ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1998 TO 31ST MARCH, 1999 (Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [8th Allotted Day].

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Head L -

Resumption of Debate on Question [19th March, 1998],

That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. - [Mr Loh Meng See].

Question again proposed.

Dr Toh See Kiat (Aljunied): Sir, at the end of the debate yesterday, we heard Mr Lim Swee Say eloquently giving his story of how schools have, because of the ranking system, given up the idea of creative teaching, so that they can attain good grades for the students and thus get a higher ranking. We have had complaints about ranking. The system is too strung up, and it causes too much stress on our students.

Last year, at the Committee of Supply debate, I remember Mrs Lim Hwee Hua raised this point, and asked the Ministry of Education to reconsider its emphasis on grades. And she referred to the MSG factor which, in the eyes of the Ministry of Education, refers to mean subject grade, but MSG, Mrs Lim said, is not good for our health and we should remove it. I am glad to say that MSG was indeed removed. But I would like to continue this call for the Ministry of Education to take away this over emphasis on grades in the evaluation of a school.

Sir, I have talked to principals who have, perhaps wishfully, perhaps regretfully, said that even though they have given very high value added to the students, if only they could get better students to start off with, then they could get even higher ranking. I think it is important for us to know that ranking is good if done properly. It is good because it keeps schools on their toes. It helps them to evaluate their programmes so that at the end of the day, they know what is weak and what is strong, and so they can improve themselves. Of course, it is good for parents to know what are the good schools. They can choose schools in an informed manner, so that the talents, skills and inclinations of their children can be matched better.

Sir, I would urge the Ministry of Education to think of fine tuning the ranking system. For example, we could emphasise on value added. I know that after the Committee of Supply debate last year, the Ministry of Education has begun to look at other factors like value added in a more focused way. But I would say that, currently, there is still too much weightage given to academic grades per se. I would urge the Ministry, for example, to look at giving value added the same weightage as academic grades. Because at the end of the day if I send my child to school, I want to know what she is capable of, and the school will make her an even better person. So value added, 30% perhaps, and academic grades, 30%.

We could also look at other factors like the school has a good community service programme. The ECA programme is good. It builds compassion in the students. It builds leadership. These are all the other outcomes of education and, therefore, that is 10%. As Mr Chiam said yesterday, the playing fields are important. The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. So playing fields, sports, physical programmes, are important too. We could give some weightage to that too, perhaps another 10%.

It is also important for schools to have a record of character building, teaching values in their progammes and the success must be evident. And if it is evident, I think they should deserve 5% for that. Facilities of the school will be important and that, however, should not be over emphasised. We can give it another 5%. I think there can be a catch-all kind of category to which we give a 10% weightage, and this category could involve peer ranking of the school by the teachers and students from other schools. We look at how the school develops its teachers, the quality of its teachers, the school's "spirit" and perhaps how hard they work to make sure that the students get an all-round education.

Sir, I would urge the Ministry to think along these lines.

Dr Teo Ho Pin (Sembawang): Sir, my topic is on planning and design of schools.

Neighbourhood schools provide much convenience to pupils and parents. They help parents to save on transport costs, and facilitate the ferrying of children to and from schools, especially for parents who have more than one child attending school. Thus, I would like to urge the Ministry to place more emphasis to ensure that there are adequate school places in neighbourhood schools.

I would like to make the following suggestions for the Minister to consider:

(1) Register all Primary One pupils two or three years before they start school. This will enable the Ministry to collect exact demand data for the planning of schools. With this information, the Ministry can proceed to develop new schools immediately or refurbish existing schools to cater to the demand. According to the PWD contract, it is possible to build a school within 18 months.

(2) Revise the 1 km policy for neighbourhood schools. Children staying 1 km must be given higher priority.

(3) Provide extra capacities when designing primary schools. At present, many principals are conducting tutorials, remedial and ECA classes during school hours, thus utilising many classrooms. This has made it difficult for schools to have the flexibility to increase its enrolment to cater for the increased demand. We should build schools with more classrooms, so as to cope with the fluctuating demand yearly.

(4) The Kentucky Department of Education has introduced the Consolidated Planning Process, a joint effort between the Department of Education, local school council and district stakeholders. In this process, school councils are responsible in providing an environment in their schools to enhance students' achievement. I would urge the Education Ministry to involve school staff, School Advisory Committee members, parents and community leaders in the planning of schools.

With regard to the design of schools, PWD should adopt a different approach in producing a conducive environment in schools to facilitate innovative and creative learning. In addition, schools should also be designed to accommodate adult evening classes, public lectures, civil and community functions, and cultural activities to serve the community. In this way, schools can be better utilised for the benefit of the community.

To save resources, we should build primary and secondary schools at the same site. This would facilitate the sharing of facilities such as school fields, sports facilities, canteen and civil defence shelter. A joint primary and secondary school can then be managed by one principal for better coordination and control purposes.

Mr Loh Meng See (Kampong Glam): Sir, I am going to talk about discipline.

Sir, of late, we are seeing a spate of youth violence and juvenile delinquencies in public places. There is also a rising trend of teenage girls getting into trouble with the law. I wonder whether the situation is as serious in our schools. I am sure the Education Ministry is equally concerned with the behaviour of students, both inside and outside school. We have to nip the problem of young offenders in the bud. This would require the support and cooperation of parents, teachers, community leaders, neighbours and friends to reverse this unhealthy trend before it gets worse and out of control. We are already facing problems with illegal immigrants, and we certainly do not wish to aggravate the situation with our own citizens, especially from our youths.

The Italian educator and a pioneer in early childhood education, Maria Montessori, believed that:

`The first idea that the child must acquire, in order to be actively disciplined is that of the difference between good and evil, and the task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility, and evil with activity.'

Sir, early childhood education is very important. I am not sure that we should be satisfied with the present state of early childhood education in Singapore. I wish to urge the Ministry to take concrete steps to improve the standard of early childhood education. We need better trained and better quality care-givers in our nursery schools, kindergartens and child care centres. The Government can be more generous by setting aside a portion of the foreign maid levy to support early childhood education for our toddlers and young children.

We should spare no efforts in whatever ways possible to bring up healthy children of good character. This would minimise the incidence of our young getting into disciplinary problems in schools and breaking the law. Every child who goes astray and gets into trouble with the law is a loss to the family and society. This, in Singapore, we can ill afford.

Sir, a characteristic of a good school is one that enforces strict discipline on its pupils. Parents share this view because they believe that a high standard of discipline is good for their children. It is true that "for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." But discipline can only come when students have respect for their teachers and fear the authority of the teachers. Here, I would urge all parents to support the teachers in their work, especially when the child deserves to be disciplined. All our teachers are well-trained professionals who are able to deal with their pupils appropriately. 12.45 pm

I wish to commend the Ministry for increasing the number of coordinators for the pastoral care and guidance programme from 476 in FY97 to 1,014 in FY98. This shows that the Ministry is aware of the problems faced by our students and the need to help them overcome their difficulties in school work and relationship with others. The pastoral care and counselling services offered in our schools will go a long way to help students maintain their self-esteem and motivate them to strive to achieve their fullest potential.

This pastoral care and guidance programme can also tie in with the after school care programme to facilitate the success of the single session schools. The schools can tap the alumni, parents and even get grandparents as "student-minding" resources and facilitators in the after school care programme. This is also an area where the Community Development Councils can play an active role.

Sir, the Straits Times recently reported a survey finding that less than a quarter of our youths would turn to their parents for advice. They would rather confide in their friends and get advice from their buddies. Our schools must reinforce the importance of parents as partners in the education of their children. The schools now arrange for the parents to meet with the teachers regularly to obtain feedback on their children's performance and behaviour in school. It would help if seminars are organised for parents to meet among themselves to share experience and to learn from one another the time-tested parenting methods. I think Mr Iswaran spoke about it yesterday. The school can facilitate better parent-child relationship and encouraging them to spend as much time as possible together. It is when the family develops the strong bonds that there is less likelihood for children to misconduct themselves inside and outside school. We can easily take the attitude that family relationship is outside the purview of teachers and the ministry but, unfortunately, we cannot easily segregate one part from the other. Parents are indeed partners in the education of their children. I hope more can be done in school to foster closer family ties.

Mr Choo Wee Khiang (Jalan Besar): (In Mandarin): Sir, over the past few years, I have been talking about discipline in schools and on juvenile delinquency. Today, I am going to speak again on the same topic.

It is reported that the problems of poor discipline and juvenile delinquency in schools are getting more and more serious nowadays. There were a number of newspaper reports on youngsters committing crimes ranging from petty theft to fighting, robbery, and even drug addiction.

From the conversations I had with my residents, I discovered that in the neighbourhood schools, these problems are more serious, for example, smoking, fighting and even collecting protection money, etc. They use both inducement and threats to force their fellow students into joining their secret society. I have even heard that some 14-15 year old students were coaxed into working as bar-waitresses to earn money so that they would buy branded dresses, cosmetics and even drugs.

In school, these students show no respect at all to their teachers. They have even scratched and damaged the car of their teachers. I sincerely hope that these incidents are the exceptions rather than the norm. Because if this gets out of hand and juvenile delinquency in schools becomes a very serious problem, we have to ask ourselves what kind of a society Singapore has become and what our schools are becoming.

I would like to know whether the Ministry of Education has kept records of such incidents and whether such records could be publicised so that we know how serious these problems are in the schools. I would like to know what solutions the Ministry of Education has to resolve these problems.

Just now, Mr Loh Meng See also mentioned that parents form a very important link in our whole education system. I fully agree with that. But times are different now because nowadays most parents are working. For those who are well-to-do, they have maids at home to help look after the children. But the basic foundation of the family would be affected resulting in a lack of discipline in the families. No doubt the parents themselves have to bear certain responsibilities in educating their children, but the schools should also be involved in the discipline of the students.

