HEAD K - MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Head K – Ministry of Education

The Chairman: Head K – Ministry of Education. Mrs Josephine Teo, please take both cuts together.

Education policy for the 21st century

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

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

Sir, our education system has worked well and we have much to be thankful for. Therefore, it is natural to prefer

Column: 3615

incremental changes that do not rock the boat too much. We should affirm the efforts of the MOE which has, over the years, taken bold actions to update our education system to keep it current, even if they unsettle parents and students. Though we have made continuous improvements, I wonder if the change from within is happening as quickly as the change from without. Consider the fact that today's 5-year old pre-schooler will likely remain in the workforce till the year 2070, perhaps even later.

Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh): 5.05 pm

Remember that five years ago, when the pre-schooler was born, the iPhone did not exist and yet, over Chinese New Year, more than half the people I met owned one. The computer in our mobile phones today is a million times cheaper, a thousand times more powerful and about a hundred thousand times smaller than a computer in 1965, the year Singapore achieved independence. We can hardly imagine what the world will look like in five years, much less 60. The US Department of Statistics estimated that the average learner today will have 10 to 14 jobs by the time they are 38. The top 10 in-demand jobs today did not exist in 2004. Many of today's University courses did not exist 10 years ago, eg, Nanotechnology, New Media, E-business and Renewable Energy. What will our students study in 10 years? How will teachers cope with the generation of totally wired teens?

Our education system is being depended upon to prepare young Singaporeans for jobs and technologies that do not yet exist, to solve problems we cannot yet identify, for a lifespan that may be much longer than we can imagine. Given such a backdrop, what kinds of change are needed to be meaningful and

Column: 3616

useful? First, we need to consider new meanings of literacy. We typically define a literate as a person who can read and write. But in the increasingly connected world where information availability is growing at exponential rates, reading and writing are grossly insufficient. Literacy should be expanded to include the skill of understanding complexity and related to the skill of understanding complexity are multi-cultural sensitivity, context-setting and decision-making skills. Without these new skills, a person may well be handicapped in the new world.

Take for example, multi-cultural sensitivity. Today, how confident are we that young Singaporeans have a pan-Asian outlook? Can they name the capitals of 10 Asian countries? Can they say something meaningful and interesting about the different Asian cultures? Have they visited some of our closest neighbours in ASEAN and made friends there? And yet if they do not, how do they help the businesses based in Singapore, whether MNCs or GLCs, navigate these complex environments and achieve their pan-Asian ambitions? How possible is it for us to become a Global-Asia hub, a strategy proposed by the ESC, if we do not cultivate multi-cultural literacy in our young?

Singapore should take the lead to expand educators' understanding of literacy and build new skills in our students. We are well placed to do so and, in the process, can create new advantages for our young in a globalised world, much like the way we have created an advantage through bilingualism. Do not get me wrong. The traditional 3Rs – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, are still needed. But new competencies for our young are needed for the 21st century. This is because education in the 21st century will not just involve finding the right answers, but asking the right questions. An educated person will no longer be content with knowing the

Column: 3617

"what" and "how", but instead, wants to be convicted about the "why". Education, properly carried out, will not only enable a person to fulfil his potential, but to discover his passion and purpose, and to live his life with everyday greatness.

I have previously written about the new 3Rs – Roundedness, Rootedness and Resilience. New 21st century competencies such as critical inquiry and inventive thinking can and should be developed for a more rounded education. How should the curriculum be updated to reflect these new needs and to benefit all students? Besides academic achievement, we also need to put more emphasis on whole-person development, in other words, holistic education. The teaching of PE and Art, for example, has much room for improvement. To be sure, whenever we visit schools, there are always showcases of sporting or artistic talents. But, "one swallow does not a summer make", so I often wonder if we are just being shown the isolated achievements of a few.

At present, curriculum time for PE and Art is very limited. PE time for Primary 1 and Primary 2 is only one hour a week whereas from Primary 3 onwards, it is one and a half hours. In secondary school, it is back to one hour a week. Also, it has become common place for sport-CCA groups to take in only pupils who have the potential to compete and win medals for the school. This elite mindset is a great pity because sports should be for everyone. Through sports, we learn how to collaborate with one another, to have a winner's spirit and to take failure in our stride. We have no one else to blame for our "strawberry" generation if we do not develop resilience in our young through the rough and tumble of sports. I would like to know what steps MOE will take to

Column: 3618

promote more inclusive enrolment in sports-CCAs?

Besides curriculum time, we also need to strengthen the teaching staff and recognise their professionalism. There is a shortage of teachers trained to teach Art. Often, Art teachers have to double-up and teach other subjects. It would be better to have subject specialists for Art, just as we do for Mathematics, Science and English, to encourage professionalism. MOE should also set targets for each school to have minimum staffing of Art specialists.

Madam, I believe increased curriculum time and teacher development are still insufficient. I would like to encourage MOE to send a strong signal to parents and students by introducing three new categories in the Edusave Merit Bursary Awards for achievements in Sports, Art and Music. I suggest that MOE studies the feasibility in the next few months, establish the criteria and target to recognise 1,000 of such non-academic achievers each year beginning in school year 2011.

In conclusion, Madam, it is said that there are only two lasting bequests we can give to our children. One is roots and the other is wings. While we are busy fitting our children out with new and better wings through 21st century competencies and a more rounded education, we must not forget to help them develop their moral compass and their national identity. In times of uncertainty and crises, rootedness and resilience are what will carry us through. In pursuing holistic education in the 21st century, the roles of teachers will shift. From their primary role as a dispenser of information, teachers are more likely to become conductors of learning symphonies, helping students turn information into knowledge, knowledge into wisdom, and wisdom into contributions for a better world.

Column: 3619

Schools too will be changed, from "buildings" to "nerve centres", connecting teachers, students and the community to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the world. All of these will have an impact on the way we spend each dollar set aside for education. What new investments are needed? Should we continue to think in terms of funding for the primary, secondary, tertiary levels? Or is it more meaningful for us to think in terms of budgets for outcomes like Basic Literacy, 21st Century Competencies, Character Development? How should the Ministry's KPIs be adjusted?

Madam, education is a constant work in progress but because we already have a well-functioning system, the possibilities for greater heights of achievements are endless. However, as Albert Einstein cautioned, "We cannot solve problems using the same kind of thinking we had when we first created them." We need new thinking and courage to make bold changes. It is a transformation that should engage all the stakeholders in Singapore. These include our parents and employers, our educators, our lawmakers, community leaders, and most of all our students.

I hope the MOE will engage all of these stakeholders actively in the Debate about the future of education in Singapore.

All-round education

Mr Ong Kian Min (Tampines): Madam, I would like to call for an increase in opportunities to develop social skills and speaking skills in the school environment. With our sharp focus on the education system as well as our investment in an outstanding CET system, we are equipping Singaporeans with the necessary knowledge and technical skills. Are these sufficient? One key ingredient which Singaporeans need to become successful citizens of a globalised world is social aptitude. Social skills – such as the

Column: 3620

ability to listen, empathy, the ability to build rapport, being able to communicate, the ability to resolve conflicts and having a sense of humour – enable human beings to communicate, relate and interact with one another. With good social skills, understanding and development of common goals would be made much easier.

5.15 pm

As MOE recognises that social emotional learning enables students to develop skills to succeed in life, I would like to ask about the progress our schools are making in developing social skills in our young. One core competency which I believe our students should possess is public speaking and presentation. Surely, the ability to speak publicly and present clearly, confidently and coherently counts as an important social skill in the productivity-driven culture of the new decade. In any organisation, the ability to speak and present is a vital and much-valued skill.

Many of us are impressed, from time to time, with the powerful presentation skills of Americans who are able to speak comfortably to an audience. There are those who will say that it is all air, that the ability to talk, speak or chat constitutes more form than substance. However, I would say that since we, Singaporeans, already have a fair amount of substance, and if we work on improving and honing our form, we would be able to take on the world. Let us do away with the "we are doers, not talkers" mentality and adopt the "can do, can talk" mentality.

I urge MOE to develop a comprehensive programme to uplift the speaking and presentation skills of our students so that they are able to verbalise and communicate ideas effectively. I observe that our present system tends to favour and nurture those who are already gifted speakers. In schools, we have the high achievers with their oratory talents who

Column: 3621

do Singapore proud by winning debating awards in the international arena. Then there are also those who are already competent speakers who will either readily volunteer or be chosen by their teachers as safe bets or deserving for activities which require good speaking skills, such as acting as master of ceremonies at school functions.

But what about the remaining students who form the vast majority? At school functions and debates, they just sit back and watch their eloquent schoolmates on stage, aware that their own development in public speaking and presentation is limited to a random chance to make presentations in the odd school project or only during special one-off public speaking courses at school. We should aim at raising the frequency and standards of formal oral communication at every level and there is no better place to do so than the school environment. We should develop our students early from primary school, starting with show and tell sessions and speech and drama lessons, so that they gradually build the confidence to speak and present persuasively as they move up the learning ladder. Programmes with the long-term objective of enabling all students to achieve their full potential in speech and presentation should be carried out consistently and progressively throughout the primary, secondary and post-secondary school years. Such programmes can weave opportunities to develop public speaking and presentation skills into the curriculum across subjects and levels. By the time the student leaves school, he or she should be able to speak confidently in any situation, convey ideas articulately and deliver polished presentations to any group of people.

Madam, I would like now to touch on the subjects of PE, music and art. When asked what their favourite subject is,

Column: 3622

many a young school-goer will gleefully reply "recess!" Not surprisingly, PE, music and art rank as the favourite subjects for many of our little ones once they are told that recess, fun as it is, is not a subject.

What are the key performance indicators of PE, music and art programmes respectively? For example, will every child be physically fit, be motivated to keep fit and have been introduced to a variety of sports and physical activities by the time he leaves school? Will every child be able to play a musical instrument or appreciate a classical music performance by the time he or she leaves school? Will every child be able to appreciate different media and techniques, the relationship between the visual arts and other disciplines and appreciate visual art in relation to history and different cultures long after he folds away his last school uniform?

PE, art and music, being non-core and non-academic subjects, tend to get sidelined by other subjects, like mathematics and science. In schools, the temptation to use art, music and PE periods for other subjects, especially around examination time, is strong.

If we are serious about providing our children with quality PE, music and art education, we should have teachers who have in-depth knowledge and are specially trained to teach in these areas. Precious time is wasted and interest lost if children do not receive instructions from specialists in these areas who can give a better insight into their area of specialty and are more likely to infect and inspire the children with their enthusiasm.

For instance, in one art lesson, primary school students can be instructed simply to paint a scene in a park and be allowed to proceed as they please or, alternatively, they can be shown a few different techniques and styles that have been used by artists over the ages before being asked to paint a scene in the park in a

Column: 3623

style they prefer. In the former scenario, they are allowed to express themselves creatively while in the latter scenario, they are not only able to express themselves but they also learn appreciation of the work of other artists and take with them some understanding of art in a historical context.

Next, may I request that the Ministry elaborate on the progress that has been made on the learning of the Chinese language in primary schools since key changes were made to the curriculum and implemented at Primary 1 and 2 in 2007, Primary 3 and 4 in 2008, followed by Primary 5 in 2009? It would also be helpful to know how the students are tested at both primary and secondary levels and to have an update on our plan to maintain a core group of Chinese language experts.

