INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.40 p.m.

The Minister for Education (Mr Lim Kim San): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time".

At present, Sir, teacher education in Singapore is conducted by the Teachers' Training College and the School of Education at the University of Singapore, which together provide a programme of training encompassing a variety of courses at different levels of training in the four language streams, leading to certificate, diploma and post-graduate qualifications in education. In addition, the Teachers' Training College, which undertakes the major part of the training programme with a student enrolment of more than 2,300 in 1969, also conducts numerous in-service courses on a wide variety of subjects for qualified teachers. The School of Education offers only post-graduate courses, but caters jointly with the Teachers' Training College for the basic training of graduate teachers.

These two institutions have hitherto fulfilled an essential need in the training of teachers to staff our schools. But he establishment of an Institute of Education to centralise the whole training programme under a single autonomous statutory body will be a positive advancement in teacher education in Singapore, from the administrative, professional and academic points of view.

The setting up of an independent, statutory Institute of Education will remove certain limitations inherent in the present administration of the Teachers' Training College as a Government department. At present, recruitment to posts at the Teachers' Training College is usually limited only to members of the Education Service. Further, promotion of lecturers after a certain point leads staff members to principal-ships and positions in the Inspectorate, resulting in a constant turnover of staff at the College.

On the other hand, Sir, the Institute of Education, when established, will be able, by virtue of its independent status, to appoint its teaching staff at professorial and other levels through open advertisement and selection on a merit basis. This will also encourage response from those with outstanding qualifications who would be willing to contribute to the advancement of teacher education but are reluctant to be associated with a Government body. The Institute will also be in a position, by virtue of its autonomous status, to offer terms and conditions of service commensurate with the qualifications of the staff it hopes to attract. Visiting professors of international standing will be recruited to teach at the institute, and only highly qualified and experienced educators will be recruited into its permanent establishment. These conditions will be more conducive to the attainment of good professional and academic standards, as well as to the conducting of educational research.

The Institute will have powers to confer degrees and diplomas and to grant certificates to those who successfully complete its courses. One proposed innovation which deserves particular mention is the introduction, at a later stage, of courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Education and Master of Education. The institution of a Bachelor of Education degree has certain advantages. It has a potential for improving the quality of the teaching force, as students will be firmly committed to a teaching career before they embark on the course, which will be of three years' duration. There is also the time-saving aspect, as it will take only three years to produce a graduate teacher, compared to four years as at present. The conferment of degrees will also enhance the status of the teaching profession. A scheme may later be introduced to enable non-graduate serving teachers to obtain this degree.

With the establishment of the Institute, the School of Education at the University of Singapore will be gradually phased out.

The Institute will co-operate with all other tertiary institutions on professional matters.

Under the Bill, provision is made for the Institute to be managed by a Council including, among its members, representatives from Government, the two local Universities, Ngee Ann Technical College, professional bodies and organisations, and the Institute itself.

A Director, to be appointed by the Council, will be the chief administrative and academic officer.

A Board of Studies will be established to advise the Council on academic matters pertaining to the Institute.

The Minister for Education is empowered under the Bill to make grants to the Institute out of funds to be provided by the House, and any funds received or raised by the Institute will be controlled and administered by the Council subject to the directions of the Minister. Annual and supplementary estimates of expenditure must have the prior approval of the Minister and all accounts of expenditure will be audited.

The Minister may also transfer to the Institute the assets and property of the Government held for the purposes of the Teachers' Training College in Singapore. Gifts to the Institute will be granted tax relief as it will be deemed an institution of a public character.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.45 p.m.

Mr Ho Kah Leong (Jurong): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, as a teacher, I rise to support this Bill. I welcome it because, under it, an Institute of Education will be established to provide for teacher training. An opportunity will also be given for research in education, which is in great demand.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the task of teacher training has all along been entrusted to the Teachers' Training College, which has been able to train about 20,000 teachers for the Republic. Perhaps due to the heavy work undertaken by the T.T.C, and the great number of teachers it has to train, there is still much room for improvement in the formulation of curricula. Most of the trainee-teachers have one common feeling-that it is a drudgery for them to undergo training at the T.T.C. The curricula at the T.T.C, are very complex and varied. Some parts are not practical. Most of the student teachers are in jitters trying their best to meet the requirements of their lecturers, hoping to go through the mill as quickly as possible in order to gain a certificate to make a living. However, many of them feel that what they have learnt at the T.T.C. cannot be put into practice in the classrooms. What the lecturers advocate in the T.T.C, may not be the same as what is demanded by the inspectors of schools. So the teachers do not know whom to please. However, it must be admitted that there are many good teachers and lecturers at the T.T.C. However, these teachers are sometimes transferred to the Ministry of Education to do administrative work, or they may be appointed as principals in secondary schools. We know that we need good lecturers to train good teachers. We hope the Institute of Education will be able to recruit capable teachers and lecturers and devise methods to retain the services of these people.

