Liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector experiences of singapore and lessons for viet nam

1 Chapter 1 Overview of education and liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector .... Chapter 2 The liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education secto

CONTENTS Abbreviations

List of Table

Acknowledgements

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Overview of education and liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector 8

1 What is education? 8

2 The relationship between education sector and economic growth 9

3 Benefits of education to a national society 11

3.1 Consumption Benefits of Education 11

3.2 External Benefits of Education 13

3.3 Education, Inequality and Poverty 14

3.4 Education and Rural Development 16

4 Overview of liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector 17

4.1 International context of liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector 17

4.2 The legal framework of the movement of natural persons 19

4.3 Definition of liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector 20

5 Measures of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector 21

5.1 Immigration related regulations concerning entry and stay of service providers 21

5.2 Regulations concerning recognition of qualifications, work experience, and training 22

5.3 Differential treatment of domestic and foreign service personnel 24

6 Factors affected by liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector 25

Chapter 2 The liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education

sector in Singapore 27

1 Overview of Singapore 27

1.1 Political system 27

1.2 System of Government 28

1.3 Foreign policy 29

1.4 The legal system 30

1.5 Languages 30

2 Singapore’s education and movement of natural persons in education sector 30 2.1 Educational structure 30

2.2 Singapore education development phases 34

2.3 The movement of natural persons in Singapore education in recent years 36

3 The measures of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in educational sector in Singapore 38

3.1 Immigration related regulations concerning entry and stay of service providers 38

3.2 Regulations concerning recognition of qualifications, work experience, and training 41

3.3 Differential treatment of domestic and foreign service personnel 44

4 Factors affected by liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector in Singapore 47

4.1 In short term (1965-1990) 47

4.2 In long term (1990-2015) 50

5 Experiences of Singapore in growing education 60

5.1 A forward-looking, integrated planning system 61

5.2 Close links between policy implementers, researchers and educators 62

5.3 Policies with the means to implement them 63

5.4 Commitment to equity and merit 63

5.5 A strong focus on mathematics, science and technical skills 64

5.6 Human resource management which matches the demands of the system 64

5.7 A system which is continuously being improved 65

6 Lessons from Singapore 66

6.1 Lesson 1: Curriculum changes for human resource growth in each stage 66

6.2 Lesson 2: Human resource policies in education sector are connected closely with the real 67

6.3 Lesson 3: Vocational Technical Education (VTE) for Economic Development goal 70

Chapter 3 Application of Singapore’s lessons for Viet Nam in liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector 74

1 Overview of education in Viet Nam 74

1.1 Education in Vietnam during Feudal and Colonial Periods 74

1.2 Education in periods of 1945-1954 75

1.3 Education in years of temporary separation (1955-1975) 75

1.4 Education in years of Pre-Reform (1975-1985) 76

1.5 Education in Twenty Years of Reform (1986-2005) 77

2 The Current Vietnamese Education System 78

2.1 Goals of Education for All (EFA) – Building a Learning Society 78

2.2 System Structure - School Network 79

2.3 Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) 79

2.4 Primary Education 80

2.5 Secondary Education 81

2.6 Vocational Education 82

2.7 Higher Education 82

2.8 Continuing Education 83

2.9 Investment into Education 83

3 The status of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in Viet Nam 85

3.1 The legal framework 85

3.2 The process of liberalizing of the movement natural persons in Viet Nam 86

4 Assessment on the similarities and differences between Singapore and Viet Nam; and the ablity of Viet Nam for adaptation experience of Singapore in

developing education 87

4.1 Similarities 87

4.2 Differences 92

5 Application of lessons from Singapore for Viet Nam 94

5.1 Lesson 1: Curriculum Changes for humnan resource 94

5.2 Lesson 2: Human resource policies in education sector are connected closely with the real 96

5.3 Lesson 3: Vocational Technical Education (VTE) for Economic development goal 99

6 Some recommendations for Viet Nam in liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector 100

6.1 Quality Assurance (QA) Framework for Private and Public Schools 100

6.2 Mutual recognition of professional qualifications 102

6.3 Recommendations on Manpower 103

6.4 Educational Material Facilities Recommendations 103

6.5 Cooperation and International Integration in Education 103

6.6 Investment into Education - Mobilization of all Resources for Educational Development 104

CONCLUSION 106

REFERENCES 108

Abbreviations

TMNP Temporary movement of natural persons

MOM Ministry of Manpower

R&D Research and Development

GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services

AEC ASEAN Economic Community

PSLE Primary School Leaving Exam

PRs Permanent residents

VITB Vocational and Industrial Training Board

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations

UN The United Nations

AFAS The ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services

ACIA ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement

MP Members of Parliament

NIE The National Institute of Education

ILO International Labour Organization

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

LDCs Less developed countries

GDP Gross Domestic Product

FDWs Foreign domestic workers

CPF the Central Provident Fund

TFR Total Flerility Rate

EPA Economic Partnership Agreement

PEB Professional Engineers Board

SAFTA the free trade agreement between Australia and Singapore

MRA Mutual Regconition Agreement

CDIS the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore

VTE Vocational Technical Education

ITE Information Technology Education

EDB The Singapore Economic Development Board

MNCs Mutination Cooperations

List of Table

No

Table 1 Different Eligibility Schemes for Employment-Pass Holders 46

Table 5 Academic qualification in period of 1990-2015 53 Table 6 The public expenditure on education from 2007 to 2013 57

Acknowledgements

It has been a period of intense learning for me, not only in the research arena, but also on a personal level Writing this thesis has had a big impact on me I would like to reflect on the people who have supported and helped me so much throughout this period

I would first particularly like to thank my supervisor Dr VU Thi Hien who has supported me though-out my thesis with her patience and knowledge whilst allowing me the room to work in my own way This thesis would not have been completed or written without her, a friendly supervisor

I cannot finish without thanking my family I warmly thank and appreciate

my mother and my parents-in-law for their material and spiritual support in all aspects

of my life

And finally, I would like to thank my dear who support and encourage me to finish this thesis

