RI 2025 H2 Y6 Timed Practice Paper 1 (Final)

9570/01/Timed Practice/Y6/25 © RI 2025 [Turn over RAFFLES INSTITUTION 2025 YEAR 6 TIMED PRACTICE Higher 2 ECONOMICS 9570/01 Paper 1 Case Study 1 July 2025 1 hrs 15 minutes Additional Materials: Answer Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name, index number and civics class on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. You may use a soft pencil for diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. At the end of the examination, fasten answer script for Paper 1 securely together with this sheet as cover page. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each part question. Name: __________________________ Civics Class: _____________________ _____________________ Paper 1 Marks Economics Tutor: _________________ Question 1 /30 This document consists of 5 printed pages and 1 blank page. H

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3 9570/01/TP/Y6/25 © RI 2025 [Turn over Question 1 Early Childhood Education Extract 1: Big increase in childcare places and MOE kindergartens Two in three pre -schoolers will, by 2023, have a place in a childcare centre or kindergarten that is run or supported by the Government, up from one in two today. This will be achieved as more places become available at pre -schools run by private operators which get government grants and the Ministry of Education (MOE). With the i ncrease in MOE kindergartens, the ministry will have greater scale to influence the kindergarten sector and raise quality standards. The compulsory school age in Singapore is 7 years old. In preparation for formal schooling, a pre -school is an institution that caters to children aged 6 years and below. At the National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said pre-schools, for children aged two months to six years, are important. "Today, every child goes to a good school. We want every child to go to a good pre -school, so that all children, regardles s of family background, have the best possible. The Government will also double its annual spending on the pre-school sector to $1.7 billion in 2022 – a heavy investment, but worthwhile and necessary” , said PM Lee. A new national institute for pre -school teachers will also be set up to raise standards. These moves come amid rising demand for childcare places as more parents see the importance of pre-school education in a child's development, and more mothers return to work. Source: The Straits Times, 21 August 2017 (Adapted) Extract 2: How do parents pick the right preschool? Use head, heart and gut, say experts. With more than 1,600 childcare centres and close to 380 kindergartens offering the promise of an enriching preschool education around the country, how should parents decide where to send their children? Safety measures in preschools have been on Singaporeans’ minds in recent weeks after Kinderland, a private preschool which charges parents upwards of S$1,700 for its programmes, made headlines for several cases of child mismanagement. It was found that the centre principal, did not exercise adequate supervision over her staff in their management of children. Early childhood professionals told Today News that a higher price point does not automatically equate to a better quality, or safer, programme . Instead, in making their decision, parents should base their considerations around a process involving their “head, heart and gut”, said Ms Melissa Goh -Karssen, a senior lecturer for the early childhood education programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Source: Various Extract 3: Government tackling inequality early from pre -school Just as it casts its shadow over the rest of the world, inequality also remains one of the most serious issues now facing Singapore. Here the government wants to tackle it early and believes that the best chance of addressing it is during a child's pre -school years, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday.

4 9570/01/TP/Y6/25 © RI 2025 [Turn over The idea is to give every child a good start and the chance to succeed right from the beginning, he said. That is why the government is levelling the playing field by providing more assistance to those in danger of being left behind during the pre -school years. Mr Shanmugam said that while Singapore remains wedded to meritocracy, children have different starting points in life. Those from less privileged backgrounds have limited networks and fewer opportunities to develop their talents. The government is now stepping in to offer these opportunities. Source: The Straits Times, 21 April 2018 (Adapted) Table 1: Comparative Data on Singapore and Norway Country 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Gini Index (after taxes and transfers) Singapore 0.409 0.401 0.402 0.403 0.398 Gini Index (after taxes and transfers) Norway 0.280 0.290 0.270 0.280 0.280 Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) Singapore 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.8 1.9 Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) Norway 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1 Source: Various Figure 1: Singapore’s share of total government expenditure by sectors (2018) Figure 2: Norway’s share of total government expenditure by sectors (2018)

5 9570/01/TP/Y6/25 © RI 2025 [Turn over Figure 3 Source: The World Bank Extract 4: Norway again a pioneer in early childhood education and care (ECEC) Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway took the top spots in the Starting Well Index and did well largely due to their “deeply embedded, sustained long -term investments and prioritisation of early childhood development in their societies”. Other key drivers for quality pre-school education are high teacher standards and training, curriculum guidelines and parental involvement. Pre -primary teachers in Norway follow a three -year pre -primary educational programme at both university and college level. The Norwegian ECEC system has experienced a strong expansion since 2005. Norway has historically high rates of kindergarten enrolment, with public funding increasing strongly in the kindergarten sector over the past 15 years. Norway has the highest share o f public income spent on early childhood education and care amongst the OECD countries, with government expenditure reaching S$13.2 billion in 2018 (2.0% of GDP) on pre -school education. More children from disadvantaged backgrounds participate in ECEC in N orway than in most other countries. In order to make kindergarten more affordable for the lower income families, the government introduced additional changes to the existing income -based differentiation in school fees by relaxing the eligibility criteria f or subsidised fees further. Moreover, the fee for the first child cannot exceed 6.0% of the family’s total income, with a ceiling set at the maximum established fee of NOK 2,990 (S$459) per month for both private and public pre - schools. Source: Various

6 9570/01/TP/Y6/25 © RI 2025 [Turn over Questions (a) Explain a possible reason for the change in the Gini Index of Singapore in 2019. [2] (b) Explain why preschool education should not be classified as a public good. [4] (c) (i) Using the information in Extract 2, explain how asymmetric information might lead to a wrong choice in the market for preschool education. [2] (ii) Explain how the above problem could be corrected. [2] (d) (i) Compare the trends in out -of-pocket healthcare expenditure per capita between Singapore and Norway from 2015 to 2022. [2] (ii) Using the data provided and your own knowledge, assess how the opportunity cost of increasing government expenditure on pre-school education may differ between Singapore and Norway.