HEAD K - MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

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** Head K - Ministry of Education **

The Chairman: Head K - Ministry of Education. Dr Amy Khor.

Education Policy

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan (Hong Kah): Sir, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head K of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

Sir, over the last few years, MOE has implemented many changes to our educational system to allow for more customisation and flexibility to cater to students with different learning aptitudes and talents. The aim is to help every student realise his or her full potential. In fact, the nature of our education system now appears to be choice, choice and more choice. Sir, these new initiatives are largely welcomed. However, on balance, many of these changes are still biased towards the academically-inclined. I am, therefore, pleased that the MOE has announced its intention to, amongst others, enhance our current vocational training programme.

Sir, our education system is one that is respected by many countries in the world and has produced high literacy rate and a capable workforce. But there remains a group of students, albeit a small group, who are unable to thrive or perhaps even survive in our current education system which is academically biased. This group who dropped out of the education system would likely form the underclass of our society if they are not given an opportunity to acquire job-ready and life-long learning skills.

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Moreover, as Singapore develops and becomes more affluent there is some concern that the education system, which is supposed to be based purely on meritocracy may, in fact, polarise our society by inadvertently offering greater benefits to the more educated and well-off Singaporeans. Hence, more attention should be paid to children who do poorly in schools as many may be from the lower income families. Without education as an income leveller, they may remain stuck in the poverty trap.

In enhancing our VTC education, I would like to suggest that the VTC work closely with the industry and WDA to ensure that students acquire the relevant skills needed by the industry, and their VTC programme is compatible with WDA's Workforce Skills Qualification System, such that there could be mutual recognition for the two programmes. It would be useful for the VTC to offer apprenticeship programmes as this will allow students to have hands-on experience of what they are learning and also help them earn some income which they may sorely need.

Vocational education should not be seen or marketed as a last resort for those who fail their PSLE repeatedly.

In fact, in Germany , after completing primary school, students are given a choice to opt for a vocational education. Depending on the states, teachers could advise parents as to the best course of education for their children.

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Hence, teachers here could also advise parents on the inclinations or preferences of their children for a more hands-on education at the VTC. They should be allowed to opt for a VTC education for their children right after Primary 6, instead of going the N level or ITE route. VTC education must be seen as yet another educational pathway which parents,

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together with their children, can choose, and not as a dumping ground. I would like to ask the Minister if the MOE would allow more students who can benefit from the hands-on, practice-oriented curriculum offered to join the VTC.

In addition to technical skills, the VTC curriculum should also incorporate the full range of learning experiences available in mainstream schools, including sports, arts and character development to provide these students with a holistic education that equips them not only with job ready but also life skills.

To ensure that no one is left behind as Singapore progresses and develops, MOE should attempt to further minimise the drop-out rates, especially from our primary schools, or channel them to the VTCs. This can be done if MOE adopts an early-intervention approach by identifying students who are at risk of dropping out of the education system and giving them appropriate help. It can do this by having more counsellors to work with the teachers to identify such at-risk children at the primary and secondary schools. It should also enhance its Learning Support Programme, extending this beyond Primary 1 and 2, as many of these children remain unable to cope with their studies in the upper primaries due to their family circumstance and lack of support.

Finally, MOE should work with MCYS and other community and self help groups to encourage all parents to send their children to pre-school, regardless of their financial position. This is to prevent the children from lagging behind in their studies and, as a consequence, feel frustrated and become disengaged when they start mainstream school.

School Bags

Mr Ang Mong Seng (Hong Kah): ( In Mandarin ): Sir, some years back, we

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discussed the problem of heavy school bags of our primary school students, and attracted the serious attention of the Ministry of Education. As a result, the Ministry of Education recently introduced the concept of "teach less, learn more" with the hope of reducing the burden of the primary school students. This was originally a good intention on the part of the MOE, but I discovered that the situation has not improved. On the contrary, it has become worse.

