HEAD K - MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

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Head K – Ministry of Education

Educational policy and social mobility

Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, I beg to move,

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That the total sum to be allocated for Head K of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

One weekend last year, two boy scouts from Raffles Institution came to my home to offer their services during the annual Job Week. While chatting, I found out that one of them had a doctor father and homemaker mother. The family lived in a house in Cairnhill. They were quite well to do. The other boy lived in a HDB flat in Jurong West. Both his parents work but he was not sure as what. They were not poor but clearly of more modest means. Without even asking, we know that both of the boys made it to RI on the basis of their outstanding PSLE performance. In many other countries, we would not have been able to make such an assumption because entry to so-called “top” schools is not always by merit. Instead, it would depend on the size of your father’s wallet or scope of his influence.

Like most Singaporeans, I am very proud that our education system is like that. The message to students is that all you need to do is to work hard, because the system will let you go as far as you are capable of, regardless of your family background and circumstances. Does this message continue to hold true today? To a large extent, the answer is “yes”. Whether you live in a bungalow or rental flat, it is the same PSLE examinations that you have to clear, same “O” levels that you have to take to determine which Junior College or polytechnic you can be enrolled in, the same “A” levels that will decide how much choice you have for university and course selection.

All teachers are NIE-trained and paid competitively. All schools enjoy substantial funding and good facilities. Furthermore, there are financial schemes to help students from poorer homes. Self-help groups run many programmes to give them a further leg up.

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Our education system is as equitable as it gets. In that sense, it provides all Singaporeans equal opportunities to excel. However, no one would be so naïve to think that students from higher-income families do not enjoy some advantages, such as access to enrichment and tuition, information and exposure. For primary school enrolment, the parents’ income levels have a greater influence. It is not uncommon to hear of successful Singaporeans moving, buying or renting a home to be near a primary school of choice.

The key question is whether these advantages are so significant that Singaporeans from poorer backgrounds cannot do better than those from richer backgrounds. In particular, does the parent’s ability to get his child into a primary school give him or her an unfair advantage at the all-important PSLE examinations and thereafter?

In Britain, parents who are able to pay send their children to private schools like Eton and Westminster. Prime Minister David Cameron noted that Oxford and Cambridge Universities take in more students each year from just these two schools than from among the 80,000 pupils who are eligible for free school meals.

What about Singapore? Do enough pupils who start at the bottom move up and out? I think this is a very important question for the MOE to address. Certainly, what would reassure Singaporeans is not one or two individuals who overcome the odds, but empirical evidence that good numbers of students from low-income households are making it to top secondary schools, making it to tertiary institutions and winning scholarships.

Singaporeans are also concerned about declining mobility. A recent article by Assistant Professor Irene Ng of the

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National Univeristy of Singapore has suggested that our education system may be perpetuating social immobility. In other words, somehow because of design, we have made it more difficult today for students from poorer backgrounds to do better than those from richer backgrounds. I would like to know if this is true. Can the MOE share any trend data and analyses that would shed light on this issue?

One specific concern I have is the use of PSLE scores for secondary school posting. While it is fair and meritocratic, there are a number of undesirable consequences. First, it is a very high-stakes examination for 12-year-olds when, in fact, it should serve mainly as a milestone check on a child’s progress in his education journey. Should we allow, for example, some shifting around after Secondary Two to give some allowance for late bloomers?

Second, there is certain value in putting students of comparable abilities together to facilitate teaching. But we have to be careful not to give young Singaporeans, especially the very bright ones, the idea that everyone else is like them in terms of intellectual abilities. For many people, lifelong friendships are formed in secondary schools. For this reason, I wonder if we should tolerate some “untidiness” in secondary school posting, perhaps a combination of PSLE scores and some other criteria to have more mixing of people of different abilities.

Third, the policy of Direct Schools Admissions (DSA) was introduced so that students with other gifts can gain admission to popular schools even if their PSLE results might not have allowed them to. However, I have the impression that many DSA places are taken up by Gifted Education Programme students or those who have taken the trouble to prepare for the many admission tests. It sounds to me

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like it is a pre-PSLE and it makes me wonder how could poorer students have the resources to keep up. Is it time for us to refine the DSA?

Another concern is that of cost. How does MOE ensure that quality education, especially at the tertiary level, remains accessible and affordable to all Singaporeans regardless of financial background?

Finally, what more can be done beyond financial assistance to boost the chances of students from low-income families?

One practical issue, for example, is how CCA schedules and remedial classes are organised. I discovered to my horror that having three children in primary school at the same time means three different sets of after-school timetables to deal with. Some of my homemaker friends say they are no different from taxi-drivers, ferrying kids around, including the fact that they also do not get CPF! Not many people can afford to have a stay-at-home spouse to handle non-standard transport arrangements.

There are other programmes which are very good but which could also impose burdens on lower-income families, for example, when schools arrange overseas trips to places like Europe. I feel that as a system, we should become more sensitised to the needs of lower-income families, and to be as inclusive as possible when giving opportunities.

Education is the single most important means of providing social mobility in Singapore. It is core to our national value of meritocracy. So I hope to hear the MOE’s views and commitment to strengthen all aspects of our system to promote and not erode social mobility.

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Social mobility through education

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, a 2007 Newsweek article entitled "The Death of Social Mobility" highlighted the role of social mobility through education in helping the four tiger economies grow rapidly, but concluded that social mobility now has been affected by the rich-poor divide.

An OECD report last year concluded that social mobility is greatest in countries with low levels of income inequality and stressed the correlation between family background and future earnings.

At home, no lesser a person than the Minister Mentor had said that children whose parents are graduates perform better in school. Some primary schools are so popular that the applications far exceed the number of places available because parents believe that these schools would give their children a headstart in our education system. As priority is given to those whose siblings or parents are studying or have studied in the school, this means that the better educated, higher income parents – usually alumni of the popular schools – could more easily get places for their children. To increase their chances, such parents could buy houses around popular schools because of the 1-km rule, thus pushing up prices and making them even more inaccessible to the low income. Many MPs have come across frantic parents who want us to appeal for a place in popular schools because they think that it makes a difference to their children. I know even of a professional who has decided to volunteer his services once his newborn turns two years old.

What happens then to children from low-income families with no connections and less resources? Will social mobility through education be a thing of the past?

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Will we see a greater stratification of our society? If this were to happen, will we have a permanent underclass with serious ramifications on our One People, One Singapore ideal?

Sir, these are important questions because social mobility through education has been the greatest leveller in our society. I would like to ask the Minister, how does our education system ensure social mobility? Does the Ministry track social mobility? What are the indicators and how do we compare with other countries? How do we ensure that education continues to remain affordable and accessible to children from low-income families?

Education as a social mobility tool

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): MOE delivers a world-class education to our Singaporean children. However, the reality is that children from less-privileged backgrounds are sometimes at a disadvantage as their parents are sometimes unable to provide the basics for them, such as a relatively quiet study place, reference books, Internet access and personal guidance.

How does MOE ensure that the students from low-income families are given the education they need in our schools to ensure they too reach their full potential? How does MOE ensure that opportunities are given to these children to secure places in our ITEs, polytechnics and universities? How will MOE ensure that our schools are tools to help upward social mobility?

Opportunities for all

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Sir, it is crucial to provide dedicated and highly-qualified teachers from Primary 1 to 6, the formative years in a child's development.

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Special attention should be given to neighbourhood schools, especially those with a higher proportion of poorer families. The teachers have to meet the diverse learning needs of the students and address the learning gaps of those who lack adequate home support. Some low-income parents are too distracted by their problems to guide their children. They pay little heed if their kids do not turn up at school. Evidence suggests that a child's family background plays a big role in determining his learning level in primary school. We have to be mindful of the effects of the widening income gap and make sure that our disadvantaged children have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential.

The question of whether teachers are well-equipped to tackle this challenge is a critical one, if we are to ensure social mobility. What additional skills and resources do they need? What sort of values should they hold?

First, we should recognise that schools with a higher proportion of disadvantaged students tend to face challenges when it comes to statistical measures of academic performance and image. Second, it is draining work for the teachers to achieve results. They need to actively engage the parents to reinforce the importance of education and to go beyond the walls of the classrooms.

Sir, after some years, some may prefer a posting to brand-name schools where the same expenditure of effort would yield outstanding results. There is also the prestige factor. That is not to say that neighbourhood schools do not have great teachers. Indeed, I know of some with excellent ones. But they need more support and recognition. An example is Griffiths Primary School in Tampines Changkat. It has about 750 students. About 24% live in 1- to 3-room HDB flats, compared with 9.8% in comparable

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schools. About 40% are Malays, 30% Chinese and 15% Indians. About 70% come from non-English speaking homes.

Its principal, Mrs Yap Weng Ha, is passionate about leveling-up her children. It has a recent success story. The school’s top PLSE student last year, Sheikh Izzat bin Bahajjaj, is now studying at Raffles Institution and is a class monitor there. In the PSLE, he scored 2 A-stars – in Maths and Science – and 2 As in English and Malay. He did not have any tuition. But he has great family support. His mother, a home-maker, supervises his school work at home and his father is an engineer. Izzat also credited his hard-working teachers for his results. He said he would always remember Mrs Yap’s words at the school assembly. As he put it: “Mrs Yap said, 'if you put in enough effort and believe in yourself, you can do it and you can succeed'.” His example highlights how, with dedicated teachers and home support, neighbourhood schools can produce outstanding students.

For sustainable results, I would urge MOE to provide additional teaching posts to neighbourhood schools and more funding for a home liaison scheme to develop links with parents. We should reward teachers who go the extra mile to help poorer children to level up in neighbourhood schools and link teacher evaluation to such efforts.

Preschool education should also receive more resources. We need to raise the level of teachers and their quality and the supply of these qualified teachers of non-profit preschool centres in the neighbourhood which charge affordable fees. There is now a severe shortage of qualified preschool teachers, despite the increase in salaries. I would like to ask the Minister for an update of the situation.

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Education system and tuition culture

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Mr Chairman, Sir, Singapore prides itself in having one of the best education systems in the world. MOE's website states that: "We have a strong education system. Singapore students aim high and they achieve very good results". This is recognised around the world. Beneath this system, students and parents are struggling hard to keep up.

A 2008 Sunday Times Special, entitled "Tuition Nation", reported that 97 out of 100 students surveyed, took tuition. A parent was quoted as saying that tuition was necessary or he would be left behind his classmates because they all had tutors too. Another Sunday Times survey in 2010 described a parent paying $850 a month to ensure that her child could make it into the Gifted Education Programme.

Sir, the question is, are our students achieving very good results because of the strong education system or because of the excessive tuition culture? A good, strong education system should give parents the full confidence that the process will produce the desired outcomes for their children. The current situation in Singapore where tuition is needed to sustain the high level of achievement is puzzling. Can the Minister offer some explanation to the phenomenon here?

Most tuition centres are focused on results-oriented pursuits, helping the students to achieve better results in examinations. Is the Ministry tracking the tuition trend here to see how the tuition culture could have affected MOE's objective of providing a broad-based and holistic education to the students? It is a long overdue task to allay the parents' worries that if their children do not have tutors, they will be left behind their peers. Does the Ministry have holistic approach

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to convince parents that as long as students do their part to put in serious effort in school, the education system is sufficient to bring out the best in the students?

The Chairman: Ms Joscelin Yeo. Please take your two cuts together.

Tuition

Ms Joscelin Yeo (Nominated Member): The Singapore Government has one of the highest standards of education in the world. A search in the Singapore Education Government website states, and I quote: "Singapore's public schools have a distinctive record of high standards in teaching and learning, illustrated by international comparative studies, such as the Third National Mathematics and Science Study, that showed the majority of students from Singapore schools out-performing the international average in mathematics and science. Our students have also excelled in competitions, such as World Debating Championships in English and International Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, ousting counterparts from other countries to clinch top prizes and distinctions".

Sir, the students in our public schools are already achieving these standards, then why do the majority of students have to engage tuition teachers? A Sunday Times Poll in June 2008, found that out of 100 primary, secondary and JC students, 97 were having extra tuition classes. Sir, I am not against tuition, in fact, I had to have tuition myself because I missed a lot of classes when I went away for swimming competitions. However, tuition should be a supplementary class for those who are unable to keep up with what is learnt in the classroom. It should not be a way to add on to what cannot be covered in time in the classroom.

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I have a friend whose mother is a divorcee. Ever since the divorce, her mum went into depression and stopped working. She ended up having to pay the bills in the house and financially support her mum and her two sisters, one of whom was in primary school. On top of working extra hours to pay the bills, she had to give her younger sister tuition because she could not afford to get a tuition teacher. Her sister needed to be tutored because the topics that were coming out in her examination papers were not covered in the classroom. The teacher told the students to ask their tuition teachers to help them with the rest of the information. The teacher assumed that all the students had tuition teachers and deflected responsibility of teaching what was necessary in the classroom.

Sir, the Ministry recently answered the PQ asked by my fellow NMP, Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan, about whether the Ministry had guidelines for operating hours of primary and secondary schools. The guidelines set by MOE for Primary 1 and 2 students are 48 periods of 30 minutes each per week and, for Primary 3 to 6 students, 49 periods of 30 minutes each per week. This works out to five hours a day, including recess time. For secondary schools, the curriculum time guideline stipulates 40 periods of 40 minutes each per week. This works out to six hours a day, including recess time.

Sir, the Government has given the recommendations on what is the optimum time for students to be studying. If the curriculum cannot be completed within the guidelines given, then does it not beg the question, are we trying to cram too much information into them at this young age? Are we overloading them?

Sir, I agree with Mrs Josephine Teo that education provides social mobility in Singapore. However, if the majority of students are requiring tuition classes to complete the curriculum, is not the

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content too excessive? Parents will naturally opt to have tuition classes for their kids if they see that their child is not able to keep up with their school work, is failing in class or behind their peers, you cannot blame them for that. Instead, what I would ask is, why do the majority of students have to take tuition classes? Is the content age-appropriate content? Is the quantity of content too excessive to be taught in the 25 to 30 hours they spend studying in school? Are educators focused on not letting their schools' overall percentage drop or are they focused on developing well-rounded students?

The Government has emphasised time and again about the importance of lifelong learning. If the students keep going at this rate, I wonder if they can maintain an interest in this value of learning. I would like to ask the Minister if the Government is going to step in to ensure that the schools are not thwarting every good guideline that has been put in place for good reason, and secondly, what measures does his Ministry take to monitor that the schools are not overloading their students?

Co-curricular activities (CCA)

My next cut, Sir, is about CCAs in schools. Sir, building Singapore up as a sporting nation has to start with the young in schools. MOE has accurately identified this. In the TODAY paper on the 3rd of March 2011, there was an article written about how MOE recognises that it is in school where a child improves, I quote, "improves on motor skills and goes on to pick up a sport". As part of the sports development framework, MOE has increased their pool of qualified teachers to properly conduct PE lessons to develop talent and promote a vibrant sports culture. On top of that, they have also increased the number of PE hours a week,

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in primary and secondary schools. However, some schools have taken this competitiveness too far. These days, students are not allowed to participate in the sports they enjoy. Instead, schools are so competitive nowadays that they only allow students who have potential or who are already successful in that sport, to participate in the school team. If they cannot make it, then they just have to choose something else and perhaps, something that also they are not interested in.

By doing this, schools are not cultivating a love for sports, exercise and healthy living. They are cultivating a win-only mindset. They are not developing interest and skill, but rather on a one-track mind to garner school honours for school prestige and glory. Some schools put so much pressure on students that they have to get private coaching outside, just to keep up or risk being kicked off the team, and not earning any CCA points at the end of the day.

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I refer to an incident that happened with an ACS Independent student Tan Mun Yee in November 2008. He was an athlete who wanted to switch from Track and Field to Drama for his CCA but was denied the switch. His teacher who knew he wanted to switch called his mother and advised her not to allow him to do so. Not only did he dislike his CCA, he felt he was being singled out and punished on the field because he wanted to switch out to a different CCA. He and his parents argued about this, with him eventually committing suicide because he felt he had no way out of the situation. Something like this should never have happened.

CCA is a place to develop a love for sports, arts and music. Yes, it is a place to spot talent and to develop talent. Yes, it is a place as a balance to the academic

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part of your life to produce holistic, well-rounded youths. But let us not throw all the wisdom out of the door and be so single-minded about garnering wins, school honours and school glory.

As it is, school is a stressful time for most students. CCA should be an opportunity for young people to explore their gifts and talents within the safety of a school system. Students should have the freedom to choose what they desire to do instead of being locked into a CCA they do not like for four years. Even if they opted for something and they realised they do not like it, schools can implement a one-switch policy, meaning you can only switch CCA one time if you find that the CCA you chose was not what you thought it would be within the first two years of their time in that CCA. This teaches them how to persevere through hard times and yet gives them a freedom to choose something else if they really do not enjoy what they had initially picked. The focus of CCA should be on developing people and not school titles. This is where you will find your base of young athletes, artistic talent and musicians who want to go further than just school-level activities.

To build Singapore in the sporting arena, the Arts and music scene it wants to be requires not only the measures put in place by MOE but the right software. By "software", I mean the school, the heads of departments and the teachers. That they always have in mind that the nurturing of the youths comes before glory and honour for the school. Parents play a huge part in imparting the right values too, even when it comes to CCAs. With the right focus and objective of what a CCA should be, good decisions can be made to groom our future talents in these areas.

Can the Minister clarify the objective of CCAs in schools and, secondly, what is the Ministry doing to monitor that schools

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are using the CCA system and platform to enrich students' lives and not to burden them?

Holistic education

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: Last Friday, I presented 200 bursaries to students in my constituency. As usual for such events, many did not say thank you when receiving their cheques. I do not think the students mean to be rude. Perhaps their home environment plays a part.

But it leads me to question how our schools are teaching gratitude in a culture of entitlement and consumerism. It is not a matter of teaching our kids to be polite. It is about shaping inner core attitudes towards learning and life as part of a holistic education.

Research on the impact of gratitude on education and personal development shows the many positive effects, such as enthusiasm, determination and optimism. Those who practise gratitude are more likely to help others and to make greater progress towards personal goals.

One way to inculcate this trait in our children is to teach them to write a thank-you note for things other than gifts – for kind words spoken, for help given, or just for a fun day.

We should also teach them to view failure or unpleasant experiences as something to learn from. Looking back on my years when I first came to Singapore to study for my "A" levels, I am truly grateful for those trying times – constantly short of money, struggling with my studies and my daily life.

The experience helped me to develop resilience and empathy. Team sports is also a valuable way for teaching essential life skills, and I would urge schools to make greater use of it. Not for sporting glory for the school but for character building for the students.

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Through sports, children learn the values of team work, perseverance and sportsmanship. That sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. That is life. The important thing is to never give up, and to keep on trying.

I sometimes get complaints from parents about their kids falling down in playgrounds and hurting themselves. Remove the playground, one parent even said. My own view is that falling down is not something to be afraid of. It is not knowing how to get up, how to recover and carry on. I would like to ask the Minister for an update of the Ministry's efforts to provide a more holistic education.

Youth-at-risk

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, many parents today may be caught up with their work demands and may not spend enough time with their teenage children. Parents tell me that there is minimal communication at home as teenagers now socialise in their own online world while parents chat less with the children.

While there is still care and love for their children, there is lesser imparting of values by the parents to their children. These are the anecdotal feedback I received when I meet parents and teachers from the schools at our neighbourhood.

Rightly or wrongly, parents expect and depend on the teachers to teach the right values and to guide the child on the right path. We know that teachers are also stretched with the school's other academic and non-academic KPIs. I would like to ask the Minister if there are plans to strengthen moral and values education in schools. Will there be more resources set aside to prepare students for their life

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journey and to be socially responsible citizens? How can schools better work with parents and the community, including the Police, on early intervention for potential at-risk students?

The situation is not getting any better now with more dual-income families. Many of the teenage students grow up as latch-key kids. Without close parental guidance, whether a kid stays on mainstream or becomes wayward depends very much on the company he or she mixes with. I believe the school and teachers can play a more pivotal role here to develop a stronger relationship with the students.

The community can also play a part and organise more activities to engage the youths so that their hyper energy can be channelled to healthier activities. For example just yesterday, I was with about 100 youths from our neighbourhood schools at my constituency. We had what we called the Super Sunday event for the youths where they formed teams to do a Vertical Relay at one of the HDB flats. It was a 30-storey block of flats. In the process, the students appreciated that the staircase at our HDB flats could be used for other healthier activities rather than just congregating there to do some of those anti-social activities. Sir, I hope that MOE can do more in this area and work with the schools and the community, as well as with the Police.

Youth Sports and CCA

Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Mr Chairman, Sir, I would like to focus on a specific section of CCAs – sports. We should strongly encourage students to take up sports because it will assist immensely in developing tenacity and strength of character among youths. They learnt the meaning of perseverance and endurance, and develop a spirit of competitiveness and also humility and to lose with grace. These life skills will stay

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with them long after any equation, formula or hypothesis.

In this Parliament, I have been appealing for MOE to encourage and put in resources for our children to have sports as CCA. I thought MOE has indeed made some changes and it is getting more students into sports on a larger scale. However recently, I was alarmed again when my daughter, who is now in Pre-University, was told that there was no recreation CCA for Tennis, and that only about 12 players were needed through selection for competitive team. Sports should be an integral part of school life. I would like to call for sports CCA to be made compulsory for all children from primary to tertiary levels.

I hope the Minister can share with the House, the number of school children who has sports CCA in primary school. What is being done to encourage participation in sports among students in schools? We often hear from schools that there are not enough teachers or sport facilities to cater to all who want to take up sports. Do we have enough resources to have every child take up sports as CCA? I firmly believe that a child who has taken up a sport CCA in his primary school, will continue with sports in the secondary school and then into adult life.

In addition, with youth crime on the rise, can the Minister look into the schedule of the school hours for the secondary school? Many parents are working when the children are in secondary school. As a result, teenage students are left at home in the afternoon without proper guidance. As all the secondary schools now operate single sessions, can the Minister look into the possibility of extending the school hours, incorporating CCAs, tuition or extra classes for the weaker students in the afternoon and let the children leave for home at about 5.00 pm on a daily basis?

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Integrated programme schools

Mr Christopher de Souza: Sir, the through-train system has received good feedback from students and parents. Without having to spend time preparing for the "O" levels, students have more time to do more project work and multi-media work which are beneficial in terms of learning.

From 2012, seven more schools will offer the Integrated Programme, bringing the total to 18. This means that about 10% of each PSLE cohort will be eligible for the Integrated Programme. Is it MOE’s intention to roll this out to more schools? While the Integrated Programme may be beneficial for some students, it may still be advisable to keep some schools strictly "O" and "N" level-centric because it assures the students in these schools a golden "O" or "N" levels certificate.

Investing for the future

Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Chairman, education is all about investing for the future. Last year, MOE laid out plans to strengthen our students’ 21st century competencies. Can MOE provide an update on efforts to develop our students holistically, in particular, the emphasis on non-academic aspects of the curricula?

I have two suggestions for the MOE to consider for the future: In the recently published " Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going ", journalists asked Minister Mentor about his "carbon footprint". I noted his simple, down-to-earth lifestyle. The jacket he wore, for instance, was nearly two decades old. Increasingly, our world will have to deal with the profligate ways in which we consume resources and the consequences of such behaviours. One "competency" we may need to cultivate is "Awareness of Sustainable Living". Cultivating this awareness early could help our students develop an affinity and edge in the many "green" jobs to be,

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created in the future, and to themselves live more sustainably.

Second, last November and December’s series of youth violence incidents had led to media editorials attributing teen violence to the prevalence of computer games, particularly those with many violent actions. There were also reports on youth gaming addiction, which analysts opined, affected youths’ mental development and interpersonal relations. Gaming addiction is just one example of the many socially-risky types of behaviour youths could develop. We cannot prevent them from trying out everything but perhaps we need to grow a "Risk Management" competency so that young Singaporeans can learn to spot risks in their lives and have the skills to manage them. Sir, I do not think that schools can teach everything nor can they replace the role of parents in character development, but I do think that we can equip our students with competencies to deal better with future uncertainties. Therefore, these suggestions need to be studied further. I hope the MOE will do so in due course.

Let me now turn to teachers. MOE had announced plans to expand the teaching force. Given the stiff competition for talents in our tight labour market, how does MOE intend to do so while maintaining the quality of the teaching service?

Finally, one important advantage for Singapore to retain for the future is our bilingual and bicultural edge. A thorough review of the teaching of mother tongue was recently concluded. One of the Mother Tongue Language Review Committee’s recommendations identified the community as a key partner to promote learning and usage of Mother Tongue Language as a living language. Can MOE provide more details on how the $45 million would be made available for

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schools and the MTL Learning Promotion Committee to do so?

The Chairman: Mr Chiam See Tong is not here. Ms Denise Phua.

Future education workforce and institutions

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Sir, building inclusive education institutions – every Singaporean, whatever his or her potential or family background, deserves a quality education. While we cannot guarantee equal outcomes in life for everyone, we can and should ensure that everyone has equal access to learning to have their potential maximised.

