EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL (Advice on educational policy and development)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr L. P. Rodrigo asked the Minister for Education if the Educational Advisory Council has hitherto been an efficient source of advice on matters of educational policy and development.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Dr Lee Chiaw Meng) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, although the individual members of the Educational Advisory Council have rendered invaluable service, the Council, as a whole, has not been an efficient source of advice on educational matters, mainly because of its unwieldy composition. The Council has a membership of no less than 21, including six members of the Education Finance Board, a body which has become defunct as a result of the changes in the financial procedure of the Government.

In order that educational planning may keep pace with our unprecedented expansion of school enrolment in the past, and with the rapid changes which are now taking place in the educational system, it has been found more expedient to seek advice on educational matters from small committees of specialists on an ad hoc basis. Consequently, the Educational Advisory Council has been largely inactive since May 1962.

Mr L. P. Rodrigo (Serangoon Gardens): Mr Speaker, Sir, as I understand the Educational Advisory Council, it is a body set up by the Education Ordinance, 1957, and the provisions setting up this body also make it mandatory for the Educational Advisory Council to sit a number of times a year. In the circumstances, how is it possible for the Parliamentary Secretary to say that this body is defunct?

Dr Lee Chiaw Meng: Mr Speaker, Sir, as I explained earlier, seeking advice from a large committee is inefficient. We find it more efficient to seek advice from small committees or from individual members. As this method has been so effective, we find that it has not been necessary to convene the Educational Advisory Council since 1962.

Mr Ng Kah Ting (Punggol): Mr Speaker, Sir, since the Educational Advisory Council is inefficient and too large, would the Government consider abolishing it?

Dr Lee Chiaw Meng: There have, in fact, been a couple of advisory committees on educational policy. Since the Educational Advisory Council is so ineffective, I would say it will die a natural death.

Mr Teong Eng Siong (Sembawang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, can the Parliamentary Secretary tell us who are the members of the smaller ad hoc committees?

Dr Lee Chiaw Meng: (In Mandarin): The smaller ad hoc committees are established under various circumstances. For instance, if my Ministry require advice on technical education, we set up a small committee under the Ministry of Education to provide such advice.

Mr Rodrigo: Mr Speaker, Sir, from what the Parliamentary Secretary has said, do I understand that he will advise his Ministry to seek certain amendments to the Education Ordinance of 1957 so that a more effective body can be set up?

Dr Lee Chiaw Meng: The question of amending the Education Ordinance of 1957 is, in fact, under consideration.

Mr J. F. Conceicao (Katong): Mr Speaker, Sir, as I see it, it is the taxpayers and the public that are paying for the cost of education. As such, I think there should be some representation from the general public regarding educational policies. With the Educational Advisory Council becoming defunct, it seems to me that only professional people are involved in the direction of policies. Perhaps it might be a good idea to retain the Educational Advisory Council but with certain modifications to see that its functions ---

Mr Speaker: Mr Conceicao, you should ask a supplementary question. You are now making a speech and what you are saying would be appropriate to any Bill that may be introduced to amend the relevant provisions of the Education Ordinance.