The Ministry of Finance released a report that tracks the status of four generations of Singaporeans in their 40s. Greater educational attainment can reduce the country’s reliance on foreign talent, says NIE Assoc Prof Jason Tan, who notes that in the past, highly skilled positions could not be filled because earlier generations had only secondary school education. Senior Fellow at RSIS, Chew Soon Beng cites data from the United States showing that degree holders experience much higher cumulative change in their earnings. He says it is continual learning, and not what one learns from the first degree, that matters in the long run.