes; the way personal attributes are presented in the labour market; the environmental and social context within which work is sought; and the economic context within which work is sought (DHFETE, 2002: 7) Even though the DHFETE’s definition is wider than most others, McQuaid and Lindsay argue that they still essentially revolved around the individual’s characteristics and ability to be employed, and the factors affecting the person getting employed or moving between employments. McQuaid and Lindsay suggest that other than the individual’s characteristics and circumstances, there are other broader external factors such as social (e.g. age discrimination), institutional (e.g. lack of child care support), and economic (e.g. widespread financial downturn) situations that have to be considered as well. Hence, they developed a framework to capture the broad approach towards employability. This framework is presented in Table 3.1. Using the employability framework that McQuaid and Lindsay developed, one can question the often-held argument of LL enhancing the employability of a person. While LL can improve to a certain extent the individual factors of employability skills and attributes such as essential attributes, personal competencies, ‘transferable skills’, and qualifications, LL has no impact on the other employability factors like personal - 38 -
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circumstances (such as household circumstances, work culture and access to resources) and external situations (such as market demands and employment policies). Hence, the policy intent of using LL to enhance employability has the unspoken effect of suggesting that an individual’s employability is his or her personal responsibility, since learning is a personal enterprise, rather than the government’s role. Table 3.1: An employability framework (McQuaid and Lindsay, 2005: 209–210) INDIVIDUAL FACTORS Employability skills and attributes Essential attributes Basic social skills; honesty and integrity; basic personal presentation; reliability; willingness to work Personal competencies Pro-activity; diligence; self- motivation; judgement; initiative; assertiveness; confidence; act autonomously Basic transferable skills Prose and document literacy; writing; numeracy; verbal presentation Key transferable skills Reasoning; problem-solving; adaptability; work-process management; team working; personal task and time management; functional mobility; basic ICT skills; basic interpersonal and communication skills High level transferable skills Team working; business thinking; commercial awareness; continuous learning; vision; job-specific skills Qualifications Formal academic and vocational qualifications; job-specific qualifications Work knowledge base Work experience; general work skills and personal aptitudes; commonly valued transferable skills (such as driving); occupational specific skills Labour market attachment Current unemployment/employment duration; number and length of spells of unemployment/inactivity; ‘balance’ of work history
PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES Household circumstances Direct caring responsibilities Caring for children, elderly relatives, etc. Other family and caring responsibilities Financial commitments to children or other family members outside the individual’s household Other household circumstances The ability to access safe, secure, affordable and appropriate housing Work culture The existence of a culture in which work is encouraged and supported within the family Access to resources Access to transport Access to own or readily available private transport; ability to walk appropriate distances Access to financial capital Level of household income; extent and duration of any financial hardship; access to formal and informal sources of financial support Access to social capital Access to personal and family support networks; access to formal and informal community support networks; number, range and status of informal social network contacts
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EXTERNAL FACTORS Demand factors Labour market factors Level of local and regional or other demand; nature and changes of local and regional demand (required skill levels; occupational structure of vacancies; sectors where demand is concentrated); location, centrality/remoteness of local labour markets in relation to centres of industry/employment; level of competition for jobs Macroeconomic factors Macroeconomic stability; mediumto long-term business confidence; level and nature of labour demand within the national economy Vacancy characteristics Remuneration; conditions of work; working hours and prevalence of shift work; opportunities for progression; extent of part-time, temporary and casual work Recruitment factors Employers’ formal recruitment and selection procedures; employers’ general selection preferences (for example, for recent experience); employers’ search channels (methods of searching for staff when recruiting); discrimination (for example, on the basis of age, gender, race, area of residence, disability, unemployment duration); form and extent of employers’ use of informal networks; demanding only appropriate qualifications or credentials
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INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
EXTERNAL FACTORS Enabling support factors Employment policy factors Accessibility of public services and job-matching technology (such as job search/counselling); penetration of public services (for example, use and credibility among employers/job seekers); incentives within tax benefits system; existence of ‘welfare to work’/activation and pressure to accept jobs; accessibility and limitations on training; extent of local/regional development policies; measures to ease the school–work transition and address employability issues at school and university
Demographic characteristics Age, gender, etc. Health and well-being Health Current physical health; current mental health; medical history; psychological wellbeing Disability Nature and extent of: physical disability; mental disability; learning disability Job seeking Effective use of formal search services/information resources (including ICT); awareness and effective use of informal social networks; ability to complete CVs/application forms; interview skills/presentation; access to references; awareness of strengths and weaknesses
Other enabling policy factors Accessibility and affordability of public transport, child care and other support services
Adaptability and mobility Geographical mobility; wage flexibility and reservation wage; occupational flexibility (working hours, occupations, sectors)
In policy documents where LL is used to increase competitiveness to improve employability, oftentimes the objective is to enable the individual to compete at the micro level by upgrading his or her skills, personal competencies, and qualifications (i.e. improve individual factors) so that he or she can become or remain valuable to an organisation even under changing external circumstances. However, even within this micro-level, the spectrum of learners is very wide. These learners can primarily be categorised based on their age, literacy (language and vocational), and knowledge. The roles that LL will play for the older-lowerliteracy individuals as compared to the higher-literate ones will be very different, due to their differing abilities to learn new skills, as well as the economic utility lifespan of their skills learnt. Brine (2006) has similarly identified three groups of ‘lifelong learners’. The first - 40 -
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group is the highly skilled learner with strong academic background, and normally associated with the knowledge economy. The second group is the older, low-skilled learners who are generally chronically unemployed and usually associated with the ‘surplus-population’, referred to by The Independent (Saturday 4 November 2005) and quoted by Brine (2006:657) as the “redundant, unemployable and functionless population”. The third group refers to the early school leavers and younger unemployed individuals. The latter two groups are normally associated with the knowledge society (Brine, 2006). While most LL academics, such as Green (2005 and 2006), use knowledge economy and knowledge society interchangeably, Brine argues that there is a need to distinguish between the two. She mentioned that individuals of the knowledge society are involved in LL to maintain economic and political stability rather than training them in high-level skills to move up into the knowledge economy. This is an important argument that I will be revisiting when I analyse the LL situation in Singapore.
The use of adult education to tackle high unemployment among the marginalised groups and juveniles is not a new concept. Fieldhouse (1996) highlighted that right after World War I, massive unemployment among the demobilised ex-service men and women, as well as other displaced workers whose jobs disappeared with the war, prompted the Ministry of Labour (United Kingdom) and the Central Committee on Women’s Training to embark on an ad hoc series of training courses with residential and non-residential centres. The objective was to ‘recondition’ the unemployed so that they could be transferred to other areas of the economy that had lower unemployment.