When the T.T.C, is taken into the Institute of Education, its many good features should be incorporated into the Institute and its shortcomings rectified so that the Institute can become a centre for the training of the "engineers" of our national mind.

Mr Speaker, the course of education is a long process and knowledge in education is increasing rapidly. Teachers should improve themselves by attending courses and seminars. The Ministry should encourage teachers to improve themselves. There are teachers with a B.A, degree who, after attending courses, are able to get a Master's degree. But in spite of this additional qualification, they are given the pay of an Honours graduate. This is unreasonable. I have received petitions on this matter from more than 10 teachers.

Mr Speaker, Sir, teachers in secondary and primary schools have limited opportunities for promotion. Some of them, faithful to their duty, remain teachers throughout their whole lives. The Ministry should think of ways and means to give primary school teachers an opportunity for further study and obtain higher academic qualifications to become qualified secondary school teachers. Teachers in the secondary schools should be given an opportunity to do research in education to acquire a higher degree. They should be given fully-paid leave while doing their research. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Institute of Education will give them such opportunities.

Mr Speaker, Sir, education is a lengthy process, and about three-quarters of our population are school children. What will become of them will depend on the 20,000-odd teachers. The setting up of the Institute of Education will help raise the quality of teachers which, in turn, will enhance the quality of the population. Let me reaffirm my stand. I fully support this Bill.

3.50 p.m.

Mr J. F. Conceicao (Katong): Mr Speaker, Sir, the first thing I wish to say is that I am glad an amendment is proposed to clause 4 (1) (c) of this Bill, so that one of the objects of the Institute of Education will be the promotion of research in education and not, as could have been originally implied, the promotion of research in teacher education. Whatever possible implications there may be, the wording of the original paragraph in question seems to me to have been quite unsatisfactory. Now we have a clearer and, indeed, a more liberal statement of the research functions of the Institute.

But what are the functions of the Institute in respect of the education of our teachers? I notice that courses of study will be provided for the training of teachers in the various fields of education at all levels. This would imply that the Institute may be the only duly accredited teacher education establishment in Singapore. Inasmuch as the T.T.C, has already done this, the Institute is certainly going to take over what used to be the functions of the University of Singapore, for example, at the level of graduate teacher training. Thus we find that this Institute is apparently going to be endowed with pretty wide-ranging functions. This view is somewhat substantiated by clause 4 (2) (e) , by which this Institute will be empowered to institute and award fellowships, exhibitions and so on, and forms of assistance towards the advancement and dissemination of knowledge, presumably knowledge in general, because no qualification is stipulated. And yet when we look at clause 4 (1) (a) , we find that the study courses provided will be for the training of teachers in education. In other words, it seems to me that the emphasis is on the pedagogical aspects of training, to the exclusion of the academic aspects. We have just heard the Minister for Education say that the Institute will introduce courses leading to the award of the degrees of Bachelor of Education and Master of Education. Presumably, the people who are candidates for these degrees will be coming from schools with the Higher School Certificate or the School Leaving Certificate. It seems to me that these people will have to be provided with knowledge of the contents of certain disciplines as well as knowledge of the pedagogical aspects of how they are going to teach these disciplines in the schools. So we have to think of equipping the would-be teachers themselves in the various disciplines apart from education. These teachers, especially those going to the secondary and post-secondary classes, will have to possess an adequate and, may I emphasise, a lively knowledge of the subjects they will have to teach. And yet the objects of the Institute are expressed in this Bill in terms that seem to exclude the equipping of our apprentice teachers with the effective knowledge of what they are going to teach as apart from how they are going to teach.