Introduction

1 Rationale of the research

Education is acknowledged as a main contributory factor to boost productivity

of workers by generating skills that raise their working capacity, leading to economic growth (Hill et al, 2005:1; Bloom et al, 2006; Galiani et al, 2008:437) The World Bank Policy Paper on Primary Education (1990, 1995, 1999) embraced human capital theory, observing that education, particularly at the primary level increases the productivity of the work force through improved literacy, numeracy, and health status Similarly, research on China reports evidence of a significant, positive relationship between higher levels of education and GDP, using aggregate data at the national and provincial level (Fleischer, 2002:6) Estimates by Chen and Fang (2000) shows that, the stock of higher educated population has had a statistically significant, positive, and robust relationship to economic growth across provinces of China in the 1980s and 1990s In addition, the improvement of the knowledge of the people leads not only to the economic growth but also to enhance the social development (improve the health, decline of growth rate of population, reduce crime rates, greater civic participation, higher voting rate, understanding the responsibility etc.) As emphasized Lopez et al (1998), no country has achieved economic development without investing in education development

More intensive global trade and investment links in the last two decades of the 20th century were associated with a steady rise in international migration world-wide, although on a smaller scale and different to patterns experienced during the golden era of international migration a century ago Now, flows are dominated by temporary labour migration (TLM), in contrast to the earlier prevalence of permanent settlers to the new world (Hatton and Williamson, 1998)

There has been some attempt to establish rules for migration through regulations regarding multilateral trade in services The GATS – General Agreement

on Trade in Services – found it necessary to incorporate a set of clauses on labour migration (the movement of natural persons, or MNPs) to facilitate trade and

especially investment in services In 2002, the ASEAN countries agreed to work towards the formation of an ASEAN Economic Community by the year 2020, modelled on the European Union, although with a 9 more limited political authority The union community would allow free movements of goods and investment within its borders Its initial conception has also countenanced free movements of labour, although it is envisaged that these will only extend skilled manpower, in addition to professionals and business travellers (Soesastro, 2003)

The globalization of labour markets around the world has highlighted the need for coordinated action The number of migrants crossing borders in search of employment and human security is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades due to the failure of globalization to provide jobs and economic opportunities The ILO sees today’s global challenge as forging the policies and the resources to better manage labour migration so that it contributes positively to the growth and development of both home and host societies, as well as to the well being

of the migrants themselves In 2004, the International Labour Conference of the ILO adopted a Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration which is part of a plan of action for migrant workers agreed by ILO constituents The Framework is part of an ILO plan of action which aims at better managing labour migration so that it contributes positively to the growth and development of both home and host societies,

as well as to the well being of the migrants’ themselves”

Singapore has become one of the main destination areas for migrants from within and outside the region Migrants has effected positively on Singapore’s economy and education When Singapore became independent in 1965, it was a poor, small (about 700 km2 ), tropical island with few natural resources, little fresh water, rapid population growth, substandard housing and recurring conflict among the ethnic and religious groups that made up its population At that time there was no compulsory education and only a small number of high school and college graduates and skilled workers Today, Singapore is a gleaming global hub of trade, finance and transportation Its transformation “from third world to first” in one generation is one

of Asia’s great success stories (Yew, 2000) All children in Singapore receive a

minimum of 10 years of education in one of the country’s 360 schools Singapore’s students were among the top in the world in mathematics and science on the Trends

in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007 Their excellence is further underlined by the fact that Singapore was one of the top-performing countries in the 2009 PISA survey, the first PISA survey in which it participated Singapore was rated as one of the best performing education systems in

a 2007 McKinsey study of teachers (Barber and Mourshed, 2007), and was rated first

in the 2007 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (IMD, 2007) for having an education system that best meets the needs of a competitive economy At the higher education level, the National University of Singapore was ranked 34th in the world and 4th in Asia in the Times Higher Education Supplement Rankings of World Universities in 2010 (Times Higher Education Supplement, 2010) How has this little red dot on the map, as Singaporeans frequently refer to their country, a nation that is not even 50 years old, evolved from a backwater undeveloped economy into a world economic and educational leader in such a short period of time? What education policies and practices has Singapore employed? And are the lessons from Singapore’s experience relevant for other countries?

In Vietnam, Article 35 of the current Constitution (issued in 1992)

stipulates: Education is the first priority of the national policy The Second Plenary

Session of the Central Party Standing Committee VIII has issued the Resolution on the strategic orientation for the development of education and training during the period of industrialization and modernization

Article 86 of the Education law stipulates the framework of governmental management of education, including firstly the formulating and guiding, scheming and planning strategy and policy for educational development Therefore, Vietnamese Government, in pace with other socio-economic development strategies, has planned a strategy to year 2020 with steps to year 2025 for the national education and training development

In the recent years, Vietnam’s education system has steadily developed The number of education schools and institutions has increased and the training quality has gradually improved From the system consisting of only narrowly specialized schools, voacational institurions, colleges, universities and higer education with different degrees have changed a lot facilitate programs

As far as we are concerned, the new educational programme's curriculum has eight educational fields, which are language and literature, mathematics, morals and citizen education and physical education, as well as art, social science, natural science and technology and IT

Although having gained certain achievements, our country's education and training sector has still not caught up with the requirements of socio-economic development and shown its weaknesses in a number of aspects: The quality of education and the effectiveness of educational activities at all levels are still low; The manpower training structure is not reasonable in terms of qualifications, careers and regions; The social equity in education has not been carried out sufficiently; Some negative and undisciplinary phenomena in education are not prevented promptly One

of the key causes of the weaknesses is slownness in education and training management due to poor socio-economic aspect How and what can Viet Nam get over this weakness? And Can Viet Nam learn anything from Singapore, a country with many similarities with Viet Nam With the hope to aim finding answers for these

questions, the researcher opts thesis titled “Liberalizing the movement of natural

persons in education sector: Experiences of Singapore and lessons for Viet Nam”

