Research questions: Why do US, Singapore become

attractive places for education?

I. Vocabulary and Background

A. Vocabulary:

1. Financial aid: is any grant or scholarship, loan, or paid employment offered to

help a student meet his/her college expenses
2. Normal school: a school or college for the training of teachers
3. Curriculum: the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college
4. Mentor: an experienced and trusted adviser
5. Internship: is a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather
than merely employment, and it can be paid or unpaid
6. Case study: a particular instance of something used or analyzed in order to
illustrate a thesis or principle.
B. Background information:

1. The US:

Formal education in the US is generally mandatory from age 5/6 to 16, varying slightly
by state. School-level education is divided into "grades". Schooling usually begins with
elementary/primary school (Kindergarten - US grade 5), followed by middle/junior high
school (US grades 6 - 8) and finishing with high school (US grades 9 to 12). Some US
children begin their education at privately-run pre-schools.

Grading system: Marks can be given as letters (A+, A, B+, B, etc), or as numbers out of
100%. These grades are averaged over the students high school career, resulting in a
Grade Point Average (GPA). Students may also receive a class rank, ranking his/her
GPA amongst other members of his/her grade (year in school)

Academic year:. The school calendar usually begins in August or September and
continues through May or June.

Levels of higher education system:

Undergraduate

Graduate in Pursuit of a Masters Degree

Graduate in Pursuit of a Doctorate Degree

Teaching method: In the U.S the effectiveness of the teaching method is focused. The quality of
the teachers is emphasized.

Teaching requirements in the US

 Obtaining a bachelor's degree.
Completing a teacher preparation program, which includes either an undergraduate,
master's, or alternative program.
Getting state or national certification to teach by completing all requirements.

Infrastructure:

Infrastructure is well provided for students' efficient performance, from learning facility
like: from science laboratories for research work, IT source room with personal
computers to multi-sports complex

Marketing: The USA is well known for its industry of educational branding. Because of
reasonable strategies, the US receives a rising number of students every year.

School assistance: schools provides opportunities for students to work in professional

environment through part-time jobs and internship. co

2. Singapore:
Well-known as a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country in Asia, it is characterised by an
excellent education system (a literacy rate of 96%). The vision of the Ministry of Education
(MOE) is Thinking Schools, Learning Nation. To prepare a generation of thinking and
committed citizens who are capable of contributing towards Singapores continued growth and
prosperity, the Ministry is constantly revisiting its curriculum to ensure that the skills and
knowledge taught in schools meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Singaporean children aged three to six attend preschool, getting prepared for primary
school.
After six years of primary school, children move on to secondary school. The education
system in Singapore allows students to choose a path at this point. Secondary
Education places students in the Special,Express,Normal (Academic) or Normal
(Technical) course according to how they perform at the PSLE ( Primary school leaving
examination- tests students' proficiency in the English language, their respective mother
tongue languages (typically Chinese, Malay), mathematics and science. Students have
two hours to complete each subject paper. The test is taken in the form of multiple
choices) Both Special & Express are 4-year courses leading up to a Singapore-
Cambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE) "Ordinary""O" level
examination.The difference between Special & Express is that in the Special
course,mother tongue language (English and mother tongue) are taught at a higher level
(Higher Mother Tongue) & thus more difficult.A Third Foreign Language - namely
French,German & Japanese - can be taken in addition to the mother tongue or to
replace it.This seems especially popular with students who are struggling with their
mother tongues.Non-Chinese students may also study Chinese Language,while non-
Malay students are given the opportunity to take up Malay Language as a Third
Language. Normal is a 4-year course leading up to a Singapore-Cambridge GCE
"Normal""N" Level examination,with the possibility of a fifth year followed by a
Singapore-Cambridge GCE "Ordinary""O" Level examination."Normal" is split into
"Normal (Academic)" & "Normal (Technical)",in the latter students take more subjects
that are technical in nature,such as Design & Technology,while in the former students
are geared towards an eventual sitting of the GCE "O" Level examination & normally
take subjects such as Principles of Accounting.In 2004,MOE announced that selected
 students in the Normal course would have flexibility to sit for the Singapore-Cambridge
GCE "Ordinary""O" Level examination direct,without having to sit for the Singapore-
Cambridge GCE "Normal""N" Level examination.