Levitas (1998: 7) has also identified three models of social inclusion used to counter the effects of social exclusion arising from unemployment: (a) redistribution, (b) social - 41 -
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integration, (c) moral underclass. The redistributionist model advocates using the strategy of redistribution of wealth to the older and the chronically unemployed to alleviate poverty. The social integration model emphasises the use of training and assistance schemes to get the unemployed into paid employment so that they can be integrated back into society. This is normally targeted at the marginalised groups like the low-skilled, or unemployed early school-leavers. The moral underclass model refers to the social deviants who are excluded due to their cultural or moral deficiency, and the emphasis of training is to impart values to re-orientate the individuals back into the main-stream society. Again it can be seen in many LL literatures that the notion of LL leans more towards the development of higher-skilled more competitive individuals, with much neglect on the ‘moral underclass’.
Appleby and Bathmaker’s (2006), analysis of England’s Skills for Life programme (a national basic skills strategy), came to the same conclusion as Brine (2006), that while the LL policy was to prepare workers for the knowledge economy, it ended up struggling to meet the contradictory needs of the learners of the knowledge society: On the one hand, the strategy appears to respond to the need to supply the higher-level skills needed for a knowledge economy. This can be seen in the data on achievement of learning opportunities, many in the form of GCSE qualifications (Level 2), and the recognition of the importance of progressing to Level 3 (A Level) and above. The remit of prioritising skills learning for 16–19 year-old learners suggests a push to enhance the employability of early school leavers and young unemployed in the context of a knowledge economy. On the other hand, however, this is at the expense of providing learning opportunities for adults, who might be seen as less likely to achieve the highlevel skills required of a knowledge economy, and whose participation is perhaps seen more as a means of ensuring stability in a knowledge society; for it is the low-skilled - 42 -
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and long-term unemployed, part of the ‘surplus’, whose participation has become more vulnerable in the context of Skills for Life, with the threat to flexible community learning provision, which for many is the first step back into learning. (Brine, 2006:714)
Following from Brine’s (2006) categorisation of the three different groups of lifelong learners, and Levita’s (1998) conception of social inclusion, I have developed the dimensions of unemployed adult learners and the associated purposes of LL. This is shown in Table 3.2.
Table 3.2: Dimensions of Unemployed Adult Learners and Purposes of LL Older Worker
-
Redistribution
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Re-deployment
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Maintain in-job
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Enable contributions
employability
in knowledge economy
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“Surplus population”
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Maintain social
Lower Literacy
stability in
Higher
knowledge society
Literacy
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Social integration
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Maintain political
-
Raise national competitiveness
and social stability in
-
Enable contributions in knowledge economy
knowledge society
Younger Worker
The rhetoric of LL for enhancing economic competitiveness has to be re-examined in the light on the type of learners as the economy and hence skills demand change. With reference - 43 -
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to the construct in Table 3.2, the LL approach towards the lower literacy adult workers is more concerned with maintaining their in-job employability, or redistribution of resources to keep them employed, so as to maintain political and social stability by reducing social discontent. This group of workers are located at the left two quadrants of the construct. Particularly vulnerable are the older lower literacy workers of the upper left quadrant, as they tend to be more chronically unemployed and easily become the ‘surplus’ stratum of society. For the higher literacy workers located in the two segments on the right of Table 3.2, they can readily benefit from LL for developing higher skills, because of their strong academic base. When we also take into consideration the age of the workers, the young literate workers (located at the bottom-right quadrant) would be most able to contribute to the raising of national competitiveness as they have a longer period to adapt through LL as compared to the older literate workers (located at the upper-right quadrant). For the latter workers, LL is useful in keeping them relevant for re-deployment within or across their industries, and still contributes to national competitiveness.
Social and Political Stability
In the pursuit and development of a higher-skilled society and knowledge economy, there will always be the risk of tension that exists between the higher-skilled workers and the lower-skilled ones. This tension comes about in part through the widening participation rates in education and training, due to differences in training opportunities and employer support, resulting in the consequent income gap disparity. In a report commissioned by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST, 2003) of the Australian Government, it was found that participation in education and training tends to be higher among people who - 44 -
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are employed in higher-skills jobs. For example, in Australia, the Education and Training Experience Survey done in 1997 revealed that about 90% of professional and managerial executives as compared to 64% of those lowest skilled levels were involved in some form of education and training in the twelve months prior to the survey. Furthermore, the lowerskilled workers are also the least likely to be supported by their employers for external training courses. The report also highlighted that workers with high level qualifications tend to receive higher wages for their educational investment, while people with lower skills do not benefit as much in terms of wage increases from increases in their educational attainment. This finding is also consistent with that of Ryan’s (2000), where he reveals that participation in training results in better employment outcomes for those with higher level qualifications. He explains: In summary, people with low skills face a range of market disincentives and structural barriers to participate in post-compulsory education and training. Training opportunities are unevenly distributed between people in high skilled and low skilled jobs. As these jobs are in the fastest growing sectors of the economy, the disparity in participation rates between low skilled and high skilled people is likely to widen. Australia’s capacity to achieve higher levels of educational participation may be undermined by a widening socio-economic gap between individuals who participate in education and training and those who do not. As it presently stands, the emphasis the LL policy agenda places on individuals’ co-financing of their own learning appears to contradict its stress on LL as a remedy for social exclusion. (DEST, 2003: 38)
A separate research done by Shui K. C (2005) on Hong Kong’s LL policy of the Open Learning Institute (OLI) and their Continuing Education Fund (CEF) also revealed similar conclusions. Although the primary intention of the OLI and CEF was to maintain social and - 45 -
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political stability in Hong Kong and boost the economy, it resulted in widening the divide between the ‘learning rich’ and the ‘learning poor’ due to weak participation by the ‘learning poor’, further affecting social inclusion.
It is therefore not surprising that Jacques Delors placed significant emphasis on the link between LL and social stability in his UNESCO (1996) report ‘Learning: The Treasure Within’. He identified various tensions that need to be overcome, one of which is: The tension between, on the one hand, the need for competition, and on the other, the concern for equality of opportunity: this is a classic issue, which has been facing both economic and social policy-makers and educational policy-makers since the beginning of the century. Solutions have sometimes been proposed but they have never stood the test of time. Today, the Commission ventures to claim that the pressures of competition have caused many of those in positions of authority to lose sight of their mission, which is to give each human being the means to take full advantage of every opportunity. This has led us, within the terms of reference of the report, to rethink and update the concept of lifelong education so as to reconcile three forces: competition, which provides incentives; co-operation, which gives strength; and solidarity, which unites. (UNESCO, 1996: 17, author’s emphasis)
Social and political stability (or solidarity in Delor’s context), is a crucial objective of any government, as they are the result of social cohesion, social solidarity and national well-being, and Delors was aware of it: The major danger is that of a gulf opening up between a minority of people who are capable of finding their way successfully about this new world, and the majority who feel that they are at the mercy of events and have no say in the future of society, with - 46 -
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the dangers that entails of a setback to democracy and widespread revolt (UNESCO, 1996)
But what constitutes social and political stability, and what can trigger a social or political instability? Takenori Inoki (2008) attempts to examine this scientifically by infusing psychology, political science and ethics. By using the critical mass model borrowed from physics, Inoki (2008: 3) argues that When the behaviours of individuals are strongly interlinked with the behaviours of others, there is a threshold, the parameters of which prescribe the workings of the (social) group as a whole. If that threshold is crossed, it can suddenly precipitate the whole economic society’s entry into a different phase. ‌ Even at times when we cannot discern what it is that is causing things to move, whether some variable has reached the point of criticality or not, there is something that is clearly bringing about a great change in the whole economy.