Students from needy backgrounds – Sir, all things being equal, the child with a more affluent family background will surely have more resources and get a better shot at maximising his potential in life. My concern is with children from chronically poor and/or dysfunctional families. My ground experience has convinced me that it is beneficial to keep these children away from their unconducive family environment for most of the day so that they can spend their day more gainfully. I therefore ask MOE to sponsor school-based before and after-school programmes for identified students from disadvantaged backgrounds. With these additional resources, schools can choose to either outsource the service or run it themselves.

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Students with special needs – like all mainstream school students, students with special needs should not be treated with low expectations. They, too, deserve the world-class mainstream education the MOE team should be credited for. In the past, special school students in Singapore are remembered as appendices after a main education policy is determined. Thanks to the political leadership, special education is very much now on MOE's

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radar and much has improved over the last seven years.

I seek the Education Minister's consideration of five recommendations to plug some gaps I have observed. First, make satellite classes for the disabled a common feature in our mainstream education landscape. Sir, last Friday's Straits Times carried a plea for a third mainstream school partner by Pathlight School, a special school that I run. With MOE's help in the past, Pathlight sends its secondary school students, intact with teachers and psychologists, to study in classes in its gracious mainstream neighbours, Chong Boon Secondary School and Bishan Park Secondary School. This way, they interact daily with their mainstream peers and are nudged out of their segregated setting to be more prepared for the world outside. It has not been easy for the diligent and gracious MOE HQ officers to identify and coax suitable mainstream schools to accommodate students from special schools in their premises on a daily basis – doing an external community involvement project (CIP) on a special school is a much easier option.

Sir, unlike academic value-add or CCA achievements, inclusiveness is not regarded as an important factor when rating the success of mainstream school leaders. I urge MOE to accord more official recognition to schools who take tangible steps to support the disadvantaged, especially the poor and those with special-needs.

Next, I also urge MOE to be bolder and make the satellite school model a common feature in education. The School for the Deaf, for instance, has less than 20 students. There is talk for a plan for a new special school to combine the deaf students with the few visually-impaired students from the School for the Blind for efficiency purposes. Instead of doing this, MOE should seriously consider co-locating

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these students in willing mainstream schools. To lessen any burden on the mainstream host, send in competent VWO expertise to support them. Let the hearing-impaired and the visually impaired students of these two small special schools integrate, physically and socially, in a mainstream school setting.

Next, I would also urge MOE to continue to provide more structured support for services for special-needs students in post-secondary tertiary institutions like the ITE, polytechnics and universities. Sim Zi Ling, a top Raffles Institution alumnus who works with me, returned after obtaining her degree at UC Berkeley. Zi Ling shared how impressed she was by the college-based Disabled Students' Programme (DSP) at Berkeley. When students are determined to have disabilities impairing educational access, DSP specialists plan a programme of services with them, ranging from buddy note-takers, sign language interpreters, Braille textbooks and the like. To be fair, I have heard of very good and kind teachers in ITE West who are very accommodating to special-needs students. However, in the micro level, support is neither consistent, systemic nor hard-coded for sustainability. MOE has done very well in support for special-needs students at primary and secondary schools. Why deprive the students when they move on to the tertiary level?

Next, doing more for lower-functioning students in special schools. Sir, I recall with mixed feelings when I attended the 2010 graduation ceremony of students at the Delta Senior School. Some 40 graduates, whose education was funded by MOE till age 21, received WSQ certification and found jobs. However, I notice at the sideline another batch of younger graduates who had to leave school younger at age 18 because they are slower, and do not qualify for WSQ certification. They have to exit school even if they are not ready into a bleak

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future. Sir, I ask MOE to allow and fund even these lower-functioning students to continue schooling till age 21 so that the school has more time to prepare them for adulthood.

Sir, in my work with special-needs students of all abilities, I find a group of them, usually about 5%, with high needs, for example, behavioural challenges, and they require higher than normal teacher-student ratio. Some of them are cause for disruptions in classes and even lead to resignations of teachers and face a longer waitlist. Sir, I ask for more support for this small group of students so that they can continue to stay on in school and teacher turnover can be reduced.

Sir, finally, at the macro level, the Ministry has ably crafted the 21st Century Competencies Framework for students in the mainstream schools. But what are the 21st century skills and attributes required of teachers and leaders who will guide these students? What kind of changes does MOE need to make in future education workforce, taking into account the strong reliance on tuition to supplement its work; students who speak digital as their first language and the need to build more resilience in our young who are afflicted by an upward trend of mental health problems such as depression and eating disorders?

I thank the MOE for the great work done and I look forward to their help to plug these gaps that I have observed.

The Minister for Education (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Sir, let me thank the many MPs who have spoken passionately about education during the Budget debate and this COS. I have enjoyed all their accounts, whether it was Ms Irene Ng's students in Changkat or the various ceremonies that Members attended. These tell me that as leaders of society, our Members of Parliament are

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very concerned and watch education very carefully. We recognise this trust placed upon MOE.

There were many issues raised but there was one particular issue which I thought deserved a complete response, rather than just a tangential response. This is social mobility. Today, it was raised by Mrs Josephine Teo, Mdm Halimah Yacob, Mr Christopher de Souza and Ms Irene Ng, and others during the Budget debate.

Social mobility stands at the heart of our education processes, and indeed, our whole-of-Government policies. My colleagues will deal with specific issues later but I would like to deal with this squarely. I think it is important enough.

From 1960 to 2010, Singapore's per capita nominal GDP rose 100-fold, from US$400 to more than US$40,000 today. Nice number to remember. This remarkable achievement has been variously depicted. Monikers abound, and Members would be familiar with them: "sleepy fishing village to world-class hub", "colonial backwater to economic powerhouse", "Third World to First", etc.

But for me, "The Singapore Story" probably best captures this economic transformation. It was a massive rising tide that lifted all boats, with a reach that extended deep into the heartlands. Stagnant pools turned into thriving waterways as the tidal rise was sustained over 40-odd years.

As a result, social mobility occurred en masse – and this is important – both of Singapore compared to other countries and within the society. Both elements are important – of the entire country and the people within it. There were remarkable improvements in almost all conventional measures of living standards, indeed, we were physically transformed – not only

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the city landscape but its people too, literally! What do I mean?

I witnessed this profound change, this phenomenon, on our people physically as a young doctor. Due to better nutrition, children grew taller and heavier. When we started out as medical students, we referred to height-weight charts and as we went to the wards, we realised they were no longer applicable because our children were already way off the charts. Height-weight charts based on older cohorts became obsolete and had to be revised and adjusted periodically.

With widespread public sanitation and vaccination programmes, disease patterns changed. I started as a medical student seeing some infectious diseases which were typical of poorly developed countries but as I aged and progressed in my training, they changed to diabetes and heart diseases associated with affluent societies. Infant mortality rates, which represent a very useful indicator of general healthcare standards, dived to one of the lowest in the world. In short, more babies lived, grew taller and bigger; adults acquired affluent diseases born of richer lifestyles even as they lived longer – a profound change.

With rising home ownership, wealth across the belt of heartlanders increased. Families moved from kampongs and slums to HDB flats. Many MPs would be familiar – if we asked the 1- to 3-roomers when they bought the flats, they would say, "in the 1960s, 1970s", and at least in Queenstown and Toa Payoh: "$6,200 for a flat". Some of them cost a thousand dollars more if it was a corner unit. That was in the 1960s. By 1990, almost 90% of households owned their homes, which was a dramatic increase from 30% in 1970. Not only more owned homes but the homes were bigger. The percentage of households who lived in 1- to 3-room flats fell too – from 80% in 1970, it dropped to 25% in 2010.

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The rise in educational attainments was equally impressive. Steady jobs, better incomes, bigger homes provided a more conducive social environment for academic achievement all round. We will take just one metric – in 1980, only a quarter of those aged 25 to 39 years had completed secondary school or above. That is the chart* [ indicating a chart shown to Members ]. Members would see that three quarters had primary school education. In other words, a quarter had secondary school education or higher. This jumped four-fold to 96% in 2010: those who had secondary school education or above. What this means is that most Singaporeans born in the 1970s and 1980s would have attained educational qualifications of at least one if not two or more levels above those of their parents. It cannot be that they got smarter. Genetic changes take longer. It is just that they had more opportunities.

Many of us aged 50 or older today, born before 1960, do not need these statistics to convince us about the Singapore Story. There are many MPs here, and I have heard the stories they have shared across the years. We experienced this rising tide first-hand. My parents had six children. My first home as a young boy was a rental flat in Zion Road. We shared it as tenants with other families. It never occurred to me that I was poor then, or that it was not the norm to share abodes. This rental flat overlooked the Alexandra Canal, which was a far cry from what it is today after MEWR’s ABC Waters programme. But we had our own Version 1 of the ABC programme – Active but Be Careful because you could fall into the longkang .

The canal flooded often, to the delight of kids living there. Every time it rained and got flooded, that was play time! I can still hear my mother’s clarion warning to be careful lest we got swept away by the currents. She spoke in vernacular – " Ler um zai si !"

*Cols. 4041-4042.

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Upgrading meant moving to a 3-room flat in Queenstown. This time we did not have to share and we could own it. But there were still hard times with bills unpaid and my mother had to do odd jobs, sewing and cooking at home to earn extra income. I am thankful that my parents believed in a good education for me and my siblings. That changed our lives.

I am also grateful that I could become a doctor after studying at the National University of Singapore. I know it was heavily subsidised as my family could never have afforded the full costs. Later, a Government scholarship allowed me to train in the United States as a cancer surgeon.

Many Members including Mrs Josephine Teo and Mdm Halimah Yacob have spoken about this unique meritocratic Singapore system. This massive rising tide that lifted a boy from a 3-room flat in Queenstown to top cancer centres in the US. Today, I am able to provide my children with a quality of life far better than I could ever have imagined growing up.

I consider myself blessed but my story is not unusual in Singapore. Many of my old friends who grew up with me in the same HDB neighbourhood, who took the bus to school with me, and when I meet them now, I see how much they have risen in life. I meet them and many Singaporeans who share similar success stories. And I know many MPs here know of them.

I believe deeply that the same Singapore Story can and must be written for every new generation. I know I am not alone in this belief. Many MPs too spoke impassionedly about re-writing the Singapore Story for every generation. Indeed, Singapore must always be a land

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of opportunity and hope for all Singaporeans.

Have we kept faith with our founding fathers and ensured that opportunities continue to exist for all today?

How do we continue the Singapore Story for this generation and the next? This was the key question that MPs were asking. What does social mobility mean today with a very different societal profile from that in the 1960s and 1970s? These are important questions that need to be addressed for all Singaporeans about our future.

2.00 pm

Let me assure this House that enabling social mobility will continue to be a hallmark of our education system. MOE believes that education can and should uplift individuals and families. I agree with MPs too that in doing so, we cannot aim for equality of outcomes. That is not what we are asking for. Not equality of outcomes because students are inherently different. Neither can we stop parents who can afford it, from spending large sums on pre-school or private tuition for their children, as Mr Low Thia Khiang and Ms Joscelin Yeo pointed out. What we must ensure is that opportunities abound for all students and that no student is denied a high quality education because he or she cannot afford it.

How do we achieve this? How do we ensure that no student is denied a high quality education because he or she cannot afford it? As always, through good schools that students can have access to, wherever they live. It does not matter if we have one or two brand name schools or many such schools. Sure, parents compete. It happens all over the world. What we must ensure is that we have good schools everywhere that students can have access to wherever they live. To achieve this, we must therefore resource all schools well, not just some. We must

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ensure that good teachers are spread out across the system, not only to the few top schools. We must ensure that all students have enrichment programmes or CCAs – which is what Ms Joscelin Yeo and Mdm Cynthia Phua were asking for – that can develop them to their full potential. This, indeed, is exactly what MOE has been doing, especially in the past two decades or so. Let me give you some specifics.

Firstly, we have increased our investments into education significantly over the years. I have distributed a chart* [ the handout was distributed to Members ]. Over the last decade, it has risen steadily, even during economic downturns. That is the first important point. Our budget this year is $10.9 billion, almost double from a decade ago and 10% more than last year.

More importantly, the increase in spending has benefited all students and not only a select few. We deliver a consistently high standard of education across all our schools, ITE, polytechnics and universities.

Over the last 10 years, annual recurrent funding per student in primary schools saw the largest increase, more than double — up 110% to almost $7,000 in 2010. In the same period, funding for secondary schools and JCs grew almost 75%; ITE, 50%; polytechnics, 55%; universities, 35%. The bulk of the increase has been on general education in the primary, secondary and JC sectors.

This scale of increases in funding per student in primary and secondary schools has allowed us to increase significantly the number and quality of teachers, and to start more programmes to meet specific needs of children. Ms Denise Phua talked about special education, or whether it was for slower learners. It allowed us to customise, to differentiate and to meet different needs.

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Over the last decade, MOE invested some $25 billion to deliver a first-class, highly educated and well-trained teaching service. We spent five times more on teachers than we did on buildings. Twenty-five billion dollars for teachers and about $5 billion for upgrading the facilities of 125 primary schools and 75 secondary schools. This is as it should be because good teachers make the bigger difference.

Sir, let me give Members some numbers so they can have a feel of what the increased spending translated to. Compared to 10 years ago, each school today, not just some, has on average 30% to 50% more staff – that means 20 more new teachers on average and, in addition, new allied educators and support staff. As a result, the pupil-teacher ratio has improved from 26:1 to 19:1 – nearly a 30% improvement in our primary schools. For secondary schools and JCs, the increase is less – about 16%. The quality of our teachers is spread across the system. We deploy our teachers based on the level and subject they teach, and the needs of the school students – something which Ms Irene Ng brought up. Every school has its fair share of experienced and qualified teachers.

Almost all primary schools have at least one in three teachers with more than 10 years of experience, and at least half of the teachers in each primary school are graduates. At the secondary level, every school has more than eight in 10 teachers who are graduates. We have teachers who are scholars or award holders in all our secondary schools and JCs. Take any school, there will be a teacher there who is a scholar or an award-holder.

We have also expanded the range of programmes, in particular, those catering to slower learners. That has seen the largest ramp-up in the last decade. These include: the Learning Support Programmes for both English and Mathematics at

*Cols. 4043-4044.

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primary schools; the Elective Modules for Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students; and the establishment of NorthLight School and the Assumption Pathway School to help students who fail PSLE and have difficulties handling the mainstream curriculum.

These investments have indeed translated to better educational outcomes. Today we have almost 100% participation rate of Singaporeans in our primary schools. Close to 99% of each cohort complete 10 years of primary and secondary education. This is one of the highest completion rates in the world – close to 99%. This builds a strong foundation for progression to our ITE, polytechnics and/or universities. Fifty percent more students are now progressing to our universities compared to a decade ago, 40% more to our polytechnics and 30% more to ITEs.

Our education system creates opportunities for all our students. Regardless of which school they are in or what background they come from, our students are able to learn at their own pace, and develop in areas they are passionate about and can excel in, and achieve their maximum potential. Customisation and differentiation of educational pathways are key reasons for our robust and responsive education system.

The key question the MPs are asking is has it worked to ensure social mobility? Has it help lower-income students? Gratifyingly, our data affirm that the Singapore Story continues for this generation. Students of all socio-economic backgrounds have been able to achieve good outcomes. Let me provide specific information.

There has been a lot of talk about the PSLE so let me start there. If I take the

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top 5% of PSLE students and I ask, "From what schools do they come?" If someone says "50% comes from the top 10 schools" or "the top 80% comes from 20 schools", it may not be so surprising; but the top 5% of PSLE students come from 95% of primary schools and across all socio-economic backgrounds.

Let me flip this around. Every primary school – just name any primary school in Singapore in your neighbourhood – would have at least 10 students who had scored in the top one-third of the PSLE cohort. So, when Ms Irene Ng mentioned her story, I was not surprised. Members will be able to find the top students within the top one-third in any primary school. Not one or two. At least 10.

Coupled with merit-based entry into secondary schools, it means that every student has a good chance of success regardless of which primary school they attend.

Let us look specifically at students who start from lower socio-economic backgrounds, the students who are in the bottom third by socio-economic status and we track them and we ask, "how did they do at PSLE?" Half of the students from the bottom one-third by socio-economic background score within the top two-thirds in the PSLE. One in six from this group scores within the top one-third. We can look at the trend curve as these figures are tracked over 10 years [ indicating to a chart* distributed to Members ]. These figures have remained stable over the past decade even though the bottom one-third may be different.

If we look at those who lived in 1- to 3-room HDB flats at Primary 1, we find that one in five of these students score in the top-third in the PSLE and the same proportion, one in five, score within the top 30% of every "O"- and "A"-Level cohort. So, if we track children who stay in 1- to 3-room flats, about half eventually

*Cols. 4045-4046.

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progress to our universities and polytechnics. More importantly, these outcomes have remained unchanged since the 1980s – we have tracked it since the 1980s – even though the proportion that lived in 1- to 3-room flats has been coming down. This is as if we had a football league that has "A" Division, "B" Division and the "C" Division as the weakest. And the "C" Division has become smaller because "A" and "B" Divisions are more organised. Yet, players from "C" Division are still able to move up to "A" and "B" Divisions, even though the numbers in the "C" Division is coming down.

In the 1980s, almost 60% of our Primary 1 students lived in 1- to 3-room flats. This had fallen to 30% by 1995 and yet half of those children progressed to our polytechnics and universities. Those who lived in 1- to 3-room flats only made up 15% of the 2005 Primary 1 cohort who took their PSLE in 2010 and yet about half of those did well – as the numbers showed.

International experts have also analysed our progress and given us a sound basis for comparisons with other countries. Most Members know we recently published our results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). They conducted assessments for 65 countries and they have a very interesting construct called the Economic, Social and Cultural Status (ESCS) index. Basically, they took detailed information and constructed a socio-economic background of students across 65 countries in the world. Quite a massive task and very rigorous, so it provided a very good basis for comparison.

First off, they showed that in most countries, there was a general positive relationship – the higher the ESCS, the higher the PISA scores. So, what we are

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observing in Singapore is no different everywhere else. Members are quite right. Family background makes a difference and has impact all across the world in terms of academic scores attained.

But there was something else that we were interested in. They found that in some education systems, among them Singapore, China, Korea and Finland, a larger proportion of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds performed better than predicted. OECD called them "resilient students", students who excelled despite having come from less favourable circumstances. We were ranked fifth out of 65 countries for the proportion of resilient students. Almost one in two of our students were resilient, compared to one in three in the OECD. The PISA average was one in four. Singapore was one in two.

These figures are not mere numbers but translate to hope for many students in real life here. Many Members know about NorthLight School. The first cohort graduated in 2009. Fourteen percent did not stay on to complete their education. This is a remarkable achievement because before NorthLight, which took over Geylang Serai Vocational Training Centre – 60% dropped out. For the 86% who did graduate from NorthLight, a third (32%) of them had already exceeded both their parents in terms of educational qualifications. Seventy-one percent passed all their modules and obtained an ITE skills certificate, and about a third (31%) went on to ITE. For this group of students who have failed their PSLE repeatedly, it is a remarkable achievement for their teachers and principal.

2.15 pm

What of the future? Can we ensure the Singapore Story for the next generation? Here, I want to caution what social mobility should not be about. It cannot be about neglecting those with

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abilities just because they come from middle-income homes or are rich.

It cannot mean holding back those who are able, so others can catch up. This would be detrimental to the whole society. I was quite happy, when PISA included Shanghai and they beat everybody. They set a new standard. More Chinese cities will be included and Members will be startled by how well the Chinese cities' students are performing. If we look only within ourselves and think that we have arrived, it will be detrimental to the whole society. We can and must provide opportunities to all and develop all students to their full potential.

Second, ensuring social mobility, as MPs have said, cannot mean equal outcomes because students are inherently different. Third, while MOE seeks to provide opportunities to all, no education system can replace the vital role that family and caregivers provide for an enriching learning environment. Here, we must dispel the notion that only rich parents can provide the right environment for their children to succeed.

Recently, Members must have read of the twins who were the top students in the "A" Levels from Hwa Chong Institution. Their parents – one is a security guard, the other is a cleaner – take home modest salaries. But they were stout-hearted and determined in wanting to provide the right, not necessarily the most expensive environment, for their kids. I want to quote their mother Mdm Soh, who is a gem in my eyes. She said in Mandarin: "We have always been quite poor, so I save on the things like buying new clothes. But when it comes to things like nutritious foods or things for their studies, we try to make sure they have it."

They succeeded – both twins are top students in Hwa Chong Institution. How

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many richer Singaporeans dare to say that they would have provided a better environment for these twins? Resources are important and we know that, but they are poor substitutes for love, devotion and sacrifice. All of us meet these stout-hearted, steady citizens in our house-to-house visits. When I go from house to house, I know what is a good environment instantly by looking into the house. A 3- or 4-room flat, I see the bookshelves are full, tables are cleared, some assessment books are there, sometimes there is a keyboard. I know that the mother and father are providing an excellent environment for these children.

Finally, social mobility cannot mean a diminution of individual effort. Opportunities can and will be provided. But at the end of the day, it is the individual who determines his or her own success. He or she decides if opportunities are to be squandered or seized. We need to complete the messaging because otherwise you make people believe that you did not succeed because you were born in the wrong house, that you were not given enough tuition, you went to the wrong school – how many of you really believe that? Honestly.

You are the one who can determine your own success. Yes, life might be hard for you. But if you try, you can succeed and others have. But, this Government will give you all the opportunities and adequate resources for you to reach your full potential.

What is our strategy for the way forward? More importantly, how are we going to measure social mobility, especially now that Singapore is at such a high base? In the 1980s, it was easy to measure social mobility because 60% households live in 1- to 3-room flats.

Let me give you a figure that will scare you in terms of what we are looking

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for. Forty-four percent of those aged 25 to 39 today have university education. Close to 50%. I doubt if their children, your children, my children are likely to climb very much higher than 50% or even 60% (with university education).

There are also fewer Singaporeans who now live in 1- to 3-room HDB flats. That is why we are seeing less of them in top secondary schools, polytechnics and universities. It is just a general movement of society.

To enable and measure social mobility for the next lap, you must not confine ourselves only to narrow academic domains or even specific groups. First and foremost, we must believe and focus on moving the whole of Singapore up. I started by saying that moving Singapore up is just as important as moving Singaporeans up within. Yes, we are at a higher plane. But if we become complacent or descend into hubris thinking that we have arrived, others will bypass us. Our education for this 21st century must expand to encompass the full limits of our people. We must always aspire to develop the richness of diverse talents within all Singaporeans. We must nurture creativity, innovativeness and entrepreneurship. The sphere of arts, sports, drama, dance, science and literature must thrive. Our strategy must again be to lift the tide for all Singaporeans. The poor will need extra help and resources but we must not become myopic in neglecting the whole of Singapore because that would indeed be short-sighted.

To achieve this uplift for all Singaporeans, this renaissance, we must again focus on teachers as key agents of enabling mobility. Some MPs have asked what MOE is going to do for the future. I will say that there is no magic bullet. MOE will just have to do more of what we have been doing right, starting with teachers. We will continue to build or upgrade more

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schools and expand our programmes to develop diverse talents. We will increase our subsidies to the lower- and middle-income students so that good education remains affordable for all.

Let me start with teachers. We have about 31,000 teachers today. The pool has increased from 24,000 a decade ago. Eighty percent of them are graduates, up from 56% in year 2000. The teachers with post-graduate degrees have jumped from 4% to 10%. They are impressive increases over a short time but MOE will still need more. We want to expand our teaching force to 33,000 by 2015 so that students and schools benefit from more customised learning. We are moving towards an all-graduate recruitment. We want to continue a high quality bar for recruitment, even though we want more. Yes, it would be a hard act but we will keep the standards there. We also want to promote a teacher-led culture of professional development.

Mrs Josephine Teo and Ms Denise Phua asked how MOE is going to expand the teaching force while maintaining quality. That is an excellent question. Today, we have about 18,000 applicants for teachers but recruit only about 14%. We will continue to ensure stringent selection standards because we want teaching to be a career of choice. We envision teachers staying for many decades. I agree with MPs that an experienced teacher can help a lot of students. We want them to help many generations of children, if we can, for a few decades. But to get these passionate teachers, we must offer attractive prospects. Our professionals have evolved a TEACH framework for teachers – "T" is for Teacher professionalism, "E" for Engagement, "A" for Aspirations, "C" for Career and "H" for Harmony between work and life.

But core to this is teacher professionalism. There will be an ethos –

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and this will be a ground-up initiative – as what MPs have said, about teachers articulating their values and beliefs, something that Mr Liang Eng Hwa talked about – so that they can guide and inspire future generations of teachers. We have set up the Academy of Singapore Teachers to provide them the platform to share their expertise across Singapore. We are doing this not only just to benefit the teachers but because it benefits the students. Deep professional expertise can have profound leavening effects for the entire system.

All of us know that "Singapore Maths" today is a brand name used by many countries that I travel to. They said, "Singapore Maths is very good". Many teachers were responsible for this. Dr Kho Teck Hong is one of them. He was the project director of the primary mathematics project team which was set up in the early 1980s. The Committee was tasked to teach Maths better. It was his team that introduced the Model Method. I know that many older MPs do not understand what the Model Method is, cannot do the sums using a Model Method, but our children are very adept [ Laughter ]. It helped many cohorts of primary school children solve simple word problems, and understand algebraic ideas.