It seems to me that whoever gave the brief for the drafting of the objects of this Institute, especially in their original form, may have had the present Teachers' Training College in mind. It is hoped that this Bill will not simply result in a more impressive name for the T.T.C., but that the opportunity will be grasped for a new milestone to be marked in the fundamental development of teacher education facilities in Singapore.

I agree with the Member for Jurong that the Teachers' Training College has served a most useful purpose. While taking as much care as possible to ensure quality within the prevailing constraints, its chief function has been to produce the number of teachers required to staff the schools which the Government has been energetically establishing. It is time now to consolidate our position vis-a-vis the quality of our educators. Nowhere in the Bill is there any indication of the relationship of this Institute to other institutions of tertiary education in Singapore. Thus this autonomous Institute of Education has the grave responsibility of ensuring the quality of the teachers we will produce and that the teachers we have already produced will be given all the facilities to develop to their satisfaction and to the satisfaction of our society in their chosen career. Inasmuch as our teacher educators have been equal to the particular challenges of the past, I hope they will be equal to the more significant challenges of the future.

3.57 p.m.

Mr Sia Khoon Seong (Moulmein): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Bill before this House seeks to establish a corporate body to be known as the "Institute of Education" which will make provision for the training of teachers in Singapore and promote research in the various fields of education. To my mind, this move opens up a new spectrum in our present efforts to seek qualitative improvement in our education system.

Both the financial and human resources available to the Education Ministry in the past were geared and strained to meet the expansion of schools to meet the objective of providing every school-going child a place in school, with the result that very little attention was paid to the improvement in the quality of education. Whatever efforts were made in the past in the direction of qualitative improvement were only ad hoc measures and were neither comprehensive nor co-ordinated. It is hoped that with the establishment of the Institute of Education, all efforts aimed at qualitative improvement in all aspects of our educational system, ranging from curriculum development to teacher training, will be carried out more systematically, efficiently, and with imagination, with a touch of professional expertise.

With the attainment of the objective of quantitative education, it is now imperative that study and research be made into the different aspects of our educational development in the past decade. In the past, changes made in the educational system were not only radical and rapid, but were also made to meet certain underlying political objectives of nation-building, with the result that high educational standards and objectives sometimes had to be sacrificed.

No one in his right frame of mind will dispute the need to gear our educational system to attain certain underlying political objectives of inculcating a sense of loyalty and pride of belonging to Singapore, of building a multi-racial and harmonious society, and of restructuring our educational system to meet the needs of manpower requirements in the fast-changing pattern of our economic development and progress. What I wish to point out, however, is that we must not lose sight of the educational standards and objectives at the same time. Whether -a review is necessary of certain educational activities that have been carried out so far in Singapore schools, and how improvements can be made in the direction of qualitative education, are matters that require the attention of educational experts engaged in proper research, study and analysis of the various fields of education.

It is hoped that the proposed Institute of Education will have, among its staff, experts who will be able to evaluate the progress we have made in our educational development in the past decade, as well as spotlight the pitfalls we have stumbled into, and make expert and applicable recommendations for improvement in qualitative education.

Let me turn to another subject that will come within the purview of the proposed Institute of Education - I am referring to teacher training. The adaptation of our educational system to the needs of modem Singapore necessitates higher and broader qualifications for the teachers who will have to prepare young people to live and work in the context of an increasingly complex economic and social organisation. Moreover, the good initial training for teachers is not enough at a time like ours when the content, methods and media of education are necessarily undergoing constant changes. The systematic organisation of refresher and advanced courses and a wide range of in-service courses on teachers' education will enable serving teachers to add continually to their professional as well as academic knowledge, and keep up to date with developments in all fields of education so that they will not lose touch with progress and become inefficient. But improvement in the economic, no less than the professional, status of teachers is required if serving teachers are to be encouraged to feel obliged to seek professional improvement. The improvement of the economic status of teachers is primarily a matter of social justice, since the qualifications required for this category of workers and the tasks assigned to them are becoming ever more complex and demanding, particularly when their role is extending beyond the confines of the schools because of the part the teachers must play today in community development. Teachers must enjoy a status commensurate with their role.