2 Literature review

No-one can deny the key role of education to national economic growth There

is a vast of research on education and educational related issues Yet most of research focus on educational issues rather than labour in education, such as thesis of Bùi Trần Phương Chi, “Australian higher education onshore export and lessons for Viet Nam”, thesis of Nguyễn Huy Cường, “United States’ colleges and university system and lessons for Vietnam”, thesis of Nguyễn Thị Xuân Hường, “Exporting educational

services in Singapore”, thesis of Phạm Thị Thùy Linh, “Growing higher education in Australia and lessons for Việt Nam”

Recent and widely publicised studies by Alan Winters et al (2003) and Dani Rodrik (2002) have drawn attention to the large potential gains from liberalisation of migration of temporary workers, both for developed and less developed countries Temporary labour migration (or the movement of ‘natural persons’, in trade policy jargon) has also received considerable attention in the Doha round of trade negotiations, including representation at the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Meeting held in Cancun in September 2003 International migration of temporary workers has for some years been included in multilateral negotiations on trade liberalisation through ‘Mode-4’ in the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) and related regional agreements The issues have been addressed in negotiations at the regional level, such as through ASEAN in Southeast Asia, as well

as in preferential trading agreements like NAFTA In part, interest in temporary labour migration (TLM) has been sparked by political and economic reality of large international migration flows that takes place outside multilateral trade negotiations, many of which are undocumented or illegal (Stalker, 2001)

In future, it is assure that Viet Nam will face many problem relating liberalizing the movement of natural persons, especially in education sector For that reason, this research on liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector is choosen to aim to find out the solution for Viet Nam‘s labour market in education sector in process of international and regional integration Some issues relating the movement of natural persons, tendency of the movement of natural persons in the world in education sector as well as experiences of Singapore in liberalizing the movement of natural persons are mainly concerned in this research

It will be a preliminary research of movement of natural persons in general (sometimes referred to as the ‘temporary labour migration’) The research is set in the context of global patterns of international migration and policies towards migration

in a multilateral context And then the inter-relationship between movement of natural persons and education sector, status of liberalizing the movement of natural persons

in Singapore is taken consideration The research also examines national policies towards migration, and in particular how Singapore can ultilise the movement of natural persons to develop education and at last economy The research closes with a few suggestions regarding education growth by liberalizing the movement for

Vietnam

3 Objective

The research is to recommend some solutions for liberalizing the movement

of natural person in Viet Nam’s education by studying Singapore’s education and the measures that Singapore has made use of liberalizing the movement of natural persons for promoting education

4 Subject and study scope

- Subject: Singapore’s education, the measures and effected areas of

liberalising the movement the natural persons in education sector in Singapore, Viet

Nam’s education

- Study scope:

(1) Singapore: The study addresses Singapore governmental policies on

liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector from 1965 to 2015, especially immigration policies and its impacts on education sector

(2) Viet Nam: The study takes mainly consideration of education system in

Viet Nam from 1997 to 2015

5 Methodologies

The study approach for this study basically is qualitative research, in which exploratory and comparative study are mainly used As we have seen, the topic does not exactly offer too many previous studies although there are many research works that deal with the related issues The methodology including selection and discussion

of theoretical material and descriptive material, publication research, law research, include both present and historical information, and detailed comparison of regulations, theories in terms of their applicability Theories on education and

liberalising the movement of natural persons were basic researches, in which some issues were addressed to find answers the following questions:

The aboved theoretical researches would be applied for studying Singapore,

in which the main concerns were the secret of Singapore to develop education successfully in a short time and the obstacles of Singapore on the way to success

Chapter 1 Overview of education and liberalizing the movement of

natural persons in education sector

1 What is education?

When talking about education people often confuse it with schooling Many think of places like schools or colleges when seeing or hearing the word They might also look to particular jobs like teacher or tutor The problem with this is that while looking to help people learn, the way a lot of schools and teachers operate is not necessarily something we can properly call education They have chosen or fallen or been pushed into ‘schooling’ – trying to drill learning into people according to some plan often drawn up by others Paulo Freire (1973) famously called education as a banking – making deposits of knowledge Such ‘schooling’ quickly descends into treating learners like objects, things to be acted upon rather than people to be related

to

According to the national registration, education is the process in which individual brings about a claimed change in his behavior deliberately and by means of his experience (Ertürk, 1972) The origin of this term dates back to the program enhancement studies carried out in the USA in 1940 and it extends to the experimental psychological studies carried out on the monkeys and mice in the early 20th century

Şimşek (2009) claimed that this term focused on the education planned by somebody and focused on achieving expected behavior, however this process is contrary to human nature According to Şimşek, education is the process in which a person himself contributes to his improvement by changing his behavior by means of his potential in consistent with social aims (Şimşek, 2009)

According to Gökalp, education is the process which individual shapes An individual is aimed to be socialized and to improve social attitudes via education In this respect, education is that a person adjusts to his environment (Celkan,

1990) This definition considers education a formation formed by the external effects and excludes internal formation

According to Durkheim, education is the function of social institution and social function (Banks, 1971) According to this definition, education includes values, intellectual and physical skills which are supposed to be acquired by young generation whereas according to Weber, education infers the preparatory period for the statues which individuals will obtain in social structure (Ergün, 1992)

Education is, as John Dewey (1916) put it, a social process – ‘a process of living and not a preparation for future living’ In this view, educators look to act with people rather on them Their task is to educe (related to the Greek notion of educere),

to bring out or develop potential Such education is:

- Deliberate and hopeful It is learning we set out to make happen in the belief that people can ‘be more’;

- Informed, respectful and wise A process of inviting truth and possibility;

- Grounded in a desire that at all may flourish and share in life It is a cooperative and inclusive activity that looks to help people to live their lives as well

as they can

In conclusion, we end up with a definition of education as ‘the wise, hopeful and respectful cultivation of learning undertaken in the belief that all should have the chance to share in life’ What does education involve? First, we can see a

guiding eidos or leading idea – the belief that all share in life and a picture of what might allow people to be happy and flourish Alongside is a disposition or haltung (a

concern to act respectfully, knowledgeably and wisely) and interaction (joining with

others to build relationships and environments for learning) Finally, there is praxis –

informed, committed action (Carr and Kemmis 1986; Grundy 1987)