That seeding and leavening effect of deep profession expertise continues today. Let us take the example of Dr Elizabeth Pang. Dr Pang obtained a PhD in Educational Linguistics from Stanford. When she returned, she led a team of fellow curriculum specialists in developing STELLAR. Many Members are familiar with STELLAR programme – STELLAR stands for Strategies for English Language, Learning and Reading. It started as a pilot programme in 2006 and all primary schools have now adopted STELLAR. It has changed the way of students learn English. If Members go to

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the English classes now, it is very different from the way Members and I were taught. They no longer do just textbooks, they do drama, music lessons, read to one another, use big books, move from stations to stations, interact, use audio-visual aids. It has raised the standards of English in our neighbourhood schools.

Today, we have about 500 teachers who are pursuing their post-graduate studies, mostly through part-time studying. Another 200 non-graduate teachers obtained undergraduate degrees each year. I recognise that there are opportunity costs when they upgrade, so the new TEACH package will give teachers, pursuing part-time Master's degrees, the option to take up part-time teaching. In other words, teachers can do part-time teaching and part-time upgrading, and we will also introduce a cash award upon completion of their part-time Masters degree to recognise their efforts. In addition, MOE will offer more scholarships as well as new post-graduate awards for full-time post-graduate studies. Non-graduate teachers will also have a wider range of upgrading avenues. There will be full-time advanced diploma courses that will be developed by NIE and a new award for in-service teachers who pursue full-time undergraduate studies.

We want to also provide more flexibility and additional resources to schools to allow teachers to go on for further studies and fulfil other social roles as parents or caregivers. Many of the MPs have spoken about that. Seventy percent of our teachers are female, with more than half of them married with young children or of child-bearing age. MOE wants to provide more flexible work arrangements to allow them to raise the family and do post-graduate studies so that it becomes a career of choice. When teachers can opt for part-time or no-pay leave instead of leaving the service, MOE

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can keep more teachers. It is a long-term career option for them.

Second prong: affordable education for all. Sir, we will increase the subsidies for students from lower and middle-income household substantially. Let me emphasise that these are not one-off measures – they are recurrent subsidies. This is in keeping with our pledge that no Singaporean should be denied an education because he or she cannot afford it.

Let me start with primary and secondary schools. They are already heavily subsidised but MOE will provide extra funding to help needy students. As already announced, on top of MOE's financial assistance schemes (FAS), there will be a one-off top-up between $10,000 and $15,000 to the school advisory committee and the school management committee's funds. They can target students who do not meet the FAS criteria for financial assistance. Earlier, I have announced a one-off top-up of $130 to Edusave accounts to primary and secondary students, and the one-off injection of $100 million to the Edusave grants for schools to purchase additional IT equipment.

We have two more funds that help some of the students that MPs have brought up. These are called the Opportunity Fund and Trips for International Experience Fund. Members must have met some of the students in neighbourhood schools, especially, who may not be able to afford it when the school wants to bring their students elsewhere. We do want some co-payment to exercise some discipline and make sure that it is worth it. Such needy students can receive further help through the Opportunity Fund and the Trips for International Experience Fund. As long as the school can justify that the overseas trip adds to the development of students, the funds can be used to help these

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students embark on overseas learning programmes.

We will also substantially enhance existing bursaries to help more students from both lower and middle-income families cope with the cost of post-secondary education. The Minister for Finance has already announced the increase in bursaries for university and polytechnic students. Today, I am happy to announce that MOE will further expand the bursary support for ITE students [ chart *]. With these increases, students from the lowest 15% percentile will receive $1,000 a year. The extra amount received will help these students with other costs related to the ITE education.

*4047-4048.

On top of this change, we will now extend bursaries to include households up to the 66th percentile. Students from two-thirds of all households will now receive bursaries.

2.30 pm

Let me summarise all that the Minister for Finance and myself now have announced in terms of the impact on the household. Bursary support will now be extended to all students in our post-secondary education institutions who are in the bottom two-thirds of households by per capita household income. Bursary quanta have also been increased. If you are a student from the bottom one-third of households, this means that those in ITE will have their education costs entirely covered while those enrolled in polytechnic and undergraduate courses will have their education cost covered by as much as 97% and 85% respectively. Polytechnic students from the lowest one-third, 97% of costs; universities, 85% of costs. All in all, the enhanced bursary scheme will benefit students from both local and middle-income households. It will cost MOE up to an extra $134 million per year.

The extension in the capabilities of our teachers will allow us to expand the

*Cols. 4047-4048.

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offerings within our educational landscape, to offer a more holistic education and create new pathways to cater to varying aspirations and abilities. Many MPs asked for this. We will continue to upgrade and build better schools across the island, with the latest facilities and equipment, sports halls, arts studios and music rooms.

To help move all primary schools to single session, 11 new schools will be built. I have already announced this. They are expected to commence in 2013/2014. Thirty-seven schools will be upgraded by 2014 under Phases 1 and 2. I am pleased to announce today that we will embark on Phase 3 which will start in November 2012. In this phase, 40 more schools will be upgraded. The new schools are in areas where the populations are growing, particularly in Punggol and Sembawang [ indicating a map* shown to Members ]. For Phase 2 and Phase 3, it is across the island where we are upgrading our schools. Our total investments will be $1.1 billion over the next seven years. We will be giving Members information about the schools that are built or upgraded in Members' specific constituencies.

The upgraded schools will be equipped with newer and better facilities that enable primary schools to deliver the programmes recommended by the Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee. More emphasis will be placed on art and music education to complement science and mathematics in drawing out the creativity in our children through visual and aural means. We will place more emphasis to develop civic literacy and global awareness through character and citizenship education. I think Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Ms Irene Ng asked about this. MOE will indeed place stronger emphasis on character development and the teaching of life skills going forward. Particularly for Ms Irene Ng's

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ward, we will teach them to say "thank you" when they receive the bursaries. We will teach them to be polite. I think it is a very important trait. But sometimes, they are nervous because Members are taller than them. So, they forget to say "thank you".

We will also place more emphasis on school-wide sports participation. I think Ms Joscelin Yeo and Mdm Cynthia Phua made impassioned pleas about this. I agree completely with them that sports are not just about a win-all mentality. Going forward, we will step up opportunities for participation for more students by organising more intra-school and recreational inter-school sports competitions. I cannot promise Mdm Cynthia Phua who said to do it for every child because there are scheduling problems. But the aim is that it should be done at some level as that is the aim of the school philosophy.

We are also doing more for the post-secondary education institutions. We have revamped ITE. ITE College East has been operational since 2005; ITE West since last year and ITE College Central will be ready in 2013. We are expanding the polytechnics as well as university places. Polytechnic intake will increase by another 20%. The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will increase its intake to 1,000 students and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will open in 2012 which will make sure we reach our cohort participation rate of 30% by 2015.

As part of the Government's overall effort in upgrading our workers, MOE will step up the role of our post-secondary education institutions in delivering continued education. We will tap on our polytechnics and ITE. We will grow the current CET training capacity by 60%. This is for adults. We will raise more spaces, funding and subsidies for advanced diplomas and specialist

*Cols. 4049-4050.

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diplomas from 70% to 85% which will bring fees down significantly. MOE will also increase fee subsidies for part-time undergraduate programmes at UNiSIM and public universities to 55% of published fees. Senior Minister of State Iswaran will provide further details.

There have been calls to do more for preschools. We will do more. MOE has invested $150 million in the preschool sector over the last five years and we have seen good results. We plan to invest another $290 million over the next five years, about double of what we have invested in the last five years, so that this can continue to uplift the quality of the preschool sector. Minister of State Masagos will provide these details.

Ms Denise Phua asked that we do more for special needs students. As announced, MOE in partnership with NCSS, will introduce a special education financial assistance scheme. The financial assistance scheme was only for mainstream schools but now we are extending it to the special education (SPED) schools. We will work out the details later but it will be a form which subsidises school fees, uniforms, textbooks and examination fees. Obviously, it may not be completely comparable because some of the expenses in SPED schools are different but we will work out an equitable model. Basically, we are extending the coverage to SPED schools.

We will also provide more customised support for students with higher needs in the SPED schools. I am pleased to announce that MOE will work with NCSS to increase the resources – called a High Needs Grant – from April this year. We recognise that some schools are dealing with children with, say, multiple disabilities and they really need a lot of effort. We recognise that not all SPED schools are the same. Up to $2.3 million per year will be set aside for schools to hire additional teacher aides to support

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this group of students. Senior Minister of State Grace Fu will give you the details.

Mrs Josephine Teo asked about mother tongue language (MTL) and how we are going to spend the $45 million in the community. Around $29 million will be disbursed through our schools to support the programmes. I think that is a better way to do it. We go through the schools so that they can engage the community groups. If it is the other way round, there will not be ownership of the programmes. They can do, for example, the MTL Fortnights. On top of this, a combined total of $16.6 million will directly support each of the promotion committees. This represents a 20% increase in funding available for each of these committees. Again, Senior Minister of State Grace Fu will provide details.

Mr Chairman, the array of efforts aims to improve the entire educational landscape. We are doing more for students in lower-income households but our strategy to uplift Singapore through education must be focused on providing opportunities to all Singaporeans of diverse needs, talents and abilities. We are realistic that the extent of social mobility experienced in the past cannot be repeated in the future. It is just not possible. We started from such a low base and now Singapore has the highest per capita GDP in Asia today. I have always been used to the figure in the news that we were second in Asia. Well, I have good news for all Members. We surpassed Japan last year to take top spot.

It will be sad if increasing affluence results in smaller dreams for Singapore and Singaporeans. We must not lose the vibrancy and resolve of our founding generations. We must and can aim higher for everyone. In doing so, we must provide more resources to the poor to ensure that that no one is denied access to education because of financial

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difficulties. Each child should have the opportunity to be the best that he or she can be.

Will we succeed? I am optimistic because the Singapore Story continues to surface today across our island. I will give one example – Mr Hong Siang Huat. Siang Huat is doing relief teaching in Raffles Institution (RI) after completing his National Service (NS). He comes from a single-parent family and his mother used to be a factory worker. He did very well in his PSLE. At first, he was not sure whether his mother could afford the fees at RI. But RI offered him a scholarship. During the six years in RI and then Raffles Junior College (RJC), he did well academically and he was vice-captain of the RI hockey team. I am using him as an example because later this year, Siang Huat will leave for Warwick University on an MOE teaching scholarship to study psychology. If all goes well, he will be in our classrooms teaching the next generations of Singaporeans as a living example of social mobility and a firm believer in helping students live out their dreams.

In this new decade, we will continue to ensure that Singapore Education remains at the forefront of excellence so that our children are prepared for the challenges in the next decade. More importantly, we will continue to ensure that education is the best way to level up all Singaporeans. The Singapore Story lives on.

Update on Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI)

Mdm Halimah Yacob: Sir, primary school education provides the foundation for our children and it is important to help them maximise their potential. A key recommendation made by PERI is to convert all our schools to single sessions.

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I would like to ask the Minister what is the progress in implementing single-session schools? What is the status of the infrastructure upgrading in schools to enable this? What kinds of facilities will these upgraded schools offer? How will the Ministry deal with the increase in the manpower demand arising from single sessions? Do we have enough teachers, associates and other support staff to handle single-session schools?

Sir, I would also like to know how will the Ministry communicates with parents on the objective of single-session schools? Some parents may look upon single-session schools as an extension of the child care centre. How can parents be educated to support their children in the single-session schools so that, together, they form a reinforcement in helping their children do better and maximise their potential?

Finally, Sir, what can the children themselves look forward to in single-session schools? I really do hope that single-session schools will not be another reason to provide even more hours of cramming for the children but will instead focus on a more holistic education.

Mother Tongue Languages Review Committee recommendations

Mr Low Thia Khiang: ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Mr Chairman, the Ministry of Education has conducted two rounds of Mother Tongue Reviews in six years. The last report was published in January this year. The key of this Mother Tongue Review was to enable students to apply what they have learnt in classroom in daily lives. Proficiency descriptors are used as benchmarks for Mother Tongue education. The descriptors emphasise the use of communication as a tool to improve the ability to interact between students and others.

*Cols. 4057-4058.

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The Director-General of Education, Ms Ho Peng, admitted that two rounds of review in six years was not a small challenge for teachers. People are most concerned with the following: Do current mother tongue teachers have enough training in their teaching of interactive communication and oral dialogues? Are there enough teaching materials? How does MOE achieve the target of making Chinese a live language in a holistic manner?

My feeling is that some Chinese curriculum tries to pass on traditional values and cultural heritage while making it within the grasp of the students' ability. The text is usually dry and boring. Teachers have no choice but to teach them. How can they arouse the interest of these students?

Although Chinese is a known as a Mother Tongue, judging from the Government's policy and attitude, it is just another practical language in the daily lives as it is believed that as long as a language is useful and necessary, students will be motivated to study it just like young people studying Japanese to read manga and then Korean to watch Korean shows these days.

Our Chinese standard is sinking continuously. It has gone so low that we do not know how much further it will go down. The old principle of "no ceiling yet maintaining the bottomline" is no longer viable because there is no more bottomline to maintain.

Chinese language

Mr Ang Mong Seng (Hong Kah): ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] When President Hu Jintao visited the United States recently, a group of American children spoke to him in Chinese. This is to show respect to Mr Hu and to demonstrate that they are studying Chinese culture and language.

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Their enthusiasm in studying Chinese is worth our attention.

The rise of China has provided them business opportunities. Therefore, they are studying Chinese very hard, hoping to get into contact with the Chinese directly and do business with them. In Singapore, we have made good progress in our bilingual education in the past decades. However, if we do not keep up with our good work, the Americans will catch up and speak better Chinese than we do. We will then lose our bilingual advantage. I urge all Chinese students to study their Mother Tongue – Chinese – very diligently. To learn Chinese, you must read more, see more, write more and use more. Only when you do all these four aspects of learning can you truly master the language and be able to use it.

See more and read more: We should read more Chinese newspapers and writings. Students who study Higher Chinese should read Zaobao's editorial every day. The daily editorial comments on important events and is written with good skills. We should read it several times and read it out loud as well. Only by doing this can you learn both the shape and pronunciation of the characters.

Write more. Writing more essays will improve thinking ability. Chen Zhixiang from Lihua Secondary School, the top student in the recent "A" level examinations, said that he beat others because he got A1 for his Higher Chinese. He is especially thankful for his teacher for forcing him to write Chinese essays, enabling him to achieve such great result. Lihua is also my alma mater. I am very proud that Chen Zhixiang became the top student in Singapore in the "A" level examinations.

Use more. Parents should speak Chinese more with their children at home. I also hope Members of Parliament would speak more Chinese in Parliament. When

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we discuss issues relating to people's livelihood, Ministers should try to respond in Chinese. This will encourage more Singaporeans to speak Chinese and make them realise the practical value of Chinese.

2.45 pm

Chinese education

Mr Chan Soo Sen (Joo Chiat): ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Mr Chairman, a few years ago, I was in Beijing and attended a Mandarin speech competition. All those who spoke in Mandarin in the competition were foreigners and the winner was a girl from Russia. If I closed my eyes and listened to her, I would have thought that she was from Beijing. She spoke Mandarin so well that she put me to shame.

Recently, when I was in China for a business trip, I kept hearing foreigners speaking Mandarin, and more of them are getting better and better at Mandarin. Although their pronunciation may be a little odd, their intonation is not bad. The Chinese understand them and have a great deal of respect for them. Not long ago, I went to the National University of Singapore to attend a Chinese Song Writing Competition for students. The standard of the competition was very high. However, at the prize presentation ceremony, I found out that all the prize winners were either Malaysians or mainland Chinese, and very few are Singaporeans.

Just like Mr Ang Mong Seng, I am very worried that we will lose our bilingual competitive edge. We must have a group of truly bicultural elites, and this elite group's bicultural standard must be comparable to the best in China. I am aware that with the rise of China, there

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will be greater interest in learning Chinese among Singaporeans. I have no doubt that under the tremendous efforts of the Ministry of Education, the average standard of Chinese here will improve gradually. I am not talking about the average standard, but the highest standard. Do we have high peaks, so that we can have a group of elites who are genuinely bicultural, able to communicate with the best in China at the same level?

Hence, I propose that the Ministry of Education consider implementing a Special Chinese Elite programme. If necessary, establish a Special Chinese Language Centre and peg the standard to the highest level. When our Singaporean students graduate from the centre, their standard will be comparable to that of Peking University and Qinghua University students. I am specifically referring to students who are Singapore citizens. Malaysian-born or China-born students can also be included, so long as they are Singapore citizens. Their presence can be an inspiration to other Singapore students. Hence, everyone will improve in the face of competition, reaching the highest peak.

Special education

Ms Sylvia Lim (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, there are 20 SPED of special education schools operated by VWOs and co-funded by MOE and the National Council of Social Services.

Currently, parents choose and apply to the schools resulting in some parents making multiple applications. As the SPED schools meet different needs, parents might not have enough knowledge of the schools to apply to the most appropriate one for their child. When there is a lack of fit with the admission criteria, the child is referred to another school. This is both time consuming for the parents and not beneficial to the child as timely and appropriate placing for the child is critical to his learning. To help parents make

*Cols. 4061-4062.

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better informed choices and to streamline the application process, a centralised agency could be set up to channel applications to a suitable school. Parents will only need to make one application and can focus more time on the child.

Next, while education in the mainstream schools are not means-tested, school fees in SPED schools are subjected to means-testing since 2006. Is it fair to special needs children to subject them to means-testing while those in the mainstream schools pay a fixed school fee? With an average of only 550 children per year placed in the SPED schools over the past three years, can the Government make our society more inclusive by extending similar subsidies to all SPED children?

Finally, I understand that some SPED schools are also facing a resource crunch in terms of insufficient therapists. How are resource levels being monitored to ensure that early intervention programmes are not undermined?

Primary 1 registration

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Chairman, in the past, the Government had used primary school registration as one of the tools to control population growth. Under the old population policy, "Stop at Two", between 1966 and 1983, priority for Primary 1 registration was given to children of parents who were sterilised after the first or second child.

From 1984 to 1986, children of university-educated women who had three or more children received priority. Between 1987 and 1999, under a new policy, "Have Three Or More Children If You Can Afford It", priority in primary school registration was extended to the third child.

Mr Chairman, I note MOE's response to a parliamentary question in 2008 to delink Primary 1 registration from population

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policies since 1992. However, there are good reasons to review this after almost 20 years given that parents naturally and should be interested in their children's education after giving birth to them. As the Minister mentioned, education brings about social mobility.

Competition for places in certain primary schools is fierce. We all know of parents who move within one or two kilometres of desired schools or serve as school or grassroots volunteers to get priority. May I suggest then, to encourage procreation, that we consider giving more chances, not priority but chances, more chances to a child with more siblings? Of course, the child must be a Singapore citizen.

Currently, should the number of applications exceed the number of vacancies in any phase, places will be balloted according to the proximity of the child's home to the school. I would like to suggest that, in addition to this criterion, for each phase, except for phase 1 where a child with a sibling in the school will automatically get priority, a child be given chances based on the number of siblings he or she has. The more siblings, the more chances. May I emphasise not higher priority but more chances. Furthermore, in support of intact and healthy families, the child and his or her siblings must have the same parents.

As Primary 1 registration takes place when a child is six years old, this will also encourage parents to have more children in quick succession in order to avail the child of more chances to enter a school of choice. With this in mind, perhaps such a change should also be effected giving six years' advance notice.

The Chairman: Order. I propose to take the break now.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

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Mr Speaker: Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 3.15 pm.

_Sitting accordingly suspended at
2.53 pm until 3.15 pm.
_

Sitting resumed at 3.15 pm

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[Mr Speaker in the Chair]:

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]: Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

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[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Head K (cont.) –

School curriculum

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade): Sir, the Singapore education system is one of the best regarded in the world. In the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study which the Minister referred to earlier, Singapore was ranked well in Reading, Mathematics and Science. Sir, let me say that I am very proud of the many achievements of our education system.

However, despite this excellent education system, I receive frequent feedback from parents that our students in primary schools are simply working too hard. Parents question whether it is necessary for the primary school curriculum to cover so many topics; whether it was wise for children at that young and tender age to be drilled in so many subjects day in and day out. As a parent of two primary school children, I can testify that some of the topics that my children are learning in school surprised me. Recently, there was a hue and cry about some primary schools conducting near "compulsory" supplementary lessons for lower primary school after school hours. Parents asked whether we are stripping away the joy of learning from young primary school children.

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Whilst MOE may impose guidelines for formal school hours, what about the homework given out by the schools which take up the child's leisure hours? By giving young school children homework everyday, are we really preparing them for life? Where is the joy of learning by playing? Do children have time to develop other interests outside the school curriculum? Is there time for parents to bring their children out to the park for a walk, for a game of soccer, for young children to learn to clean the dishes at home? Or is it the intent of the school to keep the students busy with homework or preparing for tests the next day such that they have no other time to relax or learn life skills elsewhere.

May I ask the Minister whether MOE reviews the curriculum of each subject in primary school on a regular basis; whether it is necessary to cover such a wide range of topics bearing in mind the "Teach Less Learn More" policy? Could the Minister explain the reasons why schools feel the need to teach school subjects outside school hours instead of concentrating on character development of the child like learning to say "thank you" after receiving an award? Could the schools teach more life skills to equip the young children on how to cope with life?

Mr Ong Kian Min (Tampines): I would like to join Mr Lim Biow Chuan in asking should after-class hours be kept free of classes. This was a hotly debated and emotive issue recently. The vast majority of parents accept that the extra lessons organised after school and during school holidays to prepare Primary 5 and Primary 6 pupils for the PSLE would be beneficial. However, parents just cannot agree on whether schools should give compulsory lessons after school for Primary 3 and Primary 4 students. Many parents consider as "compulsory" any extra lessons that cover an integral part of the syllabus even though these may be

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labelled as "optional". Letting their child miss learning any part of the syllabus cannot be an option. On the one hand, there are parents who are grateful for the additional after-hours teaching and, on the other hand, there are those who strongly feel that their children should make better use of their time. I strongly urge schools to conduct extra lessons for only supplemental or remedial purposes for levels not preparing for major national examinations. This will be boon to students who require the extra attention as well as those whose parents do not have the time or means to send them for private tuition.

Now, on the topic of school holiday homework. Some, such as writing essays and reading specific materials, can be done within a few hours at home, while others like group projects require an enormous amount of time, research, travel and coordination. Most students and parents would recognise that the March and September breaks are short breathers which give students a break from travelling to school for more formal lessons, allowing them some space to do as they wish. However, the long semestral holidays in June or December should be regarded as much deserved breaks after a demanding half year that culminates in gruelling examinations. For this reason, students and parents – parents who also need a break from checking on their child's schoolwork – are understandably resistant to holiday homework for the semestral vacations except, perhaps, for when a national examination looms ahead. Hence, I hope that schools can be more sympathetic and judicious in handing out holiday homework for the mid-year and year-end school holidays.

By organising extra after-hours classes and giving holiday homework, I am sure that schools have the sincerest intentions to produce good results, give students the best future they deserve and assure

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concerned parents. However, bearing in mind the goal of our school system to provide a holistic education, we must give our students leeway to enjoy their own space and have some say in how they would like to use that space.

If you confine students for long hours in school engaging in similar types of activities like curriculum Mathematics or Science, we will create products who are academically sound, each one able to answer almost every conceivable examination question. If we set them standard tasks and assignments that give them no other space to be unique, they will indeed produce the reports and make the requisite presentations. The skills developed are valuable but the room to explore and do something different becomes more crowded. We certainly do not want students to be as alike as the uniforms they wear. If we allow students some time on their hands, they can use that time for activities of their own choice, whether in school at CCAs or out of school.

We need people of different talents, different ideas, different inspirations and different expertise to make up our society and our children need the space to become these people.

Specification of school operating hours

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan (Nominated Member): Sir, to facilitate a healthy work-family life balance for staff and students, will the MOE consider specifying school operating hours? Based on anecdotal evidence and informal observations, schools tend to stretch for almost 12 hours each day. Typically, a secondary school student reports to school at 7.10 am-7.15am, and usually for about two to four days a week, depending on the CCAs he or she is involved in, the child will only leave school at about 6.30 pm or maybe even

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later, especially they if are in performing arts or when preparing for competitions.

I think CCAs are the main culprit as schools are caught up with the numerous competitions that, if done well, can add value to the credentials of the school. I am certainly not against encouraging students to strive for the best in both academia and CCAs. But I do think that as responsible society, we should set some parameters for healthy competition. I think it is reasonable to expect the MOE to mandate schools to stop CCAs by 6.00 pm. This will ensure that even on CCA days, students and staff can go home in time for dinner with the family. They will have time to complete preparation and homework, reflect on lessons learnt that day and recharge for the next day, and perhaps with a healthy work-life balance, the Minister would be able to reduce the singlehood rate among his staff as well.

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Sir, let me address specific issues raised by Members and elaborate on two key areas. First, our efforts to create a student-centric learning environment and, second, providing more support for students with special needs.