In recent years, I noticed that more and more primary school students are using the trolley-type school bags when they go to school. Sir, just look at these pictures [ Indicating ]. We can see that these primary school students are dragging their bags when they go to school. It is quite different from the old days when we put the bags on our back. Now, these bags are about 6-8 kilograms each, and the students have to walk with a hunch as they find it very difficult to walk.

I think for these very young primary school children, this is too heavy and it goes against our basic education policy. I would like to ask whether the Minister for Education has taken note of this problem. Has the MOE any plan to resolve this matter? I think we could consider providing a locker in each classroom for the students to leave some of their stationery and textbooks behind, so that they do not have to carry them around everyday.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr S Iswaran) in the Chair]

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Talent

Dr Loo Choon Yong (Nominated Member): Sir, Singapore needs to develop

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all its people to maximise their potential, even as we attract people from all over the world to settle and to work here. Something I do not understand is why do we have this artificial classification between talent and non-talent. I am not sure that it is useful. And if we all watched Jack Neo's "I Not Stupid", we would realise that there are different children with different talents and abilities, and they all can grow up and prosper. I am glad that our education system has become more flexible - many paths to success and many different roads to glory.

Sir, I support the new initiative by the MOE to help children from low-income families. The Government has repeatedly assured that no child will be denied education because of a lack of financial support. To me, this is wonderful. However, there are other expenses that the child in school needs to bear - supplementary fees, enrichment courses, books, stationery, uniform, shoes, meals and, sometimes, laptop or computer for the older students.

For enrichment courses - study tours and training - I think the child from the poor family is disadvantaged if he is not able to participate. I certainly hope that the Opportunity Fund will make this happen and will be put to good use so that these children can enrich their education and really develop together with the other children.

It is also heartening to know that the MOE will be providing breakfast to some children. I believe this will help quite a few poor children so that they can concentrate better on the lessons instead of being distracted by the noisy and hungry stomachs.

Sir, with this wonderful assistance programme offered by the Opportunity Fund, I hope that the MOE, the principals and the teachers will be very careful and

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circumspect in its implementation, and pay attention to the following points:

(1) The Opportunity Fund is meant to help and assist needy students. So we must find the best use for the money, and I would hate to see this Fund being used for generic purposes, such as buying computer for computer rooms.

The Chairman: Dr Loo, your time is up. Can you wrap up your point, please?

Dr Loo Choon Yong: Secondly, I hope that in all these assistance schemes, we must not stigmatise the children, so that they will not be ridiculed and hurt by the other children.

Teachers

Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Sir, I want to talk on teacher harassment and the use of handphones. The issue with regard to teachers giving their handphone numbers to parents has been widely debated among teachers. Currently, there is no specific rule passed down from the Ministry of Education with regard to this matter.

In some schools, form teachers are strongly encouraged by the school management to provide their personal handphone numbers to parents. In any case, it is often a requirement for teachers to give students their mobile phone numbers when they organise field trips or external sports training. Therefore, their phone numbers will eventually reach the parents. Some schools promote the idea of giving teachers' mobile phone numbers to parents as it creates a direct link between parent and teacher. Most teachers are fine with this concept, but complain of the abuse of this privilege given to parents. Parents have been known to call teachers at night and over the weekends. Others call teachers during the school hours to pass their messages. Sometimes, parents get frustrated when

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teachers do not answer their mobile phones, return calls or SMS messages. There have been cases where parents have complained to the school management about this. The current situation points towards parents believing that it is a right and not a privilege to be given the teacher's personal mobile phone number. Thus, there are many disgruntled teachers who have complained that constant phone calls from parents at odd hours are infringing their basic right to privacy. Teachers are human too. The job calls for dedication to the students, but not to be on 24 hours standby to answer every parent's needs. It will be a shame if our nation were to lose good and dedicated teachers who resign from the teaching profession over this matter.

I have spoken to a few experienced teachers who have dedicated the better part of their life to the welfare of their students in their charge. They are all for maintaining a link with parents, but ask for their basic right to privacy. First, the mobile phone and line are completely paid for by the teacher. Therefore, the decision on whether to give parents their personal phone numbers should be solely left to the teachers. There should be no undue pressure upon the teachers by the school management to provide parents with their private phone numbers.