2 The relationship between education sector and economic growth

Till recently economists have been considering physical capital as the most important factor determining economic growth and have been recommending that

rate of physical capital formation in developing countries must be increased to accelerate the process of economic growth and raise the living standards of the people But in the last three decades economic research has revealed the importance

of education as a crucial factor in economic development Education refers to the development of human skills and knowledge of the people or labour force

It is not only the quantitative expansion of educational opportunities but also the qualitative improvement of the type of education which is imparted to the labour force that holds the key to economic development Because of its significant contribution to economic development, education has been called as human capital and expenditure on education of the people as investment in man or human capital

Speaking of the importance of educational capital or human capital Prof Harbison writes: “human resources constitute the ultimate basis of production human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic and political organisations, and carry forward national development Clearly, a country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of its people and to utilise them effectively in the national economy will be unable to develop anything else.”

Several empirical studies made in developed countries, especially the U.S.A regarding the sources of growth or, in other words, contributions made by various factors such as physical capital, man- hours, (i.e., physical labour), education etc have shown that education or the development of human capital is a significant source

of economic growth

Professor Solow who was one of the first economists to measure the contribution of human capital to economic growth estimated that for United States between 1909 and 1949, 57.5 per cent of the growth in output per man hour could be attributed to the residual factor which represents the effect of the technological change and of the improvement in the quality of labour mainly as a consequence of education

He estimated this residual factor determining the increase in the total output

on account of the measurable inputs of capital and labour (man-hours) He then subtracted this figure from the total output to get the contribution of residual factor which represented the effect of education and technological change, the physically immeasurable factors

The contribution of education to economic growth has also been measured through the rate of return approach In this approach rate of return is calculated from expenditure made by individuals on education and the measurement of the flow of an individual’s future earnings expected to result from education

The present value of these is then calculated by using appropriate discount rate This method has been used by Gary S Backer who measured income differential arising from the cost or expenditure incurred on acquiring a college education in the United States His estimates show that the rates of return on education in the U.S.A for urban white population were 12.5 per cent in 1940 and 10 per cent in 1950

It is worth noting that estimates of rate of return on investment in education are based upon private rates of returns to individuals receiving education However,

by assuming that differences in earnings in a market economy reflect differences in productivity, the rate of return on investment in education is taken to be the effect of education on the output of the country

3 Benefits of education to a national society

3.1 Consumption Benefits of Education

We have explained above the investment benefits of education and therefore its effects on productivity and national output But investment benefits are not the only benefits flowing from education Education also yields consumption benefits for the individual as he may “enjoy” more education derive increased satisfaction from his present and future personal life

If the welfare of society depends on the welfare of its individual members, then the society as a whole also gains in welfare as a result of the increased

consumption benefits of individuals from more education Economic theory also helps us in quantifying the consumption benefits derived from education

In economic theory, to measure the marginal value of a product or service to

a consumer we consider how much he has paid for it An individual would not have purchased a product or service if it were not worth its price to him Besides, an individual would have bought more units of a product if he thought that the marginal utility he was getting was more than the price he was paying

Thus relative prices of various products reflect the marginal values of different products and the amount consumed of various products multiplied by their prices would, therefore, indicate the consumption benefits derived by the individuals

It may, however, be pointed out that the prices in a free economy are influenced by a given income distribution and the presence of monopolies and imperfections in the market structure and therefore they do not reflect the true marginal social values of different goods

However, an objective measure of consumption benefits of education may be difficult and has yet to be found out, but it should not lead any one to ignore the consumption benefits of education and its policy relevance It may also be noted that, according to the new view, economic development is not merely concerned with the growth of output but also with the increase in consumption and well-being of the society Therefore, consumption benefits of education may also be regarded as developmental benefits

3.2 External Benefits of Education

We have explained above the investment benefits and consumption benefits flowing from more education both for the individual and for society The analysis of benefits has been based on the assumption that private interests of individuals are consistent with the social good

However, private and social benefits do not always coincide for instance social benefits may exceed private benefits This is the case with the education of an individual which not only benefits individual privately but also others

First, education makes people better neighbours and citizens and makes social and political life more healthy and meaningful Secondly, the most important external benefit of more education is its effect on technological change in the economy More education, especially higher education stimulates research and thereby raises productivity which undoubtedly benefits the society

The individual inventor may not receive earnings equal to his contribution to the research Denison’s study of contribution of education to growth whose main findings have been mentioned above clearly shows the external benefits of education

After estimating the contribution of labour (including educated labour) and physical capital to economic growth he obtained an average residual of 0.59 percentage point Denison attributed this to the increase in knowledge which is the direct result of research and indirectly of higher education “If the entire residual indeed stemmed ultimately from education, as some human capital enthusiasts have implied, this would mean that education, directly or indirectly, contributed over 40 per cent of total output growth and 80 per cent of increased productivity from 1929

to 57.” If Denison’s residual is regarded as mainly due to research stimulated by additional education then this is indeed a major external benefit of education

3.3 Education, Inequality and Poverty

An evaluation of the role of education in economic development must not be confined to judging its impact on growth in output but should also include its impact

on structure and pattern of economic development as well as on the distribution of income and removal of poverty

In the 1950s and 1960s, the most important objective of development was the maximization of rate of economic growth, i.e growth of material output and in conformity with this the economics of education also focused on estimating the contribution of education to the growth of national output But now-a- days policy of economic development has been increasingly concerned with the distribution of income i.e., how gains of economic growth are distributed and whether poverty is being reduced

But recent studies have revealed that education, given the present education system, has tended to increase the inequalities in income distribution rather than reducing them The adverse effect of formal education on income distribution has been explained through establishing a positive correlation between level of education received by an individual and the level of his life-term earnings

It has been shown that those who are able to complete their secondary and university education earn as high as 300 to 800 percentages more income in their life time than those who complete a part or whole of their primary education

“Since levels of earned income are so clearly dependent on years of completed schooling, it follows that large income inequalities will be reinforced and the magni-tude of poverty perpetuated if students from middle and upper income in their life time than those who complete a part or whole of their primary education

“Since levels of earned income are so clearly dependent on years of completed schooling, it follows that large income inequalities will be reinforced and the magni-tude of poverty perpetuated if students from middle and upper income brackets are represented disproportionately in secondary and university enrolments If for financial and/or other reasons the poor are effectively denied access to secondary and

higher education opportunities, then the educational system can actually perpetuate and even increase inequality in Third World Nations.”