The proposed Institute of Education, in consultation with teachers' unions, should promote the establishment of a wide system of in-service teacher education, and adequate incentive schemes, devised by the Ministry of Education after consultation with teachers' unions, should be offered to serving teachers on successful completion of any in-service course on teacher education.

The Institute should also focus its attention on developments in the education service, keeping schools abreast of the results of research and methodological progress, as well as reflecting in its own work the experience of schools and teachers.

The Institute should also provide adequate further teacher-education programmes to enable serving non-graduate teachers in both primary and secondary schools to seek professional and academic advancement especially when they are required from time to time to shoulder additional professional responsibilities. The present non-graduate teachers are a case in point. Though trained essentially to teach in primary schools, they are posted to teach in secondary schools, sometimes at the upper secondary level of education where trained university graduate teachers are supposed to teach. This has been the position in the past decade when the Education Ministry has been faced with the problem of attracting and recruiting an adequate number of university graduate teachers to man the secondary schools particularly from secondary three level upwards. It is a credit to those serving non-graduate teachers that they have admirably played their role and proved their ability and worth. They have discharged their responsibilities very well and produced good results with the students that they have taught. It can also be said that many serving non-graduate teachers in primary schools, when posted to secondary schools, will also respond just as well to their new role. This is to be expected as they all went through the same training in the Teachers' Training College.

No recognition of any kind is given to the non-graduate teachers in secondary schools for shouldering increased responsibilities that should normally be carried out by university graduate teachers. It is imperative, therefore, that one of the paramount concerns of the Institute of Education must be the promotion of further teacher-education programmes at degree/diploma level to enable serving non-graduate teachers to avail themselves of such opportunities to increase their academic knowledge and upgrade their professional skills and status so that, on successful completion of such degree/diploma teacher-education courses, they can be placed on par with university graduate teachers in terms of status and service conditions.

It is important that consideration must be given to the fact that many serving non-graduate teachers, meriting consideration for professional and academic upgrading courses, are often married men with both responsibilities and financial commitments that normally go with married men. Leave for studies in such courses therefore must be on full pay, and their experience in teaching must be taken as adequate entry qualification for any such courses.

It is pertinent for me at this juncture to seek clarification from the Minister for Education on the following queries that I wish to raise:

1. During the transitional period of change when teacher training is transferred from the present Teachers' Training College to the proposed Institute of Education, is the Ministry of Education taking immediate steps to recruit and train more teachers to meet the present acute shortage of teachers in the schools today, normalise the staffing position in schools, and reduce to the minimum the present position where a far too excessive number of relief teachers are employed on an ad hoc basis to meet the present acute shortage of teachers?

2. Why is the Ministry of Education not providing opportunities to the present pool of relief teachers to undergo teacher training and seek permanent employment in the Ministry?

3. Is the Ministry aware that while, on the one hand, there is a shortage of teachers, there are, on the other hand, some teachers who have just completed their full-time teacher training this year who are not offered employment in the teaching service?

4. Does the Minister for Education envisage the proposed Institute of Education to continue the present policy in respect of teacher training, namely, that student teachers, on successful completion of their teacher training, will not be guaranteed employment in the education service? If this policy is continued, does the Ministry not see this as a great disincentive to future aspirants to the teaching service?

5. What will happen to the fate of the present lecturing staff in the Teachers' Training College when teacher training is taken over by the proposed Institute of Education?

6. Will those members of the present T.T.C. lecturing staff holding substantive appointments as assistant lecturers, lecturers, etc., at present be absorbed automatically into the staff of the Institute of Education? And will those members of the present T.T.C, lecturing staff holding acting appointments and who have given satisfactory lecturing service for a period of time be given special preference by the proposed Institute of Education in its recruitment of staff?

7. What will be the scheme of service of the staff of the proposed Institute of Education? Will it be similar to the existing scheme of service of the present T.T.C, lecturing staff, or will it be similar to existing schemes of service in the Polytechnic or Ngee Ann Technical College?

8. Will the present T.T.C, lecturing staff be given an opportunity to make representations through their teachers' union on their future position when the proposed Institute of Education is established and takes over the function of teacher training from the present T.T.C.?

Let me, in conclusion, express the hope that, as a result of the proposed establishment of the Institute of Education, the current promotion exercise for T.T.C, lecturers in relation to appointments in the T.T.C, will not be frozen, but will be carried out as indicated in the recent vacancy minute.

