1964 contained in Paper Cmd. 16 of 1964", put, and

agreed to.

Resolution to be reported.

4.46 p.m.

The Chairman: First Supplementary Development Estimates of Expenditure for 1964 as contained in Paper Cmd. 21 of 1964. The summary is at the foot of the page. Head D40 - Ministry of Education - there is an amendment standing in the name of the Member for Jurong.

Head D40-

Mr Chia Thye Poh: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D40 be reduced by the whole sum in respect of item (3) of subhead 17.

Mr Speaker, this year there are about 21,000 odd pupils who are eligible for admission into secondary academic . . . then and no places in schools . . . is trying to give places to all the pupils and yet this number of pupils have not been able to attend any secondary school . . .

The Chairman: Order. I understand something is wrong with the microphone. Translations are not coming through. Is it the pleasure of the House that we take the tea adjournment now while the trouble is being looked into?

Hon. Members indicated assent.

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

Mr Speaker: I shall suspend the sitting of this House and resume sitting at 5.20 o'clock.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.50 p.m. until 5.20 p.m. Sitting resumed at 5.20 p.m.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

5.21 p.m.

Mr Chia Thye Poh: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, just now I was touching upon the fact that this year 21 .00() pupils ought to be eligible for admission into secondary academic schools. But because the Government has not enough schools, 6,000 odd pupils are not able to have any accommodation in any secondary academic schools. We find that of the 21,000 pupils, about 6,000 odd pupils are not able to get admission into schools. This represents a great number and the percentage is one-third of the 21,000 odd. If the Minister for Education wants to use any excuse or pretext, then he may say that it is because of financial resources or shortage of schools. But if for such a great number of pupils the original estimate could not be properly foreseen in advance, then it represents a faulty calculation. This is negligence of duty on the part of the Ministry of Education, because it goes to show that it was not able to plan and calculate in advance its actual needs. In the past, the P.A.P. Government used to boast of its good education policy and how it was able to provide places for all school-going pupils. But from this supplementary vote asked by the Government, we can see that it has not been faultless in the administration of its education policy. For these 6,000 odd pupils, the Government is seeking temporary places in other schools. The Ministry of Education does not clarify as to what type of schools these pupils will be put in - technical, vocational or academic. But whatever the type of schools, these pupils, who originally should have been able to join secondary academic schools, are now to be put into other schools instead. This will create adverse effects psychologically on the children concerned. The Ministry of Education has to bear the responsibility and the consequences for this.

In addition to this, I would like to mention another matter. The Ministry of Education, on the one hand, is unable to provide a sufficient number of secondary schools for the pupils. On the other hand, it is resorting to unreasonable measures to expel middle school pupils. Not very long ago, many Chinese middle school pupils were ordered to leave school. The Ministry of Education did not give sufficient reasons to the parents or guardians of the pupils expelled. On being questioned by the parents concerned, the Ministry was not able to give any reason why their children were not able to be accommodated in the schools. We know that if the Government wants to give any excuse or pretext, it can argue that the pupils have been engaged in illegal activities. But this kind of pretext was adopted by past colonial regimes and is not a good pretext to be used nowadays. If this pretext can be advanced as a reason, then it only goes to show that the Ministry has not been correct or proper in dealing with them. When the parents of the pupils concerned queried the Ministry, the Ministry was not able to give them a satisfactory explanation. This fact shows that the Government administration in regard to secondary schools has been a faulty one, by bringing party politics into the schools and divesting the pupils of their right to study. In order to expel a pupil, the Education Ministry should, I think, advance sufficient reasons, otherwise they should not try to expel a pupil from school.

The Minister for Education (Mr Ong Pang Boon): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, a little while ago, the Member for Jurong talked about 6,000 pupils who have not been able to find any places in schools and the Government has not been able to provide schools for them in which to study. Mr Speaker, Sir, I find that the Member for Jurong is not capable of understanding these problems.

5.30 p.m.

That is what has caused him to make the speech just now. The Government's promise is this. If a child of school-going age wants a place in a school, the Government will see to it that he or she gets it. If primary pupils can pass their Primary School Leaving Examination, then the Government is able to allocate places for them. As to what type of schools they want to enter - whether academic, technical, vocational or com mercial secondary schools - that depends on the choice of their parents. On this point, I have already given my answer. The number of pupils who want to join secondary academic schools has increased, thus causing an insufficient number of academic schools to accommodate them. Although the 6,000 odd pupils affected are housed in other school buildings, they are still continuing with their secondary academic education. The three additional secondary academic schools to be built are meant to take these pupils back. Let me stress that although they are at present being temporarily accommodated in other types of schools, the curricula and the subjects they study are still the same as those in secondary academic schools. There has been no change in this respect. As to the cause of this phenomenon, it can be attributed to the following.

Firstly, last year, the percentage of primary pupils taking the school leaving examination had increased, and the percentage of passes had improved, thus causing an increase in the number of pupils seeking entrance into secondary schools.

Secondly, as regards vocational schools, the number of such schools has exceeded the number we originally planned. Actually we planned for six such schools. We estimated originally that many primary school-leavers would join vocational schools, but because of parental preference for secondary academic schools, this has resulted in a shortage of places in such schools, whereas' there are many vacancies in secondary vocational schools. We hope that from now on, parents will discard the past idea of preference for white-collar jobs and will try to put their children into vocational or technical schools.