Pre-university and post-secondary studies (Junior College, Polytechnic or Arts

Institution, followed by University education)
University

Teaching method: teaching in Singapore primarily focuses on coverage of the curriculum, the
transmission of factual and procedural knowledge, and preparing students for end-of-semester
and national high stakes examinations.

Teaching requirements:

For the majority of teaching positions in Singapore, a Bachelor's degree is essential. For roles in
public and international schools, a degree in Education or your subject area is strongly
preferred. For ESL positions, a Bachelor's degree and a TEFL certification is usually required.

Infrastructure:

Infrastructure is as well equipped as that of U.Sx

Marketing: recently, schools in Singapore has more and more open policy about education to
encourage students especially foreign students.

School assistance: students have chance to gain experience by internship.

3. Vietnam:

There are 12 years of formal education, which are divided into the following stages:

Pre - primary school: Infants can be enrolled from three months of age until the age of
three, to the age of six - the point at which they go to primary school. The government is
aiming for all Vietnamese children to attend pre-school when they turn five to ensure that
they are school - ready.

Primary school: Lasts for five years (between first and fifth grade), finishes at the age of
11, with 6 - 9 subjects per grade.

Secondary school: Lasts for four years of school (between sixth and ninth grade), and
finishes at the age of 15.

High school: Last for three years (between tenth and twelfth grade), and finishes at the
age of 18.

Higher levels: Undergraduate, Graduate, Doctoral

Teaching method: teachers still apply traditional methods: a teacher reads the lesson aloud, and
students write down the text.

Teaching Requirements: in order to be a teacher, a person has to graduate from a Normal

School and go through a training course.
Infrastructure
Although there are some improvements in school facility in recent years, it is still constrained in
many aspects as well as other tools needed

Marketing: there is a lack of scholarship and tools for advertising schools worldwide.

School assistance: the internship in Vietnam is not as effective and competitive as in other
countries

II. Reasons:

1. Advanced methods: blended learning

1.1. Teaching method in high school:

American high school fosters problem solving and analysis, and connect students learning
directly to the real world. American learn best when they are engaged in complex projects and
tasks aligned with their interests and when they work with others through practical examples
and case studies that engage them in rigorous academics and in the application of knowledge.
For example, school often organizes trip to the wild in order to help deeper understanding about
geography and biology.

Under the Singapore system, teachers generally do not split their pupils into different ability
groups.Instead, they wait for academically weaker pupils to reach a basic standard in each topic
before the class moves on to the next concept. The able pupils study the topic in greater depth
while waiting for the weaker pupils to master it.The method cuts down on the cost of remedial
one-to-one teaching for pupils who struggle to keep up in class.
In addition, the Singapore system concentrates more on developing problem solving skills rather
than mental arithmetic. .

Vietnamese high school students get poorer educational experiences. To illustrate, during a
lesson, the teacher writes the content of the subject on the board, then the students simply copy
back in the notebook. This kind of teaching is considered as a passive way to acquire
knowledge. Moreover, while learning subjects such as science or biology, pupils dont get
enough real life experiment or observation. This makes the students show less interest in the
subject. Another difference is that Vietnamese high school teachers sometimes run extra
classes to earn more income. If a student refuse to come, he will get bad marks at school.