First, student-centric education. Mrs Josephine Teo and Mdm Halimah Yacob asked for an update on the Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee's (PERI) recommendations. We are upgrading 40 more primary schools in Phase 3. This will facilitate primary schools to transit to single session and allow strengthening of non-academic aspects of education like PE, Art and Music. These upgraded schools will have newer and better facilities to support more innovative and engaging lessons. Allow me to cite a few examples.

The first slide [ indicating a slide shown to hon. Members ] shows a PE lesson at

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Hougang Primary School. To support a more holistic education, indoor sports halls such as this will allow PE lessons and CCAs to be conducted throughout the day, rain or shine. All schools that need it will be equipped with synthetic turf which is cheaper to maintain and can be used immediately after it rains.

For the Performing and Visual Arts, schools will have band rooms, dance studios and performing arts studios. Here we show Members a slide [ indicating a slide shown to hon. Members ] of a Performing Arts Studio at Lianhua Primary School. This is integrated into the library to maximise the use of space. We see pupils performing a skit as part of the Programme for Active Learning (PAL), which helps Primary 1 and Primary 2 students develop character and life skills as well as discover their talents.

At last year's Committee of Supply, I mentioned that MOE was prototyping PAL in 12 schools. I am pleased to update that PAL has been extended to another 24 schools this year. We will re-design classrooms to encourage greater interaction and group learning, and develop 21st century skills such as effective communication and teamwork. We will also provide more out-of-classroom learning facilities, such as eco-ponds and science gardens. This slide [ indicating a slide shown to hon. Members ] shows East Spring Primary students learning about pulleys as part of their Science lesson. How I wished I had something like that to teach me about pulleys during my days, I am sure I would have done better in my Physics then.

The next slide [ indicating a slide shown to hon. Members ] shows Tampines Primary's eco-garden where a teacher is conducting a lesson outdoors. Again, you see the engaged faces of the children. It is very encouraging to see them taking their lessons with such enthusiasm. This allows students to learn from the first-

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hand experience rather than just through pictures or books.

For schools undergoing upgrading, we will provide additional space so that VWOs can provide student care services after school hours as Ms Denise Phua suggested. However, we will leave it to the school to decide depending on their pupils' needs. There are currently Student Care Centres in 36 of our primary schools. MCYS also has financial assistance schemes for lower-income households to cater to this group of students.

At present, almost half of our primary schools have already become single session. As we push ahead with upgrading, almost all Government primary schools should be able to transit to single session by 2016.

As we upgrade schools, we have been experimenting with new and innovative models to improve land efficiency and facilitate community sharing. Today, I am glad to share an upcoming project to co-locate Pek Kio Community Centre with the Indoor Sports Hall of Farrer Park Primary. This will allow the school and CC to share facilities and collaborate on programmes. Details will be announced by People's Association (PA) later.

3.30 pm

But we are not investing in infrastructure alone. Arising from PERI's recommendations, we will make learning even more engaging. For instance, MOE has developed additional Mathematics resources for Primary 1 to Primary 6 to support a more customised approach to teaching Mathematics concepts. The aim is to give pupils a strong foundation in Mathematics. The resources include manipulatives, game sets, picture cards and posters. Here you can see [ indicating a slide shown to hon. Members ] that the students are handling different shapes to

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have a better grasp of such concepts in the teaching of Mathematics.

We will be equipping all classrooms with these new resources over the next three years. Similar provisions are planned for all other subjects.

MOE has also been working with primary schools to place more attention on character development in each pupil. Let me give you an example of what happens in New Town Primary School. Each class has both a form teacher and co-form teacher who follow the class for two years. Ms Mohan, the form teacher meets her Primary 1 class each morning and spends her time interacting or reading together. Each week, during the Form Teacher Guidance Period, she bonds with the class through games, interactive activities and role play. Ms Mohan meets her pupils one-to-one and she meets each pupil at least twice a year. Such interactions are used to discuss the reflections that pupils have captured in their Learning Journals. These allow Ms Mohan to build trust and rapport with the pupils, better track their development and provide more detailed feedback to their parents. Such good practices to strengthen individual pupil development are also being introduced to other schools. I am pleased to note that since 2009, more than half of the primary schools have already implemented these practices. MOE will continue to support schools to implement PERI's recommendations by providing the necessary expertise and resource support, for instance, by recruiting more PE, Art and Music teachers.

I will next touch on the teaching and learning of mother tongue languages, which Mr Ang Mong Seng, Mr Chan Soo Sen, Mr Low Thia Khiang had spoken about. Sir, in Mandarin, please.

( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] MOE's educational goal remains to support and

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enable every student to learn MTL to the fullest of his or her potential. To achieve this, the recent MTL Review articulated the objective of nurturing active learners and proficient users of MTL. The Review Committee also recommended that the goals for MTL learning be centred on three "Cs"–Communication, Culture and Connection. It further recognised that language is best learnt when students are taught to use the language in an active and interactive manner in real-life settings. In order to help students achieve proficiency in usage, teaching methods and national examinations will be better aligned. Contrary to what Mr Low has suggested, nurturing active learners and proficient users do not mean that transmission of culture and values will no longer be important in the teaching of MTL. Mr Low may not have seen a video clip that was shown at the recent MTL Review press conference which featured a reunion dinner. It is an example of what students will watch in the classroom to trigger further discussion. Not only will such activities strengthen their oracy, it also reinforces understanding of their culture and values. Therefore, as pointed out by the Review Committee, students who use MTL as a living language are more likely to better appreciate their cultures and traditions.

The MTL Review Committee recognised that students have different starting points because of different home language environments. As such, a more customised student–centric approach in the teaching of MTL will be taken. Teachers will be equipped with a range of appropriate pedagogies to cater to different learner profiles. For example, these include motivational strategies to build a positive affirmative learning environment and adopt a more systematic approach to build oracy foundation through contextual learning. Teachers will also be equipped with a variety of classroom strategies,

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such as the use of group work to encourage interaction, and the use of songs, rhymes and videos as well as role-play to strengthen oral interaction and make learning more engaging.

Another way of customising MTL instruction would be through information and communication technology (ICT). To support teachers to better use ICT in teaching, learning and assessment, and multimedia resources such as videos, flash animations and interactive games will be provided. In addition, a web–based interactive portal will be provided to all schools to facilitate students' learning.

To effectively implement these changes, teachers will play an instrumental role. Over the years, our MTL teachers have made significant contributions in improving teaching approaches. Their efforts are commendable. As teachers are key to whatever we do in education, we will need to first enhance our teacher training, so that teachers can in turn cater to varying student abilities and starting points. In 2008, the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL) surveyed 2,200 Chinese Language teachers to identify their training needs and develop courses according to the level that they are teaching, eg, lower primary and secondary; language skills needed, eg, composition or comprehension; and teaching pedagogies, eg, use of ICT or storybook. Going forward, to guide training, a teacher-competency framework will be developed. MOE will work with the National Institute of Education (NIE) and SCCL to provide training and support to Chinese Language teachers. MOE will also deploy an additional 500 MTL teachers by 2015.

Mr Chan Soo Sen asked how we can produce "high peaks" in Chinese Language. In fact, the development of even higher levels of language proficiency for students with the ability and interest is

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also an important part of the more customised approach to MTL.

We have provided for Special Assistance Plan Schools – in fact, we are adding Nan Chiau High next year. We also have the Bicultural Studies Programme and the Chinese Language Elective Programme. On top of this, we will be introducing a new Chinese Linguistics and Translation subject at the "A" Levels. This subject will provide students with a fundamental understanding of the constructs of the Chinese Language, so as to groom future bilingual professionals with mastery in both English and Chinese languages.

In fact, the enhancements made in past reviews have resulted in a larger proportion of "O" Level students offering Higher Chinese Language (HCL). The percentage of the "O" Level cohort offering HCL has increased from 19% in 2004 to 28% in 2010. This shows that our students increasingly see the importance of the Chinese Language and are developing a deeper interest in it.

( In English ): Sir, I fully agree with Mr Ang Mong Seng that we need a conducive environment for students to learn and use the language outside of school. The Minister has announced additional funding to the Language Promotion Committees, which will support meaningful programmes. For instance, the Committee to promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL) has launched a Cultural Performance Exposures Scheme, 文化随意门, to engage youths from different home language backgrounds. Take up has been positive, increasing from 20 schools when it started in 2009, to more than 70 schools this year, benefiting 10,000 students. The Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee (MLLPC) organises an annual Malay Language Quiz – Kuiz Cepat Tepat , in collaboration with MediaCorp, attracting participants from 110 schools and capturing some 100,000 viewers. The Tamil Language Learning

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and Promotion Committee (TLLPC) co-organises with the Tamil Language Council a range of activities for the Tamil Language Festival, which include a debate series, forums and drama festival.

Parents, too, play an important part, by giving their children early exposure and creating opportunities to use their mother tongue. It is heartening that the MTL Survey 2010 revealed that the majority of parents, regardless of language spoken at home, acknowledged the importance of learning MTL. Sir, I am glad to take note that public feedback on the recommendations of the MTL review committee has been largely positive. Many parents and committee groups agree with the rationale for the changes and affirmed our bilingual policy.

I will now address specific issues raised by Members in general. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Mr Ong Kian Min and Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan touched on school curriculum and hours. Some Members also spoke about private tuition earlier. Let me take these issues together.

MOE believes in a balanced and holistic education for our children. We are rebalancing the system to focus more on 21st century skills and values as well as non-cognitive aspects of development. We also review the curriculum regularly. As part of the "Teach Less, Learn More" initiative, curriculum content in recent years has been reduced by as much as 30%. Guidelines have been provided to school leaders to ensure careful consideration goes into setting schools' start and end times as well as holiday homework. The curriculum is also designed to allow schools to complete the syllabus within school hours and prepare students adequately for examinations. To help the weaker students learn better, teachers may conduct remedial lessons out of their good intention. Such lessons are not compulsory. Parents will be informed in advance and have the choice

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to opt their children out. When holiday homework is given, teachers typically do so judiciously and purposefully. Beyond what schools provide, some parents choose to provide their children more support through tuition. This is a choice for parents to make. They will need to assess whether this will overburden the child and whether the child will benefit more by spending the time in other ways, like Members have said, take a stroll, outdoor activities, reading or exercising. While some students find it helpful, it could lead to undue stress if students have too much tuition, and under-performance for others. There are also many students who succeeded without tuition by paying attention in class, consulting teachers and working consistently throughout the year.

I would like to quote you an example. Ms Sharanya Pillai from Riverside Secondary is a case in point. She scored nine A1s during last year's "O" Levels and was one of the top students without the help of tuition. She comes from humble background. According to the Straits Times report, her father is a security guard and her mother is a part-time retail assistant. With the monthly household income of $1,300, it is no surprise that tuition was something she did not even consider. But she managed her time well and minimised travelling time by attending a secondary school 10 minutes away from her home. She had more time to study and rest. She even did the Chinese Special Programme, which she got an A1. She aspires to be a doctor someday, and we wish her well. This is just one example of a student who excelled through the support of her school teachers, family, her own hard work and determination.

Schools also conduct Co-Curriculum Activities (CCAs) to offer students from holistic and broad-based development. For secondary schools and junior colleges,

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some CCAs might start later in the day when it is cooler or in the evenings for valid reasons, for example, camps and concerts. Our approach is to give our schools autonomy to vary the hours of instruction time, based on what is best in the educational interest of their pupils. Specifying that all activities should end by 6.00 pm, as Assoc. Prof. Paulin Straughan has suggested, could curtail meaningful activities. Nevertheless, MOE will continue to promote the importance of healthy, work, family-life balance for teachers and pupils.

3.45 pm

With regard to primary schools in particular, MOE's guidelines for single-session schools are that Primary 1 and 2 pupils could have a slightly extended-curriculum day ending at 1.30 pm.

This is taking into account the increased emphasis on non-academic aspects of the curriculum. Primary 3 to 6 pupils could have two longer days in a week to include enrichment or CCA activities though these are entirely optional. Since primary schools have gone single session, we note that school hours have remained within these specified guidelines.

Turning now to special education, Ms Sylvia Lim suggested a central agency to provide information to parents. Currently, MOE's website provides information on special education (SPED) schools and the programmes that they offer as well as educational pathways for special needs students. In addition, the Centre of Enabled Living (CEL) was set up in 2009 to be such a first-stop information and referral centre for eldercare and disability services.

Ms Lim also asked about means-testing for SPED school fees. Allow me to clarify that Government's funding to SPED schools is not based on any means-tested formula. Rather, MOE provides SPED schools an annual per capita grant of two-

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and-a-half times that of primary education in the mainstream schools. On average, MOE invest $17,000 annually in each SPED school student, much more than the $7,000 per student in the primary mainstream schools. This significantly subsidises the cost of education for special needs students. Parents pay school fees charged by the individual SPED schools, which are run by voluntary welfare organisations. The schools have various financial assistance schemes to help those in need. With the extension of the financial assistance scheme to SPED schools, those in need will get even more support. That was what my Minister has announced earlier.

For low-income family with a child with multiple disabilities attending the AWWA School, for instance, this can be about an additional $1,000 or so in assistance a year on top of the $17,000 MOE is already investing. This also means that SPED schools can re-position their own assistance schemes to support more students. Currently, most SPED schools have sufficient places to meet the demands for admission. Students who are unable to enrol in SPED schools of their choice are currently enrolled in other SPED or mainstream schools depending on their needs.

MOE has also enhanced the capability of mainstream schools to cater to students with mild special needs. We agree with Ms Denise Phua that our educational institutions need to be inclusive and we thank her for her suggestions. Ms Phua would be glad to note that we are doing more to support those who are hearing or physically-impaired or are visually-handicapped in our mainstream schools. MOE collaborates with VWOs to support the learning needs of these students. We are similarly extending support at the post-secondary education institutes (PSEI). Such support is provided through a three-step process.

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The first step involves the identification of students and their special needs. For instance, the universities identify any special needs students during the admission process that could include medical examinations. Second, these students are then put in touch with counsellors who customise appropriate arrangements such as facilitating physical access. Academic faculty may also modify teaching and examination methods appropriately, such as through providing extra notes, scripts with larger fonts or additional time for examinations. Third, teachers and faculty are trained to provide learning support and pastoral care to these students.

Sir, I have outlined the efforts MOE will be making to enhance the learning experience of our students. Our focus will be to equip our students for the 21st century through a holistic education, providing them with the necessary skills, values and knowledge to succeed. MOE is committed to ensure opportunities for all Singaporeans to realise their full potential regardless of their background.

Tertiary and continuing education

Mrs Josephine Teo: Sir, I wish to declare my interest as a member of the Boards of the Nanyang Polytechnic and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

MOE has announced many new additions to the higher education landscape. What changes can students look forward to in the university, polytechnic and ITE sectors in the next five to 10 years?

Can MOE provide an update on the SUTD and SIT and how they are benefiting Singaporeans?

There has also been an increasing number of collaborations between local universities and foreign institutions. The

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NUS has collaborations with Duke University Medical School, with Boston University for a law degree and is about to have an agreement with Yale for a liberal arts college. NTU has a tie-up with Imperial College London for a medical school also.

Proponents tout the benefits of tapping the partner institutions' branding, expertise of the faculty and experience of its administrators. Detractors, such as Pankaj Jain, former director of the University of Leeds, are less enthusiastic. He says institutes in the United States and the United Kingdom are bankrupt right now. State assistance is dwindling and domestic demand is stagnant. In such a scenario, they all want foreign students but do not have money to set up campuses overseas. Top-notch institutes are also unlikely to adopt this practice as it will dilute their brand value and may also result in fewer number of students reaching their parent campuses. Instead, they prefer to export their expertise through collaborations.

Moreover, results for some universities collaboration have been mixed. Take the Cambridge-MIT Institute, a partnership between the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which was supposed to be a six-year programme between 2000 and 2006. It involved cash injection of £65.1 million from the UK government and £16 million raised from private sources.

In 2003, the Guardian noted that "the collaboration between MIT and Cambridge has been something of a disappointment so far". It also observed that it was hard and I quote, "to deflect the ongoing suspicions that CMI remains a better deal for MIT than Cambridge, not least because £13 million of public money has already departed Stateside to fund US research".

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Sir, how much does it cost to have tie-ups with foreign institutions like MIT and Yale? Has MOE done a thorough study to ascertain the value of such tie-ups? What steps are taken to ensure that the monies are well spent from Singapore's perspective?

Finally, as our economy transforms, skills become obsolete more quickly. What is the MOE's role in the overall push for Continuing Education and Training? What are the plans in support of PMETs in particular?

Liberal arts college

Assoc. Prof. Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): Mr Chairman, Singapore has decided to have a liberal arts college – a bold and strategic investment in education of the future. A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on the liberal arts and sciences with an exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including traditional humanities. Liberal arts education will impart broad general knowledge and help develop the general intellectual capacities in contrast to the professional, vocational and technical education curriculum.

The three main characteristics of a liberal arts education will include a smaller size than standard universities, a live-in residential facility and, of course, typically a two-year exploration of the liberal arts and general knowledge before embarking on a major subject. Will we be incorporating these elements into our liberal arts college? And although liberal arts college originated in Europe, it is very much associated with the United States today. What will our concept and modus operandi be for this college? Will we be following the US system closely as it is a collaboration with Yale?

Support students in high quality private education institutions

Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Sir, I declare my interest as a member of the

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SIM governing council. To ensure that our global competitiveness and social mobility is in place, education takes centre stage in our lives, from kindergarten to lifelong learning. Its importance is also reflected by the budget allocated to MOE. This investment should support as many Singaporeans as possible as every talent counts.

In the past, students who could not get into their autonomous universities would have to go overseas, which mostly only the rich could afford. Some never come back, thereafter resulting in talent leak.

Today, the higher education landscape has evolved. Several of the US Ivy League universities, the US Russell Group and the Australia Group of Eight, have partnered established local private education institutions (PEIs), such as the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and the LaSalle College of the Arts. Yesterday, a Sunday Times' article highlighted high-flying students from SIM Global Education (GE), who achieved excellence in academic, arts and sports. In another example, SIM GE's tie-up with the University of Manchester ranked 30 in the QS World University Rankings and the most recent batch of 64 graduands have achieved three first-class, 21 second upper-class, 36 second-lower and four third-class honours. Graduates from the programme have proven themselves in their careers. One of them, Ms Dulcie Cheong graduated from the programme and was recently promoted from executive secretary to assistant manager at the National University Heart Centre. She improved her income and social mobility through the PEIs.

Singaporeans may enrol in PEIs for many reasons. It could be that the family is poor and needs the student to help with family expenses or at least earn enough to

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fund themselves through the university. Or it could be that the student's subjects of preference are not offered or not offered to him or her at public universities. Or quite simply, the person was a late-boomer. Private university degrees are expensive and the demand is great. At a rough estimate, there are more than 30,000 students enrolled in recent PEIs in Singapore who receive no Government subsidies. Students in PEIs form an integral part of our scarce human capital. For many, PEIs are also a route to social mobility. Can we invest in them as well? Conversely, what is the academic and social cost for not investing in them? Most certainly, not all PEIs are made the same and I agree that there should be clear distinction between the good, the bad and the ugly.

MOE, through the Council for Private Education (CPE) has set up a quality framework for PEIs. Can MOE go further to do a comprehensive review of the sector, set up clear eligibility criteria for PEIs students who are Singaporeans? And, further, these guidelines can help students to be more discerning in their choice of studies and, at the same time, send a positive signal to PEIs to move towards high quality university education.

Teaching scholars

Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): Thank you, Mr Chairman, for allowing me to join in the debate. I would like to touch on fairer distribution of treating scholars amongst schools. MOE should ensure fairer distribution of teaching scholarship holders after graduation from NIE to the various schools. It is normal that the elite schools, especially the junior colleges (JCs) can hand-pick scholars who are often their alumni resulting in neighbourhood JCs having fewer of these scholars. Scholars should be given opportunity to experience neighbourhood schools before becoming policy-makers in the MOE HQ

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so that they can have an understanding the challenges the neighbourhood schools face.

The Chairman: Mr Chiam, the topic you have just spoken on had already been answered. You just touched on "Teaching Scholars", am I right? Your cut that is scheduled now is the one entitled "Private Education Institutions". The cut on "Teaching Scholars" had already been addressed by the Minister earlier. So, you should be speaking on the cut "Private Education Institutions".

4.00 pm

Mr Chiam See Tong: Can you allow me one minute to take my speech?

The Chairman: I will give you one minute. Please speak on the cut entitled "Private Education Institutions".

Private education institutions

Mr Chiam See Tong: Although the Government is pumping $120 million a year to support needy students in all levels through a slew of enhanced financial aid schemes, schools funds and bursaries, we should not forget to look into the plight of students who have been cheated by unscrupulous education centres by helping affected students to pay or re-finance their full or partial loans from banks and financial institutions. These students were greatly affected as their graduation were either delayed or stopped, making them unable to chip in to ease the financial burden of their families. MOE must continue to ensure the students take courses that are accredited with MOE by making stringent measures to scrutinise misleading advertisements and protect unwary students.

Early childhood education

Mrs Josephine Teo: For some years now, several MPs and I have asked for

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early childhood education to be made more affordable. Therefore, I am happy to note that the income ceiling for the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) has been raised to $3,500 a month. I wish to thank MOE for making this shift.

There are three more areas I think need further attention. First, how is MOE strengthening and improving the quality of early childhood educators? Specifically, can a NIE-type of set-up be considered to assure parents of the quality and consistency of their training? Second, given the plethora of pre-school centres in the market, how do parents know if they meet certain standards? How can we take the guess-work out of parents’ considerations? Third, one way to uplift the quality of the pre-school sector is through innovation. What is the record of innovation so far and what is MOE doing to further promote it?

Pre-school education

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): Sir, one of MOE's key strategies is to increase the professional qualification of pre-school teachers, including higher entry requirements and increasing the number of diploma-trained teachers in each pre-school centre. With higher qualifications and training must come higher remuneration. Sir, while remuneration packages can be as competitive as they can get, I would like to ask the Minister, what is MOE's current assessment of the state of human resource capabilities, both quantity and quality, in the pre-school sector. To what extent, are the milestone set by MOE to increase the qualifications and quantity of pre-school teachers met? What is MOE's long-term manpower plans for the pre-school sector? Are our institutions producing the requisite number of personnel to fill in the needs of the sector?

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The unintended effect of inadequate supply of personnel and a highly competitive industry is the mobility of these personnel between centres. This often leads to significant disruptions in operations in some centres, including the serious impact on the young children. This is even worse where centres have higher concentration of low-income children, who are already disadvantaged to begin with. I seek the Minister's assurance that the supply of trained teachers will be sufficient to avoid the earlier scenario. Sir, unlike the teaching profession where MOE takes an active role through elaborate recruitment campaigns, can the Minister enlighten us as to who is responsible for such efforts at promoting early childhood education as a profession worthy of serious consideration?

The Chairman: Mr Christopher de Souza, take both cuts together, please.

High quality pre-school education

Mr Christopher de Souza: Sir, our primary schools are of a high quality. However, MOE should try to help ensure that pre-school education is also of a high quality across the range of pre-schools, so that all children entering primary school have the firm foundations to gain the most out of their Primary 1 education and beyond.

The Singapore Pre-School Accreditation Framework (SPARK) was launched in November last year. Pre-schools can participate in SPARK by using the Quality Rating Scale (QRS) for self-assessment to improve the quality of their own programmes or seek external assessment by MOE-accredited assessors. MOE's target is to have 85% of all kindergartens and childcare centres participate in the external assessment by 2013. This is a good development. What else can MOE do to help level the playing field for children entering Primary 1?

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Helping at-risk youths to stay in school

Sir, some families struggle to keep children out of trouble and motivated in school. We need the combined resources and effort of teachers, principals, neighbours, volunteers and grassroots leaders to encourage at-risk youths to recognise the value of education and help them stay in school, and eventually receive a qualification, whether from ITE, polytechnic or university. May I ask the Minister if we have a case management policy to coordinate efforts between schools and the grassroots leaders to maximise the chance of an at-risk youth staying in school?

School bullying

Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): Mr Chairman, Sir, may I ask the Minister how prevalent is school bullying in our schools? According to a Singapore Children's Society survey recently, 25% of young respondents said that they were bullied in school. This matched its survey on secondary school students who reported that they were bullied in school when they were asked in 2006. The larger picture, provided by the bulk of respondents, suggests that, whether they reported being affected or not, there was definitely a relationship between being bullied and lessened well-being.

Other longitudinal studies following the subjects into adulthood found that former victims of school bullying had significantly higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem than those who are not. Studies have also shown that school bullies were more at long-term risk of violent conducts and anti-social behaviour when they became adults.

The possible negative effects of bullying are low psychological well-being, poor social adjustment, psychological

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distress and physical ill-health symptoms. Our schools should pay more emphasis on student welfare and well-being to help reverse the negative and pressured atmosphere that leads both to student misbehaviour and bullying.

The UK has adopted a tough no-tolerance policy on bullying in schools and since 1999, UK schools are mandated to implement anti-bullying policies. Inspections are conducted regularly to evaluate and suggest improvements to anti-bullying measures. The topic of bullying has also been integrated into the national curriculum. All teachers are also trained to handle bullying cases during regular in-service training.

