2024 TMJC H1 Econs Prelims P1 QP

_________________________________________________________________________ H1 ECONOMICS 8843/01 Paper 1 9 September 2024 3 hours Additional materials Two Answer Booklets _________________________________________________________________________ READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name and Civics Group on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid. Answer all questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. Begin each Case Study Question on a new answer booklet. Submit Question 1 and Question 2 separately. _________________________________________________________________________________ This document consists of 9 printed pages and 1 blank page. TAMPINES MERIDIAN JUNIOR COLLEGE JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

2 Tampines Meridian Junior College 2024 JC2 Prelim H1 Economics 8843 Paper 1 Answer all questions. Question 1: Education in ASEAN and Switzerland Extract 1: Education in ASEAN Education is a powerful transformative force in the lives of ASEAN 1 people. Inclusive and quality education leads to better health outcomes, higher social capital, peaceful and gender -equal societies, decent work opportunities and economic growth. It prepares ASEAN’s human resources to be resilient, competitive and ready to face an ever-changing future. With COVID -19 forcing schools to adopt remote learning, the educational gap is expected to widen. First, poorer households and remote or excluded communities and regions have limited access to the internet and the devices needed to access online classes. Take for example, the large percentage of the Rohingya population in Rakhine and Chin states in Myanmar who do not have internet, mobile phones, television, and radio access to remote teaching and learning. In order to continue its post -pandemic recovery and growth , ASEAN countries will need to address gaps in important digital skills among the youth through means such as higher education. According to a study, young people in the region believe that digital literacy would improve their ability to learn better and i mprove other skills. However, while the majority of young people in the ASEAN region report having a moderate level of digital literacy, those from less developed economies like Myanmar and Vietnam, from rural areas, with an ethnic minority background, and from an older age group are more likely to report lower skill levels. Additionally, the share of youth currently engaged in enhancing their digital skills is shown to be lower for youth in the 15 t o 24 age range, from rural areas, with ethnic minority backgrounds, and with disabilities. It has also been revealed that in 2022, only one in two young Southeast Asians perceived the need to improve their basic digital skills through education. Source: adapted from ASEAN Secretariat and The Diplomat, 2024 Table 1: Selected indicators for selected ASEAN countries in 2022 Indonesia Myanmar Singapore Vietnam Urban population (%) 56.6 30.2 100 37.6 Adult literacy rate (%) 96.4 89.1* 97.6* 96.1 Budget balance (% of country’s gross domestic product) -2.19 -5.96 1.21 0.26 *Adult literacy rates for Myanmar and Singapore are as of 2019 and 2021 respectively. Source: ASEAN Statistical Highlights, 2023 1 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional organisation that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

3 Tampines Meridian Junior College 2024 JC2 Prelim H1 Economics 8843 Paper 1 Extract 2: Automation and its impact on ASEAN Trends toward greater automation are accelerating around the world, with significant implications for workers. In 2018, it was claimed that by 2030, up to 375 million people worldwide may forfeit their current jobs due to automation and technological disruption. ASEAN is especially likely to be affected as the impact of technological disruption on ASEAN is expected to be profound. Presently, automation is not uniform across ASEAN countries or even across companies. For instance, Honda, a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and battery -powered equipment, has not sought to significantly automate its manufacturing processes in ASEAN countries such as Vietnam because labour costs are low enough that the up‐front costs of automation cannot yet be justified - both to produce and purchase - since the motorcycles produced in ASEAN are largely sold within the region. However, in Japan itself, Honda has begun the automation process at its Kumamoto factory. Moving forward, as labour costs increase in ASEAN, and the costs of automation decline, Ho nda may well choose to automate across its ASEAN plants too. Some ASEAN countries have already begun to act. Singapore’s heavy investment in lifelong learning has enabled its workforce to adapt and Singaporean companies are therefore able to take advantage of new technology. Indonesia has invested US$719 million in vocational education to develop the skills of 2 million unemployed Indonesians in fields like coding, marketing, and hospitality. Today’s technological disruption is larger in scope and magnitude than it was in the twentieth century during the advent of computers. The pace of innovation and adaptation is much faster. While technology complements some jobs, it renders others obsolete. ASEAN cannot avoid the disruption these new technologies will cause. Technological disruption can be positive, to the extent that ASEAN’s governments and private sectors are able to interpret and adapt to them. Source: Asia Pacific Bulletin, 2020 Extract 3: Ageing population in ASEAN and its impact on education and the economy ASEAN is ageing rather quickly. In Vietnam, the number of 0 to 14-year-olds will decrease by 3.7 million between 2024 and 2050 ; in Indonesia, from 69.9 million to 61.6 million; in Myanmar, from 13.2 million to 11.5 million. In some ways, this is good news. Fewer children could mean that governments spend more money per student so long as governments do not decrease their expenditure on education. But it is not just that ASEAN’s youngsters are thinning in number; the number of elderly is set to spike. Sooner or later, all ASEAN states are set to face the same question: spend more money on the fewer children or on the growing number of elderly? The choice will not be easy. Just 40 per cent of Vietnamese aged over 60 are covered by social protection systems and that is a high percentage by regional standards. The figure stands at around 14 per cent in Myanmar. The implication of this is that states will have to develop their pensions and retirement schemes quickly.

4 Tampines Meridian Junior College 2024 JC2 Prelim H1 Economics 8843 Paper 1 Vastly more government money will have to be spent on healthcare. With less workers working due to ageing population, the governments in these regions might also see a compromise in their tax revenues. Having an ageing population could impact the number of labour participants, as there is a decline in population growth. Depending on the countries’ migration policies, this could drive up wages in the economy. An increase in the ageing population might also lead to a decline in the productivity of the workers as older individuals are less productive due to poorer health. However, arguments were made in support of the experience and efficiency that older workers bring. Therefore, the impact on the productivity of a country could be inconclusive. Source: adapted from The Diplomat,