Researchers have used this theory to explain various social and economic phenomena, such as hyperinflation by Cagan (1956), and bank-runs by Diamond & Dybvig (1983). In every turn of event, where the critical point is crossed, it is due to at least a primary factor, which could be actions of a significant person, or a self-fulfilling prophesy. Jamison and Lau (1982) also propose a similar thresholds hypothesis highlighting the relationship between education and economic development. They hypothesise that only when the education level of the general population has reached a certain degree that productivity can improve. Barro (1999) and Glaesar et. al. (2006) leverage on this and proceed to show empirically the following three links between education and democracy: (i) higher level of general education leads to more stable democracies; (ii) higher level of education is the precursor for transition from - 47 -
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dictatorship to democracy; (iii) such links between education and democracy are both significant domestically, and between nations. Inoki (2008:8) defines democracy used in this context as a system where social and economic benefits are being distributed among many citizens, and dictatorship as the opposite of democracy. He argues that “education raises the benefits of political participation”, thus incentivising more people as a whole to support the politics, and contribute to stability of the democracy when the literacy level of the population exceeds the threshold value. Hence, to move from a state of social or political stability to one of instability (e.g. from democracy to dictatorship or vice versa), there is a threshold point beyond which the change of state would occur, and education can influence the position of this threshold point.
Inoki (2008:10) also recognises that beyond education, the notion of well-being is yet another important contributor to social and political stability. He urges for a re-examination of how the concept of welfare is addressed, since the feeling of social well-being is synonymous with welfarism, and welfarism is viewed more as a problem than a blessing in traditional economics. However, the notion of well-being cannot be precisely defined nor measured, and therefore not useful for actual social studies. He argues that the wide usage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product, an aggregated data of domestic consumption and investment) as an indicator of a nation’s well-being is a poor attempt, as much as “a dietician, who weighs a locomotive both before and after the crew boards it, then uses the difference between the two weighings as the basis for prescribing a diet for the entire crew” (Morgenstern, 1979). Other researchers had suggested that factors like work, health, marriage, civic trust, and political participation might also contribute to social well-being (Easterlin, 2003; Diener and Seligman, 2004; Frey and Stutzer, 2002). It is therefore difficult to measure precisely what well-being is. Sen (1995) asserts that despite the imprecision, it is important to study the notion of well- 48 -
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being, as it often includes expressed preferences. And for the poor or marginalised people who are unable to express their preferences due to their inability to make free choices, contention might arise. As society aims for more “equality”, there will be more people at the same starting line, and the competition to choose winners will intensify. When there are large disparities among rewards at the end, although there are only small differences in talent among the competitors, discontent and jealousy might become rampant. If equal opportunity tends to cause jealousy, then society needs a device to cool it down. In this sense, the ideal of equal opportunity is not sufficient, even if it is realised. From a different perspective, in addition to this relative inequality among participants, there is poverty, which by itself tends to arouse antisocial sentiment. .. In ancient Greece, Aristotle (1984: 2008) in his Politics (2.6) writes, “[P]overty is the parent of revolution and crime.” In short, the state of the economy can induce people either to behave well or to do malicious deeds. (Inoki, 2008: 13)
Hence, inequality and poverty are social and political destabilising forces that governments would have to develop effective means to manage, and referring back to Delors’ (UNESCO, 1996:17) vision, LL can be a powerful tool to reconcile competition, cooperation, and solidarity, by improving social cohesion, resulting in better social and political stability. This interesting perspective of using LL as a social stabilising force will be my focus in this dissertation, as while it seems that LL is used in Singapore with the policy intent to develop a competitive knowledge economy, the implementation focus is on ensuring that the lowerskilled are kept engaged in the workforce as the economy enters the knowledge-based phase.
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CONCLUSION
Learning beyond the formal school years has a long standing recognition, but it was in the early 1970s that lifelong education and LL began to gain high level of interest. The initial conception of LL focused more on the personal development over the life of the individual. But with the economic changes in the European countries in the early 1990s, politicians realised the immense potential to employ LL as a political rhetoric. LL became extremely fashionable and economic and manpower policies fashioned upon LL are well-accepted by the public. This first wave of interest was fuelled by policy debates from Europe, Australasia to Asian countries like Japan and Korea. The second wave of interest began at the turn of the millennium, with LL appearing in many policy documents published by major policy groups like the OECD, CEC, and governments of various countries. This second wave presented a clear transition from adult education or training to learning. Academics noticed that this shift marks a change in governmental responsibilities to the individual. Literatures on LL are not short to correlate this second wave of policy papers with the challenges of competitiveness brought about by globalisation. Globalisation and the rise of the knowledge and information technology industries greatly accelerate changes in social, cultural and economic landscapes of many countries. The initial utopian optimism of LL quickly took on an economic slant, and the rapid pursuits of economic transformation made possible by investments in LL also revealed some negativities of LL. “The most obvious of these is the impact of LL on social cohesion and stability; several policy bodies have warned of the likelihood of a learning divide between the knowledge-rich and knowledge-poor� (Field, 2004).
This warning is credible, as LL as a policy tool can be a double-edged sword. It can promote social inclusion or result in social exclusion, depending on the access to participation in LL. - 50 -
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It can enhance economic competitiveness or economic deprivation, depending on how the various types of lifelong learners benefit from participation in LL. It can lead to social cohesion and stability or social disparity and tension, depending on how the benefits of LL are distributed among the less literate and the more literate workers. Research has revealed that the literacy levels of the workers have a significant impact on how much they can benefit from participation in LL. The knowledge-rich workers tend to be able to advance upwards along the upgrading opportunities offered by LL, and hence reap greater economic returns from their investments into LL, as compared to the knowledge-poor, who tend to be able to only move sideways through the basic skills levels and hence see less return.
The often-heard and read rhetoric of LL for social and economic mobility through higher skills development should therefore be examined closer at both the intent, as well as the implementation level. In Singapore’s context where we have a rather high literate workforce and a mature economy, but with a significant group of low educated older workers, the policy actions of LL policy will have to take into consideration the distinctive needs of this group of vulnerable workers. In the following chapter, I will be presenting findings to argue that the skills formation concept of LL proposed by Ashton, Green et. al. gives only a partial picture of Singapore’s LL policy, as the approach by the Singapore government on LL has a strong social welfare agenda.
