NYJC 2022 H1 Economics 8823 P1

NANYANG JUNIOR COLLEGE 2022 JC2 Preliminary Examination H1 ECONOMICS Paper No: 8823/01 31 st August 2022 Time : 0800 – 1100 hrs Wednes day Duration : 3 hours INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Do not flip the pages of this paper until you are told to do so. Write your name, class and name of your economics tutor in the space provided on the answer booklet. You are required to answer ALL questions. The number of marks is given in the brackets at the end of each part question. Write your answers on the answer booklet provided. If you use more than one answer booklet, slot the additional booklets into the first booklet. Please start each case study on a fresh page. You are advised to spend several minutes reading through the questions and data before you begin writing your answers. There are 7 printed pages including this cover page.

JC2 H1 Economics 8823/01 2 Question 1: Education for All Table 1: Singapore government’s expenditure per student (Singapore Dollars) 2017 2018 2019 2020 Primary 11,338 11,835 11,526 11,265 University 21,624 22,186 22,022 21,538 Source: SingStat, accessed 9 July, 2022 Extract 1: Fees hike for preschools To cope with the rising need of preschool services due to the prevalence of dual -income families, and more grandparents working, the Singapore government has been expanding the number of government-supported preschool places . Despite its efforts, preschool fees continue to increase. About 330 childcare centres in Singapore will be raising their fees for full -day childcare for Singapore citizens next year, said the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). From time to time, preschools adjust their fees to keep up with the rising operational costs. It is estimated that by 2020, 3,000 more teachers are needed to be in place. That is an 18 per cent increase in the current number of 17,000 teachers. Despite recruitment drives for the sector and steps to make the profession more attractive, it is still hard to recruit and retain preschool teachers. There are now calls for salaries of preschool teachers to be raised to address the challenges in recruitment. Source: Channel News Asia, 17 Sep 2019 Extract 2: More preschool subsidies as Singapore set to spend more on preschool education The early years are important for a child’s development. Quality preschool education will provide developmentally appropriate learning experiences for young children to develop holistically and nurture positive attitudes towards learning. It will also help the children develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills and build up confidence as well as self-management and social skills. This foundational development will enable children to have a smoother transition from preschool to formal education in primary schools, a fact that man