The graduate mothers policy. The 1980 census showed that the better educated women were not marrying or, if they did, were producing at the most two children. Less educated mothers were having more children though they were less able to give them a good education. So, to encourage graduate mothers to have more children, in 1984 Lee Kuan Yew gave them their pick of pre-school or primary school for their third child. “It sparked off a public outcry,” according to Men In White.