There are two important economic reasons why in the present education system, children and boys belonging to the poor families cannot complete their education up to the secondary level and in many cases even up to the primary level

First, the private costs especially, ‘the opportunity costs’ of primary education for the children belonging to the poor families are higher than for students belonging

to the rich families Children of the poor families are needed to do work on their family farms or in other family occupations, that is, cost of studying in school is family work sacrificed On the other hand, benefits of education to the poor students are also lower as compared to those to the rich students

This is because it is difficult for the poor students to be selected for the jobs because of poor contacts and influences as compared to rich students, even though they may possess the same level of education

Even in agriculture where it can be said that more education can benefit all equally because it raises the labour productivity, the more benefits of education and consequently of higher productivity in agriculture are likely to be obtained by those who own land and have adequate resources to modernise their agriculture The benefits of more education and consequently higher productivity of landless labour may go to the landlords for whom they work

It follows from above that as a result of higher private costs and lower expected benefits from education of the poor students, the poor family’s rate of return from investment in education of a child is much lower As a result of this, the children of poor families are likely to ‘drop out’ during the course of primary education

The fact that children and boys of poor family are unable to complete their secondary education coupled with the fact that there are large income or wage differ-entials between different persons of different levels of education explain that education in underdeveloped economies tends to increase income inequalities and perpetuates poverty rather than helps to reduce them

3.4 Education and Rural Development

If the objective of raising the standards of living of the people in general and removal of mass poverty is to be attained in less developed countries like India, then rural development must get the highest priority

In the 1950’s and 1960’s in most of developing countries, the modernization and development of the urban sector was given the highest priority in the development plans and more resources were allocated to this sector But in recent years the thinking among economists all over the world has undergone a significant change, since the development of the large scale industries and the urban sector has failed to solve the twin problems of poverty and unemployment

It has now been increasingly realised that it is through the emphasis on agricultural and rural development in the strategy of development that the problems

of poverty and unemployment can be solved Since 80 per cent of the population of less developed countries directly or indirectly depends upon agriculture, rural area needs to be given the highest priority

Now, education can play an important role in agricultural and rural development provided it is suitably modified and given a rural bias The present system of education has a strong urban bias so that it is ill-suited to the requirements

of agricultural and rural development Moreover, the emphasis in the present education system in on general education rather than on vocational education

A relevant and meaningful education can raise the productivity of the rural labour in agricultural work It can create new employment opportunities if during the schooling students are educated and trained in some useful vocations

Moreover, education to the poor people will induce in them desire to have fewer children with the result that not only their private level of living will rise, but

it will also help the general economic development by checking the growth of population Above all, education will bring about improvement in their health and nutrition Phillip H Coomb, an eminent educationist and economist, has classified

different types of education that should be provided to the rural people so as to promote rapid rural and agricultural development

4 Overview of liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector 4.1 International context of liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector

There are flows of labour between pairs of developing countries and between pairs of developed countries, but they are not ‘South-North’ movements

- Developed to Developing Country Labour Flows

The main issue here is the ability of developed country firms to send their specialists to their plants in developing countries In some cases, it is highly skilled technical workers who are required, often at short notice and for short periods In others, the interest is in the mobility of managers Firms already see these various flows as a means of increasing local efficiency and of integrating their operations on

a global scale Tang and Wood (1999) have shown in a simple model that, as with most migration driven by differences, business mobility increases world output and narrows the skills gap in the developing host countries (unskilled wages rise) while widening it in developed countries In the latter, home country unskilled workers suffer from having fewer skilled workers to work with and from the competition from cheaper unskilled labour abroad In the developing country, output increases, and although part of it accrues to the mobile skilled workers who are domiciled in the developed country, part accrues at home in terms of higher unskilled wages and tax revenues

- Developing to Developed Country Flows

Developed countries are now actively seeking to recruit skilled workers from abroad to work in IT, education and health sectors One immediate reaction is that if the advanced economies gain, the developing countries from which these skilled workers emigrate must necessarily lose The loss of the services of skilled people, even temporarily, reduces total output, and hence the taxes base Depending on the

extent of the skilled workers’ absences, it could also reduce an economy’s entrepreneurship, the ability to absorb new technologies, and various positive spillovers from skilled to other workers and society in general But straight loss is far from inevitable, and is much less likely with TMNP than permanent migration For example, skilled workers from developing countries are likely to be more productive and have higher earnings in advanced economies, and the earnings that they bring home may more than fully offset their loss locally This is particularly true if the developing country had not been able to make optimal use of its skilled labour initially Temporary workers abroad are likely to be a source of ideas, technology, markets or networks for those who remain, increasing their productivity and market opportunities (Although TMNP may be less effective at building up foreign networks than permanent migration) This, of course, is particularly likely if the workers spend significant amounts of time in their home economies Under these circumstances TMNP will boost local productivity as returning skilled workers instruct or inspire local colleagues Another possibility is that TMNP increases the returns to education, therefore resulting increase in the supply of skills exceeds the actual loss of skilled inputs through TMNP, leaving the domestic economy in the developing country a net gainer of skills Commander, Kangesniemi and Winters (2002) analyse these arguments in some detail and find them quite plausible and uncover several reasons why TMNP offers greater scope for gains than does permanent migration

