You may be missing the point of the article. For example, in the second quote you've included in your comment, the author of the linked article is saying that

You may be missing the point of the article. For example, in the second quote you've included in your comment, the author of the linked article is saying that Singapore's authoritarian government has recognized that it needs to change some aspects of its educational system. Those changes would bring it closer in some ways to the educational systems of liberal democracies. The author is not criticizing (or lauding) the SG govt for this realization -- merely reporting on it. Also, with regards to your remark on conflating political and educational systems, politics and education are intertwined in every country, from the local right on up to the national level. This is even more true in authoritarian regimes as educational institutions, with the long, unbroken periods of access to the vulnerable minds of children and young adults that they offer, end up being a core venue for indoctrination.