I just want to add that the term "teachers" in the context of my speech today also includes principals of schools, since they are also practising teachers basically.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill.

4.12 p.m.

Mr Teong Eng Siong (Sembawang): (In Mandarin): Sir, I feel that the Institute of Education Bill is an important Bill because it will make provision for the training of teachers in our country. In recent years, we have heard from various sources that we will raise the quality of our educational system in order to produce qualified personnel who will be able to make a contribution to our country. The Institute of Education will become a higher institution of education for our country and can change the nature and quality of our educational system for the better. It is most appropriate for Members to contribute their views to the House on this Bill. I would like to add only a few points.

The Member for Jurong has said that at present there are shortcomings in the courses conducted by the Teachers' Training College. He feels that some of them are of no practical value. But he has not suggested to the House how to improve these courses so as to make them more practical in order to benefit the younger generation. We have often stressed that there is a shortage of technical and managerial personnel. We have often heard that the number of students turned out by our schools cannot meet the demands of our industries and various institutions. I would like to ask the Minister to pay special attention to this problem and get the Institute to speed up its output of students.

The second point that I would like to make is that we should have teachers and teacher educators with good physique because we are striving to build a rugged society. So we should also pay attention to this aspect of physical education, particularly for teachers.

The final point I want to make touches on the field of culture. We are very short of artistic personnel - artists, cultural activists and others in the field of fine arts and drama. I hope there will be teachers to fill this gap, and also that art courses will be conducted. If the Institute of Education develops along the proper channels, it will be able to produce sufficient talented people for our nation.

4.16 p.m.

Mr N. Govindasamy: Mr Speaker, Sir, let me join my colleagues, the Members for Jurong, Katong and Moulmein, in complimenting the Minister on bringing forth this Institute of Education Bill which is, in my opinion, a little long overdue. Let me at the same time hasten to add my tribute to the T.T.C, to which I believe we are playing a swan song. The T.T.C, did its duty when we wanted quantitative education. We have spoken on qualitative education before. In establishing an Institute of Education which we hope will bring about teachers of quality, there are a number of matters that we will have to take into consideration.

One of the important aspects in our secondary education today is, as has already been pointed out, mainly managed by teachers who are non-graduates and who are not really trained to teach in secondary schools. We owe a great debt to these non-graduate teachers in our secondary schools for the unstinted service that they have put in over the years. I hope this Institute will give them an opportunity to better themselves so that the standard of qualitative education and the contents of the subjects being taught in secondary schools are improved. I was glad to hear from the Minister that the Institute will open its doors to serving teachers to improve their teaching techniques as well as knowledge of the contents of the subjects.

We all know that the number of Honours graduates and graduate teachers in secondary schools is limited. They specialise in certain subjects and prefer to teach only the subjects in which they obtain their Honours degrees, whereas the non-graduate teachers - unfortunately being specialists in nothing -- are expected to teach all subjects allotted to them. Therefore, I would suggest that in giving in-service courses to the non-graduate teachers who are teaching in secondary schools now, we may have to shorten the course that a school-leaver would normally have to undergo to complete his Bachelor of Education Degree. The Minister says that the BE. Degree course will be done in a three-year period. I presume this three-year period course is for those fresh from school who have gone into the Institute of Education to obtain the B.E. Degree. Teachers who have served a number of years in secondary schools should be given an opportunity to complete the course earlier. If this course is going to be a full-time course, sufficient incentive should be given to them. In other words, paid leave should be given to them to attend these courses full-time, or a part-time in-service course leading to a degree. In this way, they can learn as well as teach at the same time. I am not too sure if these questions have been thrashed out. If they have been, I would like to hear from the Minister of any details that he has worked out for the serving teachers in secondary schools to go to the Institute to obtain a degree. We have heard on previous occasions that serving teachers were having difficulty in obtaining permission to attend university courses on paid leave. Further, the University is not providing in-service courses which will lead to a degree or higher degree. A number of teachers went to the University and did a degree course, but they never returned to the schools. I hope we will not make the same mistake and that some sort of arrangements will be made so that we will continue to have their services.

4.22 p.m.