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CHAPTER FOUR DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
The development of LL in Singapore has taken on a distinctive feature of its own as compared to those in other countries that are presented in the literature analysis. In this chapter, I will be presenting the evidence to show that like many other countries, LL became a highly fashionable political strategy in the late 1990s. Using the evidence, I will attempt to show the political intent of this LL rhetoric, and also highlight how the Singapore government tactfully used the LL policy to avert a potential social and political instability when a devastating economic crisis hit Singapore in 2008/2009. This would demonstrate that indeed LL has sufficient ambiguity to be employed for a range of purposes as presented in the literatures. I will then critically analyse Singapore’s distinctive approach of using LL as a strategic tool in implementing a welfare system integrated to a policy rhetoric which stresses employment and training known as the Workfare scheme. As mentioned in Chapter Two, I will be analysing the policy texts adopting part of the analytical framework constructed by Hodgson and Spours (2006) to study the four aspects of LL as implemented by the Ministry of Manpower: historical perspective, agendas, policy action, and stakeholders.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Since 1959, Singapore had identified education as a key tool in shaping her economic future, given her lack of natural resources and the need to capitalise on industrialisation (Wong, 1974). To illustrate the significance that the Singapore government places on education and the possible social response, I did an electronic counti (e-Counting) of the number of articles where the keyword ‘education’ was used in Singapore’s most read mainstream newspaper, The Straits Times (ST). The results are shown in Chart 4.1. From Chart 4.1, there is an obvious increasing trend whereby the keyword ‘education’ appeared in ST. Although it does not directly correlate with the emphasis that the Government placed on education, as ST is not a legal mouthpiece of the Government, it does give a proxy of the media response to general governmental policies.
Chart 4.1: Usage of Term “Education” in the Straits Times (ST) Newspaper
The government’s determination to use education as a nation and economic building policy has led to dramatic developments in Singapore. The 1960s were a “time of turbulence and - 53 -
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economic uncertainty” (EDB, 2009). During that period, Singapore was a Third World country with high unemployment of about 10%, and frequent labour unrest following the withdrawal of the British forces. This is shown in Chart 4.2.
Chart 4.2:
No. of strikes / man-days lost
[reproduced with permission from Trade Unions: Statistics – Strikes, Ministry of Manpower, Singapore]
With poor infrastructure, low capital and little foreign direct investment, the government focused on job-creation by embarking on an industralisation strategy, aiming to get people engaged in economic activities through labour-intensive industries. The 1970s saw Singapore’s economy moving into the ‘skills-intensive’ manufacturing sector, and unemployment was not a serious social or political issue then. Hence for these two decades from 1960s to 1970s, heavy emphasis was placed on technical education to produce a workforce competent enough to support the industrialisation policy undertaken by the - 54 -
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government to rapidly improve the living standards of Singaporeans (Castells, 1992). This was undertaken by the Adult Education Board formed in the early sixties, which was tasked with improving the literacy levels and vocational skills of the adult population then. Even so, a significant proportion of Singapore’s population could not progress further than the primary six education qualification level.
The 1980s was the period that Singapore ventured into “capital intensive and high-tech industries” known as Singapore’s Second Industrial Revolution (EDB, 2009). By moving up the production value chain through attracting higher-valued goods manufacturing in the eighties (Castells, 1992), Singapore had to enhance the skills of her workforce. Singapore formalised her adult education policy with the implementation of the Skills Development Levy Act in 1979, which is “an act to impose a skills development levy on employers and for the establishment of a Skills Development Fund (SDF) and for purposes connected therewith” (AGC, 1979). The SDF operates on a co-sharing basis, with companies contributing to the fund based on a percentage of their employees’ salaries, which is subsequently used to subsidise a portion of the training costs, and the government contributing from the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund (AGC, 2001). This subsidy scheme is significant as it could be construed as an infantile move towards a quasi-welfarism policy through LL, by reducing the cost of training to the employers so as to benefit the employees. It was a prudent and far-sighted approach by the government, then, to establish a partnership welfare mechanism with the enterprises and individual, “as adult learning generates considerable private return, employers and employees are expected to finance at least part of it” (ILO, 2003). With a funding mechanism in place, the government introduced the Vocational and Industrial Training Board in the 1980s to serve as the initial continuing education and training platform to further improve the skills of our adult population in the areas of basic - 55 -
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literacy and technical skills. The Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) programme was launched in 1983 (to train workers in basic literacy and numeracy till the PSLE Primary 6 standard). The programme’s inception was for a practical reason – Singapore was aiming for a more educated and economy-ready workforce amid growing concerns about the number of Singaporean working adults, who might not be able to survive challenging times owing to a lack of academic foundation required for further education and training. It was the early 1980s and the country was anticipating the emergence of new industries towards the end of the decade. Then, more than 100,000 workers were found to have less than PSLE (Primary 6) qualifications while another 216,000 workers did not complete their GCE ‘O’ (Secondary 4) levels. (Nathan, 2003) The Worker Improvement through Secondary Education (WISE) programme was subsequently introduced in 1986 to offer workers yet another opportunity to upgrade their literacy skills.
The 1990s was a boom time for the technology and services industries, with the services sector being deemed as the second pillar of Singapore’s economy (EDB, 2010), and wages rising rapidly due to a high wage policy (MOM, 2003:31). There was therefore a need to further
encourage particularly the mature and lower skilled workers to upgrade their skills and productivity, as the earlier workforce of the 1960s were substantially disadvantaged in literacy skills. The government initiated the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) in 1996 to co-fund the absentee payroll of workers when they attend approved trainings. This is to lighten the burden on the employers when they send their staff for training. With globalisation sweeping across the world, LL became a fashionable policy rhetoric in many countries, as discussed in Chapter Three. Using the same e-Counting method, it is again possible to use the media response as a proxy indicator of the government’s use of LL in the late 1990s, which is shown in Chart 4.2. As discussed in Chapter Three, the term LL was - 56 -
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first mentioned by the Ministry of Education in April 1997, albeit not defined, sparking off a public usage of the ‘LL’ term in the subsequent years, as seen in Chart 4.3. It is interesting that the term lost its lustre with the media after peaking in year 2000, and dwindled after that. I will discuss this trend at the end of this Chapter. It is also interesting to see from Chart 4.3 that terms like ‘lifelong education’ or ‘continuing education and training’ did not attract as much media usage as ‘LL’.
Chart 4.3: Usage of Terms ‘Lifelong Learning (LL)’, “’Lifelong Education (LE)’ and ‘Continuing Education and Training (CET)’ in the ST Newspaper
The next official mention of LL was by Mr Goh Chok Tong, when he spoke at a news conference in Denmark in 1997. The former Prime Minister mentioned that Singapore can learn from Denmark’s positive welfarism: Your emphasis on LL, your emphasis on skill retraining, the state is investing in retraining. The word welfare is never used. But one can argue that that’s a kind of welfare because you are investing in people. Old people. Older workers so that they - 57 -
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have skills to work in new jobs, new areas, that inspiration is what we are working on in Singapore (Goh, 1997, author’s emphasis). The revelation by Mr Goh that Singapore has been working on a similar welfare system employing LL is significant, as it was for the first time, that the Singapore government acknowledged the development of an alternative welfare system, one which attempts to enable the older lower educated, and therefore more vulnerable, workers to be employable so that they would not be excluded from society. This is an interesting remark, as Singapore’s government has all along taken a very measured and pragmatic approach towards state welfarism, not wanting to go into the same economic dilemmas of the Western welfare states. It is also significant for its timing, as 1997 was the year that Singapore’s economy was suffering from the Asian Financial Crisis, and the low-educated workers were severely affected during that crisis. Was the government beginning to soften the stand on welfarism and thinking of using LL policy to implement it, so as not to portray itself as a welfare society?