Second, if the teachers so choose to give parents their mobile phone numbers, they should be awarded their basic right to privacy. The Ministry of Education has to come out with guidelines to parents to prevent the abuse of this privilege. For example, parents should not call teachers on their mobile phones after 7.00 pm or on weekends. The Ministry should also educate parents that having the teacher's mobile phone number is a privilege and not a right.

Sir, I speak on this because I have to treat a patient with depression because of this.

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Higher Degrees

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member): Sir, I declare that I am an academic at NUS.

I agree with the Prime Minister that we should attract foreign R&D talents. However, we also need to develop our own talent and give due recognition to our home-grown R&D talents, in order to be able to significantly increase the percentage of local researchers in the R&D scene as, currently, only one-quarter of the researchers in Singapore are Singaporeans. In nurturing local talents, one key aspect is to encourage locals to pursue higher research degrees, whether locally or overseas, and an R&D career.

Currently, only about 25% of university research scholarship holders are locals, and the rest are foreign students, mainly from China and India. Granting of US visa to foreign students and scientists has since been relaxed after the 9-11 event. Soon, we will not be able to attract any good foreign students and researchers to pursue research in Singapore. A different perspective to view this is: our local universities and research institutes have been training research talents for other countries. Thus, we need to train and develop our own talents, and address the issue of why so few Singaporeans are pursuing higher degrees and an R&D career.

Recently, the IBN director was quoted in Lianhe Zaobao saying it is easier to bring in foreign researchers as compared to persuading local PhD scholars to return, and she said that one reason being that these scholars are not appreciative of the excellent local research environment. Perhaps this director, having spent most of her years abroad, does not have a good feel of why locals are not pursuing higher degrees and an R&D career and the scholars are not returning.

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Some causes why few locals are pursuing local PhD degrees, an R&D career and possibly why scholars are not keen to return are:

(1) A lack of recognition of local PhD degrees, although many undergraduates have told me that it is financially more viable to pursue PhD locally.

(2) Locals are being passed over for foreigners in research job applications, even when they have graduated from the same university.

(3) A lack of recognition for local researchers and home-grown talents, as the general view is that they are not world-class while the foreigners are world-class, and this seems to follow the Chinese saying that "local gingers are not hot".

(4) A lack of proper research career for scholars as many are deployed to perform administrative duties in the research institutes upon their return; and

(5) Little prospect of holding leadership position in research projects and institutes. For example, when a new research institute is set up, there will usually be an international search for the director of this institute; a local home-grown talent, at best, can only be a deputy director.

Sir, until we can give due recognition to our home-grown talents, local researchers and our local PhD degrees, we will not be able to encourage more locals to pursue an R&D career.

In addition, a graduate at the age of 25 thinks differently from a young JC or secondary student. Research idols have no effect on him as, by that age, the hardship of life would have impressed upon him, leaving him with many personal and family considerations, namely:

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(1) Many local students work part-time to support themselves. Some students told me that the part-time work has affected their studies and their potential class of honours.

(2) Many graduates prefer to start work immediately so as to start repaying their study loans.

(3) Many students are heavily debt-ridden upon graduation now as compared to 10 years ago, and it would take a longer time to repay their loans, as the starting pay of a graduate now is still about the same as 10 years ago and yet the university fees have increased.

(4) Many students need to start working to support younger siblings in their studies.

(5) Many also wish to start working early to accumulate CPF savings to buy their first HDB flat; and

(6) They need to start working to prepare for their marriage, especially if their girlfriends are of the same age as them from JC days.

Sir, these are not trivial personal and family reasons, but are the real hard facts of life of many graduates from average families. These considerations have discouraged locals from pursuing higher degrees whether locally or overseas. Some of these considerations are also stopping good local students from applying for A STAR's AGS scholarship that has attractive stipends. It has been reported that 15% of A STAR scholars are foreigners. A student asked me, "Ma'am, does the Government understand our problems?"