1.2. Teaching method in university:

In terms of teaching methods, each country reveals some similarities and differences. There is
one similarities the three countries share is that students are forced to read the materials before
attending class which helps they understand the subject deeply. In both Singapore and US
University, lectures are delivered by expert professors who are also leading practitioners in their
professional fields and they encourage class discussion in order to help students improve verbal
skills. The US teachers tend to focus more on how to deliver the lessons to students. Most of
the US University in the study, when asked to about their teaching methods, rarely mentioned
content.=>The number of international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities
jumped last year. It's up 10 percent, to roughly 975,000, according to a new report by the
Institute of International Education and backed by the State Department .Vietnamese teachers,
on the other hand, spoke in great detail about the content they present to students, and that
content demonstrated a deep understanding of the subject matter. By contrast, Singapore and
US University also had taken more courses on teaching methods and general educational and
psychological principles related to teaching than did Vietnamese teachers. Apart from that,
Singapore university students dont have to study the general subjects like those compulsory
subjects Vietnamese and American students have to spend their first year studying. For that
reason, about 46,500 students enrolled in Singapore universities, 36,900 (79%) were foreigners.

2. Infrastructure:
1.1.1: High school
-In U.S, high school students take separate rooms for each subject. Generally, students move one
to another room after each lesson
- Because US educational system requires students to apply what they learn in books into reality,
high schools provide many laboratories with adequate equipment.
Laboratory is an essential part of a school. This is the place where experiments are performed
and hypothesis are tested and verified. At +2 stages a school needs biology, physics, chemistry, a
computer laboratory. The physics lab should be equipped by optical, electrical, thermo
dynamical, mechanical instruments.
The chemistry lab is equipped with different types of solutions, salts and components. Biology
lab has to be equipped by slides, microscopes, skeletons and different specimens. Computer lab
is equipped with a series of computers and systems. Mere knowledge would not sufficient for
building the required competence in specific content area. If theory is supported by practices
clarity could be maintained as well as psychomotor skills could be developed.

-The three U.S. states that attract the highest absolute number of international students
California, New York, and Texas on average netted $31,000 per international student enrolled
at an institution of higher education during the 2013/14 academic year. The total net income from
international students in the state of California amounted to $4 billion, around $3.3 billion in
New York and nearly $1.5 billion in Texas.

1.1.2: College:
In the US, Lecture halls almost always have a pitched floor, so that those in the rear are sat
higher than those at the front allowing them to see the lecturer.
In Singapore and Vietnam, most classrooms are designed in a traditional way. Therefore,
sometimes the teacher or the lecturers cannot control and know what their students are doing
-Most classrooms are equipped with a dry erase board, projection screens, computer systems and
multi-media projectors
2.2. Libraries:
- When mentioning library, most people often consider it as a great source of knowledge with a
wide range of different kinds of textbooks, workbooks, reference books, fiction, non-fiction
books, which are categorized at various reading levels, reference books oil special topics and
interests and related pamphlets, clippings, pictures, maps, charts, periodicals, etc. are placed in
proper shelf.
-Yes, it is true. But it is the basic function only. Apart from information, library also provides a
choice of study spaces to suit different work preferences including:
+ Quiet study areas where students are asked to respect the rights of others by working quietly
and leaving mobile phones turned off. All desks here are also designed so that students can plug
in your laptop.

Due to having fantastic facility quality, the three U.S. states that attract the highest absolute
number of international students California, New York, and Texas on average netted
$31,000 per international student enrolled at an institution of higher education during the
2013/14 academic year. The total net income from international students in the state of California
amounted to $4 billion, around $3.3 billion in New York and nearly $1.5 billion in Texas.
3. Marketing:

One of the reasons that explain the world-wide reputation of these two countries education is
the method of branding. In fact, The USA and Singapore have perfected the art of marketing
their education and created such great places for not only native students but also international
students.

3.1. Scholarship

The United State of America is particularly known for its wide range of scholarships for
students. In particular, students normally award 10% to 50% scholarships, while the number of
those who get 70% to 80% is small, and those who study for free are really rare. However, with
thousands of scholarships each year, US still had over 900000 international student enrollment
between 2014 and 2015. Unlike some Asian countries that have tense national examinations for
university entrance, US educational system consider the result of students normally based on
GPA, SAT and TOEFL degrees and sometimes interviews, which are more flexible. This
somehow loosens the stress and intensity of some Asian students, thus creates the trend of
studying abroad in these countries.