Still on the matter of languages, I am of the view that schools should promote more actively the learning of Malay or Bahasa Indonesia by non-Malays, the reason being that Indonesia and Malaysia are our immediate neighbours. Non-Malay students are able to study Malay as a third language under the Malay Special Programme and Bahasa Indonesia as a third language. In addition, conversational Malay enrichment programmes are available. I wonder how these programmes are faring and whether the take-up rate should be pushed higher.

Moral and political education

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Madam, our young today are bombarded with all sorts of ideas through the Internet. Actions that once scarcely entered the realm of fantasy are now presented on the Internet not only as entertainment, but as reality. The blog post claiming that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had suffered a serious heart attack is a case in point. It said Singapore would face "total destruction" due to a

Column: 3624

"power vacuum". The post was a hoax but spread like wildfire through the Internet. One can sit back and say – well, freedom of speech. But does this entail the freedom to spread such lies and bring harm to the country?

It is such questions that our young should learn to grapple with. Given this new reality, our students need to be equipped with the reasoning skills and moral values to face the challenges of living in the 21st century. They need to learn how to think through the arguments and evidence, come to their own rational conclusions and to work out right from wrong. To do this, we should review the education curriculum and build in the teaching of moral values and political awareness with an emphasis on the exercise of reason.

A good way to approach this is through the subjects of history and literature. Where we can, we should draw from local sources and examples, so that the students can see the direct relevance to their lives. The goal is not to indoctrinate, but to encourage individuals to face the contradictions and dilemmas faced in any course of action and to provide them the opportunity to arrive at fair solutions. At the same time, we should imbue in our students a strong sense of national identity.

More should be done to insert key narratives about our founding leaders and pioneers into our history books. Kishore Mahbubani, the Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, rightly noted in the Straits Times last week that strong nations are built on inspiring narratives about their past. He called it a great tragedy that few students knew of their founding fathers. This ignorance extends to our early pioneers. A student wrote in my Facebook that it is strange how our students could reel off the names of figures from China’s imperial history, but

Column: 3625

"they are not able to tell who is Aljunied, Eunos or Nee Soon!"

At the same time, we should teach our students that history emerges from the examination of evidence and the exercise of reason. For example, there has been some discussion recently about what would Singapore be like if the Barisan Sosialis had won in 1963, and not the PAP. Will it lead to a peaceful socialist paradise, as some today seem to think? Or to a troubled pro-China Communist state, as others do. Or is this only so much navel-gazing?

I believe that such discussions are not without merit. But to do this intelligently, one needs to understand the regional and global events at the time, and the political forces at play. One also must also learn to appraise claims and counterclaims, separate supportable assertions from fabrications, scrutinise the evidence, detect flaws in arguments and reject unjustified inferences and generalisations.

For example, Australia’s then Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs, Robert Menzies, stated in a Cabinet note in 1961, that if Singapore were to win independence on its own without merger, Singapore would be easily subverted by Communist China. "It would in time almost certainly be governed by radical Chinese aiming at close association with Communist China."

Whereas, today, some former Barisan leaders who in the 1960s opposed merger, now say that had the Barisan come into power, there would have been more welfare for the people, and so on. No mention about the Communist danger.

Madam, to analyse the lessons of history, we must know our history and learn how to evaluate the evidence. To ask students to be educated on our

Column: 3626

political history is not the same thing as politicising our education system. As Aristotle said, "politics is the 'master science' among men."

The future and relevance of education

Miss Penny Low: Madam, when our children have a question, who do they call? Parents – maybe; teachers – maybe; peers – maybe. Wikipedia and Google - probably!

The infinite information access at real time means that the highest utility children get out of education today is no longer just pure knowledge, nor skills that revolve around recall and process. Our external online brain does that nicely. What it does not do is to give meaning to knowledge, adapt to fast changing external environment, make sound and wise judgment, so we can combine knowledge with humanity to solve problems. Question: how can schools stay relevant, impart agility, wisdom and value systems that are apt for the 21st century global citizens?

Madam, studies have pointed to the emergence of a new human species, called the "homo zappiens" (Gen Z). These are children born into multi-channel, globally connected vatar world, where they are bombarded with a kaleidoscope of multi-channel media from birth. As a result, their brains are wired differently from the homo sapiens to help them learn in a non-linear and visual manner, such that they can genuinely multi-task like an octopus. If this is true, it has huge implications. For one, the connected cyber and real world would truly become the homo zappiens’ oyster.

Next, the simple act of multi-player computer games, combined with simultaneous multi-party online chats and calls, can very quickly become platforms for collaborative and creative problem solving. Cyber tracks will blossom in this global

Column: 3627

playground giving new meanings to relationships, transform the human web as well as reorganise the way we work, live and play. Harnessed properly, such platforms can also promote mutual understanding and cultural melting pots, thereby averting potential conflicts and clashes. But, of course, the reverse is also true.

As our information environment is finally catching up to human capabilities, we are now beginning to see learning environments created to capitalise on our natural and intuitive inclinations – which are all around curiosity, interest-oriented skill acquisition, and project-based implementation. Music, art, sports and common interest that transcends language barriers and promotes creativity will become the new common language and academic driver.

In the US, experiments are being done using mobile technology to deliver education. For example, a fifth grade mobile phone learning programme that incorporates the game theory was rolled out as an experiment that has got rather complex information gathering and decision making processes in the game. The findings are summarised by the designer Katie Salen, and I quote:

"Games are exceptionally good at engaging kids … They drop kids into complex problems where they fail and fail, but they try again and again."

In short, such mobile or video games have outperformed teachers

in one key way and that is they command attention for hours and cultivate a new breed of children who are potentially less risk averse and better at absorbing information coming from all directions.

5.30 pm

Going forward, the way we design our curriculum will shape not just the

Column: 3628

organisational gestalts of our children's thought processes but more deeply how they interact with everyone on planet earth to a greater degree than ever before. We are entering a completely new form of society that offers new opportunities to revolutionise teaching roles, content and learning methods that enables our citizens to navigate the highly connected knowledge intensive world. Schools, therefore, will have to seriously rethink their educational value, redesign the educational framework and rebuild the methodologies that will work for this 21st century homo sapiens .

But, Madam, on my wish list is that schools will also seriously embed the humanity quotient into education alongside with aspects of culture and history and this I echo my colleagues Ms Irene Ng, Mrs Josephine Teo and Mr Ong Kian Min so that the homo sapiens will not become a disconnected breed that loses the soul of humanity while the world becomes its oyster.

Value of learning vs. quantity learnt

Ms Joscelin Yeo (Nominated Member): Madam, Deputy Prime Minister Teo mentioned briefly the other day that his new Council would be seeking to instil a lifelong learning culture in adult Singaporeans. I would like to propose that this same culture be instilled in our young as well. Deputy Prime Minister Teo defined productivity as a measure of how much output we can get from our input. However, in relation to our young people, I view productivity as them learning a subject matter that will equip them to be effective and excellent at what they do in the future, lending value to our society.

Madam, the amount of information that a youth must learn today has significantly increased in both quantity and complexity from the time that we, those sitting here, were in school. Yet, if this has not made any of us less capable, why should we attempt to cram

Column: 3629

so much more information into them this day and age? I am aware that society and standards have changed with time but the reason our Government is as effective as it is today is not because we had a mountain of information poured into us but rather all of us here have learnt and grown better through time, opportunity and desire. It is this same desire that we must create in our youths today.

I have also observed that many of the youths I have interacted with, for the most part the increase of information does not translate into greater productivity, as the youth are likely to forget the information they have just studied so hard to learn as soon as they walk out of the examination hall. Madam, I find this a disturbing trend in the different generations of youths that I have encountered, both in my workplace as a youth executive and previously as a national swimmer.

I acknowledge that there are many schools of thought on how to best educate our young people. Apart from just teaching our young people a greater amount of information, can I suggest that we help them and teach them to value learning by finding innovative ways to make the subjects and topics more engaging? When the subject matter is found to be engaging, young people have a higher desire to attain mastery of the subject. The value imparted during the process of learning is more valuable to them in the long run than piling on information and more work as the quest for greater knowledge and, therefore, increase productivity. When they catch this love for learning, we will have a new generation that is hungry to grow and excel in whatever area of work they set their mind to. This translates into increased productivity in many sectors of our economy in the future.

Column: 3630

I was excited to read in the Straits Times last week that Crescent Girls' School has developed interactive materials that incorporate multimedia features to pique their students' interest in learning. Quoting a Secondary 1 student from the article, she said, "When I read normal textbooks, my eyelids will just droop and I cannot continue reading but with the digital textbooks there are so much colour and action, especially in the videos. They make learning fun. I am encouraged to learn on my own."

I would also like to suggest that another aspect of making the learning process more enjoyable is to place greater emphasis on the six-year IP programmes, allowing greater enjoyment and learning and breathing space for the holistic development of the youth as opposed to a four-year programme where they have to gear up for a major examination and then again two years later. Therefore, I would like to suggest to the Minister to have an incentive scheme to nudge schools to move in this direction.

Madam, in closing, I would like to draw this parallel from the concerns some raised last week with regard to the fear that the drive for increased productivity means driving people to work harder and longer. It is not about working harder but for companies to work smarter. To raise the productivity of our students, it is not to increase their workload but rather to get more innovative in the way we educate our young and they will, in turn, enjoy the work, achieve mastery over these subjects and, along the way, catch this culture of lifelong learning.

Smaller class size in schools

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan: A credible aspect of the ESC Report highlights the importance of cultivating creativity. I believe schools play a critical role in this mission as they train our youth during their formative years. Would the

Column: 3631

Minister consider reducing class size, especially in secondary schools from 40 to about 20? A better teacher-student ratio will allow teachers to spend more time with each student and facilitate problem-based learning that teases the intellect and challenge the young mind to think out-of-the-box.

As teachers play a key role in nurturing our youth, they too need to be well equipped so that they can be effective facilitators. In this regard, will there be more opportunities for on-the-job training for teachers?

Finally, to empower our teachers to do the best for each student, will the Minister consider regular study leave for young teachers in the early stages of their career to allow them time to reflect and recharge?

Letting teachers teach

Mr Viswa Sadasivan (Nominated Member): The "Goh Report" of 1979, authored by a team led by the then Minister for Education, Dr Goh Keng Swee, heralded the introduction of the New Education System which has been the basis of our education till today. The expressed purpose was to "eliminate wastage" in education and increase employability. Indeed, the education system achieved both, and today has earned respect especially for its systematic approach and rigour in delivering results.

The New Education System has served us well thus far, but it is increasingly evident that it may not be enough in preparing us for the present and especially future challenges, where what is certain is uncertainty. We need a new breed of people, especially young people, with abilities to cope with adversity and to succeed, not just technical skills. Definitely, if we want to boost productivity and have greater

Column: 3632

innovation – we need to produce more lateral thinkers, problem solvers and, very importantly, a lot more people who take pride in what they do and think beyond just themselves.