- Developing to Developed Country Flows

While not entirely frictionless, flows of skilled workers are much easier for developed countries to handle politically than general migration But the real gains from trade come from exploiting differences It is the flow of less skilled workers from developing to developed countries that promises the larger returns There are formidable political problems associated with large-scale permanent unskilled migration – fears of cultural and integration problems, drains on the public purse, replacement of local unskilled workers TMNP, however, offers a way out of this dilemma Although it will clearly deliver only some of the economic benefits available from straight migration in terms of output and income, it avoids most of the

latter’s political costs Temporary movers hardly pose any cultural or integration threats and make virtually no call on public services Thus, in a sense, the only challenge posed by well-run TMNP schemes is their market threat to indigenous lowskill workers This is neither more nor less than the challenge posed by imports

of labour intensive goods Formidable though it has been, this has been significantly overcome in the past by the weight of economic gain that trade could deliver and by policies to ease adjustment among the local unskilled

4.2 The legal framework of the movement of natural persons

➢ GATS: The movement of natural persons is mentioned in a separate annex

of GATS The annex defines the scope of mode 4 to cover: persons who are temporarily working in another member country It is not applicable to individuals who are seeking access to the employment market of another member on a permanent basis or for citizenship or residency purposes (GATS document) Two categories of service persons are covered These include independent and self-employed suppliers who get paid directly by their customers and natural persons who are employed by their service suppliers in the host, home, or a third member country in respect to the supply of a service The annex states that countries can regulate entry and stay of natural persons provided they do not apply these measures in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits granted to members under their specific commitments Thus, overall, the GATS framework has bearing on some of the most important regulatory barriers that constrain cross-border movement of labour in services The transparency, recognition, and domestic regulation-related obligations are quite strong in wording and intent while also safeguarding domestic concerns and taken in conjunction, greatly reduce the scope for discretion in applying measures to restrict services trade In addition, members can seek recourse to the dispute settlement mechanism if these provisions are violated

➢ APEC: The Movement of Natural Persons of ASEAN Agreement (the MNP Agreement) signed by the ASEAN Economic Ministers on 19 November 2012 is expected to contribute to both the free flow of services and the free flow of skilled

labour The MNP Agreement is by no means the first instrument to facilitate movement of natural persons in ASEAN Started in 2005, ASEAN has developed mutual recognition arrangements for eight professions In 2006, ASEAN Foreign Ministers signed the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Visa Exemption, which should allow, once in force, 14-day stays for ASEAN citizens The 2009 ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) aimed to facilitate entry, temporary stay and work of investors, which is applicable to executives, managers and members

of boards of directors (Art 22) In 2010, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) proposed the concept of people-to-people connectivity with many policy measures ASEAN started negotiations on its own MNP Agreement in 2010 and the Agreement was signed in November 2012

4.3 Definition of liberalising the movement of natural persons in education sector

According to Jane Knight, 2002, the term ‘liberalization’ means ‘the promotion of increased trade through the removal of barriers which impede free trade’ Liberalization and deregulation are different terms with different implications

In general, while the first implies the access to a certain market under ‘fair’ conditions, the second implies the lack of State regulatory supervision Hence, when

a government decides to liberalize a particular market, it does not mean that it loses his right to regulate it In practice, however, liberalization does have an impact on regulatory procedures as governments are prevented from adopting certain measures which might nullify or reduce the benefits from such liberalization Hence, liberalizing the movement of natural persons (sometimes referring as temporary movement of natural persons-TMNP by the government) is removal barrier factors and other restrictions on the flow of immigration and exmigration between countries

It is concluded that liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector is regarded as preferential immigration and exmigration policies by government between countries to develop education industry

It is important to stress that TMNP is not international migration It has none

of cultural, social or political dimensions that are associated with international migration because it explicitly does not entail shifts in residence However, its direct economic consequences are essentially those of migration Workers enter a country temporarily to carry out particular jobs and thus labour inputs in one economy are reduced while those in another are increased

5 Measures of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector

The measures of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector mainly are addressed as following:

5.1 Immigration related regulations concerning entry and stay of service providers

The main restriction to the movement of natural persons originates in immigration and labour market policies of individual countries These restrictions range from strict eligibility conditions for applications of work permits/visas, cumbersome procedures for actual application and processing of these visas and permits, limitations on the length of stay and transferability of employment in the overseas market

Wage parity is another restrictive eligibility condition It is required that wages paid to foreign service providers be at par with those that would have been paid for a local person in the same position and with similar qualifications The principle underlying the wage parity requirement is that overseas nationals are to be hired to address the shortage of suitably qualified service providers in the host country and not to save money by hiring cheap labour from abroad However, the wage parity requirement also acts to negate the cost based advantage of many developing countries in exporting labour intensive services and works against the very concept

of comparative advantage based on cost differentials Although wage parity is required on the grounds of fairness, as even developing countries would not want their professionals to receive lower wages than similar professionals in the host country, the main problem is that the entry procedures are complicated by the need

to demonstrate wage parity before hiring foreign service providers Wage parity is an important part of the labor certification process in many countries and constitutes an administrative hurdle delaying the issuance of work permits and visas In addition to strict eligibility criteria for entry, procedures for the issuance of work permits are time consuming and burdensome Restrictions also apply to natural persons after they enter the foreign market.There are also limits on the duration of stay for service providers Work permits or visas are valid only for the specified duration which in turn depends

on the nature of the position, the candidateís skill level, and other criteria These limits range from 3 months to five years Although permits are often extendable, renewals and extensions are subject to stringent conditions and high fees which discourage start -up companies from hiring foreign nationals and force them to use local persons who may be in short supply and costlier

Apart from immigration-related restrictions on entry and stay, there are also entry barriers in the form of additional requirements imposed on foreign service providers These include economic needs tests, local market tests, and management needs test to ascertain the need for entry as well as the number to be allowed to enter

5.2 Regulations concerning recognition of qualifications, work experience, and training

More stringent qualification requirements imposed upon foreign service providers or eligibility conditions requiring citizenship or residency are examples of such discrimination While recognition related barriers are well known and widely discussed, there are many other discriminatory policies that restrict trade in services through mode 4, which are not as well recognised There is differential treatment in the context of social security taxes and benefits