In the 1998 May Day speech, Mr Goh mentioned again about LL, but this time he focused on employability and competitiveness (Goh, 1998), which gave LL a pragmatic agenda akin to that used by many other policy-makers during the economically very competitive globalisation era just before the turn of the millennium.
With these two formal statements
by Mr Goh, it can be deduced that LL policy has two political agendas in Singapore: social welfare (albeit indirect) and economic development (the public rhetoric).
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LIFELONG LEARNING AGENDAS
The Social Welfare Agenda
Singapore had the Social Welfare Department, set up in 1946 after the Second World War, to facilitate in the rebuilding of the war-ravaged country. Nonetheless, the government was mindful that social development is largely dependent on economic development. Hence, the social policy, then, was to “provide a broad framework into which the social aspects of an integrated development strategy would fit”, (Ministry of Social Affairs, 1973:3) without becoming a liability to Singapore’s economic development. The former Minister of State of Health, Dr Aline Wong, stated that state welfarism is “not just an unbearable economic burden … [but also] one which breaks the very fabric of society apart” (SIF, 1993). This political conviction underlies the rejection of handouts to the poor of the society. Hence, in any and every of its policy, from public housing, health care, to education, the government has always advocated co-payment and co-ownership of responsibilities so as to discourage State-dependency. In situations where welfarism exists, it is for calibrated reasons. For example, prior to 1991, all Malay students in Singapore who qualified for study in Singapore’s approved tertiary institutions would receive full tuition fee subsidies paid for by the Singapore government (Mendaki, 2002), as Singapore’s Constitution specifically “recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore” (AGC, 1965). This subsidy scheme was later revised in 1991 to provide welfare only to the more needy Malay tertiary students, to enable the Malay community in Singapore to better “stand up and be treated equally with other non-Malay Singaporeans”, according to the words of then PM Goh (Mendaki, 2002). For the general population, education in government schools is still very heavily subsidised (ICA, 2009). On top of this, every eligible - 59 -
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Singaporean student would receive yearly Edusave top-ups, which can be used to defray part of the education or related costs (MOE, 2010).
While much welfare support is available for formal education, continuing adult education receives only limited subsidies. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the Lifelong Endowment Fund that was established had, among various objectives, one that indicates a delicate approach towards indirect State welfarism – “the provision of financial assistance or incentives to persons to acquire, develop or upgrade, whether in Singapore or elsewhere, skills and expertise to enhance their employability” (AGC, 2001, author’s emphasis). While the SRP established in 1996 was originally meant to upgrade the skills of older and lowerskilled in-employment company-sponsored workers, in 2001, it was extended to even fund unemployed people under a special Surrogate Employers Programme (SEP). Under the SEP, unemployed unionised members could still be able to enjoy subsidised trainings if they applied under the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) which acted as their surrogate employers. What is noteworthy is that both the SRP and SEP were administered through the NTUC, further emphasising the important involvement of the social partners in this LL quasiwelfarism scheme that is funded by the Government.
This training welfare support described above subsequently evolved into a potent social support and economic stabilising system when Singapore was plunged into severe economic recession in 2008/2009. I will elaborate more on the development of the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) later.
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Economic Development Agenda
The Singapore Government’s approach to LL was very pragmatic right from the beginning. The MOM was tasked to look at how to further prepare the workforce to cope with the transition of Singapore’s economy from technology-intensive to knowledge-intensive driven by innovation, research and development, and high-level services. The Manpower 21 Plan was therefore launched in 1999 by Dr Lee Yock Suan (former Manpower Minister), to transform Singapore into a talent capital in the new economy, with LL as the key pillar. The dawn of the New Economy will bring dramatic changes that will challenge the survival of organisations and the employability of workers throughout the world. There is the urgency for everyone to embrace a culture of LL so as to meet the challenges brought about by globalisation and the technology revolution. (MOM, 2000)
To prepare the workforce for the New Economy, the MOM focused on the “four dimensions of Human Capital – Knowledge Capital, Imagination Capital, Emotional Capital and Social Capital” so as to “cover the full spectrum of the manpower value chain – integrated manpower planning, LL for lifelong employability, manpower augmentation and transformation of the workplace environment” (MOM, 2001b). LL was encompassed under the second dimension of Imagination Capital, with the mention of building a workforce that embraces LL for lifelong employability. While “imagination capital” does suggest a creative and highly-skilled workforce to be maintained through LL, the government also recognised that the workforce was not homogeneous and might not be ready to benefit from the upskilling efforts equitably, as a survey on adult learning in 2000 revealed that 67% of our workforce had not engaged in any structured training or learning over a 12-month period. Among those who did not - 61 -
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participate in any training, one in five indicated no desire to participate in any training. The problem was more acute among non-learners with below secondary education and those aged 45 and above. Clearly, more had to be done to change the mindsets of workers, given the rising demands of the workplace. (MOM, 2001a)
The government realised that the older and lower educated might be resistant to further training, and that they might not be effectively included in the knowledge economy that Singapore is aiming to create. This phenomenon is similar to that observed by the Australian government in their survey as well (DEST, 2003). The MOM tried to change the mindsets of the workers by introducing the Singapore Learning Programme which included the annual Singapore Learning Festival. This was followed with the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS); Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme and the National IT Literacy Programme (MOM, 2003).
The economic agenda of LL policy and employability became more urgent in the period 2000 – 2003 as Singapore’s economy suffered one set-back after another: the bursting of the dot.com bubble in 2000, the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in United States, and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003; three independent events that caused catastrophic damage to the global economy which slowed drastically across various sectors. Singapore saw rapid hollowing out of her manufacturing sector, as many manufacturing companies decided to shift to lower-cost countries like China, India and Vietnam, resulting in rising resident unemployment rates from 3.1% in 2000 to 5.2% in 2003 as seen in Chart 4.4.
