General Information:

Like many governments throughout the world, Singapore have been regularly reforming the school system to increase educational standards so as to ensure that more young people can have the appropriate knowledge and skills in the fierce international competition for economic success. In the primary level (ages 6-12) the government tries to ensure as quickly as possible the literacy and numeracy skills which provides essential access to the rest of the school curriculum. At the secondary level (ages 13-18), the main focus is to prepare students for the world of work .

The movement from the communicative syllabus in 1991 to a more moderate syllabus incorporating both communicative and structural (grammatical) components in 2001, indicates a realization that communicative methods may not be suitable at all times and in all situations. Similarly, while grammar has been downplayed in communicatively-based textbooks for almost two decades, the political concern over what has been perceived as "declining standards in written English" (and its impact on Singapore's global competitive ratings) has once again led the way in giving the explicit teaching of grammar a place in the 2001 syllabus

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