FULL-DAY SCHOOLS (Implementation)

Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education what are the schools in which full-day schooling will be introduced, and how will the curriculum for those schools be worked out.

Mr Chai Chong Yii (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, in the Addendum to the Presidential Address for the financial years 1979 to 1982, the Ministry of Education has indicated that a pilot project on full-day schooling for secondary schools will be introduced in 1980.

The objectives of this project are to allow a more thorough treatment of the curriculum and to provide better interaction between pupils and teachers. Salient features of the full-day school programme will be the provision of a wider choice of elective subjects; time for remedial teaching, small group tutorials, private studies with close supervision by teachers; and the provision of guidance and counselling to help pupils who have difficulties in their work. Pupils in full-day schools should be able to do all the work they may be given during the school day itself.

Prerequisites for the successful implementation of the project include the commitment of principals and teachers to its objectives; the cooperation of teachers' unions; and the careful selection of schools that should be adequately equipped with all the necessary facilities required for a full-day school. Schools which are to pioneer this scheme should be preferably located in HDB estates so that teachers and pupils involved in the project need not travel far from their homes.

The Ministry of Education is in the process of finalising the implementation details of this project.