There are many ingredients in the success of Singapore's education system. First and foremost is the efficiency, dedication and work of our education ministry in Singapore. They are the ones who produced the framework for our education system and our syllabi.
However, our education ministry updates its syllabi regularly to ensure they remain relevant in the ever changing global economy. Hence, the old editions of the Singapore books are obsolete because they are based on the old syllabi whereas the new editions of the Singapore books are based on the new syllabi. It is therefore very important that you buy directly from SGBox.com Bookstore to make sure that you are getting the correct books and the true value for your money.
The environment in Singapore is also a major important contributing factor. A large majority of parents in Singapore are very concerned about the education of their children, and will strive to give their children the best in their education, including buying lots of assessment books and getting private tuition for their children.
The competitive environment in most schools in Singapore is another major factor. Children are assessed many times each year by their teachers via homework, projects, tests and exams. Streaming is part and parcel of this competition. Children are streamed into various classes according to their academic ability, which is highly dependent on their grades. Even our Singapore schools are ranked according to the national exam grades that their students received each year.
There are many more reasons why Singapore's education system is so successful, but that will take pages to write.