I had made some suggestions in my motion on the R&D thrusts of Singapore in a previous sitting. I would like to additionally propose the following suggestions:

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(1) Provide more financial help and assistance to the local students.

(2) Help the local students to repay their study loans, eg, through helping them to defer the interests on their study loans should they decide to pursue higher degrees.

(3) Provide more attractive monthly scholarship stipend of more than the current $1,500 for the university research scholarships.

(4) Provide simultaneous on-the-job working opportunities that could lead to CPF contribution for those who decide to pursue higher degrees.

(5) Allow local students to use their CPF savings to repay their study loans;

(6) Provide job matching for local students who have completed their higher degrees. No Singaporean PhD holders would want

to be forced to go overseas to look for jobs as we can almost be sure that we would have permanently lost this talent. If we only have such a small pool of talents in Singapore because of our population size, we should spare no effort in seeking every such talent.

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On encouraging locals to pursue higher degrees locally, first, at the local universities, we should not use academic achievement as the main or sole criterion for admitting research students. While I understand the need to maintain the standards of graduate students, quite often, research and academic achievements may not go hand in hand. To increase our local talent pool, we should selectively pick and interview students who may be weaker academically but with strong inclination and potential. I

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urge the local universities to look into putting in a set of procedures for the selection of students who may not have Second Class Honours and above, but are keen and capable in pursuing higher degrees.

Polytechnics

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Sir, the thrust of our education system is now to offer choice, flexibility and recognition of different learning preferences and pace. This has been hailed as something of a revolution in our education system, an enlightened approach that is sympathetic to the wide range of abilities of our generation of pupils. This recognition that one size cannot fit all is largely welcome.

The key plank of the changes thus far is the Integrated Programme for secondary schools and JCs. As a Straits Times' report dated 28th December 2005 noted, there are now at least five different ways of getting a university degree, not counting the traditional route of taking the 'O' and 'A' levels. However, the changes so far still tend to concentrate on the academic route leading to a university degree. Not much change and diversity has been incorporated for students who prefer the more applied route of going from secondary schools to the polytechnics. There have been calls from some students themselves that it will be beneficial to allow them to take more applied modules with real life practical applications, instead of purely academic subjects, even at secondary schools.

Such subjects could be offered in conjunction with the polytechnics at secondary schools, much like NUS offering some Science and Mathematics subjects to the NUS High School. This could enhance students' learning experience, making learning more interesting and relevant, and spur greater

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creativity and innovation. It would also help students discover their interests and talent early and prevent the less academically inclined from becoming disinterested in their studies.

Additionally, exposing secondary school students early to polytechnic education may give them a good idea of where their educational inclination and career preferences lie. I urge the Ministry to apply this different pathways approach all the way up and down the educational ladder. More diversity and richness could be incorporated into our secondary school landscape to allow for more exploratory and creative learning, by offering not just applied and practice-oriented options but also subjects like art, design and even gaming.

The Chairman: Mr Chiam is not speaking. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

The Minister for Education (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam): Sir, let me thank Dr Amy Khor, Mr Ang Mong Seng, Dr Loo Choon Yong, Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Prof. Ong Soh Khim for their comments and questions.

Dr Khor has asked how we can offer more choices to our students today - more choices of subjects and pathways that they can take. I will focus on this in my first reply. She also asked about how we can better engage students who are less academically inclined and how we can reduce the number of students who drop out from schools. Several other MPs had also raised this issue during the Budget debate. I will address these questions later - what we can do to strengthen the non-academic or vocational pathway, and to reduce drop-out rates.

My colleagues and I will also address the specific questions raised by Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Ang Mong Seng, Dr Loo and Prof. Ong Soh Khim.

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First, let me address the issue of expanding choices. It is an important direction in education that we have been taking in the last several years. Step by step, we are introducing more choice and more diversity. New types of schools and niches of excellence in all our schools, that differentiate one school from the other. This diversity and differentiation of schools is essentially our strategy for developing talent - it is how we are developing all talents, not just the top talents, not just the best academic talents, but every talent. It is developing every Singaporean talent, and discovering unique strengths and abilities in all our students and taking them as far as possible.

