THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN CHINESE VERNACULAR EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE :SOCIETY, POLITICS & POLICIES, 1905-1941

• Main Author: WEE TONG BAO
• Other Authors: HISTORY
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Past studies on the history of Chinese vernacular education in Singapore have essentially been from a Sino-centric perspective or from the perspective of the local British authority. These, essentially, constitute institutional histories written from the standpoint of the policies and politics of the milieu. There are, however, other variables that effected the transformation of the old-styled vernacular Chinese schools to modem ones. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, an awareness and concern arose amongst the local Chinese that they must pay more attention to the education of their children by building more schools and to modernise old ones. They were, like their countrymen in China, affected by China's humiliating defeats under foreign powers, crippling reparations and loss of sovereignty. There was a sense that they must strengthen their community and preserve their culture through reforms, of which, the modernisation of their education system became most crucial. In Singapore, the early modern Chinese vernacular schools were established in the 1900s by the Chinese dialectal bang which formed the basic social unit of the pre¬ war Chinese society. Prior to the 1920s, the British were not very involved with the development of the island's vernacular Chinese schools. Although they formulated educational directives since the nineteenth century, the issue of providing education for the majority of the island's children, Chinese or otherwise, was still not their main concern. Thus, the onus of providing vernacular education for majority of Chinese children became primarily the responsibility of the Chinese communal leaders, which included the bang leadership, as well as the Straits Chinese. Before the twentieth century, the Chinese community had their own schools that taught in the vernacular. These schools were, however, far smaller and fewer than the government and mission schools that taught their Chinese students in English. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were already hundreds of Chinese children being educated in English. The Chinese community, driven by their collective consciousness for the need to selfstrengthen and to preserve their culture, soon felt the need to give their children an education that was not inferior to the Western system, and at the same time, enable them to succeed economically and socially in Singapore. However, by the 1920s, private and communal initiatives to modernise the vernacular Chinese schools met with increased British intervention. The British began introducing policies which on one hand, ensured that the island's vernacular schools progressed, but on the other hand contained provisions for the suppression of seditious elements within local schools. The latter was clearly directed against Chinese schools which had become more politicised by the political transition China was undergoing throughout the pre-war years. Although the Chinese community, and a number of scholars, have considered British intervention in the Chinese schools during this period as a period of suppression, in reality, the number of Chinese schools continued to modernise and proliferate throughout the inter-war years. The crux of the matter was that, some British policies and legislation were geared towards the improvement of all vernacular schools in Singapore, and not just to curtail or moderate them. At the same time, social undercurrents were also present during the pre-war years that pushed the Chinese community to build more schools and modernise old ones. The size of the Chinese community, particularly of women and children, was greatly enlarged through increased immigration and natural births from the late nineteenth century. The Chinese community was becoming more settled and as a result, the need to set up modern communal institutions became an ever-increasing priority, especially when the other non-Chinese communities were raising the standards of their own schools. However, the path of progress was not a smooth and undisturbed one. The progress of Chinese vernacular education was at times hampered by bad economic conditions that affected the whole society. Nevertheless, despite the opposing political directions and social undercurrents that were imbuing the schools, many maintained a pragmatic stance to ensure their continued operation. Thus, the fuller story of the Chinese vernacular schools will be arrived at when one contextualises the study within a wider framework that goes beyond politics and policies.
• Online Access: https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/186801
• Institution: National University of Singapore

Master's