Mr Lim Kim San: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am very glad that the Member for Telok Blangah has spoken in appreciation of the role that the Teachers' Training College has played in the expansion of our educational services. Just now we heard from the Member for Jurong who said that although the T.T.C, had trained 20,000 teachers, there were certain aspects with which he was not happy. I do not think this is the time and place to consider the merits and demerits of the T.T.C. It is most appropriate that we should pay tribute to an institution which served its purpose well during a period when we had to expand the educational service quantitatively. I would not like to be drawn into a debate on conditions of service by the Member for Jurong. There will be a time and occasion for that.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the purpose of setting up the Institute of Education by the Ministry of Education is to raise the standard of teaching, and though it is not written in detail in the Bill, it is, of course, implied that students who attend the Institute will be inculcated with what the Member for Katong described as "a lively knowledge of the subjects which they will be teaching". It is not possible to spell out in detail the objects, but I believe they are implied there, and I can rely upon members of the Council, when they are appointed, to see that the teachers who are turned out by the Institute will have a lively knowledge and lively curiosity of the subjects which they will be teaching. I can assure the Member for Moulmein that I will always make full use of professional advice. In my career I have found that it is always wise to listen to, though not always to accept, the advice of the professionals. I can assure the Member and his colleagues that I will make full use of their knowledge of the teaching service. I will do my very best to tap all that I can from their experience.

I have noted the suggestion made by the Member for Moulmein on the in-service scheme and I am sure the Council of the Institute will look thoroughly into the proposal which he has made.

The Member seeks clarification on certain questions that he has posed. I am not able to answer them in the order that he put them, but I would say this in regard to the position of the-present lecturing staff of the T.T.C, when the Teachers' Training College is taken over by the Institute of Education. Let me assure the Member that they will be in no way worse off than they are. The Teachers' Training College is-now part of the Ministry of Education. If any of the staff there are not absorbed by the Institute of Education, they will be taken into the Ministry of Education.

With regard to the scheme of service-for the Institute of Education, it is too early yet to go into the details, but since this is an institute of tertiary education, I will equate it with other institutes of tertiary education. The Institute will have chairs, professorships, lectureships and other posts and officers in keeping with its status. I do not think the terms and conditions will be in any way inferior to those obtainable in the T.T.C, now.

While the Government does not stop its employees from making representations to it, I do not think there is any need for them to go to the teachers' unions for any representation in this case, because, as I say, they will be in no worse position than they are now.

We are trying our best to redress the shortage of teachers. This year we have put out two advertisements for teachers, but the response has not been very encouraging. This is something beyond our control, and I am afraid we have to use non-graduate teachers to fill the breach.

To come to the question of relief teachers. The Member mentioned relief teachers seeking training and permanent employment in the Ministry of Education. The opportunity is always there. They can always make their applications and every case will be considered on its own merits.

The Member for Moulmein also brought up the question of shortage of teachers. He alleged that while there is a shortage of teachers under the present circumstances, those who have qualified have not been offered employment. These cases are very few and far between. This is largely due to some administrative difficulties. I shall be very glad if these cases can be brought to my notice. If they have the requisite qualifications, I will see that they are appointed immediately. This is one of the problems caused by our not having enough wide-awake people in our administration. I can quote a case. I sent a telegram here from Geneva. It arrived on the same day, but it took two days for it to travel from the ground floor to the seventh floor of the Ministry of Education to the Acting Minister! This is probably one of the snags which have held up the appointment of suitably qualified teachers even though we are really short of teachers. May I also say that we are looking into the case that I have just quoted, where it took longer for a telegram to climb up six floors than for it to come from Geneva to here. I think I have answered most of the problems raised. There may be one or two others, but they are not really significant. They can be raised later on if the occasion arises.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Mr Lim Kim San].

Bill considered in Committee.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

4.30 p.m.

Clauses 1 to 3 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 4 -

Mr Lim Kim San: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

In page 2, lines 17 and 18, to leave out "the various fields of education for teachers" and insert "education".

Sir, the Member for Katong has drawn the attention of the House to the improvement that will be brought about by this amendment. This amendment means that research can be carried out over a wider field instead of confining itself to the field of education for teachers only.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Lim Kim San: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

In page 3, line 2, to leave out "20" and insert "19".

This is a printing error.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 4, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 5 to 21 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported with amendments; read a Third time and passed.