The key desired outcome of education today, therefore, would be to inspire a confident, self assured and driven young population, with skills to analyse, the propensity to come up with out-of-the-box solutions, and that is socially conscious. This spells character and attitude. Teachers are an intrinsic and vital factor in this equation. They need to have the time, indeed, the emotional bandwidth to imbibe this in our youth. Each one of us here can attest to one or two teachers who have made that impact in our lives. I remember my Primary 2 teacher, Mr Tang, who, through our many conversations made me realise that if there is something important enough to me I should just do it and not wait for someone else to do it. This has had a lasting impression on me. Yes, I was fortunate to have a teacher like Mr Tang. But today, I am not sure if the same Mr Tang would have the time, the energy to do the same thing – given the pace of life and the workload that teachers have.

Over the years, the Ministry of Education has introduced measures to free-up time for teachers to interact with students. The "Teach Less, Learn More" initiatives, the adjunct teacher and teaching aid schemes and having retired senior officers from the SAF to become operational managers and VPs in schools are examples. Yet, I am still meeting teachers who seem frustrated by the amount of administrative and other non-core duties that leave them with too little time and energy, let alone to interact with students to teach them.

The non-core activities cited by teachers include NE lessons and activities, planning and organising special activities and events such as school visits by VIPs,

Column: 3633

Speech Day, career festivals, entrepreneurship workshops and formalised community engagement activities. In addition, some teachers tell me they are also roped in for marketing and PR initiatives in the school. While they acknowledge the need for these activities and the importance, they seem frustrated by the opportunity cost, which is less quality time with the students. In fact, even some school principals, I get the sense, would prefer more time to focus on improving the teaching and character building aspects instead of the administrative aspects of their jobs.

To give principals and teachers even more time to focus on teaching and character building, I have a few suggestions:

Engage a professional CEO for each school – we now have a strong pool of retired corporate CEOs and others with credible management experience and network that would prove invaluable in the administrative, financial, business development, marketing, PR and fund raising aspects of running schools. There could be two leaders in each school – the CEO, who would be the administrative head, and the Head Master or Mistress who has the final say on all academic and pedagogical matters. This is a system that is similar to that practice in many hospitals where the CEO is a non-medical professional who, on medical issues, takes the cue from the Chairman, Medical Board – a seasoned medical practitioner. From what I understand, the system has worked well in hospitals. By engaging experienced, retired personnel to be CEOs and possibly hold other positions in schools – not only do you allow teachers more time to teach as non-core tasks are taken off their plate, you also give experienced retirees another meaningful way of contributing. Of course, there are principals today who have strong

Column: 3634

management abilities and if they are interested in that career path, naturally they should be given the opportunity.

Greater community involvement – this is a core practice in many western countries, where individuals, groups (possibly NGOs) and corporate entities in the locale contribute extensively to the school. Some schools in Singapore do this, but often on an ad hoc basis. Schools could have stronger outreach programmes to make the community feel more welcome and participate in formal programmes such as adoption of specific initiatives.

Third, involving the Alumni more meaningfully – alumni are a rich resource waiting to be invited back "home". It is a shame if we cannot see beyond fund raising when we think of alumni. I remember when I was in school in RI most of the sports teams were trained by highly committed, passionate old boys – and I think we did fairly well then in sports. We seem to have lost this tradition, unfortunately.

I would like to conclude by acknowledging that this is not an easy challenge to tackle, and the Ministry of Education has been paying a lot of attention to it for sometime. Nevertheless we have to be unrelenting in our effort as, to a large extent, the quality of Singaporeans is dependent on how well we imbibe character and resilience in our young, not just knowledge and skills which, increasingly, in my view, are just hygiene factors.

I would like to end by quoting Barry Schwartz, a renowned psychologist whose thoughts on the link between economics and psychology and education are gaining traction. He said, and I quote:

"Teachers should strive to be the ordinary heroes, the moral exemplars, to the people we mentor. The single most important thing kids

Column: 3635

need to learn is character. They need to learn to respect themselves. They need to learn to respect their schoolmates. They need to learn to respect their teachers. And, most important, they need to learn to respect learning."

That is the principal objective –

The Chairman: Perhaps they need to learn to adhere to time limits. Mrs Mildred Tan.

Mr Viswa Sadasivan: – pretty much a coast downhill. Thank you.

Character building and role of parents

Mrs Mildred Tan: Today I would like to speak on a topic that has gained new currency in today's schools – moral education and character development. Madam, we all agree that education is not just academic performance. Yet we speak of a student's grades when we evaluate him. We agree that schools ought to be valued for the character they build in our children. But yet we rank them according to our academic results. We agree that parents ought to be involved in their children's education. But much is left to the school.

Madam, we agree about many things but this has little impact on the ground. I raise the following not to be an alarmist but to approach a very difficult subject.

Madam, we know about the loosening of social norms in recent years. But imagine my shock when I found out recently that the youngest mother in Singapore in recent years is a nine-year old girl. She was in Primary 3 and the father was a boy in the same school. When she became a mother, she was about 1.3 metres tall – quite big for a girl her age. She met her boyfriend in school and they had sex frequently at the girl's house, which was a private property.

Madam, this girl was just nine years old – sexually active in her own house

Column: 3636

and her parents did not know. She was so young and when she became pregnant and the baby started growing inside her, she did not know what was happening. When she had morning sickness, she just felt sick and the mother just thought she was sick. When she went to school, her teachers and friends did not see anything wrong.

Her mother thought she had a urine infection and took her to the doctor. She was six-months' pregnant. This case was reported in both the Tamil Murasu and the New Paper .

5.45 pm

Madam, how do we prepare our children to be able to discern what is good and right for each of them and to enable them to make good judgment calls when confronted? It is not easy. How do parents today communicate with their children? Is it by phone, by SMS and, worse still, by email? Do we and how often do we as parents have face-to-face conversations with children, engaging them to share on what is going on in their lives or what bothers them?

I am part of the COMPASS group at MOE and we visit schools and get a chance to spend time and talk to the teachers and students. One teacher shared that today it is easy to teach and tell the children that cheating and stealing are wrong but it is difficult when they explain about morals and values, eg, abstinence from sex with their students.

Some parents feel that this should be part of the school curriculum while others feel that it is not the schools' responsibility. Who is responsible for moral education? I see the statistical rise in teenage sex as young as 13 and 14 years old being sexually active and our youth getting more enamoured about gambling and the statistical rise in youth gambling.

Although less obviously moral, there is the issue of youth gambling. A small

Column: 3637

wager at school may lead to larger bets and then out of control spending in bets, especially soccer betting. With World Cup coming soon, will we see a rise? A strong moral foundation gives a teenager the mental maps to distinguish between small wagers and real gambling. This I have seen in the work of NCPG where I am a member of.

Madam, I would like to suggest we take moral education as seriously as we do academic benchmarks. This, I believe, is a shared responsibility. I therefore suggest that a tripartite organisation be set up to help schools to engage parents and community, including religious organisations, work together to address social issues and moral education.

Madam, I would like to suggest an initial funding, perhaps $10 million spread over three years, to undertake projects to help our children grow with a stronger moral compass. We must be committed to help every child grow with strong moral values to help them develop in the best possible environment with the best possible opportunities for each of them. Otherwise, we must know we can lose them – even when they are nine years old!

PE, art and music education

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): Madam, we acknowledge the need for the holistic development of our children and have had non-academic subjects like music, art, physical education (PE) in our curriculum for a very long time. I would like to ask the Minister if sufficient resources have been placed on studying the long-term value of these non-academic subjects on young Singaporeans and if these outcomes would justify MOE's review of more weightage and resources being

Column: 3638

given to the development of these subjects in schools. Certainly, the resources placed in terms of quality of personnel recruited, ongoing professional training and curriculum time devoted are indicative of their value in the total academic ecosystem. I would urge the Ministry to consider putting more emphasis on subjects on them as subjects that are valued and students can pursue them as a passion. They should not be treated as peripheral subjects where teachers can replace with extra lessons on academic subjects when examination draws near, which I fear may still be happening in some schools. I would like to ask if the Ministry is putting in more resources in the form of specialised teachers trained to deliver these subjects to ensure that the learning opportunities are well reaped.

Chinese language teaching

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar): ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacualr speech, please refer to Appendix A.] China is playing an increasingly important role in the international arena with its rising economic and political power. This has led to a trend of learning Chinese all over the world. More and more people, adult or young, are now learning Chinese. In Singapore, with a majority Chinese population, it is ironical that we are facing many challenges in improving or even maintaining our students' Chinese standard.

Sixty percent of Chinese Primary One students are now speaking English at home. In schools, all subjects are taught in English except Chinese. Even in SAP Schools, students converse in English mostly.

Some people are pessimistic about Chinese language's position in Singapore. I am and, I believe, we can be positive. According to a Nielsen Media Study, Channel 8's viewership at 49%, is double

Column: 3639

that of Channel 5, which is only 28%. If we look at the local Chinese TV programmes, be it for senior citizens like Golden Age, current affairs programmes like Focus, or those popular among the young such as Campus Superstar, their popularity and standard are generally higher than the English programmes. I know even many Malays and Indians follow Chinese drama series.

From xinyao songs to Stephanie Sun, who is well known in the global Chinese pop scene, our Chinese pop music is also much more developed than its English counterpart. I just checked Sistic website and noted that there would be eight concerts by overseas Chinese singers held here from now to end of this year, such as May Day, S.H.E , Sammi Cheng and Sam Hui. There are only four concerts by western singers in comparison.

We can see from these examples that although English is the working language in Singapore, Chinese language still holds a strong position. We can therefore conclude that it is not that Singaporeans are not interested in Chinese, it is just that our students find it difficult studying for it! How do we take advantage of these positive external forces to arouse their interest in Chinese?

I noticed that MOE text books tend to inculcate social morals and traditional Chinese values. Classic literature is also taught sometimes. Although all these are very important, we can re-package them.

I suggest MOE incorporate modern Chinese culture, including pop culture into our curriculum. This will help enliven our Chinese classes and keep them relevant. Take Zhang Yimou's movie, "Curse of the Golden Flower", as an example. This is a big production combining the elements of Shakespeare’s King Lear with Chinese culture and history. I believe the intriguing plot, the fighting scenes and pop idol Jay Chou will attract our students.

Column: 3640

If students want to recite Sung dynasty poet Su Dongpo's famous poem "Dan Yuan Ren Chang Jiu", we can ask the students to learn the song composed by Liang Hong Zhi and sung by Teresa Teng and Faye Wong. This gives new meaning to the old poem, and will help students to remember better the verses " ming yue ji shi you, ba jiu wen qing tian ".

"Farewell My Concubine" is a famous movie directed by Chen Kaige, adapted from Li Bihua's (Lilian Lee) novel. Featuring a stellar cast, this movie boasts strong emotions, an interesting plot and clashes between life and death. It is both commercially successful and possesses strong cultural content. The two main characters became famous actors of Peking opera but, in the end, they had to betray each other during the Cultural Revolution with a tragic ending. Through this movie and novel, we can expose students to Peking Opera and help them understand this part of China’s history.

Let us now come back to Singapore. We can teach our history through Liang Wenfu's song Singapore Pie ( Xin Jia Po Pai ): black and white Cantonese movies in the 1960s, development of Jurong Town and Junie Sng's gold medal in the 1970s, start of MRT in the 1980s. The last part of the lyrics reads "We can create a Singapore Pie. People move to Singapore from all over the world. Everybody loves the Singapore Brand." The lines were written in the 1990s, but still relevant today.

