IT EDUCATION

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IT EDUCATION: The following Question stood in the name of Mr Zainudin Nordin -

4. To ask the Minister for Education with the investments and effort to introduce IT, eLearning and early exposure of our students to computers and software in schools (a) what are the improvements in education and learning; (b) what are the key progresses of these

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initiatives; and (c) whether his Ministry allows students to leverage on their IT skills for the key examinations like the GCE 'N', GCE 'O' and GCE 'A'.

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani: Question No. 4, Sir.

The Minister of State for Education (Mr Chan Soo Sen) (for the Minister for Education): Sir, IT is a key enabler for Singapore to remain competitive and meet the challenges of the knowledge-driven future. MOE launched the first IT Masterplan in education in 1997 to put in place the necessary infrastructure to enable our schools to leverage on IT to enhance the learning experience of and to better prepare our students for the future.

With the successful implementation of the first IT Masterplan, all our schools are now connected to the Internet and ready for other IT enabled learning. All our teachers have also at least acquired the necessary basic knowledge and skills to integrate IT into the curriculum.

The IT-enabled school environment is conducive for our students to participate in active learning. With the use of IT, our students are now able to go beyond the four walls of their classrooms.For example, we have students in 20 schools who were involved in a project that tackled the problem of dengue fever. This project required our students to collaborate with a specialist from Vietnam as well as our Ministry of the Environment. They analysed data, evaluated information and created knowledge using personal digital devices as well as the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Many of our students have acquired not only basic digital literacy but sophisticated IT skills like web publishing, video-creation and computer programming. Many of them have also excelled in local and international

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competitions like ThinkQuest International and International Olympiad in Informatics. In fact, they are better than us adults in many instances.

With the launch of the second ITMasterplan in Education, we are beginning to see a variety of school-initiated IT-based programmes to support niche areas in the schools such as in inquiry-based learning and life-sciences. MOE, schools, industry partners, and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) are collaborating on experimental projects to push the frontiers of innovative ways of using IT for teaching and learning. One example is the use of knowledge forum software, an online discussion forum, to bring about engaged learning for our students.

On assessment, students make use of their IT skills in the coursework and practical components of the N-level Computer Applications examination. Students also leverage on their IT skills for research, processing of data, presentation and collaboration in Project Work at A-level. In the A-level Computing examinations, studentsalso make use of application software for computer-aided designs, database management and web publishing in the coursework component of the examination. MOE will continue to explore new ways of using IT in assessment.

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani: Sir, I am pleased to note that many of our children have benefited from and do excel in the use of IT. But I am sure the Minister would agree with me that a large number of children, maybe due to financial reasons, do not have an IT-friendly atmosphere at home and therefore may be left behind, compared to their classmates who have computers at home and attend computer enrichment classes. Does the Minister observe that there is a widening IT divide among our children? And if there is such a growing divide, what is the Ministry's policy on

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this? Whatactions does the Ministry intend to take?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: That is why the Ministry introduces IT in a relatively cautious manner. We only introduce IT that has good education application. Also, thetechnology introduced has got to be mature and also affordable. For students who are unable to afford their own computers,wearrange for them to make use of the facilities in school, for example, in a computer laboratory.

We also have certain schools which introduced their ownIT projects. For example, Crescent Girls' School introduced IT teaching programme using the tablet PC.In this particular case,the schoolhadconsulted all stakeholders, especiallythe parents. Nearly allagreed tobuytablet PCs for their children. In the case of the few who were unable to afford, the school was able toarrange for the tablet PCs to be loaned to them. So the school went all outto make sure that students do not lose out because they were unableto afford the PCs.So just to assure the Member that affordability and availability of computers weretaken into consideration before IT projects were introduced.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: I would like to ask the Minister whether the Ministry will consider making such facilities accessible at community clubs and community centres, so that on a more macro level we can better reach out to students who are living within the community.