We know that there are different forms of school bullying in our schools and they can be physical, verbal, relational and cyber. May I ask the Minister whether MOE takes a serious approach on anti-bullying and is making it clear from the very start that bullying is unacceptable and warrants heavy punishment? What are the policies in place and how successful have they been? Are our teachers adequately trained to deal with bullying? Can there be more information on bullying made available to students, parents and schools? Is MOE also cooperating with the NGOs in enhancing outcome? Could MOE implement an active early intervention programme on anti-bullying for all our schools, involving the teachers, parents and students to successfully tackle this issue?

Helping weaker students

Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Sir, everytime I read the newspapers about students who have aced their GCE "O" levels or have scored 8 or 9 As for their GCE "A" levels, I wonder what about those who do not do so well for their examinations. How do students who barely scrapped through

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their examinations feel, when faced with such widespread national celebration of the fantastic results by their fellow schoolmates or classmates? Sir, I am a firm believer that every child, every student has the potential to be successful in their own way and to do well in life. Whilst we celebrate and rejoice with the top scholars, we must not forget or leave behind the group of students who may not be academically inclined, or who may be slow developers, or who, due to family circumstances, are unable to perform to their best. Hence, I am very glad that schools like NorthLight School and Assumption Pathway School exist to help weaker students complete their secondary education.

The Principal of NorthLight School, Mrs Chua Yuan Ching, gave me a book when I visited her school, " Transformed by the Mission ", a very nice book. One quote from the book touched me: "as educators, we need to look out constantly for the jewel in every student who comes our way". Another quote is from Ms Angeline Tan, a Mathematics senior teacher, who said that "NorthLight had taught me to see the value in each child, unique and special, in his or her own way". Thus, Sir, this school does not have any bright superstar who will score lots of As to make the school shine. Nevertheless, the school devotes its attention to ensure that every child is not left behind and to provide education to the child to prepare them for the workplace.

May I ask the Minister, what else is MOE doing for our weaker students so that the jewel in these students can be polished to shine through? Does MOE devote enough resources, for example, could MOE consider having more teachers, allied educators, more counsellors, or motivators in the schools to ensure that all students who are keen to learn, can complete their secondary education and have adequate opportunities to progress to either ITE or polytechnic or other

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educational institutions? Is there any possibility of MOE providing specialised tuition programmes for the weaker students so that we can try to help them overcome their fear of academic work and examinations as early as possible?

Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, I take a contrary view to Members on school hours, at least for weaker students. The Government has created more paths for those who are not academically inclined. But the question is, whether we are doing enough to help weaker students before they go down those paths? There are programmes out there which help them. Mendaki, SINDA, CDAC conduct tuition classes. The problem is that many of these programmes are voluntary and some parents do not send their kids to them. Teachers tell me that they conduct home visits when a student is performing poorly or is absent or has discipline issues, only to be confronted by parents who do not know what to do or, worse, do not care. The reality is that many kids who struggle in schools come from poor or dysfunctional families, but for them, an education is the only way out of poverty.

Can we do more to help those who are falling behind? Is it enough to say that there are programmes for the children and then hope that parents take advantage of them?

In Malcolm Gladwell's book, " Outliers" , he gives an account to the Cape Academies in the US. These are chartered schools and one of its first was opened in the South of Bronx in New York – very poor district, almost all students non-white; 75% come from single-parent homes and over 90% receive financial help so that the children have a meal at lunchtime. You would imagine that these children were likely to struggle in school but the Cape students spent 50% to 60% more time in school compared to its peers in other schools. They start at 7.25 am

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and they finish school at 5.00 pm. All students do music and orchestra. After 5.00 pm, there are homework clubs, detention and sports. They do not have two to three hours of homework. They are in school until 2.00 pm on Saturdays and they spend about two to three weeks of their summer programmes in school. Cape does not teach more but take more time so that the students understand what is being taught.

What is the result? In all of South Bronx, only about 16% of middle school students are performing at or above their grade level. At Cape, by the 8th grade, 84% are performing at or above the grade level. About 90% of Cape students get scholarships to private high schools, more than 80% go on to university.

Can we not implement a structured after-school programme to help our weaker students? If it means making it compulsory for students to remain behind to attend extra classes, if it means having to regulate their CCA activities, then so be it. This may sound draconian or demanding but if it works, we should not discount it. Quantity can be a quality. Spending more time on your studies helps. A structured programme will help those who lack structure at home.

4.15 pm

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Mr S Iswaran): Mr Chairman, I will take the questions that Members have raised on tertiary, continuing and private education.

Mrs Josephine Teo has asked about the new developments in the higher education sector and I propose to start with that.

The Minister for Health has already outlined the plans for the new Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at NTU.

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As the Minister for Education has highlighted, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will receive its first batch of students in April 2012. The SUTD has made good progress on curriculum development and has successfully recruited an initial core of quality faculty and high calibre students. It has also launched a Dual Masters Programme with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which will commence in September 2011; students will spend a year each in MIT and SUTD and graduate with a Degree from each of these institutions.

Assoc. Prof. Fatimah Lateef has asked about our plans and approach for the establishment of the Liberal Arts College. NUS signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Yale University last September to explore further collaboration. They are now discussing the final details. The intent is for the College to offer a curriculum that preserves the best features of a liberal arts education – smaller class sizes, residential living, and a broad-based education experience – while being adapted and contextualised for Singapore and Asia.

Mrs Josephine Teo asked about the value of such foreign collaborations for Singapore. This is a pertinent question and one that we are seized with. Let me see how we go about trying to ensure that we get the most out of these relationships. First is, of course, partnership selection. I think the Member would agree that, in general, the partners that MOE has selected have been of highest quality and do not fall into the categories that she described.

Secondly, we try and structure these partnerships to be mutually beneficial so that both parties have the strong incentive to make it work and derive benefits. The third is to ensure that capabilities are

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transferred to and embedded in our institutions, so that the benefits are not just for the duration of the partnership but are embedded in Singapore for the long run. And, fourthly, we calibrate the resources we allocate by ensuring that funding for each collaboration is commensurate with its scope and scale. It is also tied to milestones which meet the objectives of the collaboration.

Having said all that, is there a risk that some of these collaborations will not yield all the benefits we seek? The answer must be yes. But the question then to ask is, does that mean we do not embark on such ventures? I think the overall benefits outweigh the costs and the risks, so we should meticulously structure these arrangements to mitigate downside risks and maximise the benefits to our system.

Another institution which has commenced operations last year is the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). It works closely with our polytechnics and also partners overseas universities to offer degree programmes for polytechnic upgraders. SIT's student intake will double to 1,000 this year. At SIT's open house last Saturday, prospective students for the August 2011 intake could choose from 17 degree programmes with seven overseas university partners. This is up from eight programmes last year and this will continue to grow as SIT works towards a steady state.

Over the next five years, MOE will spend $7 billion on polytechnic education. About $1 billion will be used to increase the capacity of our polytechnics by 20%, and to rejuvenate the campuses with state-of-the-art facilities (like laboratories), and these will ensure that our students are exposed to authentic industry-standard working environments. The polytechnics will also continue to offer new courses such as animation and 3-D arts, and digital forensics.

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A similar transformation is underway at the ITE. International visitors, industry leaders and alumni are struck by the quality of facilities at ITE's new regional campuses. With a critical mass of students in each College, ITE can optimise its resources and provide an enhanced educational experience for its students.

For example, at ITE's Centre for Healthcare Simulation Training, Nursing NITEC students are able to practise their skills on high-fidelity manikins that actually breathe, speak and provide a range of other physiological responses. I suppose if we had a video we could get a better sense of the capabilities of the manikins. Opportunities for sports and the aesthetics have also been improved with the provision of dedicated facilities like a running track, gymnasium, swimming pool and a performing arts centre.

Over the next five years, MOE will spend $2 billion on ITE. It is an important investment that yields and continues to yield productive outcomes for our ITE graduates. Almost 90% of ITE students are employed within six months of graduation. And 90% of the employers confirm and affirm that they possess not just the requisite skills but also good work attitudes. Today, a fifth of ITE students move on to polytechnics to further their education and we will take steps over the next few years to increase that proportion to one quarter.

Mrs Teo has also asked about MOE's role in Continuing Education and Training (CET). In 2008, the National CET Masterplan was launched by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to increase the national CET capacity. It was implemented through private and public service providers, including the polytechnics and ITE. MOE started to subsidise fees for part-time undergraduate programmes at the public universities and UniSIM in 2008.

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MOE also funds academic CET programmes like Diplomas; Advanced Diplomas and Specialist Diplomas. In the academic year ending March 2010, MOE funded over 18,300 CET training places at the polytechnics and ITE, of which 6,400 were for diploma-level programmes.

Our polytechnics and ITE are held in very high regard by industry for their high-quality, market-relevant courses. Similarly, our polytechnics and ITE will leverage on their high-quality training facilities and curricula, which are co-developed with industry partners, to deliver well recognised and quality CET programmes that meet the needs of the Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) on the one hand and also the industry on the other hand, to ensure that the demand and supply match.

MOE will do even more to grow the current CET training capacity in our post-secondary education institutions. We will increase the number of training places in part-time Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas and Specialist Diplomas at the polytechnics from 6,400 to 10,100 by 2015. This will include courses in key sectors that are identified by the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council and include sectors like precision engineering, hospitality and logistics.

The enhanced subsidies for Advanced Diploma and Specialist Diploma Programmes which is raised from 70% to 85%, as the Minister mentioned earlier, will reduce fees significantly. The table* there elaborates and gives very specific amounts of how much the students would save. Student's fees for a year-long Specialist Diploma in Logistics Management will be just under $700 which is less than half a month's salary for a PMET.

In keeping with the philosophy of lifelong learning and employability, MOE will lift its current "no double-bite"

*Cols. 4051-4052.

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subsidy policy for Advanced and Specialist Diplomas. We know that PMETs cannot rely on formal qualification acquired at the start of their working lives to sustain them for the duration of their careers. They need to constantly up-skill and occasionally even re-skill in order to switch tracks. By subsidising those who acquire another Advanced or Specialist Diploma five or more years after their first Diploma, we will help PMETs stay employable.

MOE will also increase the fee subsidies for part-time undergraduate programmes at UniSIM and public universities to 55% of published fees, in line with the subsidy for full-time undergraduate programmes. This will reduce programme fees by a quarter, and for the students, it means the savings of between $4,000 and $6,500 per programme.

And to encourage upgraders to attain full qualifications, we will give first-time trainees in a part-time polytechnic diploma a completion award of $1,000. First-time trainees in ITE NITEC/Higher NITEC certificates will receive $200 when they complete the course.

In all, $350 million will be invested in CET over the next five years, up from the $80 million that we spent in the past three years.

Beyond funding, our CET programmes must be structured to meet the needs of working adults. MOE will, therefore, re-design diploma-level CET in two ways. First, we will make CET courses more modular so that trainees will be able to earn a full diploma qualification by accumulating a number of certificate-level qualifications within a certain validity period. We will also leverage more on e-learning platforms. This will help adult learners learn at their own pace and in a

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manner that is compatible with their family and work commitments.

Secondly, CET courses will be condensed for adult learners in recognition of their work experience. For example, Nanyang Polytechnic's part-time Diploma in Precision Engineering, which is a 1500-hour course, will be adapted into a 900-hour programme without compromising standards. How do we do that? By doing away with general education modules; moving some classroom training onto self-directed and e-learning platforms; and by specialising in disciplines, for instance, Plastic Moulding or Machining Technology in order to streamline the curriculum. The students can pursue such courses at their own pace by accumulating a number of certificate-level qualifications [ chart *].

We are also committed to ensuring that no deserving student will be denied a quality tertiary education for want of funds. The Minister for Education spoke about the enhanced bursaries for ITE students. Let me now elaborate on the enhancements for diploma and undergraduate students. Diploma students will receive significantly higher bursaries.

Those from the lowest third of households in terms of per capita income (that is, per capita income of up to $850 per month) will now receive bursaries of $1,800, which is an increase from the $1,200 they received previously. This will cover 80% of their tuition fees. Put it another way, this bursary together with the subsidies that the Government in general provides for the education means that 97% of the cost of the education will be covered and the students will only have to come up with 3%.

The next group of students, for the 33rd up to the 50th percentile with per capita income of up to $1,200 per month, will receive a 70% increase in bursaries to $1,350 – that is, 60% of tuition fees and,

*Cols. 4051-4052; 4053-4054.

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in total, 94% of the cost of education will be covered.

We will also extend a $450 bursary to diploma students from households from the 50th to the 66th percentile with a per capita income of $1,700 per month and this will help pay about 20% of their fees [ chart *].

University students will also benefit. Those from the lowest one-third of households in terms of per capita income will receive an 80% increase in bursaries – from $1,600 to $2,900. This will cover 40% of fees for a typical degree and in terms of the cost of coverage including the Government's subsidy for overall education will be 85% of cost. So, again, the students are only coming up with 15%. Undergraduates from the 33rd up to the 50th percentile will receive $950 more, that is about 30% of the fees. And all university students can also supplement their bursaries with Government-subsidised loans [ chart *].

Currently, 55% of students in ITE, polytechnics and universities eligible for bursaries will benefit from significant increases in the help they receive. By extending the bursaries to a larger proportion of households, the percentage of institutions of higher learning students eligible for subsidies will increase to 75%. In other words, three out of four students in our institutions of higher learning will be eligible for these subsidies. These enhancements will cost MOE up to an extra $134 million a year.

If I may now turn to private education. To uplift the quality of the private education sector, we established the Council for Private Education (CPE) in December 2009. As of last month, CPE had completed the registration of 239 Private Education Institutions (PEIs) and more than a quarter of them obtained either one or four-year EduTrust certification.

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Miss Penny Low and Mr Chiam have asked if MOE intends to extend Government funding to Private Education Institutions and their students. And I think to answer that, we need to just take a step back. MOE plans for university places based on Singapore's manpower demand, while taking into account the need to preserve the high standards of our autonomous universities. In other words, even as we seek to increase the Cohort Participation Rate for universities, we must ensure that the quality and value of university education is maintained, and that our graduates continue to find good employment.

MOE will meet our Cohort Participation Rate (CPR) target for pre-employment training primarily through our autonomous universities. Miss Low observed that in the past, students who did not go to our Autonomous Universities would have to get a degree overseas. That is why, in 2009, MOE established the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) to offer more opportunities for students to study in Singapore, and obtain a degree from a good overseas university. At steady state, about 4,000 students will enjoy MOE subsidies through SIT each year. With these, there will be enough subsidised places for students to meet our 30% university CPR. So we have no plans to extend Government funding to Private Education Institutions or their students.

4.30 pm

Mr Chiam was also concerned on the protection afforded to students who go to Private Education Institutions. That indeed was the objective of the new CPE regulations. Whether a student signs up for an EduTrusted or registered Private Education Provider, there are certain built-in provisions to protect the interest of students, including their fees, and some which may have been paid upfront.

*Cols. 4055-4056.

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Students in PEIs who are in need of financial assistance can still access education loans from banks, cooperatives or self-help groups.

Mr Chairman, to conclude, by emphasing that MOE has continued to adapt and innovate so that the entire spectrum of our post secondary education system – from ITE to the polytechnics and universities – stays attuned to the needs of Singapore. These measures will ensure that there are more opportunities and pathways for our students and higher education will remain accessible to all, so that every Singaporean will be able to realise his or her full potential.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Education (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): The Minister spoke of MOE's commitment in ensuring that all Singaporeans have access to quality education, and equal access to opportunities to excel to the best that they can be. I will further elaborate on MOE’s efforts in ensuring quality and accessibility for pre-school education, and highlight some of the targeted support that MOE provides for our learners.

MOE recognises that pre-school education is important. MOE discussed this at length during the debate on the parliamentary Motion raised by Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan. I will therefore refrain from repeating myself and highlight only the key points. Let me use the opportunity arising from the cuts raised by Mrs Josephine Teo, Dr Mohamad Maliki and Mr Christopher de Souza to briefly provide a progress update on some of MOE's initiatives.

First, a recap of raising teacher quality. From January 2009, MOE and MCYS require all new teachers to have minimum entry academic qualifications of five "O"-Level credits, including a B4 in

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English. Incumbent teachers are also required to attain a basic level of English proficiency. Before this, in 2006, the minimum requirement for pre-school teachers was only three "O"-Level credits, including English. On top of the academic requirements, all pre-school teachers are required to attain the Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education-Teaching (DECCE-T). As of January 2011, 86% of kindergarten teachers and 70% of childcare teachers have attained the DECCE-T or are undergoing training for it, as compared to 55% of kindergarten teachers and 46% of childcare teachers just five years ago.

To help boost the overall quality of teachers over time, we set a target for all pre-schools to have at least 75% of all its teachers meeting the new requirements by January 2013. I am happy to update that MOE is well on the way to meeting the 2013 target. Latest figures show that 77.4% of kindergartens and 69.6% of childcare centres have already achieved this target.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Education (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): 4.32 pm

Next, on enhancing accessibility and affordability of pre-school education. MOE and their partners have been painstakingly knocking on doors to ensure that no child, especially those from lower-income families, is deprived of a pre-school education. MOE's commitment and persistence have paid off. I am happy to update that the percentage of Primary 1-going age children who did not attend pre-school in 2010 was 1.1% – down from 5% just five years ago in 2006. Let me thank all the grassroots partners, MCYS and the Singapore Children’s Society for their continued support in the annual exercise to reach out to our children.

MCYS and the community groups provide financial assistance to the lower-

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income families. This year, the Minister for Finance announced additional support for MCYS’ financial assistance schemes for pre-school education and childcare fees. He also announced a new Child Development Credit Scheme, where the credit can be used for pre-school fees for all Singaporean children aged six and below.

On top of these targeted financial assistance, MOE has invested $150 million in the pre-school sector over the last five years to support the pre-school initiatives that MOE has introduced. We have seen good progress as outlined earlier. We plan to double MOE’s investment in pre-school education over the next five years to $290 million, to continue to uplift the quality of the pre-school sector.

Madam, investing in high quality teachers and school leaders is an imperative for MOE. MOE and MCYS have disbursed a total of $5.08 million for 311 scholarships, teaching awards and bursaries since 2008. These are tenable for incumbent teachers, principals, and pre-service teachers from childcare centres and not-for-profit kindergartens to upgrade themselves professionally.

MOE and MCYS will do more. Starting from 2011, MOE and MCYS will provide up to 1,400 scholarships, bursaries and teaching awards over three years. This will cost up to $21 million over the next three years and, if fully awarded, will represent more than a four-fold increase when compared to the amount we have awarded in the previous three years.

This additional support will help grow a pool of well-qualified pre-school educators through attracting new entrants into the sector, as well as providing opportunities for professional upgrading for existing educators. Some educators may wish to consider developing their

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leadership skills to take on leadership positions, in which case the leadership courses would be appropriate; while others may opt to deepen their skills in the teaching area, and hence pursue certificate courses in areas such as Music and Movement, Drama, or Chinese Education. These awards are, therefore, tenable at different Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) courses to meet the various upgrading needs of pre-school educators.

Mrs Josephine Teo asked if a NIE type of pre-school education set-up could be considered for the training of early childhood educators. I would like to assure Mrs Teo that MOE and MCYS are putting in place such a system. But unlike the school sector which has only one main employer, which is MOE, and one pre-service training provider, which is NIE, the pre-school sector is more diverse and MOE's quality assurance structures must reflect this difference. The Pre-school Qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC), jointly steered by MOE and MCYS, sets standards for certificate and diploma level pre-school teacher preparation courses, and accredits courses that have met these standards.

Apart from investing in teacher quality, MOE launched the new Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework (SPARK) in November 2010, to help kindergartens and childcare centres improve the quality of their programmes and to learn to benchmark themselves against recognised quality standards.

Information on pre-schools that participated in SPARK and have attained accreditation will be listed on the MOE website. Since January 2011, pre-schools have started applying for quality assessments by MOE’s SPARK assessors. MOE hopes that with the widespread adoption of SPARK over the next few years, the quality rating of pre-schools will help parents make informed and objective

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choices about the right pre-school for their children, a concern raised by Mrs Josephine Teo. An update on the accreditation outcomes of SPARK will be provided later this year.

Mrs Josephine Teo also pointed out that innovation is one way to uplift the quality of the pre-school sector. Indeed, kindergartens are encouraged to engage in innovative practices, and to experiment with new ideas to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in pre-school. More than half a million dollars have been awarded by MOE to 144 kindergartens through the Kindergarten Innovation Grant since 2008.

I also announced the Experimental Kindergarten at Temasek Polytechnic at the Committee of Supply (COS) last year. They have commenced operations this year. I visited the centre and am convinced that they will contribute to this innovation drive. Temasek Polytechnic will bring into the Experimental Kindergarten, the whole eco-system of its various departments and complemencies. Together, they will serve both as a centre for research in curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education – and as a test bed for research to be applied to Singapore's local context.

Ensuring that our children start early in pre-school is one of the many effective means to level up society through education. Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Mr Hri Kumar are correct to say that even then, MOE should be concerned about students who continue to require additional support to help them level up, especially if these students are less able to afford external assistance.

Mr Hri Kumar talked about a school model which starts at 7.00 am and ends at 7.00 pm, with two to three hours homework after school. This is even

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longer than the working hours of adults. Mr Hri Kumar then suggested making it compulsory for students to attend extra classes after school, and to even restrict students’ choices of CCAs, so that they will not spend too much time on CCAs.

As Mr Hri Kumar admitted himself, such an approach is indeed "draconian". This is not the approach that MOE takes. CCAs are an important part of school life and play a key role in the holistic development of our students, which no student should be deprived of. A well-organised and well-implemented CCA can inculcate values and develop qualities, such as resilience, fair play, discipline and team spirit. These qualities are equally important to all students, and especially so for students from less privileged backgrounds. Specifying that weaker students be excused from CCA would curtail many meaningful activities and developmental opportunities for our students. Over-imposing curriculum on our students also does not address the fact that some children learn better through different means.

While we are on the issue of CCAs, Nominated MP Joscelin Yeo makes an assertion that, deprived of a choice of a CCA, a student committed suicide. We should be sympathetic to any family that has suffered a suicide within, and acknowledge that the reasons for suicides are multi-faceted, complex and, many times, very personal. What the Member should really show is that there is evidence that for every or many suicides, the victim had the first choice of CCA deprived, instead of picking up a single and local report to make her case.

Going back to Mr Hri Kumar's point, MOE's approach is to ensure that targeted programmes are put in place at various levels to ensure that our learners receive appropriate help. This is precisely what Mr Lim Biow Chuan suggested.

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Because almost all our children attend pre-school, a targeted programme called Focused Language Assistance in Reading (FLAiR) is provided to children found to require additional assistance in English. As some children lack exposure at home, FLAiR provides the opportunity to be exposed to reading materials, writing experiences, and speaking and listening to English Language in an engaging and fun way.

A good example of a child who has benefited from FLAiR is Prathira d/o Palanivelu from PCF Jalan Besar Blk 106. Initially a very quiet and reserved girl, she blossomed under the FLAiR programme to show great progress in her reading, writing and listening skills.

FLAiR seeks to develop at an early age, important communication skills and their love for acquiring knowledge through reading books, writing, speaking and listening. But proper reading, writing and numeracy skills may not be as developed for some. For these students, MOE has instituted additional programmes to help students level up when they first enter Primary Schools. The Learning Support Programmes for English and Mathematics are administered by additional teachers to help students who had less prior exposure and require more support. These programmes help students acquire a stronger foundation of the English Language and Mathematics especially.

4.45 pm

At the secondary school level, innovations are introduced to customise to the learning needs of students.

MOE also recognises that some students are more technically inclined and prefer a more hands-on pedagogical approach. Since 2005, schools can offer 20 to 30-hour elective modules (EMs) to enrich the learning experience of their Normal (Academic), or Normal (Technical) students. These modules are intended to

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develop students’ interests and strengths in specific areas, as well as introduce students to a course of study in post-secondary education institutes. Some of the EMs also provide credit points for advanced standing for any NITEC courses at ITE.

Since 2007, MOE has also worked with three secondary schools, termed "N(T) Mark II schools", to pilot innovations in the N(T) course. These schools work closely with MOE and ITE to customise their curricula to bring about a greater focus on practice-oriented skills. Students also have the opportunity to do industrial attachments and internships, as an integral part of the schools' programmes.

We hope these approaches will allow our secondary students to enjoy their learning and acknowledge its relevance in a real-life context. This enhances the level of student engagement in school and helps pre-empt school drop-outs.

Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked how we can help at-risk youth to stay in school. MOE’s initiatives to strengthen targeted support for learners are important, not just to help students level up, but also keep them engaged in schools by adapting to their learning needs and preferences.

The overall dropout rate, or the percentage of the Primary 1 cohort who do not complete secondary education, has further reduced from 1.2% in 2009 to 1% in 2010. This is an improvement over the dropout rate of about 3% before the Committee on Reducing Attrition in Education, which I chair, was first formed in 2006. In addition, a MOE internal survey of students showed that students generally felt satisfied with their school experiences and there has been a positive trend over the years.