I feel that this is very regrettable. Some 20-30 years ago, when we were schooling, we were very respectful of our teachers and we remember them all our lives. I can remember that in the past when the naughty students saw their teachers they would try to hide themselves. But now, even when they have done something wrong or have misbehaved, they do not care two hoots about it, and they do not see the need to hide from their teachers. So I feel that the Ministry of Education should look into this matter - how to raise the status of the teachers, give them more authority so that they can play a very important part in disciplining the students. If the students show no respect for their teachers, then even with all the good plans going all the way to the next century, which the Minister had informed us yesterday, will be meaningless.

Sir, my question is: "Has the discipline in our schools really gone to the point of disaster?" If so, then we should form a multi-departmental committee to look into this matter and to resolve this problem of juvenile delinquency. I am sure that over the past few days the Minister for Education had heard the views of many of our Members here. I hope that he would take this opportunity today to enlighten us on the problems of poor discipline in schools.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua (Marine Parade): Sir, I would like to reinforce what Mr Loh Meng See has highlighted. As he has mentioned, recent statistics continue to point to an adverse trend in the making - that of the rise in participation of females in juvenile related crimes. Teenage girls now reportedly account for more than 10% of youths jailed, about double the 5% rate in 1989. There is also anecdotal evidence that a number seems to be running away from their homes and frequently end up involving themselves in gang-fights or drug abuse.

Sir, this is a disturbing trend that requires immediate attention. Whilst remedial action is obviously important, preventive measures would be far better. At a forum organised by the PAP Women's Wing, participants made the following suggestions, which I would like to forward for the Minister's consideration.

Firstly, that schools complement parental efforts by providing the necessary discipline, especially with regard to those who have wilfully misbehaved. Secondly, that schools provide more pastoral care, especially for girls who find it difficult to cope with either the school or home environment or relationships. Counselling by teachers or professionals can help prevent problems from emerging if troubled students can have someone outside the home to talk to as well.

Sir, the school can indeed be an extremely effective medium for identifying potential delinquency and, more importantly, for reducing the incidence of such delinquency.

Mr Peh Chin Hua (Jalan Besar): (In Mandarin): Sir, I am glad to know that the Public Service Commission is providing equal opportunities for holders of overseas Chinese language scholarship to upgrade themselves. At the same time, any scholarship holder who wishes to pursue further studies leading to a Masters degree would be allowed to defer service of his or her bond. This is indeed encouraging, particularly for the Chinese scholars.

Recently mother tongue education has once again become a hot talking point among those who are concerned with Chinese Mandarin. There are many insiders speaking with authority, as well as many laymen, posing as experts. The main emphasis is on how to augment the curriculum of today's mother tongue education.

Generally, Singaporeans who know Chinese are of the view that, at the moment, the use of Chinese Mandarin is getting more and more popular in Singapore. Almost all Chinese can speak Mandarin, especially the younger generation of Singaporeans who not only speak Mandarin but read and write Chinese as well. This is the result of our Government's past efforts in promoting mother tongue education and the Speak Mandarin Campaign has attained its social objective.

However, with the economic reform and open door policy of China, learning mother tongue Chinese will not only help to maintain the traditional Chinese culture and enhance our social cohesion but will also be of great economic benefit. As such, even those who are not proficient in Chinese are beginning to be concerned with their children's standard of Chinese. This is a good sign.

Recently, the Ministry of Education recruited a batch of students who obtained only "B3" grade in Chinese at the "O" level examination for training to become primary school Chinese language teachers. These parents who are not too proficient in Chinese are worried that the progress and standard of their children's learning of the mother tongue may be affected if these students with "B3" grade in Chinese were to become their children's Chinese language teachers after their training.

Sir, my children scored "As" in their "O" level for both Chinese and English, but look at the notes they wrote to me in Chinese. They are just unreadable rubbish. This is a fact. This shows the difference between the standards of Chinese and English languages in the "O" level examinations. In view of that, may I suggest to the Ministry of Education that this batch of "B3" grade Chinese trainee teachers be sent to the relevant colleges in China and Taiwan for training to improve their ability to teach the Chinese language. I believe this will help to alleviate the worries of some of these parents. I hope the Ministry of Education will consider this suggestion.

Yesterday, Dr Toh See Kiat suggested that the Singapore Management University should relax the requirement of Chinese in their admission criteria. On the contrary, I hope that the Singapore Management University will consider allowing Singaporeans who are proficient in Chinese to do their business administration courses in Chinese so as to contribute to the economic development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Shriniwas Rai (Nominated Member): Sir, I support the Government's policy in promoting the teaching of mother tongue. Our bilingual policy has done well and the fact that we have evolved a language policy peacefully speaks volumes of the Government's policy because in many parts of the world, Sir, the language issue is fraught with danger and often results in civil conflict.

Sir, while English will remain the language of Government and business, the learning of mother tongue will allow our children to preserve our cultural heritage and our roots. It is very important. No matter how proficient we are in English, Sir, in order to understand our cultural background, whether it is Malay, Indian or Chinese, some knowledge of the language is a prerequisite. 1.00 pm

Sir, the values that these children will learn will enable them to meet the onslaught of Western influence. And if I may digress, my colleagues, Mr Loh, Mrs Lim, Mr Choo and others have spoken earlier of the diminishing regard and respect for the teachers. I wonder if it has to do with the Western influence on our television. When we were young, we respected a teacher, whether he was in the school or outside the school, he was still a Cikgu. Probably the teachers are too over-friendly. In this modern age, many of them are on "Hi-hi" basis. In our time, whether he was in the school or outside the school, we respected him.

Sir, I have been involved in the move to get some Indian languages recognised. When I first wrote to the Minister for Education, then Dr Tony Tan, in 1996, for Hindi and other languages to be taught, I never thought that the Government would so easily agree to this, but this was a long gone struggle. But thanks to the generosity of the Government, today, besides Tamil, which is one of the official languages of Singapore, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi are being taught by the community themselves. The Minister would be pleased to know that one of the reasons many expatriate parents are attracted here is that these languages can be learned. And I do not think any other part of the world outside Singapore offers such facilities. I speak for the community that this has been the most generous help the Government has given for these sub-ethnic groups to preserve their cultural roots.

Sir, another area of concern is the standard of Tamil in schools. In the past, whenever we in SINDA visited a school, a STEP centre or met with parents, one of the areas which was often raised was the lack of Tamil teaching in certain schools, but I do not think this is an issue now because many schools, in fairness to the Ministry, are offering it. But one area which is of concern to the Indian community is the very high standard of Tamil. I am not suggesting for a moment that we should lower the grade but I think the choice of words and vocabulary should be done in such a way that the students will find it enjoyable and attractive. I am told of a Primary One kid, whose mother did Tamil in school, but she found it difficult teaching her son.

I would urge the Ministry to examine this problem. And I would urge the Tamil teachers, in particular, to help in creating an atmosphere where the students will find it enjoyable. I am very pleased to read today's Life section of the Straits Times that Tamil Murasu has started a section for the students. I think the Tamil Section of the Radio Corporation of Singapore is also helping. It is very important, Sir, in learning the simple words of Tamil. And I am reminded of the Senior Minister of State, Encik Sidek Saniff's remarks in this House many years ago about Lord Denning who wrote in simple English. Our Tamil teachers and Tamil scholars may want to emulate this.

Sir, I would end by urging the Ministry also to examine another policy. Our bright students - I am not referring to the gifted, but other students - 10% of the core who are good in language should do an optional language, ie, a third language, which could be any of the languages. I would urge them to take Malay as an additional language, if possible, because we in this part of the world need to have some knowledge of Malay. And if you know Malay, you can learn Bahasa Indonesia easily. At the moment, one Asian language which is popular is Japanese. I think Japanese is important to us and we should also, if we want to have our windows open to the world, learn other languages - Thai, Nepalese, and what have you. And I am not suggesting there should be a concerted and forced effort, but children should be encouraged, especially those who have got a flair for languages.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen (Bukit Timah): Sir, the mother tongue policy was implemented for a very specific social objective, and that is, to ensure that our children retain the language of our forefathers and we continue to transmit our traditional culture to the next generation. However, for those children from families whose working language is not the mother tongue, they have to work extra hard just to make the grade. I am envious of Mr Peh Chin Hua in the sense that his son is effectively bilingual at the "A" grade level. I have also three school-going children and I must report that they have to struggle very hard to make the grade. But, nonetheless, I think the mother tongue policy is appropriate, it is necessary in our social context and I support the policy.

Instead, I would like to address the mother tongue policy and its consequential policy in the context of our effort to attract foreign talents. Not all foreign talents that we want to attract are single, or married, without children. Would the second language requirement which sprang from the mother tongue policy become a hindrance if it is enforced strictly on these children of foreign talents? Here I am referring to those foreign professionals whose mother tongue is basically English. And that could be of any ethnic origin and they could come from any part of the world, including UK and United States. In fact, it is not uncommon today to find Caucasians who have become PRs or even citizens of Singapore. So when the mother tongue policy is applied to them and their children, their children studying in our school system will be required to study another language which is not their mother tongue. In this respect, some take German or French and others take Malay. They probably do not have the family environment to support learning and using the languages. To this group of children, all those languages I have mentioned are actually all foreign languages. So it is just as difficult for them, if not more difficult, to learn these foreign languages versus our own children or my own children learning the mother tongue. This is especially so if the child is already at the secondary level when the parents come to Singapore.

