TAXI SECURITY DEVICES

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the number and percentage of children entering primary 1 each year who are identified for the Learning Support Programme (LSP) since the Programme was introduced; (b) how are these children assessed to determine if they need to attend the Programme; (c) what is the standard against which the primary 1 children's reading abilities are benchmarked to determine if they need to attend the Programme; (d) what is the duration of the Programme and; (e) how effective has the Programme been.

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: The Learning Support Programme (LSP) (English) is an early intervention language and literacy programme. The programme was started in 1992 and implemented in all primary schools in 1998. The need for this programme arises out of the complex home language background of our students, resulting in their entering Primary 1 with very different levels of literacy skills in English. The programme provides additional support to pupils in P1 and P2 who do not have the pre-requisite English Language and literacy skills to access the curriculum. Pupils in the LSP are identified through a screening test administered to all P1 pupils at the beginning of the school year. Each year, about 12% to 14% of P1 pupils, or some 7,000 pupils, are supported in the LSP.

The effectiveness of the programme is measured through gains in children's reading levels and performance in school-based assessments. P1 LSP pupils start school reading at levels equivalent to children of less than 5 years of age, on average. After about 10 months of intervention in the LSP, the average reading age of LSP pupils is 7 years, reflecting a reading gain of 28 months. They are thus comparable with the P1 cohort in terms of their reading levels.

Improvements in reading have helped the pupils do better in their English tests. For example, in 2001, less than half (45%) of P1 LSP pupils passed English at the mid-year Semestral Assessment (SA1). By SA2 in November, the pass rate was 64.9%.

The duration of the Learning Support Programme is 2 years. At the end of P2, a small proportion of LSP pupils (about 15% of those originally identified at P1) continue to have difficulties in the English Language. Schools will determine the most appropriate mode of support for these pupils after the 2 years in the LSP programme. These pupils are put through customised remediation programmes conducted by the school, or the ENABLE (ENcouraging Achievement and Better LEarning), a specialised intervention programme in English and Mathematics for pupils who are underachieving.

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Transport whether he will consider making it compulsory for taxi companies to install security devices in their taxis to give protection to taxi drivers.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: In Singapore, taxis are privately operated. There are 4 taxi companies. The safety of taxi drivers is a key concern of the taxi companies. They have been working closely with the Police on crime prevention on board taxis. Among other measures, the companies have installed security systems in taxis. One such system has distress alarms in the taxis. The alarms are linked to a vehicle location system that uses the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track down the location of any taxi in distress. Once an alarm is triggered, the Police will be notified immediately.

The taxi companies will continue to work with the Police and their drivers to prevent crimes in taxis. Hardware installations are only part of the answer. Very often, simple preventive measures like educating the taxi drivers on some dos and don'ts are more effective. The taxi companies and the Police have jointly published a handbook providing tips on prevention of crimes against taxi drivers. The taxi companies and their drivers have the greatest interest in this issue and are competent in responding to it. There is no need for the Government to intervene.