Figure 1. Number of International Students in U.S. Colleges and Universities and their Share
(%) of Total U.S. Enrollment, School Year (SY) 1949-50 to SY 2014-15.
 In US, it is not always the government that provides financial aid but also some non-
governmental fund and university-specific scholarships, so there are variety of choices. In
addition, most of offers that attract students of both high school and higher education entrance
are usually from university-specific scholarship. To illustrate, CATS Academy Boston, one of the
famous private high schools, provided 100% Global Scholar Award at pre-fall recruitment 2015
which was equal to $35,000 tuition fee per year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
forked over $59,674 on average to 94 international undergraduates during the 2015-2016
school year, Harvard University awarded an average of $56,268 in financial aid to 559
undergraduates from abroad, and Public school University at Buffalo (SUNY) has average grant
aid received of $3,262/year. The following table showed the average amount of grant and
scholarship aid for first-time, full-time students received.

2010-11 2011-12

Private Private
All All
Selected
characteristic
Institutions Public Non- profit
Institutions Public Non- profit

Average per student who received any Title IV aid (in US

dollars)
4-year institutions

Grant and
Scholarship aid

All income levels $9,630 $6,420 $16,310 $9,740$6,270 $17,040

$0 to $30,000 10,820 9,500 17,800 10,750 9,240 18,450

$30,001 to $48,000 11,750 8,790 19,390 11,870 8,560 20,350

$48,001 to $75,000 9,700 5,400 17,640 9,850 5,240 18,560

$75,001 to $110,000 7,660 2,470 15,590 7,980 2,490 16,440

$110,001 or more 6,910 1,640 12,440 7,270 1,680 13,220

The statistics drawn by Institute of Education Sciences showed a rise in percentage of

students receiving financial aid for postsecondary undergraduates. The percentage of full-time
degree -seeking undergraduate students at 4-year degree-granting postsecondary institutions
receiving any financial aid was higher in 201314 (85%) than in 200809 (82%). In 201314,
the percentages of students receiving aid at 4-year public institutions (83%), 4-year private non-
profit institutions (89%) were higher than they were in 200809 (79% at public institutions, 87%
at private nonprofit institutions).
 Singapore, recognized as a global education leader and ranked finest in the world for its
quality, also provides huge opportunities for international students through scholarship with
terrific policy. Like US, Singapore attracts students with tuition fee and living expense support.
The amount of financial aid on average a person per year is approximately S$2200 for
secondary students, S$2400 for junior college students and S$3000 for college students. For
instance, Singapore Sheffield Scholarships and ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship of NUS
promote S$5800 annual living allowance for students besides Tuition fees (after MOE Tuition
Grant Subsidy). In fact, Singapore has a big number of foreign students awarding financial aid
compared to local students according to the survey of NUS and Nanyang Technological
University of Singapore in 2013.

On the other hand, Scholarships are limited in Vietnam. Vietnam is considerably lack of
entrance scholarships that would attract potential students before they apply for schools. In fact,
only some private school like FPT University promote this; and most of other schools only
provide scholarships at the end of the semester as rewards.

3.2. Image promotion

The US annual student recruitments always draw peoples attention by the way they promote
themselves. Although not as popular as the USA, Singapore still have great steps in schooling
advertising. In both countries, besides traditional ways of marketing like exchanging students,
teachers and lecturers, a lot of schools find new technology as a convenient tool for branding.
On account of internet development, designing an attractive school website is the smart way to
send message to potential students. For example, University at Buffalo gained more 17%
students thanked to its innovative website. Furthermore, the invented MOOC program offering
free online courses is applied and used worldwide with over 6 million users, which helps them
approach other universities names and programs within the world. The majority of two
countries universities especially Stanford University and National University of Singapore
believe that this is the revolution of modern education that a lot of people would try.

