Singapore marks the bicentennial year of its founding. Since the arrival of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles on the island 200 years ago, the colonial outpost has transformed into a world-class metropolis.

The city state’s only natural resource was its people, and the government from very early on recognised the strategic importance of attracting and developing human capital.

Today, Singapore’s education system is one of the best in the world. Not only does the country consistently rank at the top of the OECD’s programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) where 15-year-olds are tested in maths, reading and science, Singapore students also emerged top in an OECD global survey on collaborative problem-solving abilities.

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