But let me say that the diversity we are bringing into our schools builds on common foundations - the national system that gives our school system its strengths. Our success in education will, in fact, continue to rely on these strong, common foundations - a rigorous national curriculum system, a system of meritocratic progression, well-trained teachers in all our schools who have opportunities to grow and advance through the system, and school leaders who are systematically developed, moved around the system from time to time, and held to high standards. All our schools provide facilities which are of a very high standard by any international comparison, and allow for richness of experience that is virtually unmatched. And our schools, importantly, also provide the common educational experience for Singaporeans, a common experience that was totally lacking 40 years ago, that brings each generation of Singaporeans together, and gives them a shared identity as Singaporeans.

We will keep strengthening these common foundations and experiences, give Singapore students a high quality education in every school, and keep levelling up. This is what differentiates

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Singapore from others. We avoid the huge variance in standards that we see in many of the other developed countries, particularly those which lack robust national curricula. In the United States, for example, the best schools in the States are exceptionally good - probably the best in the world. But a large proportion of their public high schools are in bad shape. According to the US Department of Education, less than half of all US high school graduates have Mathematics and Science proficiencies that they need to progress beyond high school. Reading scores for 17-year-olds have remained flat since the early 1970s, more than 30 years. So, the Bush administration is putting in place major reforms - introducing a clear set of standards for what every child should know and be able to do, and testing students against these standards annually from grades 3 through 8, and once again in high school.

It is like what I heard Mr Khaw Boon Wan mentioned earlier this afternoon when he was referring to the Canadian and American health systems - exceptional quality in a few areas but impoverishment of standards elsewhere.

So we have to keep a sense of balance as we go forward. We are shifting the balance in education towards diversity. We are encouraging and entrenching diversity in our schools, so that we can develop our individual talents to the fullest. We develop talents in every area. I heard Dr Loo's concern. We should not be embarrassed about developing talents. It is our strategy for taking Singapore forward, for taking all Singaporeans forward. But let us find every talent and take him or her as far as possible. It is not an elitist strategy but a national strategy to take Singapore forward.

As we do so, we also have to ensure that we retain and improve the common

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foundations that we have built up over the years, that give all Singaporeans, whichever schools they come from, a high quality education and a solid preparation for further education in our ITEs, polytechnics and universities. We will keep the rigour of curriculum that makes Singapore education different from the rest.

This sense of balance is at play in our latest moves to introduce more choice in the secondary school curriculum. As Dr Amy Khor has raised, we will introduce a richer range of options for applied learning in secondary schools.

We are not shifting from the core curriculum that our schools provide. We believe that all our students should undergo a 10-year broad-based and comprehensive education. So secondary school education should not be overly specialised. It should provide a good foundation in the fundamentals that prepare students for further studies in the JCs, polytechnics and ITEs. This is why all secondary school students are required to take a core of subjects - English Language, Mother Tongue, Mathematics, one Science subject, one Humanities subject. Social Studies is also taken by all secondary students, to give them an appreciation of Singapore's unique circumstances as a city state. There is a lot of sense in keeping this core curriculum for secondary schools. But we will provide for more free play around the core curriculum to encourage students to find and develop a range of talents.

The way we are rolling out choice and diversity in the system is by allowing some schools to develop curriculum niches of their own. They will provide different subject choices or new modules, besides the core curriculum that they share with all schools. This is the most practical way to offer choice, rather than

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require all or most schools to offer new subject options. This way too, the schools take ownership, they want to differentiate themselves, and they are most likely to deliver quality. It is ground-up initiative owned by the schools, with MOE providing top-down support.

Some of the choice and diversity we have introduced is highly visible. Like the introduction of the Integrated Programme (IP) in 11 schools at the secondary level, specialised schools like the Sports School, NUS High and, soon to come, Arts School.

But there is a lot that is bubbling in the mainstream. From primary schools to JCs, schools are developing niches of excellence in the whole range of areas. New subjects, new ways of teaching students and centres of excellence in the sports and arts. And we are giving schools more discretion to select students from their own criteria, so as to recognise a wider range of Singaporean talents.