Pop culture will of course not be 100% true to history, nor is it a record of history. Teachers can use the opportunity to explain to students the difference between reality and creativity.

I believe that, to connect Chinese from all over the world, we should not just rely on tradition, we can also use pop culture. When young people are together, they are

Column: 3641

unlikely to talk about Confucius or Art of Sun Tzu, instead they will be talking about Wong Lee Hom (singer), Super Girls, Bodyguards and Assassins (movie) and Brother Sharp (famous Chinese vagabond from Ningbo). Through music, visuals and special effects, we can grab the attention of students studying Chinese. Through pop culture, we can teach them traditional Chinese values and ideas.

I know many teachers are already taking steps to innovate Chinese teaching, including the use of pop culture to cultivate students' interest in Chinese. However, one teacher's strength and resources are limited. I hope MOE can take on this approach to benefit all students and achieve much greater efficiency.

*Cols. 3693-3696.

Mother tongue languages review

Mrs Josephine Teo: Madam, several months ago, the debate on our bilingual policy sounded to me like an argument between the Chinese-cans and the Chinese-cannots. This is unfortunate.

There is no doubt that Singapore's environment today is overwhelmingly English-oriented. Outside of schools, Singaporeans no longer need to use their mother tongues, whether to get jobs, leisure and entertainment, or services. This has gravely affected the learning of all mother tongues, not just Chinese. MOE is thus right to initiate a review of teaching methods.

However, it would not be accurate to base our review on the assumption that mother tongues have become more like foreign languages in Singapore.

Take Chinese language, for example. There are at least three Chinese language newspapers, two free-to-air television channels and five radio stations. Whether

Column: 3642

at the bus interchange, retail outlets or restaurants, Mandarin and dialects can be heard on a daily basis. Every housing estate, which over 80% of Singaporeans live in, have shops and hawker stalls with Chinese signboards.

In a typical city in US, or European or Australian city, such a language environment can be found only in Chinatown. But not in Singapore, not now anyway. While we do not need to use our mother tongues, we can if we want to.

So, I hope the MOE does not adopt a defeatist attitude when reviewing the teaching of our mother tongues and end up eroding our language environment to our own detriment.

We should frame the review more positively, not as a win-lose argument between the Chinese-cans and Chinese-cannots, but as a collective challenge to allow all our children to reach their highest potential in learning their mother-tongues.

The review should be informed by research relevant to our circumstances, and be not based on opinions and personal experiences only. We should adopt a differentiated approach so that children with varied language abilities can do well and be proficient at different levels. At the same time, I hope MOE can leverage on efforts already proven to be effective in promoting language excellence. For example, MOE could consider doubling the number of places for the bicultural studies programme and giving out more scholarships to encourage the students who are prepared to put in the effort to achieve excellence in Chinese language or in their mother tongue. A differentiated approach will help us to achieve both a high floor and a high ceiling in the teaching of mother tongues.

Chinese "B"

Mr Low Thia Khiang: ( In Mandarin ): [ _For vernacular speech, please refer to _

_Column: 3643 _

_Appendix A *. _ ] The Chinese "B" curriculum was implemented in 2001. It was subsequently modified in 2004 after taking into account suggestions made by the Chinese Curriculum and Pedagogy Reform Report.

When the Government announced the Chinese "B" curriculum in 1999, it was aimed at students who had difficulties in studying Chinese. This was to prevent the students from developing detestation towards the Chinese culture simply because they were being compelled to learn Chinese. I would like to ask the Ministry: has Chinese "B" achieved its intended target? How many students have studied Chinese "B" since 2001 and what is the passing rate?

I am concerned that Chinese "B" might be abused under certain circumstances. For example, students who are not weak in Chinese may choose to study Chinese "B" as an easy way out because they do not want to study hard due to psychological rejection in learning the language. The school might also suggest to students with lower Chinese score to take Chinese "B" so that the school's Chinese Language passing rate will not be lowered. I would like to know from MOE whether it has examined the possibility of loophole in the offering of Chinese "B" curriculum.

Prof. Wang Changwei from NUS's Chinese Department said in an article:

"We should encourage the usage of creative teaching to cultivate students' interest in Chinese. Our mistake is that we believe lowering the standard is the prerequisite factor to raise the zeal of the students' interest in learning Chinese. From second language to Chinese "B" to teaching Chinese with English, all the way to doing away with writing requirement, we are taking one step after another backwards. It perhaps will please some

Column: 3644

students, but in the future when they really need to use Chinese, they will blame us."

I agree with his view and hope that MOE would review the content as well as the pros and cons of Chinese "B".

*Cols. 3697-3698.

Chinese language

Mr Teo Siong Seng: ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Madam, I would like to raise some views and suggestions on the issue of the declining standard of Chinese language among our students in Singapore.

First, the standard of Chinese of the current students of our schools just cannot satisfy the needs of our enterprises. Secondly, in line with the general trend, the standard of teaching of the Chinese Language must not go down.

Over the past decade, the examination results of ethnic Chinese students in Singapore have been improving every year, with passing rate of 99% (including passes in the Chinese Language subject) in the PSLE and more than 85% in the O-level examinations. Passing the examination implies that they should have no difficulty with listening, speaking, writing and reading Chinese.

Our bilingual education has produced many excellent talents. Pillars of society like Prime Minister Lee, many Ministers, many Members, are effectively bilingual as they are the beneficiaries of our bilingual education system. Credit must be given to the Government and the Chinese language teachers. I visit China very frequently, and I am able to communicate with the local people there because I had the privilege of receiving bilingual education in Singapore. As a Singaporean, I am very proud of this achievement.

Column: 3645

6.00 pm

Good results are commendable, but there are still many intrinsic problems. With the rapid economic development of China, Chinese businessmen all over the world are getting more and more influential, and the demand for Chinese-speaking talents from all sectors of society is getting higher and higher. Under such circumstances, can our students cope with the demand and be truly competent in their job after graduation from the schools?

Take the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry for example. Nowadays, we have extreme difficulties getting people who are effectively bilingual and could work independently at the Secretariat. Our 133 trade association members and the few thousand corporate members are facing the same problem. Many young people scored good results in the Chinese Language paper, some even scored A1, but when it comes to actual application, they find that they are unable to cope with wrong words everywhere, and inability to express themselves in good, coherent Chinese. Truly effectively bilingual talents are very scarce indeed.

In the past few years, more and more people are coming to attend the Chinese courses conducted by the Chamber. This is a good sign, but it is also worrying. Is the standard of Chinese teaching in the schools too low that they need to take extra lessons to brush up their Chinese after graduation? As such, I sincerely urge the Ministry of Education to touch base with the business sector to find out how we could raise the standard of the teaching of Chinese Language in the schools so that our students can truly master the Chinese language, and meet the demand of the business sector.

Recently, there were heated discussions on the use of English to teach

Column: 3646

Chinese. I think this method is appropriate only to those with an English-speaking background and who are just beginning to learn Chinese. Using English to explain the meaning and usage of the Chinese terms often miss out the beauty and nuances in the language.

I hope the Ministry will not take this as a panacea, and implement it in all the schools. Over the years, Chinese teachers have put in a lot of efforts and accumulated a lot of experience in the teaching of the language. Asking them to use English in the teaching of Chinese is like sending a Chinese physician to the operating theatre of a western hospital. It will undermine the efficiency and lower the morale of the practitioners.

The biggest worry of the Chinese community is that the Government, in order to cater for the minority who is afraid of learning Chinese, will lower the standard of the teaching of Chinese again and again. In this way, we are going to lose the competitive edge of bilingualism and will eventually regret this decision.

In promoting the Chinese language, the Chinese community and Business China have made many efforts. I hope that more political leaders; successful people and celebrities will speak more Mandarin in public. The Government departments should take the lead in raising the standard of Chinese in their official documents and notices.

For example, in this region, Hong Kong and Singapore are constantly competing with each other and, at the same, learning from each other. The Hong Kong officials I meet from time to time, speak fluent English, beautiful Cantonese, and are now stepping up their efforts to learn Mandarin. Look at the Hong Kong people, very few complain that Mandarin is difficult to learn and, hence, refuse to learn it. If we do not buck up, very soon,

Column: 3647

their standard of Mandarin may well surpass ours.

Many foreign talents migrate to Singapore because of the competitive edge of our bilingual system. The world-renowned investor, Jim Rogers is one of them. He has been to various countries in the world, but eventually chose to migrate to Singapore. He spared no effort in enrolling his daughter in Nanyang Primary School because he attached great importance to the school's educational standards. He openly indicated that many people had advised him that the homework in Nanyang Primary School was very tough, the standard of Chinese was very profound, and the discipline in the school was very strict. Yet, it was precisely because of these attributes that he chose Nanyang Primary School.

Being a parent myself, I can understand the worries and anxieties of some parents. The local universities require a pass in the Mother Tongue language for admission. This has indeed exerted great pressure on students who are weak in Chinese. I would like to suggest that for these minority students who are not so good in Chinese, but have scored distinctions in other subjects, the Universities could exercise their discretion in admitting them.

While the whole world is bustling to learn Chinese, the standard of our Chinese education must be comprehensively raised. We need to cultivate some truly effectively bilingual talents who excel in listening, speaking, reading and writing both Chinese and English, and not just "half-baked" ones who are good in neither. In order to attain this target, besides the able leadership of the Government, the whole society must be united in creating a climate and an environment to learn Chinese.

The people in China are making every effort to learn English, and the westerners are picking up Chinese enthusiastically.

Column: 3648

Singaporeans have no choice but to work harder if we want to maintain our competitive edge in bilingualism.

*Cols. 3699-3702.

Education vision and directions

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Madam, the education landscape in Singapore has for the last 10 years undergone many positive changes. Please let me share my observations and recommendations in several focus areas.

First, on vision and outcomes of education. Howard Gardner, renowned and respected professor of cognition and education, is famous for his theory of Multiple Intelligences which has led to the sprouting of institutions such as the School of the Arts, Singapore Sports School and the likes in Singapore.

In his latest classic, Five Minds for the Future , Gardner identified five kinds of minds or ways of thinking and acting that he believes fetch the highest premium in a future-oriented education. Three of these are related to intellect: (1) the disciplined mind which deals with the content of specific disciplines; (2) the synthesising mind which draws knowledge from different disciplines to solve problems; and (3) the creative mind which is of even more strategic value now in the future of Singapore. Two others emphasise the respectful mind and the ethical mind.

Madam, the respectful and the ethical minds are the two minds that Gardner, in his speeches, often stressed are very important – quoting the unethical use of the intellect that led to the conception of irresponsible financial products causing the last financial crisis.

Madam, both respect and being ethical should be inculcated in the daily course of life, both in schools and at home, and are best learned by example. Ignoring this will risk our education system producing super skilled and super creative financial wizards

Column: 3649

developing seductive financial products that may lead to another financial crisis.

My question to the Minister is: how would the Ministry's desired outcomes of education reflect these future-oriented minds and skills and a balance of both intellect and character; and how these might be reflected in some milestones and KPIs for the Ministry?

