MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

RAdm (NS) TEO CHEE HEAN Minister for Education

1. The continued success of Singapore depends on its people. How well we can re-make Singapore depends on how well we can prepare our people for the challenges ahead. We will continue to invest heavily in education, to equip our young with the necessary skills and knowledge, and the right values and attitudes.

2. MOE has moved toward Ability Driven Education to help each individual recognise and make use of his talents and abilities. We will build on the progress made. We will continue with efforts to improve the teaching service, update our school curriculum and upgrade our infrastructure.

Pre-school Education

3. A good pre-school education (PSE) lays the foundation for subsequent learning and development. To ensure our children get the most value out of PSE, MOE will focus on helping kindergartens provide good quality yet affordable pre-school education, within the existing framework of private and community provision of such services.

4. MOE will pay particular attention to curriculum design, teacher training, and regulation. A pilot programme started in 2001 is currently underway to develop a good pre-school curriculum. A regulatory framework will also be put in place to ensure the quality of teachers and programmes in the pre-school sector. To help eligible non-profit kindergartens upgrade standards and to keep fees affordable, MOE is providing annual recurrent grants to eligible non-profit kindergartens. Lower income families will also receive financial assistance to send their children to qualifying non-profit kindergartens.

Secondary and Post-Secondary Education

5. MOE will conduct a review of our Secondary and Junior College (JC) Education to provide more choices to cater to the different talents and aspirations of students. It will examine issues including: (a) the principles and outline for a revised national 2-year JC curriculum to align it more closely to the overall education philosophy and system; (b) whether some of our schools/JCs which are ready, should offer through-train secondary/JC programmes with the flexibility of adopting different terminal qualifications; (c) whether new state-funded Independent Schools that cater to students with special talents and abilities should be established; and (d) whether privately funded secondary schools are necessary and can play a useful role.

6. We expect a 20% increase in the cohort size eligible for ITE, polytechnics and junior colleges from 2005. MOE will increase the capacity of our post-secondary sector so that all those able to benefit from further education will have access to opportunities in our technical institutes, polytechnics, and junior colleges. The plans include the restructuring of the existing 10 ITE institutes into 3 regional campuses, the establishment of the 5th polytechnic, and the expansion of places in JCs.

The University Sector

7. Different types of universities, with different missions and emphases, will provide the basis for a robust and diverse university sector that can support a sophisticated and evolving economy. The universities can play a key role in developing manpower at both the pre- and in-employment levels, conducting R&D to support knowledge industries, and providing educational services to the region to support the services sector as an additional engine of economic growth.

8. To ensure that the university sector meets the needs of the economy and provides more opportunities to those who can benefit from a university education, we will review the long term structure of the higher education sector, including studying setting up a fourth university, given the desired cohort participation rates at the university level.

Continuing Improvements

Teachers

9. Education is ultimately a human enterprise, and teachers are our most precious resource. The introduction of the Education Service Professional Development and Career Plan (EduPac) will allow MOE to attract and retain our fair share of talent, provide opportunities for their continual development, and extend the influence of our best teachers. New career and recognition structures, and enhancements to the performance management system under EduPac are being implemented progressively.

Curriculum and Assessment

10. We have revised our curriculum to develop our students more holistically and equip them properly for the knowledge age. Assessment must go in tandem with new curricular emphases. The new University Admission System from 2003 will help to reinforce curricular changes, by taking into account other measures of abilities in addition to A-levels. From 2002, MOE is taking greater control over the GCE A-level. MOE will also study the possibility of establishing a statutory board, the Examinations Authority, to build up our capability and capacity in the area of assessment.

IT in Education

11. Our young need to be IT savvy to do well in the future. The Masterplan for IT in Education, introduced in 1997, has equipped our schools, teachers and students with the skills and knowledge to use IT to enhance teaching and learning. MOE will unveil a second phase of its Masterplan for IT in Education for the period 2003-2007, to further facilitate the integration of IT with sound pedagogical principles in bringing about an enhanced learning environment.

Single Session Primary Schools

12. Single session schools allow for better access to facilities and greater interaction between teacher and students. All our secondary schools are now single session. MOE is exploring the implementation of single session in primary schools. Continuing Education and Training

13. Our polytechnics and ITE will also expand their roles in the areas of continuing education and training, to meet the upgrading needs of our workforce. To address the demands of industry for new skills and knowledge, courses will become more multi-disciplinary, broad-based and entrepreneurial in outlook.