Along with technological method, their tactic is using celebrity endorsement. Harvard University
invited Bill Gates, President Franklin Roosevelt, writer J.K. Rowling and some other famous
people to give speeches at the 375th Anniversary. Those worldwide famous people have
the strong influence on the schools reputation and students decision. Then, on several
online news, some schools are known for their celebrities school life. Bill Cliton earned
bachelors degree foreign service from Georgetown University his Juris Doctor degree at
Yale University, Neil Amstrong denied MIT to study Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue,
even hot actress Natalie Portman studied Psychology at Harvard University. The National
University of Singapore has a list of former students that are successful nowadays in
different fields such as Singapore's seventh President Tony Tan and Director-General of the
World Health Organization Margaret Chan.

Vietnam also have some famous people but we have not found the way to develop our
branding strategy using them. Besides, the number of worldwide celebrities are limited that
we couldnt get foreign students interest.

In a nutshell, US and Singapore have been doing well in using scholarships, high
technology and celebrities to enhance their schools brand.

4. School assistance:

Career preparation:

Developing job preparation for students has become an essential target of US and Singapore
education.

There are many opportunities for students to gain practical and career-related experience during
their US and Singapore studies. First of all, students have the advantage of working in groups
and become leaders as their education directs them to real working environment and solving
problems. Working as team leaders helps them have more responsibility and ability to adapt
future job requirements.

Secondly, education and career guidance counsellors play an important role as mentors for
students orientation in high school. US and Singapore particularly give prominence to the
mission of counselling because it extends more individual attention to students. With this
solution, students get more crucial advice of choosing suitable career for themselves.

Last but not least, on-campus job and internship programs are widely available to make it easy
to build up resume before graduation. On-campus job are typically jobs for supporting university
operations, and students can be paid with the vary of money depending on job classification.
Tutoring program at Harvard provides students with the curriculum and all material for teaching
lower educational students with the average wage of $30/hour, this university also hires
computer technician and project assistant of $19/hour, Emory University give students
opportunity to work as professors assistant for $15/hour. By earning working experience,
students could enrich invaluable knowledge and communication skill. Besides this kind of job,
internship helps students receive a comprehensive center induction, job specific training, regular
observations, feedback, performance reviews and provides recommendation letters and
personal references for future employment. For instance, Global Pathways partner universities
in United State provide top-ranking career and internship programs, with average student
employment rates of more than 90% within 6-9 months of graduation. Singapore, in addition,
have a number of famous companies in different fields welcoming new positions for internships
such as Foodpanda Singapore Pte Ltd, L'OCCITANE Singapore Pte Ltd and Starr Financial
Group.

In the end, support from schools has always been an important criterion for choosing education
environment.

III. Lessons learnt from Vietnam:

A. High school:

1. Methods:
Although the contents and courses of education from pre-school to high school has been changed and
renewed, it also reveals many weaknesses. The educational program is not appropriate to students'
ability, too many theories without practicing, not associated with social requirements. There is an
imbalance between the socio-economic and the education structure, between the requirements of
developing labor and the training structure, between training and utilization (Pham 1998, p.28).
Furthermore, teaching method requires learners to memorize mechanically and they cannot promote
critical thinking, creative thinking and self-learning in the school.

The next limitation is that teachers and educational managers do not satisfy the educational tasks in the
new period; teaching method in schools is slowly innovative; quality of education is low leading to
professional qualifications and a part of teachers do not meet the requirements to improve the quality.

------> Vietnamese teaching methods should be changed to focus more on students. For
example, instead of writing non-stop what the teacher said, students should be given chances to
look into the lessons first, then discuss with each other and ask teachers problems related to the
lessons.
-------> Using different methods to encourage the act of learning. Teachers can show students
some movies, videos, images so that they can understand the lessons more easily. In addition,
teachers should organize some games, debates or arguments inside classes in order to
encourage students to show their opinions.

2. Infrastructure

2.1. Class

In Vietnam, students learn almost every subject in 1 class, and 1 class often have 40-50
students. This is definitely a disadvantage of education system in Vietnam.

-----> Lessons
_ Invest more money in developing the standard of classes. Each subject has its own
characteristic, that is why Vietnamese high schools should have separated room for each
subject.
_Provided that they do not have enough finances to support, at least they should have rooms
for specialized subjects such as: science, biology,...
_Reducing class size is another point that schools are making to decline the pressure of
teachers.

