30 October 2018
Singapore has been ranked among the top in the world with respect to providing its citizens with upward mobility through education.
According to a recent report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, students with more qualified parents are still likely to end up better educated than their peers, but the gap in Singapore has shrunk considerably over the years.
Now, a Singaporean born to parents with only upper secondary education has about a 60 per cent chance of completing tertiary education.
The OECD report also pointed out that disadvantaged students here still manage to attain core skills in science, reading and mathematics, as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment.
The Ministry of Education said that it is heartened to see that education mobility across generations has improved over the years.
It noted that going forward, it is more important for people to develop skills instead of pursuing academic qualifications alone.