Just now the Member for Jurong also mentioned that the Ministry of Education had sacked certain secondary school pupils without giving the parents of these pupils a satisfactory explanation. Mr Speaker, Sir, in the past few months, a number of middle school pupils were expelled. Some were expelled by the Ministry of Education; some were expelled at the request of the principals concerned. The reasons were very simple. While at school, these pupils were not actually engaged in their studies. On the contrary, they took part in demonstrations and activities organised by certain pro-Communist Nanyang University students. Even recently, on 12th September this year, the Barisan Sosialis organised a demonstration against national service and these pupils joined in this demonstration, and as a result, they were sacked. Some of them also distributed illegal pamphlets in their schools. These pamphlets were produced by certain Nantah pro-Communist students. Some took part in demonstrations outside the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and others took part in anti-National Service movements. For these reasons, the pupils concerned were expelled. We can only respect the right of the pupils to be educated if they really want to study in schools, but if these middle school pupils want to take part in anti-national and subversive activities, then the Ministry of Education cannot support or condone such activities.

Mr Koo Young: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, the Minister for Education has explained why certain pupils were expelled. I am not satisfied with his explanation. His explanation as to why 6,000 pupils are being accommodated in other types of schools is not satisfactory. He says that the percentage of passes of primary school pupils had increased and that there was an insufficient number of secondary vocational schools. I have some doubt about this. I would like to ask him whether he considered such primary school-leavers to be half-witted and therefore expected a high percentage of failures so that there was no need to have a sufficient number of secondary academic schools built for them. Since he is in charge of education in the State, he should try to assess in advance the whole situation. If he continues to presume that every year many primary school-leavers will fail the School Leaving Examination, then there will continue to be a shortage of places in secondary schools.

Touching on the second reason given by him when he says that the number of secondary vocational schools has exceeded the number originally planned, this shows up the inadequacy of the Ministry in assessing the number of pupils seeking entrance into the different types of schools. It has erred in anticipating the number of different types of schools to be built.

The Minister also spoke at length on many parents being reluctant to let their children join vocational or technical schools. He has thus put the blame on the parents. He went further and criticised them - for wanting their children to have an academic education in order to take up white-collar jobs. But the question is not whether these children want to become white-collar workers earning a salary of about $1,000 a month. In actual fact, they find it very difficult to get jobs when once they leave school. This shows that the educational system in Singapore still smacks of the past and smells of colonial education. The Minister should not try to blame the parents for the con sequences. It is a fact that many pupils after leaving school have no chance at all of getting employment or choosing their jobs.

As regards certain pupils who have been expelled for having taken part in Nantah student demonstrations or certain activities, I would like to ask the Minister whether he can advance any concrete evidence why he has expelled them. We cannot rely on personal information given to the Minister himself. He should also investigate the circumstances under which those demonstrations were held. They were caused by the Government trying to control Nantah. The causes were many, due to the fault of the P.A.P. itself.

Mr Ong Pang Boon: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, we never presupposed the percentage of failures and presumed that most of the primary school-leavers are half-witted. As a matter of fact, vocational schools are not meant for those who failed their P.S.L. Examination only. Those who pass the primary school examination are entirely free to choose to go into vocational secondary schools and, if their results are good, they can go into vocational institutes for further education. So, vocational secondary schools are not merely intended for the primary school-leavers who failed in their examinations.

5.45 p.m.

As to the number of vocational schools built exceeding our demand, perhaps it was because we were overconfident in assessing or in foretelling the choice the parents were going to make with regard to what type of schools their children should go to. We never imagined that there were a lot of parents who preferred to send their children to secondary academic schools. Our calculation then was that with industrialisation on the way, more parents would choose to send their children to vocational and technical secondary schools. Of course, we admit that our estimates were over-optimistic, but we hope nevertheless that in future more parents would change their attitude towards education and send their children to vocational and technical schools to meet our industrial needs.

Secondary school students go to school in order to study. They should not go to school with the idea of taking part in anti-national activities. We, of course, have evidence to show this. In fact, some of them have been convicted in the courts. And who is to blame for their dismissal for their participation in anti-national activities? The blame should go to the Barisan Sosialis. If the Barisan Sosialis had not instigated them, then these students would still have been attending school. So we come to the very root of the whole matter - that the Barisan Sosialis should be blamed for the students' dismissal and for their loss of education.

The Chairman: Does the Member for Jurong wish his amendment to be put to a vote?

Mr Chia Thye Poh indicated assent.

Question on the amendment put, and negatived.

The sum of $10 for Head D40 ordered to stand part of the First Supplementary Development Estimates of Expenditure for 1964.

Head D41 -

The Chairman: There is an amendment* standing in the name of the Member for Jurong.

*The amendment reads as follows:

That the sum to be allocated for Head D41 be reduced by the whole sum in respect of new subhead 41.

Mr Chia Thye Poh: (In Mandarin): I do not wish to move my amendment.

The sum of $400,000 for Head D41 ordered to stand part of the First Supplementary Development Estimates of Expenditure for 1964.

Question, "That the sum of $400,010 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the First Supplementary Development Estimates of Expenditure for 1964 contained in Paper Cmd. 21 of 1964", put, and agreed to.

Resolution to be reported.

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

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to certain resolutions.

Resolutions reported -

"That the sum of $393,720.96 shall be supplied to the Government under the head of expenditure for the public services shown in the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure for 1964 contained in Paper Cmd. 16 of 1964."

"That the sum of $400,010 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the First Supplemen tary Development Estimates of Expenditure for 1964 contained in Paper Cmd. 21 of 1964."

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I beg to move that the Assembly doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolutions accordingly agreed to.