Next on tuition. Madam, I continue to be concerned over the tuition syndrome and the way our students are assessed primarily through academic results and the overbearing stress of the high-stake national examination years. Last Saturday alone, I counted 177 advertisements offering tuition services. This examination preparation stress, especially for those who missed out on the Integrated Programme train, is unlikely to create a love for learning, much less life-long learning.

Madam, there is an alternate vision that we can paint for a future education system in Singapore. We can incorporate the strengths of our Singapore system with that of other respected education systems. One such system is Finland. The skills of Finnish students are among the best in all the domains assessed in PISA surveys of years 2000, 2003 and 2006. The uniformity of students' performance is a special forte in Finland. The differences between the strongest and the weakest results are amongst the smallest when all the OECD countries are compared. Differences in Finland and differences between schools and regions are remarkably small, unlike our elite and non-elite school landscape. Although formal school age is seven, because most Finnish women work, there are good quality universal day care that prepare the children for a rigorous system when they start studying at seven. Education is compulsory and free in Finland. Children

Column: 3650

with special needs, including those with intellectual disabilities, are integrated into regular education. There is a constant but very supportive evaluation of learning outcomes of students and schools. The aim of assessment in the Finland education system is to produce information that will help schools and students to develop. In Finland, there are no national tests of learning outcomes and no national school league tables. Pupils and schools are not compared to each other. Learning takes place in a fear-free environment in which creativity and risk-taking are encouraged. Although teachers assess their students regularly, they do not need to teach to the test nor focus on annual tests or examinations. And lastly, the teaching profession is very popular and respected in Finland and the salaries of teachers are average. Only less than 10% of people who apply to be teachers are accepted.

Lest we start beating ourselves up and not giving credit for all the great work that MOE has done, let me add that the Finnish education system is more than 40 years old and shaped very much by their history. All I am asking the Minister is an open mind and more public engagement for a future education vision and how we might adapt some of the best practices of successful systems without losing what we have done well.

Madam, many of the current KPIs in MOE are still largely measured by not just how many but how well students pass national high-stake examinations, the scores being the passport to an elite school and upward social mobility. I submit that these KPIs are not sufficient to reflect our desired outcomes of education, current or future, and ask that they be reviewed. This is my second time appealing to the Ministry on this topic.

Madam, on the topic of students with special needs, I am happy to note that significant progress has been made in the

Column: 3651

last seven years in supporting special needs students, both in mainstream schools and special schools . Once never a feature in public schools, Allied Educators, or special needs officers, are now available in almost every primary school and some secondary schools in mainstream. Within this special school system, MOE has been very considerate in their financial sponsorships and the prototyping of vocational training in schools like Delta Senior School and Metta School.

The latest successful prototype that was championed by both the special schools and MOE is in integrated education and takes the form of satellite schools. And I am most pleased and most grateful and appreciative of especially the MOE officers and mainstream schools such as Chong Boon Secondary School, Townsville Primary School and Bishan Park Secondary School who allowed the setting up of satellite classes within their mainstream schools. By doing so, special needs students from Pathlight, for example, integrate physically, socially and, where appropriate, academically with the mainstream students in these schools. Kudos to MOE and all these schools for persevering in this significant development!

Madam, in the support and inclusion of special-needs students in Singapore, I seek the Minister's consideration in the following:

(1) In the mainstream school sector, I ask that every secondary school and tertiary institutions such as the ITE, Polytechnics and Universities, be staffed with minimum one Allied Educator or Psychologist to support those students with special needs.

(2) In the special schools, I ask for more than financial help. Specifically, I ask the Minister to consider setting up an Institute for Special Education, if the Minister does not intend to slay the

Column: 3652

sacred cow of the Many Helping Hands in running special schools. Repeat the success of ITE in an ISE – Institute for Special Education. Charities can still provide the disability expertise and fund-raising for special items, especially in transition services. Provide equal access to core curriculum support to the special schools that are operated by VWOs, especially for vocational courses. Officially appoint schools like ITE and WDA as the vocational course consultants to all special schools so that all of these graduands can be more employable and have a better prognosis in life when they exit. Let every special-needs child remain in the special school system until age 21 but insist that a Robust Transition Plan be set up so that the family can take over responsibility.

And last, I ask the MOE be the sector administrator for special education to further take its place and streamline processes relating to the multiple reporting, programme evaluation systems, audits and funding agencies. This is the fourth year I am asking for this.

Productivity and innovation. Madam, I would ask for three specific areas for inclusion as part of MOE's Innovation Portfolio:

(1) Develop a Learning Roadmap for family caregivers to include modules on both academics and values. Provide free training to families so that they can address part of the tuition problem and engage them in modelling desired values to their own children.

(2) Seriously consider uploading quality lectures and developing online interactive lessons for nation-wide access by teachers and students in all the schools. Scale it so that every school has access. Before the Minister says no to me again, why not take some time to go into website www.academicearth.org to sample the free online lectures from Ivy

Column: 3653

League universities such as Harvard, Berkeley, Yale, NYU, and so forth. If we can get some excellent basic lectures online for the few hundred schools we have, there will be greater productivity and more consistent quality of teaching of the core concepts. Microsoft chief, Bill Gates, raved about the potential of this form of learning in his Annual Letter of 2010.

(3) In the area of teacher recruitment where the main tool seems to be an attractive starting salary, I urge MOE to study the successful model of the non-profit "Teach for America" (TFA) programme. TFA successfully enlists talented young leaders to commit to address the problem of education by committing two years of their lives to teach in the United States' highest-need schools. If we adapt this programme to our local context, this can be a short-term response to our teacher shortage while serving as a force to engage and root our best young people in Singapore.

Finally, I am –

Mr Chairman: I am afraid I must stop you there, Ms Phua. Dr Ng.

6.15 pm

The Minister for Education (Dr Ng Eng Hen): I thank Members for their passionate speeches. I sat there listening and I felt very gratified because all the speeches have one singular theme – we really want something better for the next generation, for our children. We want to make sure that they are more morally upright, more confident, more equipped, smarter, rooted, some said "wings". A number of descriptions that Members said. Mr Ong Kian Min said we wanted them to have social aptitude.

Miss Penny Low called them the "Gen Z" generation. Ms Joscelin Yeo said "value learning". Mr

Column: 3654

Viswa Sadasivan wanted teachers to be moral exemplars and in the course mentioned his teacher Mr Tang. Dr Maliki Osman wanted more weightage on the arts, physical exercise, education shaping their character. And on languages, the theme was same – whether it came from Mr Baey Yam Keng, Mr Teo Siong Seng or Mr Low Thia Khiang – how can we help them in their linguistic skills, as well as Mrs Josephine Teo, how can we make learning of languages more exciting, and I think someone mentioned a high bar, a high floor and a high ceiling, typical Singaporean style – high floor and high ceiling – and it is a worthwhile aspiration. And, of course, before I reply to the passionate speech by Ms Denise Phua, I am glad that she keeps count of how many times and how many years she asked the Ministry. We keep count too, and when we can say "yes", we will.

I am sure Members were shocked as I was when they heard Ms Mildred Tan speak of an example. Shocking – in Singapore! We will have to say that the facts are not verified. We are verifying the facts but it is believable that there are young children – I do not know whether there are adolescents – who become pregnant. It brings to home how schools are fundamental learning ground and how we need to work with society to help our children navigate moral values, confidence, etc, in various aspects. For that particular case, we will look up the facts and work with MCYS and our schools and we will report back to Parliament because I think it is an important enough case for us to address adequately, but I do not have facts here and I will reply to Parliament when we do.

Let me thank Members for their overwhelming support. I have not heard anyone say that we are spending too much. I thank them for their overwhelming support for our large investments in education and their support affirms that, by and large, we

Column: 3655

spend our education dollars well. There are many suggestions about what our education system should be but I think generally most of us agree that our students across the spectrum of academic ability receivea first-class education and at all levels – whether it is primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions, ITE, Polytechnics and Universities. The system we have today is a far cry from what we have inherited when we became independent. In the first PSLE held in 1960, we have it in our records, guess what the passing rate was – 55% failed! If you were the Permanent Secretary and the Minister, well, you can only go up from there – 55% failed, try to do better.

Since then, we have persisted in our efforts to upgrade educational opportunities for all – steadily focusing on the fundamentals to build a cadre of good school teachers and leaders, to develop a rigorous curriculum and then to ensure that our assessment systems are of high quality and valued by educational institutions and employers worldwide.

Outsiders have noted our achievements too. Let me share one anecdote. Last year, Cambridge University ’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Alison Richard, who was here to address the Cambridge alumni, said that Singapore was "renowned for its long-term investment in science and technology, for its commitment to nurturing exceptional talent, and also for encouraging students to study abroad – well before it became fashionable". And indeed she is right, we do not do things because it is fashionable. We continue to focus on the basics. She went on to relate that a hundred years ago, the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate was in Singapore administering school examinations and setting educational standards. But, today, Singapore is considered a leader in educational innovations and a key partner for its international division - it is now renamed Cambridge International

Column: 3656

Examinations (CIE). So the Cambridge certificate that you have, the organisation has been renamed, it is called CIE. CIE staff conduct examinations for many countries outside the UK. When they talk to these countries about their school curriculum, they tell us that these countries say to them "we want to be like Singapore" . We regularly receive many delegations from overseas, including Ministers of other top-performing systems, who visit our schools and institutions and they are impressed. They visit our schools. We do not suggest to them which school. We say, "Well, this is a panel, you decide which one." Mrs Josephine Teo made a point that when she goes to school, she sees art being conducted and sometimes she is not sure whether that swallow makes the summer. I invite Members to choose any school they like because it is system-wide, we let them look at our schools and they feedback to us that they are impressed with the level of engaged learning in our classrooms.

But we are careful not to let these praises get to our head. In fact, often we say, "Look at our system, we do not want to teach anyone, we do not think we are in a position to but if you can learn something from the system, you tell us what you need to know." The positive comments encourage us to continually seek for ways to improve. We engage and listen to MPs in this House as well as to the broad segments of society for their views on education as an ongoing exercise, and we view education reform as a continuous journey because we have to equip each generation of Singaporeans adequately for their future.

Mrs Josephine Teo made that stark remark that Primary 1 students today will still be in the workforce in 2070, for the future that we cannot know or challenges that we cannot predict. She is right. So the Government is committed to continue this major focus on education and we do

Column: 3657

this not only because it is critical for our economic competitiveness but for Singaporeans, it enables them to move up. As Dr Lily Neo and Ms Indranee Rajah noted in the Budget debate, for low-income families, it provides the uplifting power to break the poverty cycle.

This is why in last year’s Budget – not too distant away, let me remind Members – in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis, we continued to increase our spending on MOE. The financial crisis was worse end of the year, Budget was brought forward because we wanted to have a response, and even then we increased – by the good grace of MOF – our spending and our budget was $8.7 billion in FY09, an increase of 5.5% from FY08. And this year’s education budget is a further increase from last year’s – an 11% increase, to $9.7 billion. While we appreciate the overwhelming support of Members for our spending on education, MOE will still ensure that spending is prudent, in order to maintain the strong support that we have from Members.

