In Singapore education has rnade a significant contribution to the change of class stratification in the past three decades. This contribution was accomplished ln two basic ways: (1) by facilitating economic development, thereby helping to create a funetional imperative to expand the proportion of professionals, technicians, exeeutives and managers, i.e., to expand the relative size of the upper division of the class hierarchy; and (2) by equipping members of underprivi]eged groups <the lower

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... ass division, the fernale group, and some ethnic rninorities) with necessary qualifications to respond to this irnperative and move upward to jein the upper divisien " thus leading to change of the social composition of the upper division. Differential advances of the underprivileged groups are reported. Forces that affect education's transformational power are identifiecl. I Intreduction This paper attempts to examine how and to what extent eclucation has contributed to the transfermation of class stratification in Singapore in the past three decades. Mueh research has been conducted on the conservative role of tormal education in social repreduction, especially in the contexts of Britain and the Ufiited States [Durkheim