Even then, schools continue to monitor the level of student engagement

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closely. Schools adopt proactive measures such as the provision of pastoral care, social-emotional learning and career guidance programmes to help students build self-esteem, take responsibility for their actions and develop purposefulness in life. Active participation in school activities, such as CCAs, is another effective way of engaging students. In addition, MOE collaborates with other Ministries, such as MCYS, MOH, MHA, and the community, such as Family Service Centres and self-help groups. I will elaborate more on the early intervention efforts for youths at-risk at MHA’s COS debate. But I must stress the critical role that parents play in creating a nurturing home environment and help youths build social skills.

Dr Lily Neo quoted a Singapore Children's Society's survey that 25% of young respondents said that they were bullied in school. The prevalence of school bullying can be misleading when it is just taken at face value, without a deeper understanding of how the figure was derived.

We must qualify to say that the figures represent an entire spectrum of bullying behaviours, which range from "teasing" and "being excluded" to the more severe forms of bullying. Where bullying involves hurting, frightening or intimidating others using power or strength, MOE would like to clarify that these incidents are indeed infrequent and the numbers have so far remained low.

Nevertheless, I want to assure Dr Lily Neo that MOE regards bullying in schools as a serious matter. We will take the necessary measures to ensure that schools provide a safe and conducive learning environment for all our students. Schools are provided with comprehensive guidelines to manage discipline issues, and this includes bullying. Teachers also

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educate their students on what bullying is and its negative repercussions, how they should effectively seek help in the event they encounter bullying and enable them to help themselves and support their peers if affected.

I will now conclude. It is MOE's commitment that the education system allows every child to be provided with the opportunity to achieve the best he can be. We are doing the right things – by focusing on the educators to improve quality, affordability and accessibility of pre-school education. We have also rolled out targeted programmes at the pre-school, primary school and secondary school levels to support the students who need additional help, and to keep our youths engaged in schools. We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders, including parents, the community and other agencies, to ensure that educational opportunities are available for all.

Mrs Josephine Teo: Madam, I have two clarifications. The first clarification is for the Minister. I believe he said that half of the students from 1-, 2- and 3-room households eventually make it to polytechnics and universities, and this number has been quite stable over time. If I am not mistaken, universities and polytechnics have expanded enrolment over time, and so cohort participation in tertiary education has also gone up. Given that as a backdrop, would the Minister not agree that there is room for us to improve further, in the sense that for our overall population, we expect about 70% to go through tertiary education, should we not aim to do the same for students from the lower-income households? That is the first clarification.

My second clarification is for the Senior Minister of State, Mr Iswaran. He has given very comprehensive responses on SUTD, SIT, ITE, and also on PMETs and MOE's role. But his response on the

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tie-ups with foreign institutions was very general in nature. Would he not agree that it would be beneficial for the general public to have a deeper understanding of the value of such tie-ups, and could he give us a little bit more specific information, perhaps not today but on another occasion?

Dr Ng Eng Hen: Madam, the figures I gave were beyond just progression to polytechnics and universities. The Member is quite right that the particular figure she cited was that half of our children who live in 1- to 3-room flats progress to polytechnics and universities. Her question is: if, for example, the proportion of polytechnics and university students are 60% across the board, should we not aim for that? If that is her argument, then only 60% of middle income students can go to polytechnics and universities, and only 60% of high income students can go to universities. The point of my speech was that that is a very wrong starting point – that in our attempt to focus on one group, we actually try to conscribe other groups. It becomes a win-lose mathematical game. What we really ought to be doing is to say how Singapore as a whole is moving up first. I gave examples of how indeed we moved up. Because we really do not know where the next bright child comes from – whether it is low, whether it is middle or whether it is high income – what we need to do as a system is to ensure that everyone has the opportunities to enter a good school wherever they live, whatever background they come from, and to be able to access the programmes that fit their talents and aptitudes. The only way to do that is to resource all schools to make sure that teachers are spread across all schools. And Mr Chiam subsequently asked, do we indeed do that, and I gave figures that all secondary schools can claim to have scholars, teaching award holders, which was his point. All schools can claim that they have good graduates and are

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resourced adequately, and the bulk of our spending as well as the increases in spending in the last decade were for primary and secondary schools. That was the main point.

I just want to make a clarification on one of my remarks just now. I may have given the wrong impression that 50% of my teachers are not married. I said that more than 50% of my female teachers are married and have young children or of child bearing age. There are also those who are married and have children above 12.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Madam, I like to seek clarification from the Minister. I asked the Minister what kind of changes that MOE needs to make to the future workforce, quoting developments like the strong reliance on tuition, students who speak digital as first language, and the need to build more resilience in our young who are inflicted by higher tendency of mental illnesses or have mental health problems like eating disorders and depression. One of the Minister's comments was that MOE will do more of the same.

I am also looking at the hiring trend and HR practices. It appears that MOE is adopting the strategy of hiring more staff, giving more pay and more benefits. I wonder how this kind of strategy impacts other factors like the people factor, the other Ministries, for example, and even the SMEs who are competing for the same graduates, noting that MOE actually hires one out of every eight graduates now. I just want the Minister's comments on that.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Madam, that is a multi-faceted question, but I would like to take the first question on the number of teachers that we are recruiting. I think it is very important for us to basically take note of what the Member has just said. The fact is that we are already recruiting one in eight graduates. There is a limit for

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us to increase that number, beyond which I think it will affect the rest of the economy. For that reason, we have increased, for example, the number of allied educators. That really, first of all, augments the number of staff within the school system, but also allows Singaporeans, who have not gotten the chance to have a tertiary education and university degree, to have a career opportunity in education. So the allied educators are very helpful. They provide our teachers with very good support, not just in teaching but also in specialised areas, eg, like counselling and in special needs. We do provide good career progression for them, which is very structured, including training.

Her first part of the question really is: how do we equip our teachers to prepare them to be the teaching force of the future? Because we do want our students to be ready for the 21st century and therefore our teachers must equally have those skills to do so. I think there are three levels again. First of all, we like to see an increase in the number of graduate teachers. Secondly, we are improving our in-service training, in other words, after they are in the teaching force, we are going to give them more structured training opportunity as well as giving them the leeway to dictate how they would like to improve their professional skills themselves. So the setting up of the Academy of Singapore Teachers, the Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and the style which deals with areas such as PE and Arts, these are really to allow the profession greater opportunity while they are in-service to pick up specialised training opportunity in areas of their choice. So there are a lot more opportunities for training, and they themselves doing their own training roadmap. The master teachers – those who are experienced – will then pass on their skills to the more

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junior ones, probably including more mentoring as well.

On top of that, there is always a continuous need to upgrade our teachers because of developments in pedagogy and technology. We know that there are many changes that are going on as well as studies going on as to how we could teach and learn more effectively. That is going on not just in the sciences, mathematics, humanities, it is happening in the languages as well. What the Minister has described earlier about Stellar, about mother tongue languages – that really shows a continuous effort on MOE's part to upgrade and move our teaching standards as knowledge increases and technology improves. It is a never ending journey, and we really like our teachers to take control of their profession, direct their own training paths and basically develop their sense of professional pride, knowing that in Singapore teachers are well respected and well equipped.

5.00 pm

Mr Iswaran: Madam, I hope to take up Mrs Josephine Teo's offer of a delayed response. I think Mrs Teo's request is really for more specificity in the value we derive from foreign collaboration. Her point seems to be generic.

It is generic because, to some extent, whilst we know what the potential value proposition is, what we actually realise in practice is a function of how we implement the intent and the specific arrangements of that. The Member had cited some examples where partnerships have failed and others have succeeded, and that is exactly why the outcomes vary. Because the real test is in the details. It is not in how well we conceive the idea but it is also in how we then work out specific programmes to achieve some of the clear objectives we set for ourselves. For example, in our set-up, the brand value is clear. The association with a certain institution of

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international reputation has certain value but in itself does not yield much because people will see through it unless it translates into content value, in other words, pedagogical approaches.

If we look at SUTD, and the Member will be familiar with it, the infusion of MIT's approach was engineering, an infusion of that sensibility into our system. It would be a welcome addition. If we look at the Imperial College alliance, a different approach to the teaching of medicine is something that we are hoping to accomplish. If we look at our experience with SMU, it is a case in point, how it has differentiated and added variety to our tertiary education landscape.

Without going into nuts and bolts, the way I would describe it is this: we need to be clear to choose the right partners to the best of our abilities. We structure the arrangement with them so that we are clear what our long-term goals are and that they are aligned and mutually beneficial. From the Singapore's perspective, we look to ensure that there is a clear systematic transfer of capabilities which we want for our system and then the rest of it is really in execution, and we work at it and we ensure that through the milestones we set, we track this closely to ensure that we are getting value-for-money.

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Thank you, Madam. I just want to say that the Minister did not quite answer my question about having a special Chinese language programme or, if necessary, set up a special Chinese language centre for those who are gifted in Chinese. Perhaps I did not make myself quite clear. I am not talking about higher Chinese, I am talking about peak Chinese – Chinese at the highest level that can be comparable with the students who go into Beida and Qinghua . Therefore, the concept is perhaps to get the students, who are particularly gifted in Chinese

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language all over Singapore, and get our resources from NUS, NTU or even our foreign network, get them together and shoot for the stars so that we can have graduands who have got a command of Chinese good enough for the best in China so that we can derive our good diplomats, business leaders or even songwriters to continue our interaction with Chinese and not lose our competitive advantage because more and more in other countries are also learning Chinese.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: Madam, indeed, MOE has some experience in that because as a Ministry, we send the largest number of Singaporean students to the Chinese universities – Beida and Qinghua as mentioned by Mr Chan. More to Beida because they are training to be Chinese teachers. Qinghua is more engineering and sometimes international studies. But the ones that are enrolled in Beida to become Chinese teachers are, indeed, going through the lessons as the Chinese students are. I visit them quite often, and when I go there and sometimes I have meals with them, I ask them, "Are you sure you can compete?" They say "还可以", or "we can still do it, we are on par".

We are producing, as the Member calls it, that group of bicultural elite. Honestly, can we compete with their best? We encourage them to. But even if we could, I want us to be realistic that when we offer scholarships and opportunities, parents advise their children accordingly. Some would still feel that studying elsewhere in established Ivy League universities, Oxbridge is the better choice, because if they are bright in languages often they are bright in many areas and they really have the choice of whether they want to do law, medicine, etc. I think we can offer these as a choice and I would say that the opportunities exist if, indeed, someone feels that he is going to focus primarily on the Chinese language, there are opportunities but beyond these incentives, I feel a bit

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reluctant to push them that way only – but to just offer them the choice.

I also want to respond to Mrs Josephine Teo about cost, and she is quite right, some of these tie-ups are costly. They are costly because they require a different pedagogy. If we look at the Singapore University of Technology and Design that we did together with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I cannot remember the scale of it but I would think what it compares to some of our courses, they are resource-intensive, so that they may be 50% or even 100% more than what we spend. That was the reason, if Members remember, we said that we did not want to deny students a good opportunity and that Singaporeans can benefit, yet at the same time, we charge very much higher fees. The second point is that we want to move towards an endowment model so that it is really up to the stakeholders, all Singaporeans, to say I am willing to fund this so that it helps some Singaporeans but to the Singaporean himself, he will bear more of the fees. But obviously, we cannot charge beyond a certain limit. The Member is quite right, some of these are costly – the Medical School of Imperial College costs as much if not a little bit more than what it does cost to train our own medical student, but that is because it is a young university with a young faculty. Duke costs more and that is why we charge them higher fees. Some of these do come at a price. I want to make it clear to Members that yes, indeed, the education model costs more. We feel that it will add not only to those students but to the entire system, and that is the reason we charge higher fees and move towards an endowment model.

Mr Baey Yam Keng: Thank you, Madam. I would like to ask the Ministry if it would like to respond to my cut on Primary 1 registration.

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;

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Thank you for the opportunity. We used to have priority for parents with more children – with three children – in the past, but in 1992 we have decided to delink the number of children and admission. At the present moment, our current Primary 1 registration framework is actually arrived at after very careful balances of different stakeholders. We take into consideration factors such as the distance to the school, the presence of siblings – whether the sibling is studying in the same school and also whether the parents are, for example, involved in the community that is supporting the schools. The current framework actually is a result of a lot of discussions and a lot of evolution from past considerations. At the moment, we do not have any intention to change the way that we have been handling our Primary 1 registration but should there be a need to review the priority as well as chances given to parents with more children, we will definitely take Mr Baey's recommendation into consideration.

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan: Thank you, Madam. I am glad to note that the marriage rates for teachers are a lot higher than earlier suspected. May I revisit the concerns that Members had on tuition? Given the perception we have that tuition is so widespread among our school kids, it may be important for the Ministry to have a better understanding of why so many Singaporean students feel the need to have a private tutor or to go for extra lessons. If there is an inadequacy in the way we teach at schools, we should know about it so that we can address it. Otherwise this practice drives a frenzy and parents are falling over themselves trying to make sure that they give the best to their children, and it certainly contributes to one of the stresses that married couples raise when we engage them in a discourse on why they will not have larger families.

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Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: My Minister actually talked about how well Shanghai is doing in their recent PISA study. If you ask the parents in Shanghai if they are prepared to do away with tuition, I think we would probably be having a revolution quite soon.

The point is: even in any systems whether it is in the US or anywhere else, we cannot take the education system in isolation and forget the overall expectations of the society. We do have a society where parents place great emphasis on education and that is a good thing. We want parents to be involved, to engage, to pay attention to the students. More importantly, I think it is ingrained in us that education is a pathway to success. It is a surer way, in most parents' view. Can we, in a way, outlaw tuition? We probably cannot do that. Can we ask the parents to pay less attention to their children's education? It is probably not a good idea to do so. But what we could do is to show parents that in school we do provide adequate support. In fact, if your child is not doing so well, we do have support programmes to help your children. There are parents who like to have a more balanced education would agree that to leave the academic side to the school and, perhaps, concentrate in other areas of bringing up their children such as bonding with them, reading with them and so forth. By understanding the way that they have been getting an education and the way that they have progressed, knowing their needs, knowing their strengths, knowing the weaknesses of the child and we should know how to balance, and I know of many parents who have done so as well. I think Member Baey Yam Keng's wife has just written a wonderful article in Zaobao talking about how she has actually focused on other areas of bringing up, supporting the child, instead of spending the time in tuition.

As I have said, I would just like to say that we cannot really penalise or we do

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not want to discourage parents from paying more attention to their children. Rather we would like to assure parents that we have a good system, our variability in schools is very, very small between the very good schools and the so-called neighbourhood schools who also get lots of support from MOE and if Members have visited our typical neighbourhood school, Members will agree that they get probably better facilities than many of us would imagine. They get investments like any other schools, both in terms of hardware and software and in teachers.

This is the assurance that we will give parents that there are many more pathways now besides just the typical academic part of it, and that they should really give the opportunity to their children to explore their strengths in various areas and we would like to assure parents that there are many more pathways for their children to success.

Ms Joscelin Yeo: I have one clarification. This is about the CCA. I am not sure if I was accurately understood. Can the Minister clarify the objective of CCAs and what is the Ministry doing to ensure that this platform is about enriching and not burdening students' lives?

Dr Ng Eng Hen: I replied to the Member but I think she may not have heard it. I said that I agreed with her and Mdm Cynthia Phua that CCA should indeed be to inculcate character and that is the primary goal. I agree with her also that it should not be a winner-take-all approach for CCAs. That is why we have stepped up the opportunities for students to have recreational and competitive CCAs within school. I made a point in response to MP Cynthia Phua's suggestion that every student could be involved in competition events. We try to get there. It may not be possible for inter-school but within the

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school, I think it is possible and that, indeed, is the goal.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: I would like to ask a question on pre-school education. Madam, there has been profusion of high-end and elite pre-school programmes in recent years. Can I ask the Ministry whether there has been a study on students who enter Primary 1 to see if there is a difference if they started on different entry points, in terms of their learning abilities, if they had a pre-school foundation in an elite pre-school costing thousands of dollars compared to those in the non-profit sectors which charge much cheaper? Related to the quality of teachers: I am very encouraged to hear about the investments put into scholarships and bursaries for recruiting teachers and then also distributing the teachers to the non-profit sectors so that there will be good quality education across the board. Can I ask the Minister to clarify whether there is also a monitoring of the retention rates of teachers in this sector, so that they will not jump to the private sector which may pay them more?

5.15 pm

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I will answer the second question first, on whether there is a good retention of teachers in the sector. Yes, indeed, there is. Over the last few years, the net injection into the pre-school sector is quite healthy. The number of people who has left the service is far fewer than the number of people who has come into the sector and stayed on.

Secondly, the issue of whether there has been a study on the impact of high-end pre-school education on students. While we have not conducted such a study, MOE's approach is to ensure a baseline quality of pre-school education in

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all pre-school centres that are allowed to operate in the industry. We have studied and identified the key leverage areas that we can focus our efforts on in order to uplift the quality of the sector. The outcome of that study was the recommendation that we increase the teacher quality of those in the pre-school sector. Over the last few years, we have seen a considerable increase in the centre quality of pre-schools, including those in the non-profit sector.

Dr Lily Neo: Madam, I would like to ask the Minister whether there is any structured programme in place to help students from the dysfunctional families to give them special assistance in order for them to have a level playing field.

The other question I would like to ask is, is there any study done on the percentage of students from 1- to 2-room HDB flat that get into tertiary education? The Minister earlier mentioned more from the 1- to 3-room HDB flats, but I am concerned more for the lowest 5% of income families who are staying in the 1- to 2-room HDB flats.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: The short answer is "yes" for dysfunctional families. We do not label them and call them dysfunctional families and then help them. Our programmes give access to slower learners. We have learning support programmes for English, as I have mentioned, and also learning support programme for Mathematics. They basically gauge the child's ability at Primary 1, and in small groups sometimes five, eight or three, depending on each school – dedicated teachers will be put into these schools, over the next two years, in Primary 1 and 2 to help them graduate from that group and try to catch up with the rest of the students.

Over time, what happens is that the school recognises that a child's learning ability is always a function of his family.

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Sometimes, they do not have the social environment. When I talk to teachers – many teachers do home visits on their own – they recognise the situation. This is the reason why we created the space for all schools. We are going to build in the space so that they can engage VWOs to come into the schools.

Many Members of Parliament said it was a good idea to have before and after-school programmes. Indeed, that was the reason why we put it as part of the new specifications for new schools to have a space. I have visited many schools who have on their own engaged a VWO to come in to take care of these students. Another school outsourced it to a private firm. The private firm does it because of its Corporate Social Responsibility, so it charges certain rates which the school subsidises. There are these programmes that are taking place. At the end of the day, you need to engage principals and teachers because we have varied needs and different environments.

Many Members would have remembered the article by Tom Friedman in the New York Times . He mentioned this wonderful science class at Gan Eng Seng Primary School. What the article did not say was that Gan Eng Seng School has 50% of students from 1- to 3-roomers. It is one of our schools with the largest percentages. Nobody in MOE told the principal or the Science teacher to do this. This is why the most powerful and enabling factor in any system is dedicated and committed teachers.

I do not have the specifics of 1- to 2-roomers. We will give it to the Member if she files a Parliamentary Question. As I have said, for the 1- to 3-roomers, 50% of them progress to polytechnics and universities, and that is quite a remarkable achievement for any system. I did mention about resilient students. PISA showed that we are the 5th out of 65 countries. Resilient students are the ones that perform better than predicted which

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shows that our system does help students over-reach, even given their socio-economic status.

Mdm Cynthia Phua: I would like to ask the Minister about secondary school hours. Because youth crime is increasing, is MOE reviewing the hours of our secondary schools, so that we can keep our secondary school children in school, with less time spent outside?

Dr Ng Eng Hen: As my Minister of State mentioned, MOE is working very closely with MCYS to look at these issues, the trends of youth-at-risk. We do have programmes which keep them in. But I want to articulate a principle, that we should not ask our schools to do what is primarily the responsibility of parents. Neither do we push them and pressure them because I have seen that happen. It is not wrong in itself, but it does dilute the attention of your teachers, and it does not place squarely where the responsibility should be placed. We have to work with parents and the community in order to address these issues. In other words, I am not going to keep students because they want to be somewhere else. I am not going to create programmes because basically, that will just create disinterested students who will be antagonistic, rebellious at school and may even affect their real programmes when there are real classes to be held.

We will do what we can but I would like that for these matters, we work with community groups to engage students and their parents. My teachers have gone out of their way to do that, but I have never asked them to be solely responsible for that, and they are clear on that. I have asked them to be solely responsible for educational outcomes.

The Chairman: That is all the time we have for clarifications. Mrs Josephine Teo, in light of the responses, would you like to withdraw your amendment?

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Mrs Josephine Teo: Madam, we would like to thank the Minister, the Senior Ministers of State and the Minister of State for their comprehensive responses to Members' concerns. In particular, we would like to thank the Minister for three things. One, for encouraging us with the Singapore story; two, for pointing out that social mobility is not just about moving people from within but also uplifting our whole system and, three, for assuring us that MOE remains very committed to ensuring that the social mobility will remain the hallmark of Singapore's education system.

With that, Madam, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $9,767,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $1,143,532,700 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

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Head I – Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

Building and bridging communities

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Madam, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

Madam, I wish to speak about two bridges that need to be built. First, between the rich and the poor and, second, between the different races and between old and new citizens.

First, let me share some perspectives on the cost of living in Singapore. There are some definitions of income which uses the amount needed to meet the 2,200 calorie diet as the minimum income

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needed. My colleagues at NTUC FairPrice gave me the following figures. For meeting the basic nutritional needs for a family of four, ie, two adults and two teenagers, the cost is about $370 a month. This is based on the nutritional requirements of the Health Promotion Board, and we take the simplest food plan. We have tofu for lunch and chicken for dinner. We then added some frills, eg, kaya , coffee, soya sauce, biscuits, things like that. This comes up to another $20 a month. Hence, on a subsistence level, I think $400 will probably feed a family of four a balanced diet.

I would like to highlight that this is really subsistence – white rice, tofu , one vegetable and one fruit for a meal. Even for the meal with chicken, it is half a chicken for the family. The average middle class of Singapore will probably have Royal Umbrella rice with prawns, salmon and so on. And most middle-class families have more than one protein and one vegetable for their meals. Looking at the data, we have on what Singapore families eat. They will go for a $15 or $20 meal. So you can probably say that food for such an average middle-class family will cost about $1,000 a month.

Madam, I did this experiment to show what we all know already through personal experience that happiness, contentment or richness if you will, they are all relative. For many people in the world, what we call subsistence diet – kaya , half a chicken, rice, it is already complete contentment. It is something that they have been striving and working for all their lives. But this is not what the average Singapore family wants. I thank the Minister for giving us an assurance that even the very poor amongst us, they can have enough for the $400 subsistence meals. No one need go hungry here if he does not turn up his nose at housebrand rice and half a chicken for his whole family to share.

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At the same time, I note there is a gap between the $400 meal that we can afford and the $1,000 meal that we aspire to. This budget holds out that promise, ie, if we want to have any help with education and job training, there are enough schemes out there to give us a leg-up. And with these, our family can have a $1,000 meal plan by our own work and effort.

Madam, the broad strokes of the budget paint a good picture. I would just like to ask the Minister to fill in the following points. One, what are we doing to help those too poor even to afford the $400 meal plan? What are we doing in terms of infrastructure, for example? Do we have plans for a new welfare home? Can the Minister give an update on the current Boys Complex? What are we doing for persons with disabilities, in particular, those covered under the Enabling Masterplan?

Madam, I move on to the second bridge that we ought to build. Under Community 2015 Masterplan, the People's Association (PA), through its grassroots organisations, aims to reach out to one in two residents by 2015. This is up from the current one in three. My question is: how does PA intend to build on this very high base and whether they have the resources to do so? PA is an organisation that coordinates the work of grassroots leaders. These volunteers are supported by paid staff who worked very hard and often very long hours because volunteers only worked during non-office hours. So what is the turnover rate for PA staff in recent years? How do their salaries match up to the private sector?

Finally, I would like to say that our efforts and those of the grassroots leaders have seen some success only because the residents themselves see each other as being part of the same community, regardless of race, language or religion. Recently, Prime Minister Lee commented

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that our Malay-Muslim community, and I quote, "has made great efforts to integrate with the other communities and with Singapore society to join the mainstream." I certainly share Prime Minister's view.

Madam, my Malay friends eat with me, shake hands with me and we speak in the same mix of English, Malay, Hokkien and Singlish too, that we do with all races. We have had four decades of National Service (NS), economic ups and downs and our children have been schooled in the same language and, by and large, they share the same world view. One of my best primary school friends is a Malay and our recent class reunion was a memorable one.

Amongst the six Malay Activity ExCo (MAEC) in the Marine Parade GRC, we have Chinese, Indian and Eurasian members, jointly organising various programmes for the residents. That we have non-Malays in the MAEC speak of the openness of the community. My Youth ExCo (YEC) organised the screening of live matches during last year's World Cup in our Community Club. At wee hours of the morning, there were large crowds of residents of all races and ages, chatting with their neighbours, people whom may have stayed next door for years but they have never met. It was a great success. In fact, Senior Minister Goh came to join me and my grassroots leaders and residents for one of the quarter-final matches. Unfortunately, the team I supported lost that quarter-final match. I have digressed.