2.2. Facilities.
While high schools in US have wide range of facilities for study, high schools in Vietnam lacks
many of them. Most Vietnamese schools do not have enough qualified laboratories, libraries,
and playgrounds for pupils. With the contribution of a great number of industry sectors and the
financial investment from society as a whole, the infrastructure in school has been improved day
to day, but it is still not sufficient to crucial change enrollment and the learners' requirements,
especially in the mountainous, remote and isolated areas of our country.

-----> Lessons
_ In order to encourage students to learn and improve the standard of learning, Vietnamese
high schools should have some basic facilities such as computer, map, micro,... If they can
afford sport facilities, then it will be more efficiently for students to improve not only their
knowledge but also their physical health.
_ The government should help by renovating curricula, textbooks and teaching materials and
improve school's infrastructure. A study of education (Ministry of education and training 2001)
suggested drawing expenditure from State budget to provide investments to build some high
quality educations and training institutions, support the implementation of lower secondary
education universalization and assist difficult localities and people.

3. Marketing

3.1. Scholarship

_ US, Singapore attract students with tuition fee and living expense support. Although high
schools in these countries do not have many scholarships as universities, they somehow still
support top students in finance

------> Giving scholarships to excellent students in order to compel their studying and
attract more students.

3.2. Image promotion.

High schools in Vietnam do not pay much attention in promoting their images

------> Vietnamese high schools can use technology to promote their image like schools in US
and Singapore. Each high school can create its own website, this is really a convenient way for
people to get to know the school and its main activities.

4. School assistant

Students in Vietnamese high schools do not have much chance to learn about different career
at school. They just go to school, learn what the teacher told them and then come back home.
Many students do not have any ideas of what job he/she want to do in the future, or what
university is suitable for him/her
------> At Vietnamese high schools, there should be some workshops which help students to
choose suitable career or university.

B. College:
1. Methods
VN teaching methods lack:

more than 50% of teaching staff have only undergraduate degrees, and the lecturer-student ratio
is nearly 1-30
Education is interpreted as a process of knowledge transmission and passive reception.
Teacher-centered learning only involves chalk and talk
The curriculum is too rigid, lack of flexibility, too theory-focused, little practical
most important exams in the system are still designed in a very traditional way with the
aim of rechecking the knowledge provided to students by teachers or in the textbook
In-class discussions promoting interaction to help students improve verbal skills and to
learn through dialogue and debate
Class presentations encourage students to take a leadership role, share their
knowledge, and improve public speaking skills
Challenging opportunities to participate in advanced research and formulate opinions
Course readings that require students to expand their perspective and synthesize new
material
Peer student feedback that promotes learning through constructive critiques of each
others work

=> Lessons

Improve the qualifications and knowledge of universities lecturers

Help students become more active in classes instead of making them follow a frame
Encourage more creative and precise presentations
Have more policies and better campaigns for students to carry out more researchs
Reduce the amount of inactive studying methods that lecturers always help
Have a better understanding about students need and systems of feedback

2. Infrastructure
the current facilities, resources and infrastructure of each institution do not allow them to
conduct normal class-study, let alone autonomous study
Most universities are very small and cramped, and near the road with car parking and motorbike
parking allocated near classrooms, so that most of the time it is very noisy
many new buildings built to meet the demand of an increasing number of students appear to
have serious structural inadequacies with cracking foundations, buckling floor panels and leaking
roofs
Libraries in most universities are too small to accommodate the demand of students, with
limited number of books and materials. Some small universities and colleges do not even have a
library
low quality course materials and the ambiguity or absence of course syllabus are also significant
challenges for most universities in Vietnam.
3. Marketing

4. School assistance
Universities do not have any department, or any plan which can help give job orientation to
university graduates
75% of teachers at high schools and lecturers at universities either do not care or do not know,
and thus, do not give students any ideas about their future orientation