With your indulgence, Sir, and to inject some human interest in this debate, I would like to give a real life example. A British couple, Mr and Mrs Davies, came to my meet-the-people session about three weeks ago regarding the tremendous difficulties their son, who is enrolled in our school system, is encountering in learning French. The husband who was engaged as a English Language consultant came to Singapore with the family several years ago. At that time, their son was already a teenager. The wife, Sheila Ruth Davies, was born in Singapore when her father was serving in the British Army during the Second World War. Interestingly enough, this qualified her to claim Singapore citizenship which she subsequently did. As a result, the husband and the son are now both Singapore PRs. And they later have two daughters born in Singapore and are Singapore citizens. This is a case of foreign professionals coming to work in Singapore, fell in love with the country, and decided to stay. They put their son through our school system which by the way they praised highly, compared to their schools in UK. The son did very well in most subjects, except French, which is the second language required and which he only started learning for the first time when he joined our school system. By then he was already in the secondary school years. So the son failed repeatedly, despite his best effort. So much so that he was asked to leave the Jurong Institute before he could complete his Pre-U education.

On my appeal, I am happy to report that the MOE is very flexible. It is now allowing him to complete the Pre-U education but MOE is still insisting that he must take his French at the coming "0" level examination and must pass with at least a D7 in order to fulfil the second language requirement. I believe, Sir, it would not be easy for this young man.

Having learned their lessons, the Davies are selecting Malay as the second language for their two younger daughters. I understand they are doing very well in that language.

I would like the Minister to review whether the mother tongue language for children of foreign talents that we are trying to attract is necessary. To me, it seems unnecessary to be too strict in imposing the second language requirement on such families. Such families are not the target of our mother tongue policy and I believe we should be more flexible in those cases.

Mr Peh Chin Hua: Sir, please let me declare my interest as a publisher.

(In Mandarin): Sir, the Ministry of Education has decided that with effect from this year the textbook market will be further open to private publishers. I welcome the move. As a matter of fact, over the past 10 to 20 years, I have been wondering why the Ministry of Education decided to set up the CDIS. What was the objective of CDIS and what was the background leading to its establishment? I have always thought that the setting up of CDIS was against the philosophy and policy of the PAP. It was some kind of a welfare scheme. With CDIS dominating the market for school textbooks and supplementary reading materials under the very lowest prices, the private publishers cannot gain access to this lucrative market. Many of them found it difficult to survive in Singapore. Many foreign publishers lost a lot of money, closed shop, packed up and returned to UK or the USA. Meanwhile, there were a lot of complaints against the quality of textbooks published by CDIS.

Now, the Ministry of Education is beginning to farm out the publication work to private sector publishers. I think this will give more publishers to display their talent and expertise and it will enhance the inspirational values of the books and make them more interesting. This shows that the Ministry of Education wants to introduce the competition mechanism to remedy the shortcomings of CDIS so as to give our schools a larger variety of choices of high quality textbooks, and this will in turn benefit the students. .

I am also happy to note that the Ministry of Education has assured us that there will be a very good authentication procedure to monitor the quality and price of textbooks. What I am worried about is that if they want to produce good textbooks, do they understand that compiling them is a very time-consuming process? From my past experience, the senior officials in the Ministry of Education have very often overlooked the actual amount of time needed from writing to delivery of a set of textbooks. In the past, CDIS had 3 to 4 years to complete the production of a set of textbooks. On the other hand, the private publishers were given only 6 to 9 months to do the job. 1.15 pm

Normally, it takes between 12 and 16 months to write and edit a set of textbooks, and another 4 to 6 months to print and produce them. The Ministry of Education would take 2 to 3 months to examine and approve them. Then, the publishers will have to promote and introduce the textbooks to the schools. The schools will select the set they prefer. This will take another 2 to 3 months. Finally, the publishers will print the textbooks and supply them to the schools, hopefully before the term starts. This again will take another 2 months. All in all, some 22 to 30 months are needed. Therefore, whenever the Ministry of Education announces the new curricula, publishers should be given ample time to go through the syllabuses and curricula and prepare the new sets of textbooks accordingly.

I hope the Ministry of Education can pay attention to the time factor and give the publishers more time to prepare, to ensure that we can meet the quality requirements of our textbooks. Otherwise, the open door policy for the participation of private publishers will also be a case of "still born", that is, something similar to the CDIS kind of situation, where creativity is lacking in the textbooks produced.

I am saying all these things from my own experience because I have spent about 20 to 30 years in this business and I know that to ensure the availability of good and creative textbooks, we must realise that we are not like the other developing countries. In China, children by the millions are fighting for places in the schools. So long as they can find places in the school and there is a textbook, they are more than happy. One set of textbooks is good enough for everyone. Everyone will be happy. We are a developed country. We are looking at creativity and thinking schools. So we must have creative materials. We must have a variety of good textbooks available for our schools to select. I hope the Ministry of Education can consider my proposal.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, like Mr Peh Chin Hua, I applaud the recent move by the Ministry to liberalise the publishing of school textbooks. This should allow yet more innovation into the education process and enrich learning in schools.

There are, however, two key issues for which I would like the Minister to consider. The first is whether textbooks would become more costly as a result of the move, and the second pertains to quality control of supplementary materials.

Sir, the concern over possible upward pressure on the cost of textbooks stems from two observations. Firstly, the burden of developing and publishing textbooks hitherto is shouldered by the Ministry, providing therefore an indirect subsidy. Private sector publishers will naturally find it difficult not to pass on the associated developmental cost. Secondly, there is every possibility that niche groups of textbooks may emerge in due course. These, however, given the size of our market, will not be able to enjoy the economies of scale necessary to check price pressures. How would the Minister ensure that textbooks would not become too costly for the school-going population?

Sir, with regard to the second issue, we are aware of a continuous proliferation of supplementary materials in use by schools. With the advent of yet more multi-media educational aids for schools, will the Minister endeavour to exercise similar quality control to ensure consistency?

Mr Gerard Ee (Nominated Member): Sir, with a rapidly changing world, knowledge has become the buzzword for education and business alike. Knowledge is the asset that provides the competitive advantage for any individual or corporation. It is with this realisation that we see the urgency in cramming knowledge into students and workers.

Sir, there is no doubt that Singaporean students have a wide knowledge base. Just look at the number of GCE O' and A' level subjects that they have to study and be examined in. To prepare students for the long gruelling process of achieving an education based on a large number of subjects, the cramming begins at an early age. I am relieved to hear the Minister say that there has been a revamp of the curriculum and that the workload of students is being reduced. Up till now, Primary 1 pupils are taught a wide range of subjects. This is being done while they learn to read, write and develop their arithmetical sense.

Whilst being grounded on a foundation for learning, Primary 1 pupils have to cope with learning a wide variety of subjects. Under such circumstances, there are a number who will only get by with some skills in reading and writing and without developing their arithmetical sense. Such pupils will eventually find themselves unable to cope with the learning process and eventually drop out of the school system.

Sir, I know of a number of pupils who left the school system after Primary 5 who cannot read. There is a need to go back to fundamentals. Primary 1 must be the place where pupils are given the foundation for learning. It is too easy to say that many children already go to kindergarten where they learn to read. Whilst children in kindergarten do learn their ABC and some can read reasonably well, they do not have the maturity to master such skills. Their vocabulary will remain limited and they are unable to express themselves. Those kindergarten children who progress in reading and writing, generally have strong home support and supplementary tutoring.

Without proper development of the three R's - reading, writing and arithmetical sense - a pupil will face an uphill task in learning other subjects. It comes a time when the subjects are learned without understanding, merely by rote and with the one aim of passing the examination with little or no understanding. There is a saying which is also a truism, "When we are young, we learn to read. When we are older, we read to learn." The greatest skill to master in school must be that of reading, writing and arithmetics. With the three R's, one can engage in self-study in any subject. When mastered at an early age, the rest of the school curriculum would be merely an extension of knowledge. Add to this the thinking skill and creativity, learning becomes an experience to be enjoyed.

Sir, I hope that Primary 1 pupils are made to master the three `R's. The curriculum should be focused towards achieving this objective. With a proper foundation for learning, not only will the pupils do well in school, but they will be capable of keeping pace with the rapid changes around them.

Mr Shriniwas Rai: I am obliged to you, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. Sir, may I now be permitted to deal with the History textbooks in Singapore. It is important for youth and our young to learn about the process of how we became a Republic, how we have succeeded and what were the pitfalls. We could draw richly on our oral history and in this regard, I think the schools should take advantage of numerous projects taken by the Oral History Department. Perhaps, the Ministry should also consider the teaching of History in a more friendly and living way. I am pleased to say that sometimes, when I visited either Chinatown or even Little India, I see young students visiting the temple or mosque, and see how sireh is being made or sold. This is important.

We should also use television as a tool to teach History. Many students may not know of the various transport modes we had, the mosquito buses and various other things which are dying off. It is very important for us to preserve these historical roots.

Sir, in many countries, it is compulsory for students to learn the culture of the country, the government, and a little bit of history of the country. Even in the university, it is compulsory. I am not suggesting that History should be made compulsory but I hope that we should give some weightage to modern History. I am not talking of History which is just confined from 1959, the post-PAP era. I am thinking of 1940 to 1955 which was a crucial period, how we lived through the Japanese Occupation, how we lived after the Japanese war, the struggle and the chaos we were in. It is very important for us to learn and know about this.

I would like to single out one personality who I think deserves greater study by our historians and I am referring to Mr David Marshall who was not only the first Chief Minister but, in his political lifetime, he carried the struggle for independence, and multi-lingualism was his idea. He transformed the CPF and gave it a new life. He introduced legal aid and various things. I think Mr David Marshall deserves greater study than that we have hitherto given to him.

