TEACHING OF ABACUS IN SCHOOLS (Progress)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr Koo Tsai Kee asked the Minister for Education if he will report on the progress of the teaching of the abacus in schools.

The Minister for Education (Mr Lee Yock Suan): Mr Speaker, Sir, in 1994, the Ministry of Education (MOE) conducted a pilot study on abacus instruction for Primary 3 pupils in seven schools. These schools were representative of the various school types (SAP, Government-aided and Government schools) with a range of mathematics achievements. The objectives of the study were, firstly, to measure the effectiveness of abacus training on mental calculation and understanding of place value concepts and, secondly, to assess some affective outcomes related to mathematics such as pupil interest, confidence and perception of ability.

Results of the pilot study showed that pupils who went through abacus instruction showed improvement in their mental calculations. There were clear indications that pupils in the experimental schools had a more positive attitude towards mathematics. They maintained their interest and exhibited greater confidence in the subject.

The findings of the pilot study are positive as interest and confidence are important attributes for educational achievement. MOE has thus decided to implement abacus instruction at Primary 3 starting with 15 schools this year. The instructional time for abacus teaching will be 11 hours, or 5% of the total Primary 3 mathematics curriculum time of 220 hours. The programme starts in Term II and continues to Term III.

MOE will accelerate the implementation next year and in 2-3 years, all schools will conduct abacus lessons for their Primary 3 pupils.

MOE is also currently conducting another pilot study at Primary 2 level to ascertain the feasibility of implementing abacus instruction at an earlier level.