Mrs Josephine Teo asked a very critical question – how does MOE approach its funding, where do you put your priorities, where do you put your dollars, and what do you hope to achieve. I will provide sectoral and numerical details later. But let me first say that the broad approach over the last two decades – if you look at the various initiatives across different Ministries, across different top management – has been consistent and there are two key aspects. First, it is to expand opportunities in education for all through building a mountain range of educational programmes with more peaks of excellence; second, to rebalance our system towards building values and skills to achieve broader educational outcomes. Just focus mainly on these two broad aspects – a mountain range of peaks and rebalancing

Column: 3658

towards values and skills, much of which many Members in their speeches before me focused upon. So it affirms to us that MOE is moving in the right direction.

In fact, within the last decade or so, we have gone a considerable distance to cater to the diverse spectrum of abilities in all our students. In particular, we want to create paths for those with different learning styles. Members talk about late bloomers and let me provide some details of our various initiatives.

Across schools, Normal stream students have benefited from more flexibility in streaming. Last year, 4,750 Normal stream students benefited from taking a higher level subject. In fact, last year about one in three Normal (Academic) students took an O-level subject, and majority did well. Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students can also take modules which are delivered in collaboration with Polytechnics and the ITE and these provide them with course credits which they can use when they subsequently study there.

The Direct School Admission (DSA) framework has also widened the scope for students to be selected into secondary schools and post-secondary institutions. Ms Denise Phua said she was shocked – 177 advertisements on tuition. It is a competitive system. But what we have done is to also recognise other talents. We cannot stop parents from wanting their children to do better than the others. But what we can do is to recognise their abilities. For instance, in some of our IP schools today, one in two, 50% of students, enters through the Direct School Admission. Let me give one example to bring this point home. Like Elaine Ng, she missed the PSLE cut-off for Nanyang Girls' High but entered through DSA because she was a talented in Chinese dance; she is Chinese. So far, she has done her school proud in winning gold with honours at last year’s Singapore

Column: 3659

Youth Festival, and she is now part of the school’s Mathematics and Science talent programme. So through the DSA, we are able to recognise wider domains of talent.

But beyond these systemic measures, as Members have emphasised, schools are ultimately the nurturing ground for all our educational endeavours, and I take Ms Denise Phua’s rich suggestions. We will study them because each one does require a lot of study, but I take the point that at the ground it is the schools that impact the students positively. And to maximise our reach, this is the reason why we provide extra resources for all principals to tap on, to fund deserving programmes. Let me give you a feel. For each school, we give Opportunity Funds, Edusave grants and Internationalisation Funds. So just these three big ticket items. Taken together, this means that a typical primary school has on average an additional $170,000 per annum that they can draw and tap on or apply for. A secondary school has an additional $300,000, and they use this to provide enrichment opportunities for all students. On top of this, primary and secondary schools can also apply for funding of up to $50,000 per year if they want to develop niche programmes in various fields. We do not prescribe it, they just have to justify that there is an educational component and merit to it.

This approach, school-based, where it incentivises the principals to reach out to the mass of students, not only a select few, is responsive as well as productive. As a result, different niches of excellence are emerging across all sectors, with teachers and school leaders at the forefront, taking ownership of innovation school-based programmes.

For example, across the board, our schools now offer a broad range of curriculum offerings and opportunities to develop a global mindset to be exposed to different cultures. This was the point that

Column: 3660

Mrs Josephine Teo made. Our Economic Strategies Committee recommended that we be a Global Asian Hub. But if we do not expose our students to Asia, to ASEAN, let alone Asia or both , how do they have their mindset, that multi-cultural orientation? Well, Mrs Teo will be glad to know that our schools have around 200 twinning programmes with schools in South-East Asia , China and India . And in 2008 – I am using 2008 figures because H1N1 struck last year and we had to clamp down on overseas travel – 9% of primary students, 29% of secondary and one-third of JC students had a chance to go overseas; across the board, we have 500,000 students in the system. That is no mean feat. It shows that this impact is there and it will accelerate. And they went for school exchanges, international competitions, overseas community involvement stints.

We talked about China.

I found out that out of 170 primary schools, 120 primary schools on their own have twinning programmes with schools in PRC. This is a ground-up initiative, which the Ministry helps to fund. And there are exchanges of students who come down for a week or so and that learning experience from being exposed to that is wonderful. Many of you would have children who have gone on camps. My own children went to an orphanage, came back, changed – different outlook, more serious sometimes, but understanding where Singapore sits, the neighbours and what learning means.

6.30 pm

To stretch more academically able students, we started the Integrated Programme in 2004, only six years ago. As you have read the recent "A" levels results, we have the first batch who graduated. The reason was that we wanted to develop more critical, inquiring and independent learning. We continue to monitor outcomes carefully and refine

Column: 3661

processes along the way. It is good but not all good. From preliminary findings, we found out, but not surprisingly, some students actually do better with the examination structure. Some do very well without it; some not as good as they should without it. And so we are refining the process to see how we can attain our goals. You will remember the specialised independent schools for students with talents in Mathematics and Science, which is NUS High School, School of the Arts under MICA, and Sports School under MCYS. They are doing well and making a mark for themselves.

Since its opening in 2004, the Singapore Sports School has produced four World Champions and its students have broken 46 national open records in Track and Field and Swimming. Students from NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, which started in 2005, have garnered 13 awards at international Olympiads over the past two years, including a Gold award for Chemistry. For those of you who are in the know, it is very hard to get a gold at the Olympiad – you compete with the best. The School of Arts, which started in 2008, has a beautiful campus next to Cathay. One wonders the distractions the children have but that is another story. It started in 2008, yet to see its first cohort graduate, but some of its students are already clinching places at summer programmes. They gave me a list – in prestigious institutions like the English National Ballet School, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago – I visited there, it has very good programmes – as well as the Yong Siew Toh Young Artist Programme. They have not graduated their first cohort, and yet their students have already received placements.

This year, the School of Science and Technology, with its niche in applied learning and ICT learning, took in its first

Column: 3662

batch of 198 students, and is well positioned to be a new peak of excellence in the landscape, we hope.

Then, on the other extreme, for those students who benefit from a different but hands-on learning style – we have Northlight School and Assumption Pathway School, which gives them a practical education. Many of you have visited Northlight and, in future, I hope, Assumption Pathway. If you have not, you do not need to be invited, just tell me when you can and you want to, it is an open invitation. I think you will be visibly moved by the passion and dedication of the principals and teachers of this group of students.

I have tried to summarise what we have done over the last decade. But the message is: the changes over the last decade or so have helped us re-shape our education system, to cater to a wide palette of students' interests and abilities, and to help every child reach his or her potential. And the positive experiences in these selected programmes and niche schools add to the offerings of our mainstream schools and strengthen our system. They represent the other peaks of excellence in the system. They provide us with learning opportunities that we can start in a discrete programme because sometimes down the line it may not work so well; and at least it does not affect the general whole. So, we will consolidate where necessary or refine and sharpen existing programmes. And where appropriate, we will also expand offerings in these selected programmes and more of such schools to benefit more students.

I agree with Mr Viswa Sadasivan that principals are key to the success of schools and programmes. Indeed, we have succeeded because there is a healthy synergy between systemic policies and ground-up initiatives. Let me give you one example – Northlight. When this was discussed, I remember that our

Column: 3663

approach was that the school would not start if we could not get any one to volunteer to teach in the school. We did not want to post the people there. Yen Ching is now the Principal. She has more applications than places to teach in that school. To be honest, these students are difficult in a sense that they have failed the mainstream schools and many of them come with social problems, but we have no shortage of teachers. So when I visited them, I talked to the teachers. I asked them, "Are there social problems?" They said, "Of course, it is to be expected." But they have evolved mechanisms to respond to these problems and they are very realistic. They have a chart of an emergency response system any time of the day, but the chart is based on where the teacher lives and it does not matter if the particular teacher does not know the students. To shorten the response time, you are activated so that that teacher can go to that student. They evolved these organic responses, I call it.

Mr Viswa Sadasivan suggested engaging a professional CEO for each school – thank you for the suggestion. But I think he meant that the teachers do complain that they are overworked and they have so many administrative responsibilities, so this will free up teachers' time from "non-core" work. We expect the principal to be the school's CEO as well as the "Chief Academic Officer" and they are trained that way. We have the leadership track which they go on when they are vice-principals before they become principals. But he mentioned a good idea – to get the ones with experience to help new principals. And indeed that is what we do. These are called the cluster superintendents. They are experienced. They manage a group of principals and they allow them to share best practices. So rest assured that we do recognise that the principals need leadership skills; and a principal is supported by a dedicated team of

Column: 3664

executive and administrative staff. But let us also be clear that the principal is accountable for all aspects of school life and that includes National Education, recognising the achievements of students, setting the tone. He is accountable; he cannot outsource his responsibility but he can get a team to help him achieve these goals.

We have built a good education system but for the next decade, Members have said that we need to do more, and I agree. I have announced that it is timely for MOE schools to put more resources to develop soft skills and values. And this is a goal supported by as many Members that stood up to speak – all of you, Mrs Josephine Teo, Miss Penny Low, Mr Ong Kian Min and Dr Mohamad Maliki. Mr Ong Kian Min calls it "social aptitude" – the ability to speak publicly and confidently, the ability to communicate ideas well - which is vital in the new economy.

Last April, MOE accepted the recommendations of the Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI) Committee headed by Senior Minister of State Grace Fu, which aim to nurture every child into a confident person, a self-directed learner, a concerned citizen and an active contributor.

I have asked the Clerk of Parliament to distribute this to you [ brochure on " Nurturing our Young for the Future – Competencies for the 21st Century " handed out ]. MOE has been thinking about this for some time. I was struck by how much alignment and resonance between this document and what Members have said. If Members open up the brochure, Members will see what we call "Competencies for a Changing World". It says, simply, that we want to nurture each child to become a confident person who has a strong sense of right and wrong – I think Mrs Mildred Tan talked about this – "adaptable and resilient" – Member Joscelin Yeo mentioned this –

Column: 3665

"knows himself, is discerning in judgment, thinks independently and critically, communicates effectively, a self-directed learner who questions, reflects, perseveres and takes responsibility for his own learning" – Ms Irene Ng was very passionate about that – "an active contributor who is able to work effectively in teams, is innovative, exercises initiative, takes calculated risks and strives for excellence" – I think this is a point made by Mr Viswa Sadasivan that you are able to work with others and not only think of yourself – and "a concerned citizen who is rooted in Singapore, has a strong sense of civic responsibility, is informed about Singapore and the world, and takes an active part in bettering the lives around him".

Well, I can assure Members that the team that worked on this was not in cahoots with the MPs but Members will be struck by how much alignment there is. This was developed, in fact, by our school leaders and teachers. We asked the professional side of the House to tell us what we want to achieve for the next lap in education. They evolved this. We gave very little inputs, maybe some language to make it sure that it is communicated. They wanted this to provide a common platform for all MOE schools to anchor various efforts in developing soft skills and character. As many Members had noted, knowledge and skills must be underpinned by values. So they went on to develop a wheel diagram.