Sir, I was very pleased to learn this morning that my charming friend, Mdm Claire Chiang, had written a book together with another writer, Mr Chan Kwok Bun, called Stepping Out. This deals with the business entrepreneurs in Singapore and I am very glad that TCS is making a series out of this. I hope this will be the beginning, and TCS will take the trouble to go and make a study of other pioneers from various other communities, as I said, David Marshall, and let the students know that without history, without the past heritage, we will be nowhere.

Sir, I would urge the Minister to probably consider forming a committee to study how history could be taught in a more living and meaningful way and I am emphasising that it is not the colonial history alone, it is history from 1940 to 1955, one phase, and from 1955 to now. And the students will have the curiosity perhaps to go back and study on them.

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Sir, my topic is on extra-curricular activities. As Singaporeans become more affluent, we aspire to live in condominiums, waterfront housing, such as Punggol 21 or landed properties with swimming pools. But many may not be able to enjoy waterfront housing or their water facilities if they or their children cannot swim. In fact, some may even fear to let their children play near the water.

Sir, we need to encourage all Singaporeans, in particular school children, to learn swimming, life saving and first-aid skills. Let me highlight the importance for Singaporeans to learn swimming. According to the Straits Times' report on 6th December 1997, 83 people drowned in Singapore last year, 52 at sea, 10 in swimming pools, 8 in rivers and the rest in canals and other places. Out of the 83 drowned, some of them may not have died if they can swim or understand water safety or people around them know life saving skills.

Sir, as a qualified life guard myself, it saddens me each time I read in the papers of drowning cases, especially involving school children. Over the last 20 years, I have saved four persons. Two of them would not have been alive today if I could not swim or did not know any life saving skills. This clearly shows the usefulness of learning swimming and life saving skills. Learning swimming and life saving is not only to keep one healthy. But it is a skill which will make a difference to one's life or other people's life. As life savers, we live by this motto: "Whosoever you see in distress, recognise in him a fellow man." We are always on the alert and ready to save anyone who encounters difficulty in water.

Sir, I am pleased to note that most schools have incorporated swimming programmes for their Primary 4 and Primary 6 pupils. However, pupils of other levels are not given much opportunity in schools to take up swimming lessons. In fact, a survey by one school shows that 50% of Primary Three students have never been to a swimming pool. There is an urgent need to implement a structured programme to ensure that all our students achieve a certain level of proficiency in swimming, life saving and first-aid skills. The Ministry should place more emphasis on these ECAs and work closely with the Singapore Sports Council and swimming and life saving associations to further encourage such activities. Swimming, life saving and first-aid courses should be made compulsory for all students, except for medical or religious reasons. 1.30 pm

Mr Loh Meng See: Sir, I am going to speak on information technology.

The Government is spending a total sum of $1,091 million for the IT Masterplan in Education. For FY98, an estimated sum of $349 million has been provided as development expenditure on the provision of information technology resources for primary schools, secondary schools and junior colleges. As the large proportion of the expenditure on IT is development in nature, what would the likely recurring expenditure be? We know from the experience of the financial services industry that IT incurs very high overhead cost if the operations were to be maintained at the full level of efficiency. May I ask the Minister what would the parents then be asked to pay for the high cost of IT applications in school? Will it pose a burden to them if the school fees are to be increased, because of IT cost?

The Educational Technology Division has been tasked to implement MOE's Information Technology Masterplan and provide direction on the use of education technology in schools. May we know from the Minister how IT will change the teaching and learning in the classrooms. Will the classrooms of the future be re-configured? Maybe the Minister can shed some light on this, though the Minister has touched briefly on it yesterday.

It is indicated that the Ministry will be developing less educational technology materials from 501 in FY97 to 127 in FY98. I would like to ask the Minister why is it so. Does it mean that there would be less development work done in-house and more are being out-sourced to multimedia publishing houses? Or has the Ministry already developed the bulk of the educational technology materials and, therefore, there is less need for developmental work in the year?

Sir, also, the number of training hours provided has increased from 3,722 hours in FY97 to 4,782 hours in FY98. This, translated into an 8-hour working day, means that the training hours provided has increased from 471 man-days to 597 man-days. When this is compared to the number of teachers in the education service, the number of training hours appears very little. Perhaps the Minister can clarify on this.

The scale in which we have invested in the use of IT in education and the direction in which we are taking is pioneering in nature. In fact, I am glad to read about the agreement that the Education Ministry has with Microsoft in developing the educational software. This is because few governments have done this before. The journey we have chosen is an exciting and even a precarious one. Many organisations have, in the past, made mistakes in the investment on computers and IT which had turned out badly. We have to tread on this carefully, and be prepared for some mistakes along the way. However, I am optimistic in where we are heading. Our children will benefit the most when our investment in IT bears fruit in later years.

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim (Jalan Besar): Sir, I applaud the Ministry of Education for embarking on programmes in school to develop thinking skills and promote creativity. I understand that, for example, in the past 10 years or so, more schools have implemented Edward De Bono's thinking strategies. The reports which I have seen in the newspapers seem to suggest that school children find such programmes more enjoyable and enriching. And teachers too find these programmes useful in encouraging students to pursue self-learning. The need to encourage independent thinking and a spirit of innovation have been spelt out in the list of Desired Outcomes also known as the `8888' list.

Sir, the education system, as it stands now and in the future, will have a large impact on the type of society and the position that Singapore achieves at the international level. Many Members in this House, including myself, have argued that for Singapore to make the next grade, we need innovations and creative ouputs which can match the best in the world. Creativity will determine how our companies compete in the age of ideas. Hence, we need to mould creative minds and innovative spirits from among our people.

But, what exactly is creativity? American psychologist, Howard Gardner, defined the exemplary creator as "a strong-minded individual who often retains child-like characteristics such as self-centredness." Ms Wu Yee-Ping, CEO of Music Pen Inc., a New York based company, believes that "creativity begins with a child-like curious mind which is not afraid to take risks and experiment." Ms Wu received the Award for Excellence in Science and Technology from New York. And she runs her company by encouraging her designers to be creative and bold. If these are the characteristics of a creative mind, then how do we teach it? Studies have shown that gifted children often lose their spark after going to a mainstream school. Can we, therefore, teach creativity in our schools today?

An important feature of creativity, as seen in the above descriptions, is experimentation, discovery, and a child-like curiosity to check things out. Imagine a child learning to feed himself with a spoon. He will fail several times. But through the experience, he will learn something about how to grip the spoon, about the consistency of the food which is all over his body, about his hand-eye coordination, and about dealing with the frustration of not being able to have his food. But perhaps, most importantly, he will experience the ultimate thrill of being able to do something for himself. All this may not come about if he is spoon-fed all of the time.

It is the nature of creativity to experiment. But experiments can lead to success or failure. Are our students prepared to deal with failure? Is our system sympathetic to failures so that, like the child learning to feed himself, the student can pick himself up and achieve his objective? Many tertiary students I met recently spoke about the need for stable jobs. I sense that this preference could be due to a fear of failure. Why is this so? Howard Gardner again observed that the US system is a system of "infinite second chances". Perhaps the perception is that our system does not provide enough second chances.

Sir, I believe that we have to create opportunities in schools for our children to explore and innovate. We can teach some basic skills. But we have to leave the rest to the students to discover, but we must also counsel them and tell them that failure is not a bad thing. Failure is part and parcel of the process of discovery and innovation. Through failure, we will learn what works and what does not work.

Sir, the inventor of the plastic soda bottle was one person by the name of Nathaniel C. Wyeth. The invention, as I discovered, did not come very easy. His initial search yielded a very terrible-looking bottle. But he persisted, and used, "all his failures and knowledge of things that wouldn't work as a springboard to new approaches." He also said, "if I hadn't used those mistakes as stepping stones, I would never have invented anything?" By the way, Sir, the success of the plastic bottle has created an environmental problem for modern researchers to deal with.

Nonetheless, all inventors share some common traits. They thrive no matter what the odds are and they are always dreaming of perfecting an imperfect world. Perhaps we may want to allow our school children to dream.

Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Sir, the Members' speeches yesterday, to a certain extent, echo the sentiment that our children in school suffer from very high levels of stress. Stress may be seen in two senses: first of all, as a mental state, wherein a person who is under stress feels a sense of tension and unease; secondly, as an agent or source which serves as a stimulus against which the body is forced to react in a certain way to the demand.

The first example of the kind of stress that I have talked about would be one which results in a feeling of distress, eg, having failed in examination. In the second instance, stress, as an agent or as a source, would, for example, be examination, parental expectation of a child's performance in school or peer pressure. These forms of stress can, in turn, lead to stress being a sense of mental state.

Sir, we implicitly recognise that a child's misery really begins from the time he takes cognizance of his surrounding environment. As anxious parents concerned with giving a child a head start in life, we bombard the child with all forms of books and learning aids and toys the minute the child is able to utter his first sound. When a child is barely able to walk, anxious parents will rush him off to all manner of classes, from junior gymnastics to speech and drama, and, yes, even creative writing when a child has even hardly mastered basic words. In schools, we recognise that the child faces much pressure. This pressure is especially intense from schools seeking to maintain or achieve a reputation as a school of standing.

Sir, additionally, as we have heard earlier, our policy on second language has also contributed much to the stressful environment that the child has to labour under. It is my understanding that most children are not able to cope with the learning of two languages effectively. On the average, a child either masters one language well or acquire an average ability in two languages. Only a minority of children have the exceptional ability to master both languages well. The outcome then is that for most students, they spend a disproportionate amount of time learning the second language. It becomes, as they say, the albatross which the children have to wear around their necks for many years, in primary and secondary schools. And, indeed, for many, the sad outcome has been that these students who struggle with the second language would have done well in the PSLE examinations if the second language had not pulled down their grade average.

