Impact of education reforms on parents' attitudes towards tuition in Singapore: a Bourdieusian analysis

• Main Author: Chiang, Rachel Hui Hui
• Other Authors: Zhan Shaohua
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174424
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore’s education system has been constantly reformed to uphold high standards and adapt to the evolving economy. In recent years, there has been a shift of focus from academic development to holistic development within Singapore’s education system. Consequently, this has resulted in a substantial number of parents seeking tuition for their children. Hence, the main objective of the study is to analyse how recent education reforms in Singapore influence parents’ motivations towards tuition using Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of “[(habitus) (cultural capital) + field = practice]”. Additionally, this study considers the influence of neoliberalism in education and the pervasive culture of kiasuism in Singapore. The findings suggest that these factors contribute to parents’ inclination to enrol their children in tuition.