In MOE, we have 500,000 students in many schools, so things must be communicated easily. I am very glad that we did not spend a lot of money employing consultants. This is done in-house. Let me just declare that I have nothing against consultants. But our spending will be prudent, and I think it is a very nice chart. At the centre are Core Values. What is it that we want to

Column: 3666

develop? They define a person's character. They shape his beliefs, attitudes and actions, and form the core of our approach towards nurturing 21st century competencies, rooted and grounded on values. So, whether it is communicated in English, Mandarin, Malay or Indian, it is the same philosophy – values. The middle ring signifies the social and emotional competencies – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management with others, different sexes, as well as responsible decision-making. The outer ring represents key competencies for a globalised world – civic literacy, global awareness, cross-cultural skills, critical and inventive thinking, information and communication skills. And then the outer aspects: four key traits in which we want to develop.

I agree with Members that to do this well, a whole-school approach is required because we need every teacher or support staff to be aligned to this effort. And they need to work with parents and other community partners – a point which Mrs Josephine Teo rightly alluded. As the proverb goes – it takes a whole village to raise a child.

Several Members – Mrs Josephine Teo, Mr Ong Kian Min and Dr Mohamad Maliki – have suggested that sports, CCAs, PE and Programme for Active Learning (PAL), in particular, are actually excellent opportunities for students to develop a range of skills. They asked what the KPIs are, and I think what they are asking is: "Look, you teach Art, you teach PE, you teach CCA, what do you really want to achieve?" And this is what we are trying to achieve: it is a tool, it is a platform, and through these activities you help the students acquire an awareness of their physical well-being, develop a sense of self-esteem, to pick up important values such as teamwork, fair play and a "can-do" spirit. I think this was a point made by Ms Joscelin Yeo.

Column: 3667

MOE agrees wholeheartedly with all Members and will therefore provide more time, space and resources to schools for PAM (Physical education, Art and Music programmes). PE curriculum time will be increased across primary and secondary levels. For Primary One and Primary Two, the increase will be half an hour, from 1.5 to two hours as it is now. For Primary Three to Primary Six, it will be increased from the current 1.5 to 2.5 hours. At the secondary level, it will be increased from one to two hours across the levels. This will be done in phases, in step with the building of sports halls, the implementation of single-session primary schools and the recruitment of specialised teachers.

I agree with Mrs Teo that sports should be for everyone, not just a select few. And, indeed, we are working towards the mass of the students to be involved in sports competitions. We think it is possible. In Australia, of course, they have clubs because they are geographically segregated. We do not really need that. I think it is very hard to start it, but we think it is actually possible for MOE to run competitions at various levels, whether it is at the novice level, intermediate or advance level, so that competitions are for the masses. I think Mdm Cynthia Phua brought this up before and we have been working on it.

6.45 pm

Now, I completely agree, too, about specialisation of teachers. I think some Members brought up the point. To enhance the delivery of the Art and Music curriculum, MOE has decided that all new Art and Music teachers will be trained for single-subject specialisation, ie, just one subject.

In short, they will focus on teaching either Music or Art, and handle Art- or Music-related CCAs and programmes. Existing Art and Music teachers will also move towards single-subject specialisation. PE teachers are currently

Column: 3668

trained to teach a second subject, but are deployed mainly to teach PE. That is because some PE teachers do like this ability to be cross-deployed in subjects beyond PE which provides them with the flexibility to switch to other subjects when they lose their flexibility. MOE proposes to allow more flexibility in the training and deployment of PE teachers. In other words, it means that teachers who prefer to teach only PE and sports-related work can already do so, if this suits the needs of the schools. We will step up the recruitment of PE teachers in tandem with the building of infrastructure in our schools as we allow more PE curriculum time.

This is going to have a large impact on our recruitment. In view of single-subject specialisation, more PE, Art and Music teachers will obviously be needed and will be recruited. We currently have 2,500 qualified PE, Art and Music (PAM) teachers. We have to build up the pipeline of PE, Art and Music teachers by 2020. And we have done our calculations. We will need 80% more, nearly doubled, four-fifths more, to be mathematically precise. Otherwise, my students would say that I do not know my Mathematics.

This move will provide an attractive career option for PAM teachers and enable them to elevate the standards of these programmes in schools to achieve our educational outcomes. We are serious about this. We want them to stay within the system. We are providing the same three career tracks that are given to academic teachers. In other words, if they teach PE, Art and Music, they can aspire to be principals or be in positions of school leadership while those who are interested in advancing by doing research and developments can go that track and be Senior Specialists in MOE HQ. Those who are interested to become "teachers of teachers", ie, Master Teachers, can also do that. I have already announced that we are starting two institutions to

Column: 3669

support this – the Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and the Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (STAR). This is a professional home to ground to help them develop professionally.

Mr Ong Kian Min asked about the KPIs for PAM programmes and Mrs Teo suggested introducing new categories in Edusave Merit Bursary awards to recognise achievements in sports, art and music. And she gave me a discreet number – 1,000. Our schools have clear expectations and learning outcomes for these domains. Last year, we gave close to 7,500 awards. In short, this award already exists. It is called the EAGLES award. It is an Edusave award for Achievement, Good Learning and Service. I understand that they want it more discreet and I will look into that. It may be a good idea. But we have given this and it amounted to about $1.3 million to recognise students for their achievements in sports, art and music.

Let me move on to communication skills and language ability. I agree with Mr Ong Kian Min that the ability to communicate with clarity, impact and emotional appeal is a valuable asset. English is paramount because it is the lingua franca of the globalised world and Internet. And we agree that teachers are role models for the use of good English. We have strengthened in-service training. I need to be honest, we have a long way to go in terms of raising English standards. We are starting, we are consolidating. We need to pool much needed expertise and training resources in teaching English to bilingual learners. And as I have announced, the English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) will be set up. Senior Minister of State Iswaran will give further details.

Mr Ong Kian Min suggested encouraging more students to learn Malay as a

Column: 3670

third language. MOE agrees. So far, the response from students has been positive. Let me give you some figures. Around 500 Secondary 1 students offer Malay as a third language, while 80 offer Bahasa Indonesia. It is a small proportion of a large base, but at least it is a start. Of these, 130 students are enrolled in the regional studies programme, which MOE started in 2008.

Mr Baey Yam Keng, Mrs Josephine Teo, Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Teo Siong Seng spoke about the teaching of Chinese language. With the rise of China, we absolutely agree that it will be a valuable cachet. Similarly for those who speak Malay or Tamil languages as markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and India expand.

There has been considerable debate over the last few months and I need not repeat the arguments today. As announced, the Director-General of Education is currently leading a review of three Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs), to respond to the language home environments and educational goals. Mrs Teo suggested that this should be grounded on solid educational grounds and not personal experience. She is right. That is the way to move forward. The review is expected to be completed by year end. It will design a mother tongue curriculum structure that basically recognises the wider range of starting points. It recognises the starting points of students' home environment, their prior backgrounds and devise customised approaches for different groups of learners.

The basic goal is the same. There is alignment here. We want to evolve a framework that will facilitate the learning of Mother Tongue Languages in three broad groups – the majority who come from English language-speaking homes, those who are are very capable and the

Column: 3671

other extreme, those who face exceptional difficulties.

For those with the ability and interest to do higher mother tongue, we agree to help them to develop fluency in all these programmes. There are good avenues to do this, such as SAP schools and the Bicultural Studies Programme (Chinese) (BSP(C)), and the Higher Malay and Higher Tamil programmes. As I have said, if there is demand for more SAP schools, MOE will build them.

For the vast majority, the middle ground, the goal is the same. We do want our students to cultivate an interest to be able to use the language because if they do not use it, they will lose it, and we want our teaching methods to encourage students to use the language. This is the point that Mr Baey Yam Keng made so strongly. We need to engage him because he is very hip and he is able to connect, whether it is the films that he suggested or the pop songs. I think that there is traction. Kids will be excited about this. So, Mr Baey, if you do receive a call, you will know why. For those who face difficulties in learning the language, we want them to acquire competency in oral communications for daily living.

Apart from teaching – Members are again right – how we test students will shape their attitudes towards the language. Mrs Teo said, "Look, grounded on educational grounds." We are. We are open-minded and indeed, we are studying various systems, from China, Cambridge and advanced placements in the United States. This is work-in-progress but let me give you one example. China's Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) is a proficiency test geared towards learners, not as a foreign language, but who are not immersed in the Chinese language environment. They are not immersed. They can hear it sometimes but it is not the total immersion. They adopt the philosophy of encouraging and motivating

Column: 3672

more students. They treat language proficiency as a marathon, not as a sprint, encouraging each student to finish but at his own pace without being discouraged between him and the other person who finished first before him is very wide. And I think that is an enlightened approach. Consistent with this approach, HSK has multiple proficiency levels. If you imagine someone coming at Primary 1 who comes from an English language background versus one who comes from and is immersed in a Chinese language-speaking background, they have different starting points. The catch-up speed, even by Primary 6, may be very different.

The HSK philosophy is that, "You may not be able to catch up but even if that gap is still wide, I want to encourage you to go even higher at the next level – secondary school, pre-U and even university". It is an entirely different approach. They make the language accessible with great emphasis on listening/speaking skills but less on writing for the beginning levels. Because they believe if we help them to listen and speak, for those when they gain their proficiency, they then move on to writing. The test questions that they start with at the beginning level are contextualised. They use exactly what Mr Baey Yam Keng said, "What do you do in a social situation? How do you respond? How do you respond not in a stilted way but in a conversational way?" They start with very reachable goals – a vocabulary book with 581 characters which forms 90% of all daily conversations. Five hundred and eighty-one is achievable, right? It is quite different from 3,000 characters. If they study that, 90% of the time, you can communicate with somebody. This goes a long way towards motivating the learner with a sense of achievement to acquire enough proficiency to function in several scenarios.

I agree with Mrs Teo that we do not have to swing to a position where mother

Column: 3673

tongue is taught as a foreign language. It is a not a foreign language. We do have a Mandarin-speaking environment in different segments of society and in the media. We have newspapers, radio and TV stations, pop culture in Malay, Tamil and Chinese and we need to take advantage of this environment. But we want to encourage the functional use of language by emphasising effective oral communication in everyday contexts and functional writing.

The Committee will develop a curriculum that effectively creates the ladders and not hurdles for students to progress based on their ability. Students will be guided to select which level of attainment they can reasonably achieve with the appropriate effort. If you do not achieve it in that year, you can achieve it in the next year.

This is quite radical and it will require sometime to conceptualise and develop. For the next few years, MOE will focus on intermediate changes that will bridge us from the current curriculum to this new structure. Let me highlight the broad approach for Chinese language but similar changes will occur for Malay and Tamil.

At the primary level, MOE's approach will be to build strong foundations for Chinese language learning. We will enhance the modular approach. Mr Ong Kian Min asked for details which will be provided later. But we will introduce more ICT because that is the way to engage students. Their learning becomes authentic and functional.

At the secondary level, we will continue with a differentiated approach. For those who excel, we will provide more opportunities for them to deepen their knowledge of Chinese culture. We will also provide more opportunities for potential and current SAP school leaders

Column: 3674

to have extended attachments in leading schools and institutions in the People's Republic of China and in Taiwan. I am going to send would-be Vice Principals and Principals to these schools, attach them there for an extended period so that they come back more energised and with new ideas to see how they can deepen the SAP culture.