Sir, in a 1985 study on stress and school children, Dr Alvin Thomas confirmed that three sources of stress come from homework, parents and peers. In that study, Dr Thomas said that 50% of students sampled indicated they were under stress from homework overload. 24% of the students sampled said they suffer from depressant effect of homework. Understandably, the child tries to measure up to expectations, either a self-induced expectation or expectation set by others. For those who rise to the occasion, well, they get a pat on the back and they move on. Those who do not, suffer from a sense of failure. This affects the sense of self-esteem, and perhaps explains why we see more outlandishly dressed delinquent children smoking and hanging out at public places. Sometimes I wonder whether a child is stressed for its own sake or for the sake of the parent's pride and the school's position in the ranking system. The priorities must be clear, and perspective must be balanced. All too often, we lose sight of our objectives and we miss the wood for the trees.

Sir, I believe in educational excellence. However, educational excellence does not always have to be synonymous with the high stress levels of the children. Indeed, I am not sure whether we can link stress and educational performance in schools. By stressing our children to excel in school, which in this case is measured by the performance output of the child, we are indeed paying a very high price in the process. We rob our children of their childhood, of the joys of living life to the full and of the life of sweet memories of childhood, as we all know it. In the end we produce children who are so preoccupied with performance and results that we end up with children who are very self-centered. 1.45 pm

I am pleased to note from yesterday's announcement that the Education Ministry has decided to cut down the curriculum load of students by 10-20%. This decision is indeed consistent with the idea of getting our children to focus more on thinking skills and less on knowledge acquisition. The lighter load will presumably free up a child's time for other forms of constructive pursuits.

Sir, while I welcome the idea of a reduced curriculum, I am not sure whether this has the effect of substantially reducing the stress level of children. Reducing the curriculum could also mean, for the anxious parents, that the child will have more time, relatively speaking, to spend on the reduced curriculum. In other words, the child could well be spending the same number of hours on fewer topics, with the result that the stress level may not necessarily be reduced correspondingly.

Sir, besides reducing the curriculum load of a child in school, I would like to ask the Minister whether the Education Ministry is at the same time looking at other ways of reducing stress in our children.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): (In Mandarin): I heard Mr Sim Boon Ann's speech about students suffering from stress from the learning of the second language. When my children learn English, they also find it stressful. So shall I ask the Minister for Education to lower the standard of English in school?

Sir, when the Minister for Education spoke in this House yesterday, he painted a very idealistic educational objective for us. He also said that in achieving such an objective, teachers play a decisive role. The Minister also introduced certain measures to lighten the teachers' workload, such as restructuring the curricula, cutting down the course content and syllabi. But all these can be implemented only in a few years' time. In the meantime, upon the implementation of new education policies, teachers immediately face extra workload and mental stress. For example, in the application of IT in teaching, the Ministry of Education stipulates that by the year 2000, 30% of the teaching content must apply IT. Many teachers have gone for training in software application - Internet, Powerpoint, Chinese Star, etc. But knowing how to use the software and using them for the design of teaching materials require two different levels of proficiency in IT. At the moment, there are not many CD-ROMs available, especially for Chinese language, and not much suitable materials on the Internet. Yet, the Ministry of Education keeps exerting pressure on the teachers to apply IT in their teaching.

In creative teaching, the teacher's dilemma is how to carry out creative teaching in class and at the same time ensure that the academic results of his students will not be compromised. The Minister for Education said that academic performance is part of a holistic education and that the pursuit of holistic education will not compromise academic standards. Theoretically, this may be so, but when the measurement of success or failure of education is based on results, the teachers would still have to be more realistic to go by the standards by which they are measured. I am not against creative teaching and the emphasis on the thinking skills of students, but when we are emphasizing so much on marks and scores, on results and performance, where do we get the support point?

First of all, will the Ministry of Education consider the ways of setting questions so as to ensure that creative thinking will also have a place to play in examination? At the moment, the way of teaching is centred around questions set at previous examinations and the school curricula. If the examination questions are the same, but the teachers focus on creative thinking, and the results are therefore affected, will this be acceptable to parents, the schools and the Ministry of Education? If the Ministry of Education decides to change the contents and styles of the questions set for the national level examination, what form will it take and when will it start?

The teachers feel puzzled about creative teaching. What is meant by creative teaching? What percentage of the teaching time should be devoted to creativity and critical thinking? How much of the teaching must be tailored to impart knowledge and understanding of the subjects that the students are studying?

Secondly, if the Ministry's intention is that the teachers will still have to ensure that the students pass all their examinations and pass them well, with good results, and at the same time MOE also requires students to have thinking skills, creativity and to achieve the desired educational results set by the Ministry of Education, then a different system of evaluation to include the objectives should be formulated to assess the performance results of the students. We all know that our education system is based on the marks of students to measure results. The success or failure of students is also measured by academic results. So whatever it is, it is examination results! So parents follow it, MOE follows it, everybody follows it, and the whole society goes by the same standard for incentives and awards. The whole society has this kind of attitude. Therefore, if you have creative teaching to achieve the higher objective of education but it will not be measured as part of their performance, then I doubt very much whether we can achieve much from creative teaching, and how much can be achieved in the teaching goals beyond examination subjects.

Sir, if, on the one hand, teachers are required to proceed with creative teaching and devote time to non-examination subjects to expand the students' general knowledge and to strengthen their thinking skills to achieve the higher objective of education, but on the other hand, continue to rank our schools based on the students' academic results obtained through faithful reproduction of knowledge they have learnt from the textbooks and lecture notes, then what does the Ministry of Education think that the school principals and teachers will do? Will they focus on examination results by which schools are measured or creative thinking to achieve higher educational objectives?

The Minister for Education (RAdm Teo Chee Hean): Sir, once again I thank Members for their suggestions and views. They come from a number of very different perspectives. I think I would suggest that some of the Members discuss with each other and try and resolve some of the issues that they have brought up.

First of all, allow me to address the issue of universities which is a subject I left over from yesterday. Mr Loh Meng See, Prof. Chin Tet Yung, Dr Toh See Kiat, Mr Ee, Mr Zainul and Dr Teo Ho Pin spoke about this. DPM, Dr Tony Tan, has outlined the key changes to university education at a speech at NTU last month. To recap, NUS and NTU are working to double their post-graduate intake by the year 2000. Both are working on broadening undergraduate education. Tertiary education opportunities will be expanded with the establishment of the Singapore Management University whilst Arts education will be boosted by impending changes to LaSalle/SIA College of the Arts and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. These changes will be announced sometime next month by Dr Tan Chin Nam.

Will there be enough places for Singaporeans? Has there been an impact from the currency crisis? No, we have not seen any discernible impact from the currency crisis. I wish to assure Mr Loh that there will be enough university places for Singaporeans who, in Mr Loh's words, make the grade. The increase in intake of foreign students will be undertaken as part of the university's overall expansion plans and will not be at the expense of Singaporeans. There is flexibility to enlarge the intake in most courses if there is demand. In fact, for the coming academic year, 1998/1999, there will be increases in intakes in almost all the faculties, ranging from 1% to 11%, except for Dentistry, Law and Business, where the intakes will remain about the same. Members will understand the reasons for Dentistry and Law. For Business, we are making adjustments as well. The total intake will increase by about 4�%. For the academic year 1999-2000, a further 4�% increase in undergraduate intake has been projected. We will refine this number as we go along. So there is no shortage of places for Singaporeans.

Has broadening affected professional disciplines? Prof. Chin asked about this yesterday. For professional degrees, there is a need to strike a balance between broadening and attaining sufficient depth of knowledge to satisfy professional bodies. This can be achieved through changes in the curriculum as well as by other means. For example, in the Law Faculty, as Prof. Chin knows, there are plans to take in a more diverse student body instead of relying on those who have completed their "A" levels. This is good for providing more diverse academic preparation for lawyers who may need to go into specialist areas like patents and trade law.

Let me now turn to the SMU and OUDP which were raised by Mr Loh and Dr Toh. The establishment of the Management University in 2000 will result in an increase in the number of places for students wishing to pursue an undergraduate business course. While NUS will reduce its undergraduate Business Administration intake slightly from the current 600 to 500 in the year 2000, and NTU will stop offering its undergraduate Business programme, there will be more places available in SMU to make up for these changes. So in fact the Business intake will increase overall. The facilities given up by NTU's undergraduate Business programmes will be used for an expansion of NTU's post-graduate Business programmes and increase in the number of engineering students taking Business minors and to house the overall expansion in post-graduate students in all disciplines.

As a private university, SMU will have some flexibility in setting fees and entry requirements. However, as SMU will receive Government funding, we do not expect its fees to be significantly higher than NUS or NTU. We do not expect them to be lower either. As announced by the SIM Governing Council in January, SMU will require both "A" level results and SATs from those applying in 2000 and beyond. SMU will be making other innovations in curriculum, campus design and other areas and I think this will be good for the university sector in Singapore.

Mother tongue requirement for SMU. Bilingualism is a cornerstone of Singapore's education system. SMU has stated that applicants will need to satisfy the minimum grade in the mother tongue, as in the case for admission into NUS and NTU. There is no change to this policy and we do not intend to make any changes. The minimum requirement to apply for NUS and NTU is a grade of D7 in mother tongue, either as a second language taken at the "A" level examination or as a first language taken at the "O" level examination. Currently, candidates who do not satisfy the above requirements for mother tongue may still submit an application for NTU or NUS. If selected, they will be admitted on a provisional basis. During the course of their study, they will be required to meet the requisite minimum language requirements before they are allowed to graduate. I am sure SMU will apply the same flexibility for deserving candidates.

