MORAL EDUCATION (Textbooks in mother tongue for Secondary 1 and 2)

Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Minister for Education whether series textbooks in the mother tongue on moral education will be developed for Secondary 1 and 2 as there is right now a gap between Primary 6 and Secondary 3 in the subject.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Tang Guan Seng) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am replying on behalf of my Minister.

Moral education (the Being and Becoming Programme) at Secondary 1 and 2 is taught in the language of competence of the students, ie, in English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil as decided by the principal of the school. Teacher's manuals are available in all the four languages. The course does not require any textbooks or workbooks for the pupils. The method makes use of interaction and discussion among the pupils and the teacher. My Ministry has no plans at present to develop textbooks for the Being and Becoming programme.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok (Delta): Sir, do the schools have enough qualified teachers in the various streams to do the job?

Mr Tang Guan Seng: Yes.