5.30 pm

Music is another fine example to bond people. Again, my Youth ExCo started a band which has since performed both in Singapore and Malaysia. Every month, it organises board games and several other activities. During this Chinese New Year, my Youth ExCo worked with the

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Singapore Nurses Association to distribute food and necessities to needy elderly within my ward. They also made sure that these old people had access to basic medical supplies and services. I put the success of my YEC to the enthusiasm of young people in the ward, but also the vision and leadership skills of its Chairman, Mohd Ridzuan Bin Rosli, who is barely in his 20s – he is about 26 – and is currently in the Police Force. He is a fine example of a young Singaporean who is ready to step up into a leadership role, bringing his love of music and his organisation skills to depth. The editor of my constituency's newsletter is Mr Azami Bin Salim, another active grassroots leader. All these are actually the more remarkable ones because in my Braddell Heights Constituency, less than 6% of my residents are Malays. We are all proud of our residents and grassroots leaders. Regardless of their race and religion, they have made great progress in building and strengthening our community bonds, which I consider to be our most precious asset.

Madam, in conclusion, I hope that we will ensure that adequate funds are set aside to support the People's Association and its mission and building the two bridges I have pointed out. These, I feel, are as vital to the development of Singapore as a physical infrastructure that we are building.

Neighbourhood Committees

Mr Ang Mong Seng: ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Currently, about 83% of Singaporeans live in HDB estates. To enhance social cohesion among the residents, the People's Association (PA) started to set up Residents' Committees (RCs) from 1978. There are now over 550 RCs so far. They organise community

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events to increase community bonding among HDB dwellers.

Now we have more and more private estates. PA started to set up Neighbourhood Committees (NCs) from 1998 to organise events for private estate dwellers. There are 110 NCs currently. Usually, people think private estate dwellers are not interested in community bonding. That is not true. Recently, five NCs in Bukit Gombak jointly organised a Chinese New Year event at Hillview Avenue. Over 1,000 residents actively participated in the event. All the skits were produced and performed by residents themselves. The atmosphere was very jovial. This photo [ indicating ] shows that the residents in private estates are equally involved in community activities for the purpose of community bonding.

To encourage NCs to organise events more proactively, I hope PA can assist them in the following three areas:

(i) Provide funds to NCs so they can rent commercial space as their office; or to allocate some space in the CCs to be used as NCs' office;

(ii) Provide administrative staff to the NCs to handle administrative and financial issues; and

(iii) Set aside more community activity fund to encourage NCs to organise more community events for private estate residents.

Integration in HDB estates

Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Madam, the social landscape in HDB estates has been changing over the last decade, with more foreigners and Permanent Residents (PRs) making their way into our heartlands and also foreign workers renting rooms or entire flats from HDB residents. While this introduces

*Cols. 4067-4068.

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culture diversity into our HDB neighbourhoods and may provide more opportunities for cross-cultural exchanges, it could potentially also be the source of tension should misunderstanding arise. I would like to know whether there is a dispute resolution framework and mechanism in place to specially deal with neighbourhood disputes or culture misunderstanding involving Singaporeans and foreigners, or PRs in HDB estates should they arise.

Madam, as we know, social integration can be a complex idea as it means different things to different people. As a multi-racial society, we have long recognised the importance of this and have worked hard to foster harmonious racial relations and reap its precious benefits. Now that we have foreigners entering into our heartlands equation, I believe we can extend the favourable experience we have enjoyed over the years to this new category of HDB dwellers as well. Ideally, it should behove us to prevent such misunderstanding from happening by implementing programmes at grassroots level to foster good neighbourly relations and deliberately involve them in our grassroots activities. Programmes such as culture evenings and savouring exotic dishes, which my constituency has organised several times in the past, proved beneficial and popular amongst the residents. The participants were proudly spoilt and present their national attires, the mainland Chinese would tell stories about the differences in their culture and practices from ours and the Indians would cook their best sumptuous dishes for us. When the concept of social integration is paid attention to and promoted, it enhances harmonious interaction and solidarity at all levels of society.

At the end of the day, the opposite of integration is exclusion. This is certainly we would never want to see occur in our heartlands and in our country as it will

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unfold the many decades of hard work we have put in place to bring about the harmony we enjoy today.

The Chairman: Mr Wee Siew Kim is not here. Mr Sam Tan.

Social capital

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong): Madam, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I would like to make three points today. First, to talk about the meaning of the term "social capital" in the Singapore context. Second, to apply this to the case of my constituency – Radin Mas. And, thirdly, to speak about the role of social capital and its transformative effect in gelling people of different races and religions. I will make my last point in Mandarin.

Madam, many of us, myself included, have used the term "social capital" and community bonding interchangeably. I think most of the time, we can be forgiven for doing so. There is, however, a formal definition which will help to frame what I am going to say in my speech later. One American scholar, Prof. Robert Putnam, has used the term "social capital" to refer to features of social organisation such as networks, norms and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit.

Madam, in Singapore, the Government firmly believes that racial and religious harmony is the foundation of our nation building, and we have made considerable progress in building a harmonious society since independence. The Prime Minister has recently reaffirmed the Government's position on this principle and acknowledged the good efforts by the various communities in building a cohesive and inclusive society. People's Association (PA) is a key builder of social capital since its formation in 1960.

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Through nationwide Community Clubs, Community Centres and Residents' Committees, PA has been providing a common meeting place for every stock of Singaporeans to meet and mingle.

Madam, I know that PA already has a wide range of programmes and activities and, yet, each place and each ward has its own special stories to tell and showcase. We can take the lead in using PA to facilitate and also for the people themselves to decide the forms and shapes of their own community.

For example, in Radin Mas, where I serve, we have found great success in our educational tours. One concentrates on our heritage in Radin Mas, another on our environment, one more on our food, and the last one will take residents to places of interest in Singapore. Residents in Radin Mas learn about Kampong Radin Mas which is located at the foot of Mount Faber. We learn about the black and white bungalows, some of which exist in my ward. There are also places of worship such as temples, mosques and the Carmelite Monastery. So far, a few thousand people of different races and different faiths have joined these tours. Through them, we have had a better appreciation of each other's culture and history as well as the place we live in.

Madam, the People's Association is a vital part of this purpose because the organisation, the structure and the volunteers all come from the grassroots. At the same time, however, the idea for the heritage tour, the energy, the passion and the participation all come from the community itself. The gains in social capital, too, accrue almost totally to the community.

Building social capital does not only confine to heritage, food and the environment. Arts and cultures are

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additional conduits for such social bonding. Over the years, we have seen many parents sending their children to CCs and RCs to attend drawing classes, music lessons, ballet, dancing, etc. All these activities are themselves melting pots to make a Singaporean whole out of different races, languages and religions. The epitome of this is perhaps found in the lion dance troupe in the T-Net Club in my Radin Mas Constituency. For those who do not know what is T-Net Club, actually, they are set up under the People's Association.

Madam, this T-Net Club forms a lion dance troupe for the children living in Henderson and Redhill areas. When I first attended its function in 2006, I was greeted by a children dance troupe. What made this dance troupe distinctive was that the drummer was a Chinese boy, the cymbal was played by a Malay girl. After the lion dance had completed its welcome routine, the two performers took down the lion head and the body to bow to the audience. It was then that I realised that the lion head was performed by an Indian boy.

Madam, we know that it is quite an undertaking to perform a lion dance where the drum, the cymbals, the lion head and the lion body have to coordinate and synchronise in perfect harmony. It is difficult for the performers from the same race to achieve this unison, let alone a group of people from different ethnic origins. Yet, these youngsters, average of 10-15 years old, could master the delicate and complicated footwork and rhythm so seamlessly.

Madam, I see the much bigger promise of the future beyond the drawing lessons, music lessons and lion dances. In these young people, we see a new generation of Singaporeans less conscious of themselves through arts and cultures. The People's Association can be said to be the mother of social fusions for the new breed of

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Singaporeans. I, therefore, believe that more resources should be given to the People's Association so that it can play a more active and an effective role in building stronger social capital through arts, culture and heritage.

Madam, I would like to make my final point and conclusion in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] In the past 40 years, racial relations in Singapore have undergone dramatic changes. In the 1960s, when I was still a child, I witnessed first-hand the racial riots. However, by the 1970s, as a teenager, I was serving National Service with Singaporeans of different races, training along with them. In the 1980s, when I was working in the community centres, I saw people of different races using the facilities of community centres and taking part in many activities organised by grassroots organisations. In the 1990s, we begin to see people of different races dining at the same table in food centres.

5.45 pm

Since the year 2000, Singaporeans of different races not only take part in community activities and dine together, but also celebrate traditional festivals together.

I believe that many of my Parliamentary colleagues here have attended Gongxi-Raya or Deepa-Raya celebrations. These are not festivals originating from new races or newly-invented festivals, but the way two different cultures, different racial groups celebrate festivals together. Gongxi-Raya refers to the Chinese and Malays' joint celebration of Chinese New Year and Hari Raya while Deepa-Raya refers to the joint celebration of Indians' Deepavali and Malays' Hari Raya.

Although this practice where people of different races celebrate festivals together

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under the same roof, within the same space and time is not unique to Singapore, it is rarely seen in the rest of the world. This is the achievement of Singapore's racial and religious harmony.

However, to be able to embrace each other's differences while sharing similarities at this level is not something that can be achieved overnight. This is a path that we have created after 40 years of nation building, taking one step at a time. This is a "heartware" project and we must preserve and work for it tirelessly.

Since the beginning, the People's Association has always been an important catalyst in promoting racial and religious harmony. The community centres and Residents Committees under the People's Association have been hotbeds for nurturing community ties. Hence, I hope the People's Association can tell us what new plans they will be implementing in the next five years to further strengthen racial and religious harmony, to allow more residents to deepen their friendship through community centres and Residents Committees, so that Singapore, as a melting pot for different cultures, religion and traditions, can continue to shine even brighter.

Building social capital

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower and Minister for Health (Mr Hawazi Daipi): Madam, the network of grassroots leaders and organisations in the community is absolutely essential in building collective confidence, trust and strong relationship among people of diverse ethnic, religious and social interests. This is the social capital that can glue us together as a cohesive society. We have done well in the last 45 years getting people to interact together, but in building social cohesion there is no such thing as the maximum achievement. I think it is a journey; a continuous improvement of

*Cols. 4069-4070.

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what we have achieved before. This is particularly important as our society is changing – demographically, economically.

The focus of many grassroots organisations has largely been activities for residents. These are useful as an avenue for people to come together. But in the face of the changing demography, economy and other aspects of life, there is a need to sharpen the focus and the tools to strengthen the confidence, trust and relationships in the community.

How would the People's Association (PA) facilitate the building of this social capital through the network of grassroots organisations and leaders? How would PA help grassroots leaders look beyond organising activities and build on the capabilities? And how would PA support the work of other Ministries and agencies which also need to tap on the strength of our social capital so that, in the end, we can become an even more caring society, stronger and more cohesive?

Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang): Madam, building social capital is about bonding our people. There are three levels of bonding, namely, family bonding, community bonding and nation bonding. In order to strengthen bonds among Singaporeans, we must provide more opportunities or platforms for interaction and bonding.

Madam, the Community Development Council (CDC) was introduced in 1997. To date, many Singaporeans are still not sure of the role of the CDC. I wish to take this opportunity to highlight that the key role of the CDC is to bond our people. Over the years, the CDCs have been providing many platforms such as brisk walking, qigong , dancing and many community activities to bring residents to spend time together. But how can we further strengthen the bonds of Singaporeans?

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Madam, I would like to make the following suggestions:

(i) encourage more interest groups to be formed in the community and encourage them to be active in organising bonding activities on a regular basis;

(ii) recruit more volunteers and train more people to be community leaders. Community leaders play a key role in ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of community activities;

(iii) provide more resources and staff to support community-based organisations, like RCs, NCs, CCs and CCCs; and

(iv) encourage more partnership among organisations in community projects.

Madam, I feel that strong social capital must have three ingredients in place, namely, ownership, partnership and friendship. We must encourage both community organisations and Singaporeans to take more initiatives to facilitate the bonding of Singaporeans.

Madam, I wish to ask the Minister the following questions:

(i) What are the measures in place to further build social capital among Singaporeans?

(ii) Can the People's Association provide more resources to grassroots organisations to organise more bonding activities?

(iii) How do we measure the social capital and national identity of Singaporeans?

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Lim Boon Heng): Madam, first, I would like to thank Dr Vivian Balakrishnan for allowing me to start off to respond to Members on the topic of building social capital.

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The People's Association (PA) plays a key role in community development. PA is 50 years old and has done good work. Recently, PA refreshed its mission and, together with many stakeholders, co-created the Vision for the Community. Our vision is a Singapore that is a Great Home where residents feel a sense of belonging and a Caring Community where residents care and look out for one another. In other words, PA's mission is to build social capital.

PA and its grassroots organisations from all constituencies have developed a five-year workplan in support of the vision. We will focus on three key challenges that will have an impact on our work of community bonding.

First, an ageing population. With one in five residents aged 65 by 2030, we need to find ways to keep our seniors active, healthy and connected. Second, increasing social diversity. With globalisation and an increasingly diverse society, we need to continue our work of bridging communities across race, religion, age, socio-economic background, and to integrate new citizens and residents into the community. Third, engaging youths. With the changing needs and aspirations of youths, we need to find better ways to connect them with the community.

The plans from all the constituencies form the Community 2015 Masterplan to build social capital. In our context, social capital has four key components. One, building trust amongst residents and neighbours by providing them opportunities to interact regularly and become friends. Two, strengthening reciprocity by enhancing neighbourliness and residents' willingness to help one another. Three, extending the social network of residents by helping them to know their neighbours and other residents from different backgrounds. Four, building confidence in the Government and public institutions by

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helping the Government to connect with residents. In simple terms, the first three components means being a good neighbour.

Madam, a community with high social capital contributes towards wider national outcomes. Higher social capital means greater racial and religious harmony, based on mutual trust and understanding amongst residents. It supports the creation of a safe and secure home where neighbours look out and help one another. A cohesive and resilient community also lays the foundation upon which we build sustained and inclusive growth.

To address the challenges and build greater social capital, PA has identified three strategic thrusts. The first thrust is about helping residents make friends and promote neighbourliness. When residents meet regularly, they make friends with their neighbours, grow their social network and build mutual trust and understanding. Through interest groups, courses and activities, we aim to bring residents from different backgrounds together to become friends. RCs and NCs are the basic building blocks of grassroots network.

How do we visualise the desired outcome? Imagine a community where the more able helps the less well-off, a community where almost everyone knows each other. Imagine an entire street becoming a gathering space where neighbours and families interact and bond regularly over home-cooked food. An example of this is Springleaf Estate. Over the years, the Springleaf Neighbourhood Committee under its Chairman, Mr Wilson Zhuang, helped many of its residents become friends through a variety of activities. Encouraged by this, the Springleaf Neighbourhood Committee decided to marshal the residents to do something together. Through this combined effort, they set up two Ren Ai Traditional Medicine Centres (TCM) for the needy,

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and run a monthly hot meal programme for the elderly and needy in collaboration with six RCs in Nee Soon South. They have inspired three other NCs to do the same.

At Pasir Ris (West) Zone 12 RC, residents come together through regular activities and common interests. Over time, more and more residents and neighbours join in the community activities, and friendships deepened. For instance, a group of residents with a common interest in traditional food get together regularly to share recipes and prepare food for community events, such as floor parties, residents' pot luck gatherings and monthly free breakfast sessions for residents. The RC's Senior Executive Committee has also built up a membership of more than 2,500 seniors and a group of seniors who help to keep a look out for one another and for any seniors in need of help. Events and activities are often a family affair as the seniors bring along their family members, including their grandchildren.

Now, over the years, RCs and NCs have adapted their programmes to better meet the needs and demographics of residents. With greater social diversity, the work of the RCs and NCs has expanded and has also become more challenging. With more residents living in private estates, NCs play an increasingly important role. But NCs cannot use the same strategies as those of RCs as these are somewhat different. To better support NCs, PA has formed a new NC Coordinating Unit to focus on this area, in addition to the existing RC Coordinating Unit.

Mr Ang Mong Seng asked for more support for NCs. But we are engaging the NCs in continuous dialogue, and where the ideas are practical and doable, we will implement them. So we are listening to

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the NCs and will take into account their requests and implement those that we think can be done. Having said that, just the other day in Parliament, I mentioned one active seniors' group in Helsinki, Finland, which gets together regularly to organise activities for themselves. The leader of that association complained to me that they received no government help, they do not have a centre but, yet, they are able to organise so many activities. So, when I reflected on it, I thought it is because of the lack of support from their government that this group has built up so much social capital amongst themselves.

I think it gives us pause for thought – whether it is only facilities or money that is needed for building social capital. So I think we ought to make better use of existing facilities in our work.

But having said that, we are aware of the hard work that our grassroots leaders do and the hard work which the staff of PA do on the ground. The PA is piloting a new RC/NC Manager Scheme to better support RCs and NCs in their outreach efforts. They are also looking into expanding and upgrading RC centres to enhance them as common spaces for residents to interact and bond.

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Apart from bringing Singaporeans together, our grassroots leaders have also been integrating newcomers. We have about 870 Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs) who organise activities to welcome new citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) and encourage them to participate in activities so that they get to know their neighbours better. Last year, the INCs engaged 20,000 PRs and new citizens.

Some new immigrants have become activists themselves. A good example is Mr Zhang Chun Hua, aged 40, an IT analyst who came to Singapore from

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China in 1996, and in 2007 he became a Singapore citizen. Through participation in grassroots activities, his social circle expanded. Having experienced the grassroots integration efforts first-hand, he offered to set up the Kampong Chai Chee Linear Green RC in 2009 to help others widen their social network and discover the joy of volunteer work. Through his outreach, several new members, both Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, have joined the RC. Some of these new immigrants also became INCs, organising programmes and activities to welcome other new immigrants and helping them integrate into the community. Some 20% of INCs today are new citizens or Permanent Residents. Many of them find grassroots work meaningful and enjoy contributing to the community.

Dr Ahmad Magad asked about the tensions between neighbours, locals and newcomers. He said that we should take pre-emptive steps to prevent disputes and mentioned how his own grassroots leaders do so. Indeed, the work that our grassroots leaders do will keep such disputes in check. Our RCs have organised many activities to bring people together, and one example are the floor parties. I have attended many of these. At these parties, it is often the new immigrants who bring along their traditional dish and that in itself becomes a conversation piece. So we need more activities like that to bring people of different backgrounds, including our new residents, together to mix with Singaporeans so as to dispel the misunderstanding that may arise between them.

The second thrust is about connecting youth and the community. We aim to engage our youths and connect them with the community early, getting the youths to reach out and attract more youths; and encourage them not to just to do things for youths but also contribute to the wider community. We engage youths through

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the PA's Youth Movement, and it has 307,000 members and a network of CC Youth Executive Committees, the PA's Youth Movement Service Learning Clubs, and the Friends of the PA's Youth Movement with the Institutes of Higher Learning. PA is also actively forming Youth Chapters at the RCs and NCs, to encourage more youths to step forward as leaders and volunteers.

Currently, there are about 5,400 youths serving as grassroots leaders. Last year, over a thousand youths joined. Many more served as volunteers and project leaders. More young professionals are serving in the grassroots organisations despite their busy schedules. Like Ms Regina Chong Puay Ling, Assistant Vice President of a financial services firm, who helped to integrate environmental initiatives with local elderly programmes at Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Constituency. They have a project called "Project Switch", which teaches the seniors to learn how to read their electricity bills and reduce their electricity consumption. And through this activity, the seniors make friends with one another. Ms Regina Chong also mentors members of a school-based PA's Youth Movement Service Learning Club. One of them, Mr Dion Lim Huan Xiang, who joined the Outram Secondary School Service Learning Club in 2006 and has since progressed to become an active grassroots leader serving in the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng YEC.

The third thrust is about building an active community. We want to strengthen our community of volunteers and work with more partners. PA has developed a leadership development framework for our pool of 31,000 grassroots leaders. The framework is based on three key pillars. First, to inspire, motivate and fuel the passion of our grassroots leaders and volunteers in building social capital. Second, to align them with the community's vision, grassroots' mission and national policies, so that they

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understand their role in the wider context. Third, to develop their capabilities and equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their role effectively.

Based on this framework, PA offers a range of training and development programmes through its two training arms, namely, the National Community Leadership Institute and the Outward Bound Singapore. PA is also reviewing the competencies of grassroots leaders and will be updating its programmes to further strengthen the capabilities of our grassroots leaders and volunteers. And there are also programmes specifically tailored for youth leaders.

From time to time, Members have said that we should do more to recognise and reward the efforts of grassroots leaders. Indeed, we should commend them for their sacrifices and contributions. From my experience, grassroots leaders join the grassroots out of the desire to serve and contribute to the community. They derive satisfaction from the volunteer work itself, and the sense of fulfilment when they see the difference that they make in the community. They derive satisfaction also from seeing Government services improve after their feedback. PA can never offer anything to match that. We have some recognition schemes which the Members know very well. And these are tokens of our appreciation for them, and I do not think I need to detail them.

However, at the constituency level, I would urge the advisors to commend the grassroots volunteers for their service through local awards, or simply a word of thanks. Today, the PA and its grassroots organisations reach out to one in three residents. Under the Community 2015 Masterplan, we aim to reach out to one in two residents by 2015.

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Mr Seah Kian Peng asked if the Community 2015 Masterplan is an achievable one because of the high target that is set. These are early days but our grassroots leaders now have a very clear target to work on. They will widen our outreach and deepen resident engagement through a wide variety of programmes, platforms and interests. These include small scale activities such as floor parties and interest groups as well as in mass scale high point events and programmes.

More importantly, our grassroots leaders need to realise that their role is to help people do things for themselves. Grassroots leaders are volunteers and cannot be the only ones organising activities for the residents. The bigger role of grassroots leaders is that of a facilitator – helping residents to organise activities for themselves – and residents can organise activities in collaboration with their RCs and NCs. And the RCs and NCs should also work with other organisations in their neighbourhood.

I agree that sports, arts and culture and heritage are good platforms to help us build social capital. Apart from helping residents stay active and healthy, community sports provide opportunities for residents to widen their network of friends and be socially connected. In 2010, about 600,000 participants took part in Constituency Sports Club activities. The World Cup 2010 screening at community clubs and activities related to the Singapore Youth Olympic Games attracted some 200,000 residents. And the popularity of brisk walking and qiqong clubs, where small groups of residents come together to exercise and to bond, also demonstrates the potential of community sports as a way to bring people together and to make friends.

We have seen very encouraging success when community clubs are developed together with sports and recreation centres, such as the Senja-

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Cashew CC and the Anchorvale CC with the sports and recreation club. There is much higher participation. We are developing the Tampines Town Hub CC, which is on a bigger scale, and we are likely to see a few such Town Hub CCs built in the future. And this is a place where the entire family can come and participate in activities, either separately or jointly.

In the area of arts and culture, our grassroots organisations and the CDCs have done a great job so far. Not only have CCs and RCs run thousands of classes in the arts, several groups have achieved high standards. For example, the Mus'Art Youth Wind Orchestra from Jurong Green CC. In 2009, the Orchestra emerged first in the first division of the 16th World Music Contest in Holland. My grassroots leaders and I are very proud of them. There are many other excellent performing groups in the CCs, such as the Marine Parade CC Cantonese Opera Group, Pasir Ris Elias CC Chinese Orchestra, Sembawang CC Wind Orchestra and the Braddell Heights CC Symphonic Orchestra, just to name a few.

At the national level, the Chingay Parade organised by PA is an important high point event in our annual calendar. The parade provides a platform for people of different races and backgrounds to come together to perform, express their artistic talents and celebrate cultures, contributing to building of social capital. This year's Chingay Parade involved more than 8,000 passionate volunteer performers from over 100 organisations, including CCs, grassroots organisations, CDCs, athlete and religious groups, schools and tertiary institutions. They also include participants from foreign communities here, like the Japanese, Mexican and German communities. The parade featured the largest ever Malay, Indian and youth contingents led by their respective PA grassroots councils. Many other segments of the community, including women and

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seniors, also took part, showcasing Chingay as a truly community and people's parade. By the way, the Malay contingent won the top Chingay award this year.

Moving forward, PA is working with MICA, NAC and other partners to bring arts, culture and heritage to the community, and to better leverage on arts, culture and heritage as a means to build social capital.

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked how we measure social capital and a national identity. They are two different concepts. I believe that a community with high social capital and strong sense of belonging ultimately contributes to a stronger national identity. PA will be conducting regular social capital surveys beginning 2010, based on the four components of social capital. We hope to build on our understanding of the state of social capital in Singapore through these surveys.

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I thank the several Members, including Mr Seah, Dr Teo and Mr Ang, for their concern over the support given to the our grassroots organisations and whether enough funds are being provided to PA to carry out its work. I think the Ministry of Finance hears Members, and we hope that we will get more resources in the future. But building social capital is not just about money and infrastructure. More importantly, it is how we organise the community to do things for themselves and making the best use of existing facilities.