SMU and OUDP serve different purposes. The establishment of SMU expands tertiary education opportunities for school-leavers as well as for some working adults. OUDP was established to provide opportunities mainly for working adults. How successful has OUDP been? The OUDP took in its first batch of students in 1994 and will see its first batch of 332 graduates this year, even though the average time taken to complete the degree programme is six years. I have great admiration for those who have taken the programme. It requires a lot of commitment and effort. Its current enrolment in the five fields of English, Mathematics, Computer Science, Technology and Psychology, stands at 5,100. OUDP started with three degree programmes, English Language and Literature, Mathematics and Computer Science and has since expanded to 15 programmes. It will continue to review its course offerings to meet the needs of working adults.

OUDP's minimum admission requirement was raised by Mr Gerard Ee and Mr Zainul. They are already quite flexible. The academic requirement is 2 GCE "A" level passes or its equivalent or an acceptable local diploma. Other qualifications are considered on a case-by-case basis. These requirements are less stringent than those for applications to NUS or NTU, for example, the two "A" level passes that are required do not have to be at one sitting. 2.00 pm

In addition, applicants need to have a minimum work experience, including NS, of two years and to be at least 21 years old. The requirement takes into account the applicant's work experience, life skills and maturity. I think we must all understand that some minimum academic requirement is needed to ensure that those who take up the programme have a reasonable chance of success. This will also give employers more confidence about the quality of OUDP and its graduates.

The accreditation of private educational institutions is a point raised by Mr Loh and Dr Teo Ho Pin. The Ministry of Education does not regulate the offer of distance learning programmes originating from overseas tertiary institutions. It will become even more difficult to do so in the future when you have electronic communication and so on. The local organisations representing the overseas tertiary institutions have to seek the Ministry's authorisation to offer the programmes. The Ministry examines proposals, focusing attention on areas including the standing of the overseas tertiary institution and the programme to be offered. The prerogative of selecting a course of study, however, rests completely with the students. Prospective students would thus need to have a full understanding of what is being offered, including the cost of the programme and match it with his or her capacity, aptitude and resources available to pursue such studies. The best protection would be to conduct a careful and thorough evaluation prior to enrolling in a programme. Students owe themselves this responsibility.

As for the OUDP setting the benchmark standards for distance learning courses set up by private educational institutions, I think it is already playing quite a useful role by providing another avenue for upgrading.

I turn now to the University's admission system. Mr Chew Heng Ching, Mr Sinnakaruppan, Prof. Chin Tet Yung, all have made impassioned appeals for what they consider to be important qualities to be taken into account and hope that this will not distort the motivations of students when they take on all these important qualities in their school life. I just want to make one comment here. What we do in the University's admission system, as correctly pointed out by many Members, does not only have an impact on what type of students enter the universities. What we do in the University's admission system has a big impact on the whole school system because students who aspire to go to University will focus their attention and efforts on this. The Committee that is looking at this is cognizant of this point and will take all these into account. I will forward all the suggestions that Members have raised to Prof. Shih who is chairing this Committee. We do not want to prejudge the conclusions of this Committee. So I will leave it at that.

But in the discussion on University's admission and ranking, I see two interesting trends in the whole discussion. On the one hand, there is a desire to say, "Okay, if you say this is important, then you should count it. If you do not count it, that means you are not giving importance to it." On the other hand, there is another argument raised by many Members here to say that, "Well, if you count it, then you distort the students' motivations in doing this. So you shouldn't count it." So on the one hand, you should count all the things that are important; on the other hand, you should not count it because, if it is important, the person really should be doing it for the love of it, and not because he gets points for it. So this is an interesting dilemma. I think basically we have to be realistic. If it is important, we should try and count it. And that is the approach which I think we have to take.

The same dilemma exists in ranking. This is a subject which has been brought up by a number of people here. They say, "Well, you rank schools, it creates all kinds of distortions in the system." Dr Toh, I think, referred to the question raised at last year's debate. I can also refer him to the answer I gave in last year's debate. Ranking is something which we will not do away with in Singapore. I am open to ideas on how to improve the system but it is something which is valuable. It provides very valuable benchmarking for schools, for the Ministry of Education as a whole and for schools themselves to know where they stand. If the intake of students in School A is roughly the same as the intake of students in School B, and School A does better than School B, remarkably better than School B, I think the principals themselves would want to know why, what is it in School A which is interesting and useful which School B can take on for the benefit of School B's students. I think that is quite a reasonable objective of ranking and comparison. And all over the world, in the UK, in the US, in many states, ranking is now accepted as something useful.

I must say that two days ago, I read an interesting article in the UK. They now rank schools quite avidly in UK, a lot of tests and a lot of ranking. And, in fact, I was very happy to see that they have just started value-added ranking which is something which we have done in our schools for several years already.

I think what Dr Toh See Kiat has proposed with regard to ranking will make things even worse. He suggested putting weights on various kinds of things. In fact, we do not put weights today. What Dr Toh See Kiat is doing is trying to convert a vector into a scalar - a multi-factored description of a school, by assigning weights into a single number. In fact, we do not do that. I have a book here which addresses what Dr Toh was talking about. If you are selecting a school for your child, I have a book here which is produced in four languages, and it describes all kinds of things: ECA highlights, physical fitness level, aggregate range of pupils posted to that school, and a short write-up on the emphasis, achievements and awards which the schools write themselves to tell you what the school is like, what the school believes in. The publication is available. This provides a broader representation of what the school does when parents are selecting secondary schools for their children. It is also not true that the Ministry gives greater weightage to the pure academic performance of a school than its value-added. But the public may give greater weightage. The Ministry provides little cash prizes for value-added schools. We do not provide cash prizes for schools which do well purely by their subject grades. So I think what Dr Toh is proposing, which is to assign little weights to all these things, is, in fact, going to be quite counter-productive.

Franchising and the quality of schools - Dr Michael Lim spoke about taking "good" schools and "replicating" them. This is one method of replicating good schools. But replicating good schools is not just a matter of transferring the brand name. Dr Lim, I think, has some brand names in mind. To produce a school of the same quality will require the right school leadership and mix of teachers. More importantly, this assumes that the student body is the same. A different student body is likely to require different teaching strategies and a different school ethos. A direct clone of a school, like Raffles Institution, for example, which tailors its programmes and methods for the very best of our students is unlikely to be suitable for all the students in Singapore. So we must be quite aware of this.

I would also like to point out to Dr Lim that while he has cited certain schools, we should not be overly enamoured with brand names. These are schools which do extremely well. But there are also other schools which do extremely well which have names that are not instantly recognisable to the public or to Dr Lim. And by this, I do not just mean schools who have scored the best results. But, more importantly, the schools which produce the most value-added. These are schools which parents should be looking for.

But I do agree with Dr Lim that good school practices and management know-how should be replicated so that we can improve our schools. And this is, in fact, one of the main reasons why we have done cluster schools. These are headed by senior principals with a proven track record. Leadership in the schools is important. Principals are important people. If you have a good principal, how do you increase his influence, how do you make better use of him. He can run one very good school, but if he has run it for half a dozen years, he has a very good school there. How do you increase his influence? One way is to have him as a head of a cluster in which the same principal, the same dynamism, his experience, can be extended to several other schools. So this is one of the reasons why we have cluster schools. Clusters will also enable schools to exchange best practices and so forth. And we also have a regular rotation of principals so that there is a steady flow of fresh ideas and energy in our schools.

Dr Teo Ho Pin suggested ISO 9000 for our schools. We do have quality control measures in place in our schools. They are visited by inspectors. First of all, within the school, there is a quality control structure. The teachers are supervised by heads of departments and subject and level heads, and its vice-principal and principal. The inspectors of schools and the senior inspectors of schools, the curriculum specialists will visit the school, and so forth. There are school evaluations. There is ranking. And we also compare ourselves in international mathematics and science studies and so on with educational systems in other countries. So there are a number of quality control structures in place already. I am open to the idea of seeing how we can improve this and we will see whether Dr Teo's suggestion has merit.

Dr Toh See Kiat wondered whether or not the schools and the HQ are in sync, whether the policies that are promulgated in the headquarters actually get executed in the schools. And I think

Mr Low Thia Khiang also echoes some of these sentiments: whether or not the things that we do and say in headquarters actually are done in schools, and whether what happens in the schools is actually known in the headquarters. I have been visiting many schools myself and talking to many teachers. But I would just like to let the Members of the House know that the senior officers in my headquarters - it is not something that I asked them to do but something which they decided themselves that they want to do - the Permanent Secretaries, the Director-General of Education, the Deputy Secretaries, and 11 Directors (16 of them in all) visit schools once every two weeks and talk to the teachers to find out what is happening, to explain to them the policies, to get feedback from them directly. They do not go altogether, they go individually. And in this way each of the schools, every one of our schools, will be visited by one of them every year. This is one of the ways in which we try and make sure that the headquarters and the schools have a close link together.

