Singapore, Education and Ethnic Diversity in

Over the past decade, the education system in Singapore has received international acclaim in the wake of its students' high standings in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study in 1997. The governing People's Action Party (PAP) has had uninterrupted political power since 1959 and is often characterized as having a soft authoritarian and interventionist approach toward managing what critics describe as a “nanny state.”

Singapore has one of the highest per capita gross domestic products in Asia. The 2010 population census figures show a total population of 5.08 million, of which 3.23 million are Singapore citizens, 541,000 are permanent residents, and the remainder are individuals on temporary work or study visas. This population is packed into a total land area of 710 square kilometers, ...