Across the board, we will see greater use of ICT in the curriculum. Oracy weightings will increase by 5% to 20% across the national examinations to reflect the greater focus on the functional use of Chinese language.

For those who would benefit from taking the CL "B", we will increase the access to this option. We want to develop a pool of CL "B" teachers with the right aptitude and drive to teach this group well. The idea is not to lower their standard, as some Members are understandably worried about - Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Teo Siong Seng have talked about that, but to make sure that the student does not get so turned off that he just does not want to use the language. Allow him to use it because a language must be used if it is to be effective. Senior Minister of State Grace Fu will provide more details later on the measures to help us transit to a new and more customised system.

Let me now turn to the post-secondary education sector. We are building more opportunities and peaks of excellence. Beyond expanding opportunities for our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), we recognise that it is increasingly a strategic asset as we move towards a knowledge and innovative-driven economy because they are new engines that power Singapore's next phase of growth.

As we expand, we want to be careful that we do not do it at the expense of quality. Our prevailing benchmark is that

Column: 3675

all our IHLs must strive to be the best in their class globally – whether you are ITE, Polytechnic or Universities – you have to compete globally. Because that is the best way to serve Singaporeans, ie, the certificates that they get will have a value.

The Polytechnics and ITE are key pillars of a typical Primary 1 cohort. Members may not have kept track but 42% now goes to Polytechnic. We take it that it will increase further. 22% goes to ITE. We constantly upgrade ITE. Some of you may have visited ITE College East at Simei. It has received many international visitors who are impressed with what they have done. Last year, MOE announced that ITE would consolidate its smaller campuses into two remaining regional campuses by 2013, and we are on track. ITE College West will be completed in July this year and College Central by the end of 2012.

Over the years, ITE graduates have also seized opportunities to upgrade themselves. Let me give you some figures. In 1995, only 12% of ITE graduates moved on to polytechnics. It is now 19%. In fact, among the Higher Nitec graduates, 37% subsequently did well enough to directly enter the Polytechnics. That is a very high percentage for students from a vocational institute to articulate to our Polytechnics.

By 2015, we expect 45% of a Primary 1 cohort to access polytechnic education. We have to keep pace with this growing demand. MOE has decided to invest up to $1 billion to increase capacity in the five Polytechnics by 20% over the next four years. We are going to increase the capacity in our Polytechnics by 20%. We will need $1 billion and Senior Minister of State Iswaran will provide more details.

7.00 pm

Last year, MOE announced that the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)

Column: 3676

and our polytechnics would work with selected overseas universities to start programmes in 2011 – next year. It will offer to Polytechnic graduates a wide array of reputable universities to choose from right here in Singapore. Now, I mentioned that we will start next year, I am happy to report to the House that we have made good progress on this major effort, and as a result can start these degree programmes ahead of time. SIT and our polytechnics will launch eight new degree programmes with five overseas universities this year, so students can start this year, admissions will start tomorrow. These five overseas universities are leading institutions who are global leaders in their respective fields. Some of you may know it. The Technical University of Munich for electrical engineering and information technology, the Newcastle University for naval architecture, offshore and marine engineering, the Digipen Institute of Technology, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Hotel Administration, and Culinary Institute of America. These are brand names. These leading partners will add value and recognition to our Polytechnic diplomas as they provide advanced standing for our Polytechnic graduates, because our Polytechnic graduates will be able to obtain degrees – they do not have spend three or four years, they will get their degrees in two years. These institutions will give them their advanced stand.

Together, these programmes will add some 500 additional university places for 2010. In steady state, SIT will offer places for 2,000 full-time students by 2015. MOE will provide subsidies for these students and Senior Minister of State Iswaran will give details on fees and subsidies.

Undergraduate intake will be 15,300 places this academic year, more than the number last year even though the size of

Column: 3677

this year's cohort is smaller, it is about 26% of the cohort. With SIT and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), we are on track to achieve our target cohort participation rate of 30% by 2015.

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will add to the dynamism of the university sector. Members will know that this is done in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Zhejiang University – it brings together the best of East and West.

The SUTD represents another response to meet high expectations of Singaporeans students and parents. We all celebrate when more students do well in their A-level examinations as they have done in this recent A-levels. But as more and more do well, we also have a problem – a good one, but nonetheless still a challenge. Our top performance students are targeted by leading foreign universities. Ms Denise Phua may have seen the advertisements too. Top universities from UK and US come to Singapore and even offer fully funded sponsorships to our top students. Countries have recognised that those who win this "war for talent" will have a strategic advantage over others. The US is a prime example who creams from the world's best.

Sir, our universities must compete in the race to attract top talent if they are not to be relegated to "second division" – using the football parlance. NUS, NTU and SMU have done well. NUS ranks fourth within Asia, NTU ranks 13th – and 30th and 77th globally respectively. SMU, a respectable business and management university, ranks third in Asia in the 2009. But to stay in the first division, strategic partnerships count, and this is why NUS tied up with Duke University for the

Column: 3678

medical school, and Peabody Institute for the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. NTU has partnerships with Imperial College and Carnegie Mellon for a number of post-graduate programmes.

This is the rationale for SUTD to team up with MIT and Zhejiang University, but such research-intensive Universities are expensive because, basically, there is a strong demand for top faculty to move your university up the ranking and Universities are willing to pay top dollar to get these faculties. The Government recognises that it must build leading institutions to provide our brightest Singaporeans an education here that can match that of other leading Universities elsewhere. However, it would only be fair for such benefiting students to bear a fair share of the costs. This is because they would have received much heavier subsidies than other students.

For SUTD, we want to move towards a funding model that is more equitable, that reflects the higher cost borne by public funds to educate its students. Normally, for universities, we seek to recover 25% of cost from fees. In other words, Government subsidises 75%. This applies to the SIT courses we have just announced and other courses in existing Universities. But similar to more specialised courses like Medicine, Dentistry and Music, the total cost of SUTD can be up to two to three times that of other traditional courses. Students in SUTD can expect to receive much higher subsidies of nearly $50,000 per annum, sometimes over this amount. For SUTD, it is appropriate that we aim for a higher cost recovery ratio than 25%. Now, I am announcing this to set the principle before we take our first intake, so that the public, the students and parents can understand the rationale.

In fact, for SUTD, we want to move towards a funding model, based more on endowments, scholarships and grants

Column: 3679

because this is a more equitable model for higher education, and is practised by leading private Universities in the US. In that model, students who will be the prime beneficiaries after graduating from the prestigious Universities, because they benefit from the higher pay and successful careers, are asked to pay much higher fees. MIT charges roughly S$53,000 per year for its students. Philanthrophists who believe in education and successful alumni lend their support to maintain their university's standing by contributing to its endowment, and this creates a virtuous cycle.

We are setting the principle and the model for funding to be higher than the 25% cost-recovery ratio (CRR). But for the first few batches of students at SUTD, who will be in the interim campus, we will not aim to achieve this more than 25% cost-recovery ration. The fees will be set around $11,000 per academic year and this is only about 17% of the cost-recovery. Once facilities are built up, students would be expected to bear their fair share and fees will go up to attain the higher target cost-recovery ratio.

Nevertheless, we will still maintain our standing that no student who can benefit from an education will be denied that opportunity due to lack of means. And they will have access to the various grants that we now give to universities and a Singaporean student can obtain up to 100% funding for his tuition fees and living expenses through a combination of loans and bursaries.

Opportunities for all and a range of peaks that match the abilities of our students – these are our guiding lights. I have given a panoramic view and Members have asked whether we should fund our outcomes instead of by levels. Let me say that when it comes to spending on education, spending more does not always guarantee better

Column: 3680

outcomes. As a percentage of GDP, countries like the US spend more on education compared to the OECD average, but do not fare as well. We should look at outcomes as well as how we spend our dollars.

Over the past decade, MOE has consistently been spending on average of 3.5% of GDP to raise the quality of education. During this 10-year period, our budget has increased by 45%, from $6 billion in FY2000 to $8.7 billion in the current fiscal year. Our share of total Government expenditure has remained fairly constant at around one-fifth, significantly higher than countries such as Korea which spends about 15%, Japan –10%, UK – 12% and the US – 15%. We have spent judiciously, to invest in providing more opportunities for students across all levels. Each year, about 50% of the budget is invested in the school sector, 41% in post-secondary education sector and the remainder in HQ and its statutory boards. This is roughly the mix in most other countries.

There are other sectors we would like to talk about – the pre-school education and special education needs. Senior Minister of State Fu and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Masagos will speak on these areas later.

But at the heart of the process are our people. And she talked about Finland teachers. I visited Finland three times just to learn from them. I sit down in their classrooms, spend time just seeing what they do. We have invested good teachers but we can always do better. We have since 2000 increased from 24,000 teachers to 30,000 teachers. We are moving towards all-graduate recruitment by year 2015. A new career track was announced last year, the Allied Educators. We were able to recruit 1,217 Allied Educators and by 2015 we will double that number.

Column: 3681

Assoc. Prof. Paulin Straughan had asked that we reduce the class size. Our approach is to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio which is now 19.6 at the primary level and 16.9 at the secondary level. We leave it to the schools to see how they are deployed because that gives them the flexibility.

Our goals for the next decade will require new engines and we will build the Singapore Teachers Centre to anchor their professional development. We want to strengthen the quality of PE, Art and Music Education. I have mentioned Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and the Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (STAR). For Mother Tongue Languages, we have the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL), the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) and the Malay Language Centre of Singapore, to cater to professional development needs of our Malay Language teachers.

We need to put new infrastructure in place – such as Indoor Sports Halls – and we have designed these facilities so that usage can be optimised for our primary schools because all of them will move to single session.

We expect our budget to increase to $11 billion over the next few years, with a very important caveat – if our economy continues to grow as planned. For those who do not understand that relationship between an economy that needs to grow for us to be able to spend dollars on education and defence, let me say that this caveat is all important. If we continue to grow, we can continue to invest in our education. And if we can do that, we can invest these resources to build up more peaks of excellence in the school landscape and tertiary sector, then I think

Column: 3682

that we would have achieved a lot. How do we judge what we have achieved? Members have talked about that.

The Chairman: Dr Ng, you have about three minutes.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: I can finish in one minute, Madam.

Teachers and schools know when they have made an impact, even if the public at large do not. Recently, a former student of Pioneer Junior College wrote in the ST Forum Online. There was an exchange, as usual after the "O" Levels results or PSLE, how difficult it is to get to RI, HCI and top colleges. This student, his name is Tang Shangjun, had this to say – nobody had asked him to write in to ST Forum – let me quote him, "I would not trade my time at Pioneer Junior College for a place at any of the so-called elite schools, because I have received an excellent junior college education." A very short letter but Shangjun has done his teachers proud and for him if others do not recognise it, even others do not recognise it, they have met his KPI. Students are finally the ones that tell us whether we have succeeded in our educational efforts.

I know that Members have raised a number of points and I beg your indulgence that I wanted to give an overview, Senior Minister of State Fu, Senior Minister of State Iswaran and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Masagos will add to the details and answer Members' specific details and, obviously, if we have not adequately addressed them at clarification time but I do ask for indulgence.

The Chairman: Order. It is 7.15 pm.

Thereupon Mdm Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.