I come now to the subject of miscellaneous fees. Several Members - Mr Loh Meng See, Mr Hawazi and Dr Teo Ho Pin and other MPs - have commented that the cost of education has gone up by something like 30%, that operating budgets are tight and we must not compromise on the quality of education and they ask how the Ministry will handle the situation. Perhaps I can ask the Clerk to distribute a Table (Cols. 1883-1884) that I have. [Copies of Table distributed to hon. Members.] Table - School Fees and Miscellaneous Fees (Cols. 1883-1884)

General education is almost fully subsidised by Government. Although the average annual cost per pupil increased 61% from $2,600 in 1992 to $4,200 in 1997, citizen pupils pay a token sum of school fees at the rate of $5 per month for secondary school and $6 per month for junior colleges. At primary level, no school fees are charged and we have no intention to raise school fees. 2.15 pm

However, parents now pay miscellaneous fees. These miscellaneous fees are a contribution towards the cost of materials used by pupils in the schools. In recent years, there had been many innovative ideas, curriculum changes, the availability of more materials and programmes. In order to expose pupils to the myriad of innovative materials available in the market, schools have been making ad-hoc cash collections from pupils. Those of you who have children in schools will know this. And these ad-hoc cash collections add to the amount that parents need to spend for the education of their children. To manage the increase in cost, we need to do two things: first of all, we must make sure that any increase in cost, any extra expenditure is really worthwhile, cost effective and cost efficient. But secondly, we also have to provide a framework for schools to continue to spend on those things which are necessary, particularly enrichment materials.

The present miscellaneous fee is a token sum which comprises two components: a standard component and a second-tier component. The standard component is fixed by my Ministry at $5 a month for primary level, $7 a month for secondary and $9 a month for junior college level. That is the standard component of miscellaneous fees. The second-tier component is currently capped at 30% of the standard component. The School Advisory Committee or School Management Committee (SAC/SMC) decides on the need for the second-tier fees and parents can use their children's Edusave Accounts to pay for the second-tier fee. Most schools already find it necessary to collect close to the full amount for the second-tier fees. As a result, if the schools wish to do more, they often have to make cash collections on an ad-hoc basis from students. This makes it more difficult for parents to budget for such expenditure and these payments are often made in cash rather than from Edusave due to the inconvenience of making Edusave withdrawals on an ad-hoc basis, if parents do want to use Edusave. These cash collections also place an extra administrative burden on teachers and schools because they have to collect the cash and make sure it is all accounted for properly. My Ministry will put in place a framework to give schools the flexibility to reduce the ad-hoc cash collections from their pupils by allowing them to raise the second-tier component of miscellaneous fees.

From 1st January 1999, the Ministry of Education will allow the SAC/SMC to charge second-tier miscellaneous fees up to the same amount as the standard miscellaneous fees instead of the 30% of standard miscellaneous fees. The SAC/SMC will continue to decide on when and how much second-tier miscellaneous fees should be increased for their respective schools depending on the needs of that school and the programmes that the school is undertaking. Parents can continue to use the Edusave Accounts to pay for the full amount of the second-tier fees, so there should be no need for additional cash outlays from parents if they choose to use Edusave. Parents who wish to use the Edusave Accounts to pay the second-tier fees will also be required to pay school fees and the standard miscellaneous fees by GIRO. This again will streamline the fee collection system of schools and reduce the administrative burden on teachers.

With the lifting of the 30% cap, the maximum increase in monthly miscellaneous fees will be $3.50 for primary, $4.90 for secondary and $6.30 for junior college, all of which I stress can be met by using the Edusave Accounts. For the vast majority of parents, there will be no increase in cash outlay therefore if they choose to use Edusave for the second-tier miscellaneous fees. The total maximum miscellaneous fees chargeable, ie, both the standard and the second-tier component, will be $10 for primary, $14 for secondary and $18 for junior college and the schools will decide when they need to make adjustments.

Single session schools. This is a subject raised by Dr Lee Tsao Yuan. There are indeed many benefits from having single session schools. The question really is one of resources. The Ministry of Education is already fully stretched implementing the single session programme to all secondary schools by the year 2000. This is quite a massive building programme because we have to build many new schools as well as build extension blocks in many of the existing secondary schools. Members will probably have noticed this in the secondary schools in their constituencies.

As the secondary school enrolment is projected to increase beyond the year 2000, more new secondary schools will have to be built to sustain the single session programme. So extending single session to primary schools would place further strain on our resources and it is not something which we are able to do right now. And for primary schools, we need to also study carefully the pros and cons of going single session. The pupils are younger. It is not clear that all parents would welcome the idea of them staying in school till about 3.30 pm each day. We must also remember that single session schools should be developed for their educational value and not because it is a convenient means of child care.

I come to the subject of mother tongue. I was very tempted to ask Mr Rai and Mr Peh Chin Hua to have a discussion on the standard that we should achieve in our mother tongue in schools. Mr Peh Chin Hua expressed concern about the O' level holders whom we have recruited as teachers for Chinese Language. The introduction of the diploma in mother tongue language education for O' level holders in 1997 was one of several measures implemented to augment the supply of Chinese Language teachers for primary schools. Mr Peh has expressed concern that the recruitment of `O' level holders might lower the standard of Chinese Language teaching in our primary schools.

The Ministry would like to assure Mr Peh that it will not lead to a lowering of standards given the strict selection criteria. Candidates must have good grades in their Chinese at O' levels and must meet the minimum criteria for pre-university courses. Short-listed candidates must then go through an interview by Chinese Language specialists from both the Ministry and the National Institute of Education. During the interview, candidates are assessed for their language fluency, knowledge of classical literature and their aptitude and keenness to teach young children. I think this is also very important. Successful applicants would be enrolled in the diploma in Chinese Language education programme conducted by the National Institute of Education and this is a four-year long programme. The trainees would be exposed to classical literature, language and cultural training that will bring the Chinese Language standard and appreciation of Chinese culture to a level comparable to the GCE A' level, if not higher. They will also be equipped with pedagogy skills so that they are able to impart their knowledge and inherent passion for the language to their pupils.

The Ministry is therefore confident that the Chinese Language teachers from the diploma in Chinese Language education programme will not lead to any lowering of Chinese Language standards in our primary schools. Like all other Chinese Language teachers, they can attend in-service courses on Chinese Language and Chinese Language teaching conducted regularly by the Ministry. They can also apply to enrol in an on-going annual teacher attachment programme in the People's Republic of China. The programme is four weeks long during which teachers will undergo a series of classes conducted at the Beijing Normal University as well as attachment in schools in Beijing. This programme helps teachers find new ideas with respect to the teaching of the Chinese Language.

Also on Chinese Language, I will take up the point that Mr Lim Swee Say mentioned yesterday. In fact, the purpose of having such passages in the Chinese Language textbooks is to convey the moral education messages. Perhaps, we can do it better.

On Tamil Language, Mr Rai feels that the standard of Tamil Language is too high. Mr Peh feels that the standard of Chinese Language is too low. Somewhere in between, they should meet and have a discussion. The current Tamil Language syllabuses in our schools have been developed to meet the objectives of transmitting cultural and traditional values and providing pupils with proficiency in their mother tongue. We recognise that pupils who do not come from Tamil speaking homes may have difficulties in learning the language. We will see what adjustments can be made.

We also agree that our bright pupils should be given the opportunity to learn Malay and, in fact, the Ministry conducts lessons in Malay as a third language at its language centre for those pupils who wish to study the language.

Dr Wang asked about foreign talent and mother tongue as second language. In fact, the example that Dr Wang brought up actually illustrates the flexibility with which the Ministry of Education approaches the issue of mother tongue and second language for those foreigners who choose to settle in Singapore. What Dr Wang described was that, in fact, the Ministry has made many adaptations, exercised a lot of flexibility and allowed the children of this particular parent to do quite a number of different things - different languages, Malay or French, and several opportunities to take and retake the examination. So we do provide a considerable amount of flexibility already and I think the learning of mother tongue as second language is in fact good for the students in the long term.

Professional training of teachers is a subject that was brought up by Mr Loh yesterday. He suggested a Principals' College. Mr Loh also asked about English Language teachers. We do not see a need for a Principals' College right now. What we would want to do is to make sure that the NIE becomes an excellent place, an institution which is renowned for research in education and for teaching teachers how to teach. This is something which we would like to see NIE become. It is already quite a well-established institution and it also conducts courses in educational administration, and so on. In fact, there is a principals' course and a course for Heads of Department. They go by names which I always find very difficult to remember. But basically, it is a principals' course and a Heads of Department's course.

Mr Loh also asked about English Language teachers and vacancies, and so forth. We had a good recruitment in the last two years and the vacancies for English Language teachers are not very significant now. We expect to be able to fill the existing vacancies by May 1998 this year when the freshly trained teachers from NIE come out.

Mr Gerard Ee lamented about the large number of subjects that Primary 1 students take. I am not sure where he got this idea from. In fact, our primary school syllabus is very, very focused. In Primary 1, we concentrate on just three subjects: English, mother tongue and Mathematics. We do not just teach three subjects because the children also do PE, art, moral education, civics, and so forth. But the basic emphasis is on these three subjects. So I am not sure where Mr Ee has got his information from. In fact, we do not teach Science until Primary 3. That is one of the reasons why at the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, when our kids were tested in Science at Primary 4, they came out somewhere in the middle of the table. So we are extremely focused in our primary school curriculum.

He also expressed concern, which is a valid one, about language training and ability at a young age. In fact, my Ministry has a learning support programme for students who have difficulties coping with the first couple of years in school. And this language support programme, which is in a number of our schools, is very well received by parents whose children need a little bit more support to adapt to primary school. 2.30 pm

I come to Mr Shriniwas Rai who spoke about history. I agree that history can be enlivened. Information technology and TV provide a lot of opportunities, and we will see how we can make use of Mr Rai's suggestion.

Mr Loh Meng See asked a number of penetrating questions about information technology. We have this IT Masterplan. He asked: what is going to happen after this Masterplan? How are we going to replace the computers and so on? The Minister for Finance is here. It is quite clear. When we provide for this Masterplan, we understand and know that this is not a one-off exercise where we spend $2 billion over five or six years, and put computers in the schools. There are many other things that we need to do. After that, we have to replace the computers once every three or four years and so on. The Ministry of Finance is cognizant of that.