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Community centres and community clubsare not under the care of the Ministry of Education. But suffice it to say, we also have other voluntary organisations, like the community self-help groups, MENDAKI, CDAC,SINDA as well asthe Eurasian Association, which do have schemesto allow the students to have access to

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computers. Theyinvolve many volunteers to help, for example, to service old computers. Computers made available through such channels, pluscomputer facilities available in schools have,for the time being, beenadequate to caterto our students.

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, having all these efforts in IT, do we seea need for our students to be allowed to use the skills that they have acquired for important examinations? And if that is the case, is there any situation where students are not allowed to use the skills for examinations, like presentations or whatever?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: If we are introducing the use of computer in an examination, we must, firstly,make sure that all students have access to computer at that examination.There isthis issue of IT divide between the students who have and whodo not have a computer. So,for the time being, the use of computer in examinations is confinedto computer-related subjects, like the subjects that I have listed during my oralanswer just now. To the extent thatcomputer becomes more accessible and more affordable, there will be a wider use of computer in examinations.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam (Nominated Member): Could I ask the Minister whether the Ministry has any scheme of identifying children who would appreciate a computer at home and looking for the means to help them get that computer so that we bring more people on to the same level to level the playing field?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: As I said, if the students do not have a computer at home,there are other channels to help them, such as the community self-help groups.Our schoolshave also been helping students to getin touch with the

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various channels. In certain instances, the schools may approach some charitable organisations to make available additional resources. All these are being done.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam: Do we know the number of school children who may not possess a home computer? Is there any study done in this area? Are schools opening up their school laboratories so that, after school hours and on weekends, children who need to do their homework or browse through the Net to do whatever research, they are made available to them?

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Opening of computer laboratories in schools after school hours or during weekends are decisions that can be taken by the schools. The Ministry does not have a directive to direct the schools to open their computer facilitiesat certain hours. But I am confident that if it is for the good of the students, the schools will make those facilities available.

As for the study thatthe Memberasked for,I do not have the information with me. But we canget certain indications on the penetration rate of IT in families. I think yesterday, during the Second Reading of one of the Bills,it was mentioned thatmore than half of our families now have access to Internet. So if thereis access to Internet,they must have access to computers. But I think these are not the people that she is concerned about. She is more concerned about the people who are really not able to afford having a computer at home for the use of their children. As I have said earlier, there are various groups who have schemesthat try to cater to the needs of these children. And as far as I know, the provision currently is adequate.

Mr Zainudin Nordin: Sir, I appreciate the concern about the digital divide. But

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at the same time, I am also concerned that with the kind of investment and the kind of money that we have beenputting into IT, whatis the level of achievement we expect from our students? If we want them to attaincertain IT skills and we want them to apply, how can MOE assistthe students to apply their skills that they have acquired in this training atimportant examinations, like GCE 'N', GCE 'O', and so forth? I would prefer for us to be able to level up than level down.

Mr Chan Soo Sen: Iwould acceptMr Zainudin's pointgenerally. But I would want to say that there are certain areas of assessment that we are actively exploring the possible use of IT. One of them is actually in the area of oral examination. Nowadays, there are computers which can recognise pronunciation and voices. A natural question iswhether suchcapabilities can be used to help in theassessment for oral examination, especially those relatively objective types of oral examination. I am not talking about, say, free flow conversation. Oral examinations involvingmultiple choice or reading from a fixed passage could conceivably be assessed by computer.This is one area that we are actively looking into.

I would also want to say that IT in teaching goes beyond just examinations. IT allows students to practise a certain skill repeatedly in order to improve. For example, students can do repeated practice ofmathematics, or repeated practiceof reading ofpassages. A computer is actuallyvery patient. You can make the same mistake many times. The computerswill patientlycorrect it for you.These features are already available in our computer laboratories.Hence,the use of IT in education is manifold. It goes beyond assessment. And I think our children are benefiting from these capabilities.