ADDENDA, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION: DR NG ENG HEN

Minister for Education

Education is the best investment that we can make for Singapore’s future. We must build a world class education system that will equip young Singaporeans with the knowledge, skills and values to face the challenges of tomorrow, and to drive Singapore’s next phase of growth. To help our young maximise their potential through education, we must continue to uplift the quality and professionalism of our teaching force.

Preparing our children for life

To prepare young Singaporeans to succeed in a more globalised, complex and interconnected world, our education system must give due emphasis to values education, character development and soft skills training.

MOE will focus our efforts on providing a well-rounded education for all students, and developing their abilities in different areas. For the primary sector, the recommendations of the Primary Education and Implementation (PERI) Committee will guide our efforts in balancing knowledge with skills and values, like the introduction of modular CCAs, and providing the necessary resources (including infrastructure for schools to go single-session) to support quality primary education. At the secondary and pre-university levels, MOE will continue to invest resources to build up more peaks of excellence in the school landscape, to nurture future talents for Singapore. We will also explore establishing new pathways and programmes to better cater to students with different aptitudes, interests, and learning styles.

To give greater impetus to the development of soft skills and talent in non-academic areas, MOE is also exploring the setting up of Centres of Excellence for the arts, music and sports. These teaching academies will complement school-based programmes, and help to bring together expertise and resources to nurture talents in the aesthetics and sports.

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Strengthening the higher education sector

Our post-secondary institutions must continue to provide high-quality, market-relevant training for all Singaporeans so as to power Singapore’s next phase of growth. MOE will make strategic investments in the post-secondary sector, to strengthen the quality of education and training provided, and expand opportunities in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Polytechnics, Junior Colleges and Universities.

ITE will continue to strengthen their provision of practical education and training of skilled manpower, by offering industry-relevant courses. The consolidation of their smaller campuses into three regional colleges will allow them to sharpen their focus, reap synergies, and provide a quality learning environment for their students. MOE will also explore ways to enhance polytechnic upgrading opportunities for good ITE graduates.

Our five polytechnics, catering to more than 40% of each cohort, form the core of Singapore’s post-secondary education system. To improve the quality of polytechnic education, and cater to the increasing demand for polytechnic places, MOE will make further investments in the polytechnics to ensure that students can learn in a high quality educational environment and benefit from industry-relevant, cutting-edge courses. Our polytechnics, with their focus on applied and practice-oriented education, prepare their graduates well to contribute in the workforce. Polytechnic graduates are also attuned to the need to upgrade themselves to stay abreast of latest technologies and knowledge in the workplace. To facilitate this, the Polytechnic-Foreign Specialised Institutes (Poly-FSI) programme will be expanded to enable more polytechnic graduates to obtain industry-relevant and reputable degrees. The Poly-FSI programme and the establishment of the New University will help achieve the 30% university cohort participation rate by 2015.

The New University which will partner with a leading university from both the US and China, as well as the Poly-FSI programme, will inject further value and diversity into our tertiary landscape. MOE will also work with the Ministry of Health to study options to meet our medical manpower requirements, including the possibility of establishing another medical school.

Building a world class education service

To invest in our teachers is to invest in our children’s education, since no education system can rise above its teachers. Teacher quality will continue to be a critical factor in determining the quality of education in Singapore.

MOE will work to make the Teaching Service more attractive, and position it as a choice profession. We want to recruit and retain quality teachers with strong mastery of content and pedagogy who can deliver a new brand of education for a global economy. More importantly, they must have the passion and commitment to teach. MOE will also uplift the quality of our teachers by exploring ways to deepen the professionalism of the teaching service, catalyse a teacher-driven culture of professional excellence, and build professional capacity within the service. We will continue to make gradual improvements in our student-teacher ratios, and to build up a strong corps of school executive and administrative staff and allied educators. These initiatives will drive improvements and innovation in programming and teaching approaches to inspire and engage students.

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Nurturing our next generation is a mission that involves and affects society as a whole. MOE and schools will work in partnership with parents and the community, to build a world class education system that will give young Singaporeans the best future possible.