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Chart 4.4: Resident Unemployment Rate
formation of WDA WSQ NTUC-SEP WIS
SPUR
WTS
This hollowing out of Singapore’s economy presented another phenomenon that threatened Singaporeans’ income security: structural unemployment. “With structural unemployment, even if job vacancies and job seekers coexist in the labour market, they may not be matched over a long period of time” (MOM, 2011). This happens because the new jobs that are created will require a different skill-set which the unemployed job seekers might not possess. This structural unemployment mainly affected the lower educated job seekers, as their skillsets are generally more narrow-ranged and therefore not adaptable to new jobs; and statistics (MOM, 2001a) show they tend to be least willing to participate in re-training to remain relevant (MOM, 2001b). The government recognised that this vulnerable group requires a different strategy to engage them in re-training. As such, the MOM formed the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) in 2003, with the main objective of equipping the low-educated low-skilled job-seekers with new skills to overcome the structural unemployment, as well as manage their job expectations and certify their existing skills for further mobility between companies. SWDA subsequently developed the skills framework which evolved to become the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) system in - 63 -
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2005, taking heed from a former MOM research that revealed the main motivation for adults to be trained is whether the training would lead to possible improvements in their career prospects (MOM, 2001a). The WSQ is therefore a national credentialing system that trains, develops, assesses and recognises industry-accepted competencies of individuals (SWDA, 2009). It is founded on three skill-sets to equip workers for industry competitiveness: a set of foundational competencies to provide a range of personal attributes portable across various occupations and industries; industry competencies that encompass industry-specific knowhow; and occupational competencies which are specific skills required by specific industries. “WSQ will be the central tool for us to step up our investment in manpower and skills development, and develop the infrastructure conducive for lifelong learning� (Ng, 2005). The WSQ system is essentially an approach to fulfill the economic agenda of the LL policy put forth by the Singapore government.
POLICY ACTION EMBRACING LIFELONG LEARNING
Formulation of SPUR
With a state-led model of structured adult education system in place, the Singapore government was able to introduce a series of welfare initiaves in 2006 onwards that are blended with work and training to incentivise the less educated older workers to learn new skills to remain competitive and employable. This is a re-distribution strategy as shown in the construct of Table. 3.2, whereby the government allocates certain monetary resources to the vulnerable groups. The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme was introduced in 2007 (MOM, 2008), whereby a Singaporean worker above the age of 35 years old and earning less - 64 -
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than S$1500 per month, and who has worked for at least 3 months in a calender year, would receive a certain amount of contribution to his/her Central Provident Fundii (CPF) account. In the period 2007/2008 alone, S$300M was paid out through the WIS scheme to low wage workers (MOM, 2008). Upon the launch of WSQ in 2005, the subsequent three years saw Singapore’s economy recovering, and unemployment declining. However, a festering financial crisis in the United States in 2008 began to affect Singapore’s economy as well. By 2009, the gobal recession had caused Singapore’s resident unemployment rate to peak at 4.2%, affecting not only the most vulnerable (the older lower educated) workers, it also severely affected the PMETs (professional, managers, executives and technicians), a group of highly-skilled workers that usually would not be much affected by economic downturns. This global recession affected the financial and manufacturing sectors most, and many workers in these and related sectors became unemployed.
To tackle the severe and uncertain impact of this global recession, the Singapore government pulled the sacred plug and unleashed a slew of financial assistance schemes which was tantamount to an unprecedented state welfarism, embodied under SPUR, among several other financial initiatives such as the Jobs Creditiii. The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) scheme was introduced to mitigate the fallout from the global recession. Under SPUR, which was managed by the SWDA, companies only needed to co-pay a miniscule amount of the training fees for their employees, and would receive very generous reimbursements of their absentee payroll (SWDA, 2010). While many of these courses are meant for the already employed, a major departure from traditional government policies is that even unemployed citizens and permanent residents could apply and receive these very generous course fee subsidies without the need for any employer’s support. On top of that, to help these trainees tide over their financial loss during training hours, SPUR also provided - 65 -
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eligible trainees some cash stipends for longer courses. These schemes benefitted many lower educated older workers. Included in SPUR was also several initiatives targeted specifically at the PMETs. One of which was the Professional Conversion Programme, which included skills conversion, skills upgrading, tertiary upgrading, leadership and management skills training and career workshops for the PMETs (SWDA, 2010). These highly-skilled unemployed PMETs could undertake very heavily subsidised courses to make a career switch, with SWDA providing cash stipends during their training period. With the provision of job-matching and career counselling programmes, a very elaborate alternative social safety net was established, one that linked welfare benefits to attendance in a training programme.
This form of blended socio-economic agenda of LL offered a distinctive welfare system that kept many workers in ‘suspended employment’ by engaging them in training and learning new skills that are heavily funded by the state (which could be as high as 90% of the training fees and absentee payroll), rather than productive work, within a company context. Many companies consequently continued to retain their employees under their payroll (which was heavily subsidised by the state) rather than retrenching them. Hence, although the global recession of 2008/2009 was economically more devastating than the SARs crisis in 2003, the unemployment rate was lower than in 2003. This is because people who are undergoing training do not contribute to unemployment figures, even though they are effectively unemployed.
Other than managing the unemployment rate, this blended socio-economic agenda of LL policy can be used to mitigate social and political instability, especially in a possibly protracted low employment situation like the global recession. In the 1950s and 1960s, when - 66 -
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Singapore’s unemployment was high (at about 10%), labour relations were badly strained and strikes were common, as shown in Chart 4.2. Coupled with Singapore’s non-homogeneous multi-racial and multi-religious population, social and political instability was of concern. At independence, there were large attendance and achievement gaps [in Singapore’s education system] between the Chinese population, on the one hand, and the Tamil and Malay populations on the other. These gaps threatened the political stability of Singapore, as well as its economic development. (OECD, 2010)
Social equity is therefore a key political agenda, of which can be challenged during times of crises. To better manage labour relations after the early years of labour unrest, the government advocated a tri-partism policy whereby the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), and the MOM constantly work together to identify potential flash-points especially during crisis periods, and the global recession of 2008/2009 was a crisis that could potentially spark social and political instability, and therefore had to be managed at an early phase before the threshold of instability was reached.
SPUR was therefore an effective LL policy involving the social and market partners, and the various workfare initiatives proved to be very effective in maintaining social and political stability during the global recession period of 2008/2009, and this tri-partism approach was reiterated by former MOM Minister Gan Kim Yong (2011): In times of crises, the behaviours and responses of employers, supervisors, union leaders and workers can make a great difference to the outcome. If the crises are wellmanaged, they could strengthen the resilience and unity of our society and help us emerge stronger as a society and as a nation. The alternative would be a workplace - 67 -
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where crises are poorly managed, leading to social tension and an unproductive workforce, affecting peace and stability in Singapore. (Gan, 2011)
Besides using SPUR to manage labour relations through the social and market partners, SPUR played a very important role in keeping many unemployed people engaged in training during the global recession. Retrenchment leading to unemployment can result in social unrest, threatening social and political stability (ILO, 2010). Prolonged unemployment leads to social and income inequality, and this has an effect on the well-being of workers individually, and the nation collectively. Using Inoki’s (2008) argument of critical mass and threshold model, there could be a threshold level of unemployment, beyond which the unemployed people desperate for employment might group together, develop a strongly interlinked set of behaviours, and breach the norms of social order resulting in social instability. To minimise the formation of this critical mass of possibly disgruntled retrenched and unemployed people, keeping them engaged mentally and physically in training is an effective strategy. SPUR was able to achieve this as it encompassed a structured WSQ training framework; a salary subsidy mechanism which allowed employers to retain the workers even in a low production activity period; as well as an income supplement component that provided for especially the low-wage workers’ basic financial needs (MOM, 2009). The structured WSQ framework provided a whole range of courses that enabled workers to learn new skills which might be useful when the economy recovered; it also kept them mentally engaged which arguably had a positive impact on their psychological wellbeing. Keeping the workers on ‘suspended employment’ within the company structure through salary subsidies allowed for continued and sustainable social inclusion. The wage supplement for low-wage workers was crucial in ensuring that the most vulnerable group
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remained in this quasi-welfare environment and not become excluded socially or economically through loss of employment and income.
