Drama Offering in Primary and Secondary Schools

Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Education (a) how many Primary and Secondary schools offer drama and how many students study drama as part of the core curriculum; (b) how many Primary and Secondary schools use drama as a pedagogical tool to teach other subjects such as English and Mother Tongue; (c) how many Primary and Secondary students are exposed to drama as a learning vehicle in class; and (d) whether there has been an upward trend in drama application in schools in recent years.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Drama is one of many pedagogical tools that teachers adopt in the classroom. It is used mainly as an activity to enrich the learning of a subject during formal lessons.

Drama as a formal subject of study is offered in four Secondary schools. A recent study on drama pedagogical practices in Singapore by the National Institute of Education showed that more than 180 Primary and Secondary schools use drama across various subjects. In addition, more than 170 drama instructors across the different languages have taught in our schools' drama clubs or speech and drama programmes.