Article VII of GATS (Recognition) among the provisions, categorically states that: For the purposes of the fulfillment of its standard or criteria for the authorization, licensing or certification of services provider, a member country may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in a particular member country Such agreement may be based

upon an agreement or arrangement with the country concerned or may be accorded autonomously; A member country shall not accord recognition in a manner which would constitute a means of discrimination between countries in the application of its standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing or certification of services providers or a disguised restriction on trade in services; Wherever appropriate, recognition would be based on multilaterally agreed criteria; andMember countries shall work in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental and nongovernmentalorganizations towards the establishment and adoption of common international standards and criteria for re cognition and common international standards for the practice of relevant services, trades and professions AFAS Article

V (Mutual Recognition) states that: Member State may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, orlicenses or certifications granted in another Member State, for the purpose of licensing or certification of service providers It has been observed that Mutual Recognition Arrangements, amongst others, can be: Binding treaties between Governments;Established as a framework that enables certain procedures required in the host country tobe undertaken at the home country; Limited, confined to specific scope; andbetween non-governmental institutions, regulatory authorities

The International Federation of Surveyors Publication No 27 (Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualification) (2002) states that mutual recognition is an arrangement that allows a qualified surveyor who seeks mobility to another country

to acquire the same recognition as that held by surveyors who have qualified in that country, without having to re-qualify To understand the nature of mutual recognition

it is useful to look at the different working situations Recognition does not relate to the situation of "getting a job" In general, employment is a matter between the employer and the employee Getting a work permit in another country may be subject

to domestic regulations including that of immigration, but that has nothing to do with recognition of professional qualifications Recognition may, however, relate to the situation where a foreign employee wants tobecome a member of the professional

institution in the host country, and thereby enjoy the benefits of being recognized as

an equal professional and sharing the same rights Recognition becomes even more important when a professional wants to practise in thehost country Recognition of professional competence conferred through mutual recognition arrangement may then represent a competitive element in terms of marketing services to clients Recognition becomes crucial when a professional seeks to qualify to practice within

a licensed area (typically for cadastral surveys) Mutual recognition of professional qualification is thus a device for facilitating an efficient mobility of surveying professionals within the global working place for surveying services It is thus important that information is available to understand, firstly, how surveyors in different countries acquire their professional qualifications and secondly, the process

by which their professional competence is assessed

5.3 Differential treatment of domestic and foreign service personnel

It must be pointed out that certain restrictions on commercial presence, including the type of commercial entity (incorporation, partnership) or prior approval from host country professional associations are meant to address issues such as professional liability and misconduct and are not necessarily barriers to professionals Thus, there are numerous regulations and policies which affect the movement of natural persons in services

Finally, there are many policies which although really meant to protect consumers and to reduce the scope for professional misconduct and liability, may have a side consequence of restricting the flow of professionals across countries These are mentioned here not as barriers but as indicative of various public policy regulations which indirectly do limit the role of foreign service providers in the host country Such regulations include rules with regard to accounting or advertising practices, restrictions on the use of international and foreign firm names, prior residence

6 Factors affected by liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector

The affected arena of liberalizing the movement of natural persons is so wide but within this thesis, the researcher only mentions some typical effected factors including staff, curriculum and investment in short term and staff, curriculum, investment and competitiveness in long term

In short term, liberalizing the movement of natural persons will result increasing quantity of staff among the immigrants into host country This will be opportunity for employers to choose the best employee, which consequences the increasing quality of human resources Reducing constrainst of immigration will create better investment enviroment for all aspects of economy, including education sector And the more qualified staff will improve investment In contrast, the more investment we do the more growth we gain

In long term, the affected factors in short term by themselves will be turned to new higher growth steps The new curriculum will be created with feartures of more updating and following the needs of host country And new labor force with changes

of composition, in which higher skilled labor force in host country win a vantage position, will be promoting in both quality and quantity And again, the development

of staff and curriculume will improve investment The result of this process will result higher compettiveness and the growth of economy

Figure 1 Impacts of liberalizing the movement of natural persons in education sector

to education growth

Source: generated by the researcher

Chapter 2 The liberalizing the movement of natural persons in

education sector in Singapore

1 Overview of Singapore

The Republic of Singapore sits 137 kilometres north of the equator, separated from Malaysia by the Strait of Johor and from Indonesia by the Strait of Singapore Singapore is made up of the main island, which is 42 kilometres long by 23 kilometres wide, and 63 surrounding islets The highest point is 163 metres at Bukit Timah Peak Singapore has a total area of approximately 714 square kilometres

The climate in Singapore is equatorial, which is warm and humid, with an average daytime temperature of 31ºC and a minimum average of 23 ºC at night The rainfall average is 2.3 metres annually and Singapore has two annual monsoon seasons from December to early March and from June to September

The total population of Singapore is 5.54 million in 2016 of whom 3.87 million are citizens or permanent residents: Chinese (74 per cent), Malay (13 per cent) and Indians (9.1 per cent) are the three major ethnic groups within the local community There are four official languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, Malay and Tamil in Singapore, and English is used as the main language and the language of administration and commerce across the island

1.1 Political system

The Republic of Singapore was established on 9 August 1965 Prior to independence, Singapore was a British colony from 1824 In 1963, Singapore gained independence from Britain when it joined the Federation of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia However, political, economic and ideological differences led to Singapore’s separation from the rest of Malaysia, becoming a sovereign, democratic and independent nation on 9 August 1965

1.2 System of Government

Singapore is a republic, with a parliamentary system of government and an elected President as the Head of State The Singapore Parliament has a single house, which is elected by general election every five years The Parliament and the President of Singapore are known as the Legislature Parliament first sat on 8 December 1965, with the first general election on 13 April 1968 The Twelfth Parliament has 99 Members of Parliament (MP), consisting of 87 elected MPs, three non-constituency MPs and nine nominated MPs who represent various professional and business sectors As a result of changes announced by Prime Minister Lee on 27 May 2009, opposition MPs are guaranteed a minimum of nine seats in parliament The judiciary administers the law independently of the Executive