Mr Seah also worries about the working conditions of the PA staff and whether some have left because of the pressures of work, and what the turnover rate is. The PA is fortunate that it has a core of very dedicated staff. The turnover rate is not unduly high, not dissimilar to what we will find in the market, and I think it is comparable. But, of course, we

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will continue to work hard to make sure the working conditions of our PA staff will be flexible so that they can have a better work-life balance.

PA will work with many partners and stakeholders from the people, public and public sectors towards building a great home and a caring community where residents and neighbours know one another and take care of one another, where the community is cohesive and resilient, and where the Singapore Spirit is alive and strong.

The Chairman: At this point, I will allow some time for clarifications on the Minister's response. Are there any clarifications? No. In that case, we can proceed. Mr Masagos.

Performance of the Malay/Muslim community

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] The Muslim community here has been proactively organising many cross-ethnic events. PERDAUS once celebrated the Islamic New Year with a night walk together with Mr Yeo Guat Kwang and his grassroots members as well as youths from the Soka Association. For four years now, Er Lee Bee Wah and her residents have been cycling together with the congregation from Ahmad Ibrahim Mosque while visiting places of worship.

One special characteristic of Muslims in Singapore is the close collaboration between religious leaders and community leaders to reach a consensus and wisdom that will guide the Muslim community on the practices of the religion within our unique context.

It is this sensitivity and accommodating attitude in all communities that has

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enabled all places of worships to co-exist harmoniously in our heartlands, even though the residents around them do not belong to those faiths. Therefore the commitment of the Muslim community in Singapore towards racial integration should not be questioned and, indeed, the practice of harmony has become an integral part of our daily lives and we are sensitive that more can be done.

The Singapore Muslim community is special, self-confident and is always calm and rational in the face of any issues, even those that shake the community. This was evident in the face of the 9/11 incident and the detention of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) members. Our approach to religion and our successful efforts towards harmony has been commended not just by the Prime Minister but also many world leaders.

Our community's self-confidence bloomed because more and more Malay children have graduated from world-class institutions and our professionals have proven themselves capable of competing in an open economy without the crutches of special rights and affirmative action. We can progress on the principles of meritocracy, just like other communities.

I would like to ask the Minister: how can we continue to foster inter-racial harmony and further the achievements of our community members who are competing on the world stage?

Progress of the Malay/Muslim community

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, during the Budget debate, I touched on the progress of the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore. By working together with the Government, the Malay community has progressed not just economically but also in social and religious fields.

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When the Malay/Muslim community was confronted with issues like 9/11, the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Mas Selamat, we stood as Singaporeans. The Malay community has come forward and stood behind the Government and together tackled complex and sensitive issues as one. The community should be commended for taking a firm stand against terrorism.

During times of difficulty, we can also take pride with the fact that the Malay/Muslim community has made adjustments so as to encourage understanding and harmony. Today, our mosques also implement programmes that are more inclusive. In the Hong Kah GRC, for example, events and programmes, jointly organised by the mosques and non-Malay organisations, have become common. And this has brought benefits to nearby residents, regardless of race or religion. The Malay community has spent years building trust with the Government. For the Malay community, integration is not an issue. I believe that the community is committed to and support the multi-racial and multi-religious principles of Singapore.

I hope that the Minister can give his views on our progress in terms of integration efforts and on how the Malay/Muslim community can continue working hand-in-hand with the Government to achieve long-term economic, religious and social objectives. Also, how can MENDAKI and MUIS bring further progress for the community and help it seize opportunities so that we can see more Malays who are successful in the public, private and social sectors?

Keeping the Malay/Muslim community competitive

The Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed): Madam, Malays and Muslims are an integral part of Singapore. Their challenges are as much

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national challenges. Malay/Muslim Singaporeans must be relevant not only to Singapore but also to the world.

The community has been working hard for self-upliftment. It has shown credible results, but are they enough to meet the competition locally and internationally? How do we keep the Malays competitive?

Madam, allow me now to speak in Bahasa.

( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, from my experience serving the community and my own observation during visits to other countries, I find that the efforts of the Malay/Muslims to uplift themselves are outstanding. This is also true in terms of integration efforts. These have helped our Singapore society to become more cohesive. Singapore stands out as an icon of integration and harmonious living. That is one of the reasons why Malay/Muslim Singaporeans feel hurt when they are seen as not doing enough for integration. It hurts even more when their religion, Islam, is said to be the cause. While they acknowledge that there are those who see Islam through a narrow interpretation and might not facilitate better mixing and integration, Islam should not be blamed. That was why Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's position was well-received when he welcomed the positive role of the Malay/Muslim community towards progress and integration.

Nevertheless, more than just the question of integration, there are still Malay/Muslim Singaporeans who fear that when the economy shrinks, they would be the first to be affected. And some fear marginalisation, although I feel and I would like to reassure the community that we, as a Singapore society, are making good progress and the Malay community need not be fearful. This is because the Government and the people of Singapore,

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in general, realise that our country will not be stable and harmonious if the Malay community continues to lag behind or, worse, marginalised.

May I ask the Minister for his opinion as to whether the Malay community would be able to stand tall and compete like the rest of Singaporeans?

Strengthening Malay/Muslim families

Assoc. Prof. Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, there has been an improvement in the social and economic status of Malay/Muslim families in Singapore, particularly over the last two decades. With more having access to education and completing studies beyond the post-secondary level, there has been greater social mobility among the Malay/Muslims. Many have now joined the middle-income group and are working as professionals in the middle management, in order to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families. I am also pleased to note that the Government, together with the MENDAKI foundation and Malay organisations, continues to work to strengthen Malay/Muslim families, particularly those who are facing problems in their lives.

For those in the middle-income group and beyond, sometimes called the mainstream, the challenges faced by them are similar to those faced by the other races. They too face challenges arising from the high cost of living, career development, taking care of their children and family, and many others. I believe they will need the environment and process of interaction that will enable them to be connected with the community and help them to pursue their aspirations in their life. I would like to ask

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the Minister, besides catering to families that are more prone to instability, what are his Ministry's recent efforts on catering to the needs of such mainstream families.

Disadvantaged Malay/Muslim families

Assoc. Prof. Fatimah Lateef: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, as we achieve progress and excellence, there is still a segment within the Malay/Muslim community that is lagging behind. They are trapped in a vicious cycle and find it difficult to make progress. There are many factors that led to their condition: issues of mindset, unemployment, unskilled jobs, lack of qualification or low education, among others. What makes their situation so grave is that the problems faced by these families will be transferred on to their next generation, that is, their children and grandchildren who will face the same issues if they are not pulled out of this vicious cycle.

Many organisations have implemented various initiatives to help them. Many organisations have also worked together to improve the quality of life for them and empower the affected families. Can Minister share with us the progress of the programmes for such families and whether we can see and assess the benefits gained so far?

Community Leaders' Forum Labs

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, the Community Leaders' Forum (CLF) unveiled the CLF Labs programme in November 2010. This programme aims to help young people realise ideas that can help uplift the Malay/Muslim community. This is an opportunity for the Malay/Muslim community to work together to address issues that currently affect them.

*Cols. 4077-4078; 4079-4080; 4081-4082.

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I am proud of the younger members of the Malay community who come from diverse backgrounds for their willingness to step forward to plot new strategies for our community's future. The Malay/Muslim community has a large youth base. There is also an over-representation of our youths in delinquent activities compared to youths in other communities. Certainly we need to tackle the issues facing our youths.

I hope that the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs could share with the House the strategies of the CLF Labs to entice youths from different backgrounds to come forward and share viewpoints and new ideas. What are some of the initiatives that have been developed under CLF Labs, in particular, initiatives that engage the community? I would also like to suggest that we work together with non-Malay organisations and also youths from other communities who wish to contribute ideas or initiatives for CLF Labs. In this way, we can expand our network and the sources for useful new ideas.

Empowerment of Malay boys and girls

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, as the youngest community relative to the Chinese and Indian communities, the Malay community has the great potential in terms of manpower resources to help society and the country progress. This potential in our youths should be further harnessed to become an asset to society.

One of the concerns within the community relates to high-risk youths who often come from problem families. They usually have low self-esteem, due to poor performance in their studies. Often, they also get involved in unproductive activities, in order to enhance their sense of self-worth. Some are involved in juvenile crimes, and for the teenage girls,

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some get entangled in the problem of teen pregnancy.

In 2008, the MENDAKI and the Community Leaders' Forum (CLF) introduced a self-empowerment programme for girls as a pilot programme. The main aim of this programme is to give them hope and a positive vision. Can the Minister comment on the effectiveness of this programme after two years of implementation? How many teenage girls have benefited from this programme and what is the main outcome? What are the follow-up plans of this programme to continue engaging more teenage girls? With the experience gained from implementing this programme for girls, are there plans to extend it to teenage boys? If so, what are the special features that will be introduced for boys because we know that the needs of the boys will be different from the girls?

Madam, one of the characteristics of dysfunctional families is the failure of the men to perform their role and responsibility as heads of the family, to ensure sufficient economic resources for the family and to be a positive role model to their sons. Many dysfunctional families have heads of family who are practically non-existent in their lives because they spend most of their time in prison. Therefore, it is essential that the empowerment programme for boys be enhanced with a mentoring process involving male Malay professionals as mentors. Are there further plans to attract more Malay professionals to come forward, befriend and mentor these youths so as to become an example and a source of inspiration to them?

6.30 pm

MUIS leadership renewal

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, we now have a new Mufti. What can the community

*Cols. 4083-4084; 4085-4086.

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expect from this leadership change? Could the Minister share with us the priorities and plans of the new Mufti and his team?

With regard to MUIS strategies, what are its future plans and what role can be played by MUIS in line with the Budget's focus this year on efforts to help the community progress in their religious, economic and social fields? What is being done by MUIS to build the next generation of religious leaders to help the community progress as well as adapt themselves to a secular and modern environment?
For the past few years, MUIS and the mosques have implemented more engagement and community programmes. I believe that mosques can play a bigger role to engage the community. Last year, the Minister also announced the construction of new mosques in the western and northern regions. Muslim residents and workers in the western part of Singapore often ask me about the progress of these projects. What may be the concept of the new mosques and what are the collaborative plans that can be expected between the mosques and Malay organisations and the community?

Mosque building plans

Mdm Halimah Yacob: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, our mosques have successfully shaped a socio-religious life that is far-reaching and profound in line with MUIS' mission to build mosques as centres of Islamic excellence here.

Our mosques have a unique vision, features and programmes that make the function of mosques here a very comprehensive one. Clearly, our mosques are not only places to congregate and worship but also centres of religious teaching, Islamic learning and social development of Muslims in Singapore.

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More encouragingly, our mosques not only develop the Muslim community but have also carried out successfully programmes and activities to foster inter-religious and inter-racial understanding in Singapore. Our mosques have for so long played the role of instilling harmony between multi-racial and multi-religious residents in Singapore. This is in line with the spirit of Islam. In order to continue this, it will certainly need the community's commitment and the support of the community's leadership.

Our mosques must continue to be managed systematically and professionally. At the same time, we can conclude that the success of our mosques today reflects the development of the Malay/Muslim community itself. The openness of our mosques, the changes and improvements that we can see, all show that the Malay/Muslim community itself has changed, progressed, become open and are sufficiently confident and comfortable with its own identity as Muslims and members of Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society.

Thus, may I know when will the construction of the two new mosques which have been announced be completed and, specifically, where will they be located?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, during the debates on the budget for the Ministry last year, the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs announced that new mosques would be built in Woodlands and Jurong. This news was welcomed by residents in the north and I am sure also in Jurong because the existing An-Nur Mosque in Woodlands and Asy-Syakirin Mosque in Jurong are always packed during Fridays, weekends and religious festivals.

To me, MUIS' plan to build these two new mosques reflects the Government's

*Cols. 4087-4088; 4089-4090.

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support of the religious aspirations of Muslims in Singapore.

The An-Nur Mosque is now being upgraded and a temporary mosque located beside it has already been in operation since late last year. The Board of Management of the An-Nur Mosque had done a good job in fulfilling the religious needs of the Muslim community in the north by facilitating a smooth move to the temporary mosque and making it convenient for the residents. However, residents in Woodlands have been looking forward for information pertaining to the location of the second mosque to be built in Woodlands as the present temporary An-Nur Mosque is now already packed with congregants. I hope that the location of the second mosque in Woodlands will be easily accessible by Muslims, not far from residential areas and with connectivity to the public transport system for the convenience of residents. I hope that the Minister will give the latest update about the new mosque location.

Strengthening religious institutions

( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] With regard to my second cut on strengthening religious institutions, the Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs had previously spoken on the Enhanced Mosque Clusters (EMC) under MUIS. I feel that the plan to manage mosques in clusters is a good one because it enhances collaboration between the mosques located near each other and the sharing of resources like expertise and volunteers as well as the network of services for residents. I hope that the EMC will also help enhance relationship and cooperation between our mosques and community organisations at the district and constituency levels, such as CDCs, RCs and FSCs. I would like the Minister's views on this.

The EMC also aims to assist and empower those who receive Zakat

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assistance, through the comprehensive programmes being offered, to help them get out of the vicious cycle that has been shackling them. I would like the Minister's view as to how the collection of Zakat funds and their disbursement can be improved through the EMC network.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Madam, the Malay/Muslim community of today lives in a fast-changing environment. Despite the challenges, Members would be pleased to know that our community has achieved significant progress on many fronts.

Both Mr Masagos Zulkifli and Mr Zaqy Mohamad have asked about this progress. 2010 saw strong economic growth of 14.5%. Just as our community bore the earlier recession with resilience, so have we reaped the benefits of the recovery. Better job opportunities are available to those who are willing to undergo training. About 12,700 training places under MENDAKI's Job Steady Programme were taken up in 2010. MENDAKI's Job Ready programme also assisted about 3,700 jobseekers in re-employment. I am also happy to note that Zakat collection grew by 7% from 2009 to 2010, with a total of $22.7 million collected.

Our community has also done well in education. The proportion of Malays aged 15 and over with at least post-secondary qualification has doubled from 18% in 2000 to 36% in 2010. And the statistics released by MOE showed Malay students had shown the greatest improvement over the past 10 years in their performance at the GCE "A" Level examinations. Better academic results will give our youth a good head start to career-development and family-life.

Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed asked about keeping the Malay/Muslim community competitive. Overall, Madam, we are

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progressing well. However, there are still challenges. Education and the family will always be our priority. Skills upgrading for greater competitiveness should be a continuous endeavour. We will continue to listen to feedback and work together in the spirit of gotong-royong to achieve even greater heights.

Stable and resilient families are crucial in preventing wider social problems arising. I am pleased to report that Muslim divorces have gone down by about 17% over the last five years. The preliminary figure for 2010 is 1,626 divorces, down from 1,944 in 2006. But we must not rest on our laurels. In a recent study on Muslim marriages, MCYS found that about half of the divorces involved couples who were 21 to 29 years old at the point of marriage. Twenty-five percent of female divorcees and 8% of male divorcees were below 21 years at the point of marriage. Those who were previously divorced or did not attend marriage preparation courses were also more prone to divorce. Such findings help shape our constant efforts to foster strong marriages and families in the Malay/Muslim community.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Mohamad Faishal asked about efforts to strengthen Malay/Muslim families in recent times. In 2010, more than 2,000 participants attended Bersama Mu ("With You"), a course aimed at helping couples transit smoothly into marriage and parenthood that has received positive feedback. A series of customised marriage enrichment programmes rolled out in 2010 as an extension to Bersama Mu was also well received.

To underscore the importance of marriage preparation, MCYS launched a public education campaign in May 2010 featuring a two-episode drama entitled "Mr Pakar" ("Mr Expert"). The five "Mr

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Pakar" episodes subsequently uploaded on Facebook generated many "likes", indicating that young couples can relate to the marriage and parenting issues facing Mr Pakar's family.

Assoc. Prof. Fatimah Lateef asked about disadvantaged families. Among these, minor marriages especially continue to be a source of concern. Since 2006, the number of minor marriages and divorces involving minor marriages have dropped by 35%, and 26% respectively. While the situation is improving, we must not let up on our efforts. The INSPIRASI hubs operated by PPIS Family Service Centre (West) and the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) help minor couples. In 2010, more than 40% of the 307 couples who attended premarital counselling at the INSPIRASI hubs either delayed or cancelled their marriage. Strengthening existing minor marriages is also a focus. As the first five years of marriage are often the most vulnerable, Club INSPIRASI in 2010 handheld 447 such minor couples through structured activities to sustain their marriages.

Reconstituted families, too, are vulnerable as remarriages involving divorcees are more likely to end up in divorce. Such families now have access to a range of related social services in PPIS Vista Sakinah's permanent premises at Woodlands Drive 44, officially opened on 15th January this year. Vista Sakinah runs a programme to help remarrying couples' children transit into the new family. During its one year of operation as an interim centre, 680 families benefited from its services and 247 remarrying couples attended Program Memupuk Kasih (PMK), a specialised course to help them handle the stressors in a remarriage.

Financial difficulties often affect disadvantaged families. To manage these challenges, families can tap on nationwide social service programmes, such as the Healthy Start Programme for low-income

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families with children of age six and below. A social assistance project will be piloted this year in the MacPherson neighbourhood to help low-income Malay/Muslim residents in a more targeted manner. MENDAKI, the South East Community Development Council (SE CDC), and South East Enhanced Mosque Cluster under MUIS will work with social service professionals on a collaborative model based on MENDAKI's Enhanced Wrap Around Care concept. The team will undertake structured case consultations to effectively uplift the lives of the needy. A similar project in the North East involving MENDAKI, North East CDC and the Tampines Family Service Centre will also be launched this April to serve the residents there.

Cultivating a strong sense of community spirit is another way to buttress support for families in need. Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about the Community Leaders' Forum Labs (CLF Labs). Madam, CLF Labs will be piloting the Mobile Hub for Community Learning in partnership with MENDAKI in three neighbourhoods in the north. The 20 families involved will be introduced to resources that promote learning and building resilient families. With heightened neighbourliness through the Mobile Hub, it is possible for us to revive the "urban kampong spirit".

Institutional efforts to help the Malay/Muslim community build stable, resilient and nurturing families have seen positive results. But we also need greater moral courage to bring attention to cases that otherwise fall through the cracks, such as the child abuse cases that Dr Ahmad Magad noted in his speech at the Budget debate. Families should not hesitate nor be embarrassed to seek help when necessary. I am confident that with more feedback, further public outreach and improvement of existing hardware, we can continue to bring down the

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number of divorces, minor marriages and dysfunctional families.

6.45 pm

Madam, the age profile of the Malay/Muslim community is the youngest among the main ethnic groups in Singapore, with 32% below 19 years of age. Our youth are a valuable talent pool whose educational attainment has been steadily improving. I urge more young people to step forward to bring the community to greater heights. Besides developing young talents, it is also crucial to reach out to vulnerable youth before they succumb to negative influences.

Dr Mohamad Maliki asked about the empowerment of Malay boys and girls. MENDAKI's Empowerment Programme for Girls (EPG) has reached out to Secondary 2 girls in the Normal stream since 2008. Madam, I am happy to report that 95% of our EPG girls are progressing into post-secondary education, surpassing our anticipated target of 75%. The 317 girls in EPG were involved in dialogue sessions, interest groups and community projects. Women professionals volunteered as role models for these girls to set future career aspirations. The girls emerged with clearer purposes in life and higher self-esteem. Sarah (not her real name) is one EPG girl who transformed from a rebellious teenager to a motivated young lady. Now, she finds meaning in committing time to family, school, dance, part-time work and EPG activities. She and others in the pioneer batch are encouraged to return and volunteer in MENDAKI's programmes. We will continue to evaluate the programme's outcomes to ensure that the girls take away valuable life skills.

Following the EPG's positive experience, I am pleased to announce that MENDAKI will be officially launching a parallel programme for boys known as the Engagement Programme for Boys (EPB) in March 2011. The EPB will pilot with 100

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secondary boys from various schools, providing them with a platform to continue their education, engage in enriching activities, and develop wholesome values.

As part of youth development, experienced leaders should also help guide younger leaders in order to facilitate smoother leadership transition.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad talked about MUIS leadership renewal. The former Mufti, Shaikh Syed Isa Semait, is a good example of a leader who has focused on developing talent, such as through inviting more young people to be associate members of the Fatwa Committee. Shaikh Syed Isa also helped mentor our current Mufti, Dr Mohamad Fatris Bakaram, over the last seven years before the official changeover this year. The synergy between old and new leaders can help an organisation move with the times.

It is heartening to see more younger leaders taking the helm in mosques and other Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs). Ain Society is a good example. It is now led by a new President, 37-year-old Mr Abdul Malek Osman, and a new management committee whose members are between 22 and 35 years of age. So I urge leaders of various sectors to engage the young and make them committed stakeholders of our community.

Madam, I now turn to our community's religious institutions. Mosques, as noted by several speakers, are important support pillars and we will continue to ensure that they cater to our religious needs.

Last year, I announced that there will be two new mosques in Jurong West and Woodlands. Since then, MUIS and MCYS have been working with MND and URA to secure suitable sites. In response to Mdm Halimah Yacob and Mr Hawazi Daipi's

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queries on mosque building plans, today, I am happy to provide more details on the two new mosques.

The new Jurong West mosque will be located near the junction of Jurong West Avenue 2 and Jalan Bahar, easily accessible from PIE and Boon Lay MRT station. It will serve residents in Jurong West and Pioneer, workers from the Jurong Industrial Estate and the planned Wenya Industrial Estate, and students from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), thereby easing crowds at Assaykirin mosque. This mosque is expected to be built in 2014/2015.

For the new mosque in Woodlands, the advisors and I have agreed on the area to the south of Woodlands Avenue 5 and bounded by Woodlands Avenue 2 and Avenue 12, based on ground feedback from MUIS that this would best serve the residents of Woodlands. This mosque is also expected to be built within 2014/2015. MUIS will continue to work with technical agencies, advisors and grassroots leaders on the exact site.

Mr Hawazi Daipi asked about our efforts to strengthen religious institutions. Under the Enhanced Mosque Clusters (EMCs), the South East cluster and North East cluster were set up in 2008 to decentralise the social assistance function previously done by MUIS. Assistance through EMCs is holistically improving the lives of zakat recipients, helping them to become self-reliant. I am pleased to report that both clusters have achieved good progress.

Befrienders play a key role in guiding zakat -receiving families towards self-reliance. A total of 344 active Befrienders are helping 500 such families, with 50 of them trained under a programme started in 2010. MUIS will also introduce a Befrienders Management Framework for improved effectiveness. Our volunteers

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complement the extensive partnership between the EMCs and national and community agencies to ensure that needy families receive appropriate assistance. I hope more people will step forward to volunteer with the EMCs.

Madam, the EMCs' journey has not always been smooth. However, MUIS has continuously refined their approach based on ground concerns and mosque leaders have also seen the benefits brought about by the EMCs. Hence, at the Mosque Convention 2011, we will consolidate the feedback for further improvement.

Madam, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Mr Masagos Zulkifli and Mr Zaqy Mohamad have raised issues of integration. Earlier, Mr Seah Kian Peng and Mr Sam Tan have also touched on the issue of integration. These are sensitive but important issues, and I thank Members for raising them. Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious nation where integration is a continuous process. Progress by all communities, including Malay/Muslims, has been good. There will occasionally be hiccups and sometimes, feelings are hurt when perspectives differ on sensitive issues that we hold dear. But we should not let such hiccups hold us back. As the Malay proverb goes, " Bulat air kerana pembentung, Bulat masyarakat kerana muafakat ", the Malay/Muslim community will remain together with fellow Singaporeans, through thick and thin, as one people and nation committed to peace and progress. Indeed, there is much for our community to be proud of which we have achieved together. And we redoubled outreach efforts following 9/11 to forge even stronger ties with fellow communities. Under MUIS' leadership, our mosques are active members of the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs), hosting many inter-faith dialogues on mosque grounds. These sessions have helped build understanding and respect among various religious

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communities. As a result, in my considered view, today, our integration and mutual confidence between races and religions is stronger, more resilient and more mature than it was a decade ago, before 9/11. In pursuing integration, we affirm our Singaporean Muslim Identity which encapsulates our way of life, and our aspirations to be an open, forward-looking and successful community. Our Prime Minister has stated clearly the Government's appreciation for the Malay/Muslim community's efforts, and its strong support for these efforts. I am therefore confident that the community will continue to work closely with the Government and other communities to strengthen our national cohesion.

Madam, in closing, let me thank the Members for their questions. I would like to emphasise that the Malay/Muslim community is doing well in areas such as education and employment. The community's untiring efforts are bearing fruit. Mr Masagos Zulkifli asked about plans to enhance and strengthen the Malay Muslim Organisations (MMOs). MMOs like MENDAKI, which is turning 30 in 2012, have played a key role in helping the community achieve the good results so far. Ahead of this anniversary, it would be timely for MENDAKI, together with the community, to reflect on the areas that MENDAKI has done well in, the challenges facing our community that many years of work have yet to solve and the new global developments to adapt to. I look forward to hearing from the community on this.

Madam, now allow me to address the House in Malay.

The Chairman: Dr Yaacob, before you proceed in Malay, let me extend the time for sitting so that you will not be interrupted and we can have time for clarifications, if any.

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