Teachers Trained in Visual Arts, Music and Drama

Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Education (a) since 2009, what is the number of trained teachers in visual arts, music and drama entering the profession each year at Primary, Secondary and tertiary levels; (b) whether there is a sufficient supply of trained teachers to meet current demand for arts education in schools; and (c) whether the Ministry has plans to offer specialised training in this area to more teachers and trainee teachers.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Since 2009, the pool of trained Art and Music teachers has grown by almost 20% to 1,300 teachers today. On average, MOE has been recruiting about 50 Art and Music teachers for the Primary level and about 110 for the Secondary and JC levels every year.

We are working towards the goal of having all Art and Music lessons taught by teachers who have been trained in these disciplines. To this end, we aim to grow the stock of Art and Music teachers to 1,900 by 2020, an increase of 600 from today.

Our goal is to have all our Art and Music teachers having studied Art or Music at the "O" or "A" levels, or having attained other relevant qualifications from recognised boards, diploma or degree awarding institutions. While this quality bar limits the pool of potential teachers, it enables us to recruit teachers with the right foundation from the start, and build a quality corps of Art and Music teachers in the longer term.

We have taken a multi-pronged approach in sourcing for quality teachers and strengthening specialised training. First, we have strengthened our recruitment marketing efforts with targeted advertisements and networking sessions. Second, we have been providing teaching scholarships and seeding interest in the young through school programmes, such as the Enhanced Art and Music Programmes. Third, we have been converting suitable in-service teachers to become qualified Art and Music teachers via the Advanced Diploma courses for Art and Music run by NIE. Fourth, the Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (STAR) was established in 2011 to enhance the professional excellence, practice and growth of in-service Art and Music teachers. Taken together, the various initiatives will strengthen the quality of Art and Music education in our schools.

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