In summary, the SPUR policy was a very effective policy as it involved the state, social and market partners, and LL provided a very well-accepted and pragmatic approach.
STAKEHOLDERS
Tri-Partism
Through the aforementioned arguments, Singapore’s pragmatic approach of using LL for her blended socio-economic agenda involves the tri-partite partners of the state, trade unions, and the employers and service providers. Tri-partism is a form of recognition from the government that managing labour relations requires a power-sharing approach, whereby there is “collaboration, not confrontation”, “mutual trust and respect, understanding and integrity” (MOM, 2010a). Following the success of SPUR and the Workfare initiatives in mitigating the rise of unemployment during the global recession period, the government started another joint scheme with NTUC as the fund administrator for the Workfare Skills-Up (WSU), a scheme to provide fully funded literacy training to low-wage Singaporeans, and also training incentives and allowances to sustain them during the training period. The government has also involved the employers by ensuring that they are not adversely burdened by the training fees or disruption in work schedules through extensive funding and flexible training arrangements. Furthermore, the training providers involved in the workfare initiatives also play an important role in that they are roped in to monitor their trainees’ employment status - 69 -
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several months after training. This divestment of certain powers to the social and market partners further highlights the extent to which the government would go to ensure that the lower wage workers have access to LL opportunities to remain employable as the employment climate changes.
Championing Lifelong Learning Policy
In Chart 4.2, we can see that there is a decreasing trend, after year 2000, in the use of the keyword “LL” in the ST articles. The rapid rise in the use of the term was probably triggered by the government’s adoption of LL in 1999 in the Manpower 21 Plan, of which the “School of Lifelong Learning” was announced, with MOM co-championing the Singapore Learning initiative with other government agencies, companies, community groups, associations and societies, (MOM, 2000) to enable the individual to access quality training on an on-going basis. The MOM took on the task to promote LL, and the policy was readily and rapidly accepted by the media as policy fashion. However, probably the lack of clarity and a definitive definition of LL led to its diminishing use in policy making, with ‘continuing education’ and ‘training’ becoming the preferred terms. The term ‘School of Lifelong Learning’ was therefore dropped, and MOM shifted LL from policy reference to conceptual, using terms such as “culture of lifelong learning” (Gan, 2010) and “aspirations of lifelong learning” (MOM, 2010b). In its place was launched the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Masterplan in 2008 (MOM, 2008), where MOM will build first-class CET centres, enhance the CET system through greater industry adoption of WSQ, better CET trainer capabilities, and stronger tri-partite relationships to implement the CET Masterplan. This shift in stance probably signifies MOM’s intention to just focus on training that affects the - 70 -
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employability of the individual, and leave the other government agencies and community partners to tackle the other aspects of LL.
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I have attempted to show that Singapore has chosen to adopt a blended socioeconomic approach to the implementation of LL policy that is very much shaped by the economic situation of the era. In the early developmental stage of Singapore, the approach was geared towards producing an industrially productive workforce to rapidly improve our economy so as to manage social and labour issues. The focus was therefore more on vocational training. A high wage policy coupled with strong global and local economy allowed for high growth in the 1990s, but the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and the advent of globalisation caused the government to relook at how adult education was to be reformulated as the economy had to be restructured. LL policy which was gaining popularity in the European countries then, seemed an attractive policy to adapt. The Singapore government was also keenly aware of a significant group of vulnerable citizens who would not be able to cope as well with globalisation and the country’s move into the New Economy of knowledge and innovation. It was a deliberate move by the government to promote a LL policy with a strong emphasis on the vulnerable low educated older workers. The intention was to design a LL system that could be used to keep the vulnerable group in employment through continuing heavily funded training and wage supplement. This quasi-welfarism policy concept was provided with political conviction through the formation of the SWDA, and subsequently the development of the WSQ, a national credentialing framework in the mid 2000s. By that time, a series of economic downturns had given the Singapore - 71 -
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government sufficient understanding that the WSQ have to cater to both the older low educated workers, and also the emerging younger but more educated workforce that need to continually upgrade their skills to stay relevant in the face of changing economic demands. The Workfare system, a quasi-welfare system linked to the promotion of positive work ethics, was introduced, with continuing training and education forming the focus of workfare. This workfare system was incorporated into the SPUR programme which was a potent policy formulated to enable Singapore to cope with the most challenging economic downturn in 2008/2009. Through SPUR, Singapore’s LL policy took a very social approach, while maintaining her economic vision of up-skilling. Using the WSQ training system, many workers were prevented from being retrenched and therefore unemployment was contained. Very high financial subsidies to employers gained their support, and financial incentives to workers kept them in training, which probably averted a potential social and political instability in Singapore which could break out if unemployment were to escalate. With the involvement of the unions and employers, the government was able to effectively use the LL policy to mitigate the devastating social impact of the global recession in Singapore.
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CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the summary of findings from the research, discusses the limitations of the study, as well as ideas for further research.
SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH
In this research, I have attempted to show how the concept of LL has been used by various countries for different agendas. In Chapter Three, I argued that LL began initially as a rhetorical form of policy in the European countries in 1990s. This shift has been argued by scholars such as Griffin (1999) as a move from governmental to individual responsibility. The initial rhetorical conception of LL as a holistic approach towards learning (OECD, 1996a) from personal development to social cohesion was quickly overtaken by a pragmatic economic proposition (OECD, 2001) due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, globalisation (Green, 2006), and more significantly, the recessions in 2001, 2003 and 2008/2009.