The People's Action Party (PAP) dominates Singapore's political scene and has held power since 1959, winning thirteen successive general elections The last general election was held in September 2015 with PAP receiving 69.9 per cent of the popular vote

Prior to 1991, the President was appointed by Parliament In January 1991, the Constitution was amended to allow Singapore's citizens to elect the President for six year terms Although the position remains largely ceremonial, under the amended Constitution, the President has certain executive powers such as making appointments to public office The 1991 constitutional amendment also provided for the establishment of a Council of Presidential Advisors (CPA) The President must consult the CPA before performing certain functions, such as vetoing government budgets

The first presidential election was held on 28 August 1993 The first elected President was Mr Ong Teng Cheong The current and third elected President, HE

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, was sworn in on 1 September 2011 to serve a six year term following a presidential election on 27 August The 2011 presidential election was closely contested and the four candidate race was eventually decided by 0.34 per cent (7,382 votes) of the 2.15 million votes cast

Singapore's current Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, assumed the post

in August 2004 and won his first election in 2006 He was re-elected in 2011 and in September 2015 On the advice of the Prime Minister, the President appoints other Ministers from among the MPs to form the Cabinet The Prime Minister and Cabinet are answerable to the Parliament

1.3 Foreign policy

Membership of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the cornerstone of Singapore's foreign policy Active membership of ASEAN is seen by the Singaporean Government as a means to enhance its own economic competitiveness and provide the region with a strong platform to engage key international players, especially the US and China Singapore also sees strengthening its already good relations with its immediate neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia, as a key foreign policy priority In 2014, Australia and ASEAN celebrated 40 years of relations

Singapore supports a strong, cohesive and effective United Nations (UN) that

is responsive to the needs of its members It completed a two-year term as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council in December 2002 Singapore is a key member of the 3G Global Governance Group which has a development focus and aims to hold the G20 accountable to the general UN membership Singapore has been

Non-a member of the CommonweNon-alth since gNon-aining independence in 1965 Non-and hosted the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1971

To build links between East Asia and Latin America, Singapore instigated the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) in 1999 Singapore is also a member of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and East Asia Summit (EAS) among other bodies

1.4 The legal system

The Singapore legal system is a rich tapestry of laws, institutions, values, history and culture Like the Singapore-made quilt, each strand of the legal system is woven together to form a jurisprudential kaleidoscope bounded by a unique national identity

The legal system will inevitably undergo tension as socio-economic and politico-legal changes unfold with increased globalisation and regionalisation Thus, Singapore has to respond swiftly and deftly in creating new laws and institutions or adapting existing ones

In this regard, Singapore is and has been ready and willing to learn from the legal developments taking place in foreign jurisdictions with similar aspirations Sometimes, old solutions may have to be discarded and new fangled ideas tested with appropriate modifications to suit local circumstances In this process of the (sometimes) rigorous adaptation, learning and constant change, however, history remains a useful (though not infallible) guide for the present and the future path of Singapore law

1.5 Languages

There are four officially recognised languages in Singapore: English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil English is used as the language of administration and business, and children usually learn English as their first language, along with their mother tongue

This means that nearly everyone in Singapore speaks more than one language, and many people speak three or four Most children grow up bilingual from infancy

2 Singapore’s education and movement of natural persons in education sector 2.1 Educational structure

The entire education of Singapore consists of 5 educational stages: preschool, primary, secondary, pre-university and university

The first brush of Singaporean children with education system starts with Preschool The children then move to Primary and Secondary stage of education in that order After the successful completion of Secondary education students can move for higher studies in the form of Pre-University and University education in that order

2.1.1 Preschool Education

The preschool education, the optional education, constitutes of playschool (3 years or less), nursery (4 years) and kindergarten (2 year at 2 levels K1 and K2) Before the age of 5, most parents send their children to kindergarten schools

The preschool are run by the private sector, being inclusive of religious bodies, community, foundations or business group…, but under the control of Singapore Ministry of Education

2.1.2 Primary Education

The primary education usually starts at the age of 7 and lasts for 6 years in total, which seems to be the first step towards formal education with two stages:

- Foundation stage: Primary 1 to 4, first 4 years

- Orientation stage: Primary 5 and 6, remaining 2 years

The primary education is compulsory with exceptions made for children who are homeschooling or with special needs having inability to attend mainstream schools or attending some full- time religious institution Primary education is provided free of cost to children of all Singapore citizens in schools under the administration of the Ministry of Education, though there is a nominal monthly fee

of up to 13 Singaporean Dollar (SGD) per student towards miscellaneous expenses

At the end of primary education, students have to take Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) to admit in a secondary level course

2.1.3 Secondary Education

After passing PSLE, students are placed in secondary school course considering a combination factor of merit ranking in PSLE and student’s inclination towards a course Apart from PSLE students can also opt for direct admission to a

secondary school through a scheme called Direct School Admission – Secondary (DSA-Sec) exercise The DSA-Sec exercise is organized only for admission into independent, autonomous and mainstream schools with special programs that have been given the flexibility to frame their own admission criteria, which is taken before the announcement of PSLE results

The entire secondary education is categorized into four streams: Special, Express, Normal (Academic), or Normal (Technical) Special and Express are four-years courses with Singapore-Cambridge GCE "O" Level examination at the end of the courses The merit of this examination is basement for proceeding to pre-university education

2.1.4 Pre-University Education

At this level, students can select a wide range of subjects from varied academic areas as humanities, arts and languages, sciences and maths Pre-University education

is broadly classified into 2 stages:

- Junior Colleges: including a 2 year junior college/3 year centralized institute pre-university course leading to the GCE “A” level examination, which educate students the necessary skills and knowledge for university education

- Polytechnics: offer 3-years diploma course in varied subjects like tourism, biotechnology, digital media, engineering, business studies which are practical-oriented with plenty of group work

2.1.5 Higher Education

Singapore has six national universities, namely the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology & Design, Singapore Institute of Technology and SIM University

The first two universities, National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, are public universities and provide a wide range of