He also asked how information technology would change the way our classrooms would look, how we use IT for teaching. There are three basic things. Firstly, we can use computers for very basic functions, which is drilling. This is fairly well established. It is like doing homework, practising and so forth. But that is very basic. Second, it can be used for teaching and learning in the classroom to enliven classes, like what Mr Rai has suggested, for history. And beyond that, we can do free form sorts of exercises requiring creativity. Students can have interchanges with students in other countries and so on.

Mr Loh also asked about training hours and material production. The reason the numbers have come down is because most of them are multimedia. Instead of producing many, many items in different media, they are all produced in multimedia. And the training hours will go up as the IT Masterplan is implemented.

As regards Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, I agree with all that he has said. I really have nothing to add.

As for Mr Sin Boon Ann, many of the points that he has raised about stress, I have already addressed yesterday in my response. I would just like to reiterate that parents have a lot to do with expectations, which is one of the major causes of stress on their kids.

Mr Low Thia Khiang asked a number of questions about curriculum, restructuring of assessment and so forth. He asked about questions. I think I have addressed most of them yesterday in my response. I can read it to him again or I can refer him to Hansard. But, yesterday, I addressed most of the points that he has raised. If Mr Low has any useful suggestions, other than the questions, I will be happy to hear him, and see how we can implement them.

Sir, I believe that is all that I would like to respond to. I would now like to invite Dr Wong, Mr Peter Chen and Mr Maidin to take up the other points.

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Dr Aline K. Wong): Mr Loh Meng See and Mr Choo Wee Khiang talked about the state of discipline in our schools. I wish to assure both of them that the state of discipline in our schools is under control. Serious cases which have been reported in the press from time to time are very infrequent occurrences. The great majority of our students are very hardworking. They are well behaved, and they are responsible students.

Since 1995, MOE has implemented a behaviour tracking and analysis system in schools. This system allows us to collect data systematically on all the discipline cases in school. They range from the rather light infringements like not handing in assignments, coming late to school, to the serious offences. For primary students, misconduct, such as not doing assignments and disruptive behaviour in class, is the top offence category, followed by attendance, such as late coming and truancy. Together, they constitute about 84% of the total number of offences.

There has been no significant change in the distribution of offence categories over the last three years. Increases for serious offences were marginal, with the increase in gangsterism being more noticeable, from 11 cases in 1996 to 34 last year.

For secondary pupils, top offences are also attendance related and various forms of misconduct, such as improper attire and grooming, open defiance, rudeness and not doing assignments. Although very serious offences remain relatively infrequent, two types of cases ought to receive our attention. These are substance abuse and gangsterism. They have been on the rise in the last three years. Substance abuse, from 33 cases in 1995, shot up to 272 in 1997. Gangsterism, from 101 cases in 1995 to 159 in 1997. This trend has also been receiving attention from the Ministry of Home Affairs. MOE and MHA are working very closely together to try to contain this problem.

Generally, the incidence of offences rises with age, and offences are more likely to be found among the less academically inclined students than among those who are more academically inclined. We should bear in mind that since we implemented the 10-year general education system, the less academically inclined students are now going through the school system, who previously might have dropped out of school already. However, there is some positive sign and reason for optimism. This is because, although the offence rate generally rises with age, the rates for secondary one and two pupils have declined over the last three years. We will monitor this and see if the same positive trend would be extended to the upper secondary levels in the coming years.

Sir, I am afraid I would not have much time to talk about the kinds of measures we take in the schools to tackle these problems. Generally speaking, they include civics and moral education, uniformed groups and the community involvement programme we have now introduced. We have also introduced specific measures such as the Volunteer Special Constabulary scheme in the schools which is popularly known as the "teacher cops". We also have trained teachers to be counsellors, and we have appointed discipline masters and mistresses in all the schools. We place a great deal of importance on pastoral care and counselling, as Mr Loh and Mrs Lim Hwee Hua also suggested, especially to offer counselling and advice to at-risk pupils.

As Mrs Lim Hwee Hua has rightly pointed out, there is a rising trend of juvenile delinquency among girls, and this has been noticed also by Prof. Ho Peng Kee when he dealt with the matter during the debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs. Even though the number of female juvenile offenders arrested has been falling over the last three years, at the present level, it is still more than double what it was like in 1991, and so this is a worrying trend. Similarly, we have spotted an increase in discipline cases among girl students in our schools. Generally speaking, about 80% of the total number of discipline cases among girls in secondary schools are offences comprising late-coming, truancy, skipping of classes and leaving school without permission. The more serious offences committed by girls include smoking, open defiance, assault and fighting, substance abuse as well as gangsterism. These serious cases constituted about 3% of the total number of offences among girls last year. We are well aware that if we do not arrest the problem early, then this may develop into juvenile delinquency. We are also aware that disciplinary problems and juvenile delinquency are multi-faceted, and we must work together with various community groups, MHA, the Central Narcotics Bureau and other agencies.

Since April 1996, we have been working with Prof. Ho Peng Kee's Inter-Ministry Committee on Juvenile Delinquency to tackle this problem. But as I said, this rising trend of disciplinary problem among girls is cause for some concern. It may very well be that the nature of offences among girls differs somewhat from that among boys, and we may not yet fully understand the peculiar characteristics of female delinquents or offenders, as well as the reasons why they commit these offences. Therefore, my Ministry has decided to form a committee to look into this problem of discipline among female students. I shall be chairing this committee. We will take a closer look at the matter.

Let me respond to the points raised by both Mr David Lim and Mr Loh Meng See on early childhood education. I do not know if I could give an answer to Mr David Lim that would fully satisfy him, for it is obvious that he is an ardent believer and advocate of early childhood education. Early childhood education actually spans a variety of programmes, including play groups, nursery classes, kindergartens and various special programmes such as dance, music and drama that aim to develop different aspects of a child's growth. Some people are advocating foetal education as well. So the question is: how early is early childhood education? MOE's policy is to provide formal education from primary 1 onwards, when the child reaches six or six plus years of age. Pre-school education is left to the private sector to play a role. This allows greater flexibility and innovation, and provides for different models with different programmes according to different schools of thought. Parents can freely choose from among these according to their inclinations, beliefs and affordability. But this does not mean that MOE does not keep a watchful eye over the set-up and programmes of private centres. We do have guidelines on the educational programmes and curriculum. And to raise the quality of kindergarten education further, we are, at present, reviewing this set of guidelines to make them more user friendly and to prepare children properly for formal schooling at primary one.

At the moment, NIE is the main provider of kindergarten teacher training. Together with NIE, the Ministry has recently formed a pre-school teacher accreditation committee to accredit the kindergarten teacher training programmes provided by the private training centres.

Let me state that I believe in early childhood education. I think it is useful. In this day and age, no responsible parent would take this lightly, whether this is done at home or at education centres. But I must point out that there is no consensus yet on the extent of benefit of structured early childhood education, or on how long would the head-start last. The well-known TV programme in the United States, some Members may well have watched it too, Sesame Street was pinned with great hope in the beginning years. Later, it was found that the head-start it gave to the children would not last well into elementary school. This is because home support given to children's learning is equally important, and if it is not there, then the children cannot sustain the initial gains in development.

Neither are there clear-cut conclusions in the literature on early childhood education. Yes, there have been some significant breakthroughs in the recent decade on the functioning of the brain. We understand the learning of languages better now. But what makes for emotions, attitudes and motivation, which are equally important for learning? Experts in brain research often say that the biggest thing they know about the brain is how little they still know.

When research findings are translated into the running of early childhood education programmes, the picture is even more mixed. This is because there can be very different interpretations of how research results should be put into practice. Hence, you see a great variety of early childhood centres with different programmes that are in the market, especially in the developed countries, and this situation makes it extremely difficult to compare the results.

Mr Lim suggested that a research and teaching centre for early childhood education could be set up and that the centre could work with a number of prototype schools in the private sector. We can encourage NIE to look into this suggestion, together with other early childhood teacher training institutions. They could partner some private pre-schools to do the research, to see what practices would be better for our local population. But I must say that the research will have to be a longitudinal one. It will take many years to complete. 2.45 pm

The Chairman: Order. It is "guillotine" time.

Mr Loh Meng See: I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $3,785,970,370 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $1,945,793,400 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

Question, "That the sums stated for those heads of expenditure which appear in the last column of the Schedule of Estimated Expenditure under the Main Estimates on page 35 of Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998 stand part of the Main Estimates," put and agreed to.

The Chairman: In respect of the Development Estimates, they are Heads C and F. I propose to take those heads of expenditure en bloc.

The Chairman: I shall now deal with the remaining heads of expenditure in respect of which no amendment stands on the Order Paper Supplement.

In respect of the Main Estimates, they are heads C, D, F, G and Z.

I propose to take those heads of expenditure en bloc.

Question, "That the sums stated for those heads of expenditure which appear in the last column of the Schedule of Estimated Expenditure under the Development Estimates on page 36 of Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998 stand part of the Development Estimates," put and agreed to.

Question, "That the sum of $40,874,281,920 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the Financial Year 1st April 1998 to 31st March 1999 contained in Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998," put and agreed to.

Question, "That the sum of $28,645,614,600 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the Financial Year 1st April 1998 to 31st March 1999 contained in Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998," put and agreed to.

Resolutions to be reported.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to certain resolutions.

First Resolution reported -

Question, "That the sum of $40,874,281,920 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the Financial Year 1st April 1998 to 31st March 1999 contained in Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998."

Second Resolution reported -

Question, "That the sum of $28,645,614,600 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the Financial Year 1st April 1998 to 31st March 1999 contained in Paper Cmd. 3 of 1998."

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions."

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolutions accordingly agreed to.