The Singapore government has adopted and adapted the use of LL as a policy to advance her social and economic agendas as well. The LL policy had undergone various evolutions: from an emphasis on vocational training to industrialise the country in 1970s – 1980s; to a system to up-skill vulnerable groups of low-skill low education workers to help them remain - 73 -
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employable for social inclusion in the 1990s when technology and services industries gained traction. Academics such as Ashton, Green, et. al. (2002) and Kumar (2004) have argued that Singapore’s approach to LL focussed more on skills formation and competitiveness for the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. However, the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 that affected many low-skilled older workers in Singapore probably led the government to relook at the role of LL in managing not only the higher-skilled workers, but particularly the significant numbers of vulnerable workers who might not be able to cope with the knowledge divide that comes with the LL policy for transition into the knowledge economy. A series of further recessions in 2001 (terrorist attacks in USA) and 2003 (SARS Crisis) led to the need for rapid economic restructuring, leaving the government with the urgent challenge to manage the vulnerable group of workers who have not responded well to the training schemes introduced in the 1980s and 1990s. This is where existing LL literature have failed to document the next wave of LL policy that began to unfold post 2003. This new wave of LL policy was championed by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) through the Workforce Development Agency, which introduced the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification system (WSQ) in 2005, and a series of quasi-welfare policies known as the Workfare initiatives in 2007. A severe global recession in 2008/2009 prompted the government to mitigate the threat of rising unemployment by using the WSQ system, which is a national training and credentialing system, to keep many workers socially engaged through skills training, and in a form of ‘suspended employment’ through heavy training and wage subsidies to companies that would otherwise had retrenched many of these redundant workers. With the success of the Workfare initiatives, the government decided to make Workfare (which notably comprised of the Workfare Income Supplement – an initiative to supplement the income of low-wage older workers; and the Workfare Training Scheme – a heavily subsidised training scheme to sustain the employability of low-wage older workers) a - 74 -
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permanent feature of Singapore’s social security system. It has also become clearer to the Singapore government that the vulnerable group of older low-wage low-skill workers have to be managed differently to ensure that LL policies do not further exclude them from social and economic transformation. As such, a distinctive blended socio-economic approach is developed, whereby welfare schemes are integrated with training and employment opportunities made accessible to them to ensure that they remain employable without lagging too far behind the society economically. Using the construct shown in Table 3.2, the blended socio-economic approach to LL is a form of re-distribution strategy of welfare services to the older low-skilled workers, as represented in the upper left quadrant of the construct, and can be an effective and readily accepted policy to maintain social and political stability in a country.
This study has also shown that as LL policies can have multiform agendas with different intentions and implementation objectives, studying it at the Ministry level could potentially yield interesting insights. This could therefore present yet another framework towards exploring how LL has impacted policies and politics within a country.
LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
This research is constrained by time and method of research. The scope of LL is extremely broad, and this research has only been able to focus on LL as policy, and only exploring the intents and implementations by only one Ministry in Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower. Nonetheless, the amount of documents that were analysed, which consisted of website documents, annual reports, ministerial speeches, press releases, reports, and newspaper - 75 -
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articles had been rather voluminous. While the authenticity and accuracy of the data is easily verifiable, validity and usefulness of the data to the research can be arguable. This is because with any research that is based on document analysis, the insights to the research is dependent on the analytical mindset of the researcher, and any interrogation of the data can only yield limited findings. It would have helped if there were other research papers to refer to regarding LL in Singapore, but such critiques are also limited.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Research into LL in Singapore is at its infancy. The limited research so far has been on document analysis, and generally broad critical discussions. The study presented in this dissertation on the LL policy has focused on only one Ministry, yet has yielded insights into certain distinctive intents and implementations of the policies. A useful follow-up study could examine the social and political effects of the various workfare initiatives fashioned within the LL framework, and this should take the form of field research to provide an even more robust perspective. Further research could be conducted either through horizontal or vertical approaches. In the horizontal approach, other Ministries in Singapore could be studied on how their political roles affect the intents and implementations of LL policies. For example, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), which manages the media and communications sector and the many libraries in Singapore, would probably envisage LL differently from the Ministry of Education (MOE), or the Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (MCYS). To give greater insights into the research, a vertical approach could be used, whereby instead of document analysis, field
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research could be conducted to study how the policies have been translated into practice, and the impact of the LL policies on the consumers.
______________________________ Notes: i
The count was done using the following method: Under the National Library Board online portal, www.nl.sg, select NewspaperSG. Under the Digitised Newspapers, key in the necessary keywords in “double quotes”. The newpaper used in this counting was The Straits Times, and the Content Type was Articles (hence Advertisements, Letters, Orbituaries, Illustrations and Miscellaneous were excluded).
ii
The Central Provident Fund is a social security savings plan for Singaporeans and Singaporean Permanent Residents, whereby a working person would have to contribute a certain amount into his/her CPF account deductible from the salary, and the employer would also contribute another portion. The savings would be paid a guaranteed interest rate determined by the government, and can be withdrawn by the individual after the national retirement age upon meeting certain criteria. More information can be accessed at www.cpf.gov.sg. iii
The Jobs Credit Scheme was a one-off initiative where the Singapore government attempted to reduce the wage bill of employers by offering a certain amount of cash grants to employers based on each employee’s salary. It was implemented in 2009 and ended in 2010.
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REFERENCES ACACE, (1982), Continuing Education: From Policies to Practice. Leicester, UK: NIACE. AGC (Attorney's General Chambers) (1965), Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Part XIII, 152. [Online]. Available at http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgibin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=1999-REVEDCONST&doctitle=CONSTITUTION%20OF%20THE%20REPUBLIC%20OF%20SING APORE%0A&date=latest&method=part&segid=931158661-003585 Last accessed 18/02/2011. AGC (Attorney's General Chambers) (1979), Skills Development Levy Act, Chapter 306. [Online]. Available at http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgibin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED306&doctitle=SKILLS%20DEVELOPMENT%20LEVY%20ACT%0A&date=latest&met hod=part. Last accessed 18/02/2011. AGC (Attorney's General Chambers) (2001), Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund Act, Chapter 162A. [Online]. Available at http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgibin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED162A&doctitle=LIFELONG%20LEARNING%20ENDOWMENT%20FUND%20ACT% 0A&date=latest&method=part&sl=1 Last accessed 18/02/2011. Appleby, Y. and Bathmaker, A. M. (2006), 'The New Skills Agenda: Increased Lifelong Learning or New Sites of Inequality?'. British Educational Research Journal, 32 (5), 703– 717. Aristotle, (1975), The ‘Art’ of Rhetoric. Loeb Classical Library Aristotle, Vol 22. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Aristotle, (1984), ‘Politics’. In B. Jowett (Trans), The Complete Works of Aristotle, Vol. 2 (The Revised Oxford Translation). Princeton: Princeton University Press. Ashton, D., Green, F., Sung, J. and James, D. (2002), ‘The Evolution of Education and Training Strategies in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea: A Development Model of Skill Formation’. Journal of Education and Work, 15 (1), 5–30. Bagnall, R. G. (2010), 'Citizenship and Belonging as a Moral Imperative for Lifelong Learning'. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 29 (4), 449–460. Barro, R. (1999), ‘Determinants of Democracy’, The Journal of Political Economy, 107 (6), 158–183. Bowe, R., Ball, S. J. and Gold, A. (1992), Reforming Education and Changing Schools: Case-studies in Policy Sociology. London: Routledge. Brine, J. (2006), ‘The European lifelong learner’. In M. Kuhn (Ed.), Who is the European?— A New Global Player. New York: Peter Lang. Cagan, P. (1956), ‘Monetary dynamics of inflation’. In M. Friedman (Ed.), Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money (pp. 25–117). Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. Candy, P. C. (1991), Self-Direction for Lifelong Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 78
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