REGULATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS

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REGULATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS: 10.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Education in view of the mounting complaints against private schools whether his Ministry will consider regulating such schools to ensure better standards as well as fair treatment of the students.

The Minister of State for Education (Mr Chan Soo Sen) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, under the Education Act, private schools have to be registered with the Ministry of Education before they can operate. As part of the registration process, these schools have to comply with the statutory requirements on building and fire safety; an acceptable curriculum; and whether the teachers have basic academic qualifications for the courses offered.

There are provisions in the Education Act for the Ministry of Education to cancel the registration of a school, for instance, if the school's committee of management is not administering the school efficiently. The private education sector is a very diverse one. Private schools offer a wide range of educational programmes, including tuition, enrichment, and continuing education programmes. So it is not practical for the Ministry of Education to monitor and regulate the quality standards of all the private schools in Singapore. The Ministry of Education believes that it is better for the industry to work with the accreditation agencies to differentiate, as well asto raise the overall standards of the private schools.

SPRING has launched the Singapore Quality Class for Private Education Organisations (SQC-PEO) scheme in 2003 to recognise business process excellence. To recognise institutions for providing

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quality education, SPRING in consultation with industry players is drawing up an accreditation scheme, and is targeting to launch this schemenext year. We are also supportive of various industry associations such as the Singapore Education International (SEI), Association of Private Schools (APS), and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) taking on the initiative to help private schools upgrade as well asto provide recognition for those who do so.

In addition, CASE is working on a CaseTrust for Private Schools scheme to help safeguard the interest of the students. STB has also launched the Singapore Education website in 2003 and is actively promoting it. This website provides information to help all potential students who want to study in Singaporeto get reliable information about the private education sector here. Students wishing to enrol in private schools can then make an informed choice.

Mdm Halimah Yacob: Sir, considering that we have been adopting this promotional self-regulation approach for a long time,and as the Minister of State mentioned, last year the Quality Class Award was also introduced,we had 300 complaints against private schools this year. How effective does the Minister of State think that these new measures would be in terms of curbing complaints against private schools and would we be very successful in drawing 150,000 foreign students by 2010, that being the target of the Singapore Government?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Sir, we do admit that there are areas that we could improve on. That is why, as I have explained in the answer, we are putting in schemes to improve things. You look at the situation, say, next year, when all the schemes are in place, we would actually

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have four levels of accrediting and standards assurance. At the basic level, there is the operationalstandards regulated bythe Ministry of Education through regulation through the Education Act. At the next level, we have CaseTrust which is done by CASE. This ensures that student welfare is taken care of. Then, at the next higher level, it is the current Singapore Quality Class (SQC). This is to ensure that there is a certain degree of business excellence. At the highest level, there is accreditation of academic standards andexcellence by SPRING. So, by next year, the schools would be monitored with four levels of regulation and we hope things would improve.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, other than meeting the physical requirements under the Education Act, does the Ministry also check on the financial position of these private schools before they can start?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: We definitely would check on this before they are allowed to be registered. When it comes to the business aspect,as I have said, we have the Singapore Quality Class standard (SQC) which is done by SPRING. Of course, as businesses, the private schoolswould also have to submit the regular audit reports to the relevant agencies. If there should be complaints by students or by members of the public on things that are going wrong, we would definitely investigate.

Dr Tan Boon Wan (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker,in view of the fact that there have been several cases involving foreign students - CaseTrust probably would have emphasised on the foreign students -would CaseTrust also be taking into consideration the interest of the local students as well?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: I believe CaseTrust is taking care of all students, whether foreign or local.

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Mr Ang Mong Seng (Hong Kah): May I ask the Minister of Statehow many licences had been issued by the Ministry of Education to the private schools? And, so far, has any actionbeen taken against those schools that had not complied with the standards set by MOE?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: I am afraid I do not have these figures with me. But I just want to say that investigatingcomplaintsis a routine affair. Investigations leading to the schools being deregistered is quite rare.Most of the schools act on public feedback andcomplaints byadjusting the procedures and improving on things.