FUTURESCHOOLS@SINGAPORE

FUTURESCHOOLS@SINGAPORE: 17.

Mdm Cynthia Phua asked the Minister for Education with the introduction of the FutureSchools@Singapore programme where students may make forays into chatrooms, blogs and podcasts, (a) what steps are being taken to educate primary and secondary school students on the pitfalls and dangers of misusing the new media; (b) if the Ministry will consider working with parents so that these students can be adequately supervised when they delve into the new media; and (c) if the Ministry has plans for students who do not have computers at home to complete assignments given after school.

18.

Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Education in light of FutureSchools@Singapore where greater emphasis will be placed on the use of information technology, whether there will be any increase in subsidy schemes for needy families and students to purchase personal computers.

The Minister of State for Education (RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew):

* *(for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I will take Question

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Nos. 17 and 18 together as they are related.

Blogs, chatrooms and podcasts are increasingly an integral part of the lifestyle of our students. Many of them participate actively in chatrooms and they listen frequently to podcasts. The pervasiveness of new media poses both an opportunity and a challenge for educators. MOE encourages our teachers to leverage on such technologies to make learning more interesting and engaging. At the same time, we have adopted proactive measures to ensure that our students are educated on the safe and responsible use of these technologies.

Our schools have integrated elements of cyber-wellness into the curriculum to build a strong cyber culture. The Civics and Moral Education syllabus for primary and secondary schools includes topics on Internet use and cyber-safety. The dangers of Internet Relay Chats are highlighted to them. The Social Emotional Learning framework that was launched in 2005 also helps students make responsible decisions and exercise self-control over their own behaviour and actions in real and virtual space. In the new English syllabus to be implemented in 2009, students will be formally required to evaluate the reliability of sources and to cite the information sources that they use. Internet content that is accessible within MOE and schools is also scanned to filter out websites with content that is not suitable for our students, such as those containing pornographic materials. Skills on the ethical and legal use of ICT are also included in the set of baseline ICT standards which all students need to acquire at the end of their primary and secondary education.

In addition, some schools have introduced additional programmes to educate students on cyber-wellness and cyber-responsibility to help them better

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understand the potential dangers of the use of this technology. For example, Ang Mo Kio Secondary has incorporated 11 lesson modules for all of its students into the Civics and Moral Education framework. These modules cover topics ranging from Internet addiction, cyber bullying, Internet gambling to intellectual property and hacking.

Our schools will continue to engage parents as partners in guiding our students on the use of new technologies. For example, many schools already leverage on existing Parent Support Groups to inform parents on the issues surrounding the use of new technologies, and to actively work with parents to monitor, supervise and advise their children. Schools, such as Junyuan Secondary, have also conducted workshops for parents on Internet gaming, blogging and instant messaging.

On plans to help students without access to computers at home, all of our schools are provided with ICT grants for them to acquire a wide range of ICT resources to support their educational programmes, and schools are given the autonomy to use these funds to integrate ICT into their teaching and learning approaches.

We have taken steps to ensure that no student is disadvantaged because he has no computer at home.

Firstly, our schools provide free access to computers in open areas, eg, computer labs and school libraries, where students can use the computers after school hours to complete their assignments. In addition, some schools have notebook computers that are available on loan for students to use for assignments and research at home and in school.

Secondly, schools have financial assistance schemes in place to help students from low-income families to acquire a home computer. The Infocomm

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Development Authority (IDA) offers the NEU PC Plus Programme to help students from needy families to acquire personal computers. With this scheme, students can purchase a personal computer complete with three years of broadband access at a subsidised price of $285. Poor students can have their co-payment further subsidised by the Opportunity Fund. This means that, in some instances, they pay even less than $285.

The FutureSchools@Singapore initiative leverages on ICT on a school-wide level to bring about more engaged learning for all our students in those schools. Like all schools, our FutureSchools will ensure that their needy students too will have access to ICT and be able to tap on the Opportunity Fund and other sources of funding to help them purchase computers for use at home where necessary.

3.00 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question time.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos. 23, 26-28 and 31-34 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix*. Question Nos. 19-22, 24-25 and 29-30 have been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament.]

*Cols. 1275-1284.