Take primary schools. MOE has given 24 primary school awards over the last two years to develop quality programmes in niches of their own. Like Telok Kurau Primary School, which is using team-based project work from Primary One upwards, to help young children develop communication and social skills, deepen interactions between their students of different races, and to learn about Singapore through their projects. Many other examples, Maha Bodhi School has a comprehensive aesthetics programme from Primary One upwards, where every kid has exposure to dance, art, song, drama and the cultures of all our ethnic groups.

Secondary schools - 19 secondary schools are now offering three new 'O' level subjects from this year - Drama, Computer Studies and Economics. It is part of the differentiation of the mainstream school curriculum that we

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have been developing over the years. If a student wants to start dabbling seriously in computing before he leaves school, there will be a few schools offering computing as an 'O' level subject, as a niche of their own. Just like if he is good with his Malay Language and wants to go further in the culture, he can try to get into one of the schools with EMAS (Elective Programme in Malay Language for Secondary Schools).

The Normal course is also seeing innovation. Fifty-eight secondary schools have introduced a total of 135 Elective Modules (EMs) for Normal course students to give them exposure to practical, hands-on learning.

JC students are taking a new 'A' level curriculum from this year, which is broader and more flexible, and will allow those with the talent or interest in a specific area to pursue it in greater depth. JCs are offering students more choice, and students are doing subjects that interest them. In fact, the JCs have more than doubled the number of subject choice combinations that they are offering this year compared to last year.

In addition, some JCs are developing more advanced electives of their own, or what we call H3 options, in the new 'A' level curriculum that they are developing in collaboration with the universities. For example, VJC and NJC have tied up with NUS and A STAR to offer science research programmes. Students from the two colleges will carry out individual science research projects in the JCs or at A STAR research institutes, with NUS serving as the examining authority.

We are now taking another step to enrich our secondary school curriculum, by expanding the range of options for students to engage in applied or practice-oriented learning. There is growing interest in applied learning among our students. If you take Design and

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Technology, for example, last year more than 5,000 students took the subject as one of their 'O' level subjects, compared to 4,000 just two years ago.

Mr Gan Kim Yong chaired the Polytechnic-School Review Committee that we set up in October last year. His Committee consulted a wide cross-section of people, including students, teachers, principals and parents, through group discussions and getting feedback online. It has made a set of significant recommendations aimed at introducing more diverse applied offerings in our secondary schools. The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Committee's report, which we have circulated to Members.

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Several secondary schools are working with the polytechnics to develop new applied modules and subjects in areas such as electronic product design and computer animation.

We will also introduce a Direct Polytechnic Admissions exercise, similar to the recently introduced Direct Admission exercise for junior colleges and secondary schools, which will allow a certain number of students to be offered places before their O-levels, based on a range of talents, as assessed by the polytechnics. We will start with a small number of students, and expand their numbers over time as we gain experience.

Mr Gan Kim Yong will spell out the changes in fuller detail later and will address specific queries.

Let me just highlight a few broader implications of these school-based, applied learning experiences that we are introducing.

First, I want to emphasise that the introduction of new applied options is not

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in essence about training students early in skills. It is not in essence about new specialisations, but about developing innovative minds. The idea is not just about providing early exposure to applied subjects like electronics or digital media, or about gearing up students who are set on going to the polytechnics to study such fields.

What we are really trying to do is to provide more opportunities for students to develop inventive minds by doing, ie, minds that are able to look for problems, invent solutions, and make them happen. We want to expand these opportunities for practical application of knowledge across a spectrum of schools and students. In fact, even schools which offer the Integrated Programme, all of whose students go on to junior college, are keen to introduce applied learning options in their curriculum.

This is also the thinking behind the motto of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. " Mens et Manus " in Latin, which literally means "Mind and Hand". MIT believes passionately in this cooperation between knowledge and practical science, ie, in training students who not only understand issues conceptually and at a very deep level, but who are also able to apply concepts to find practical applications and solutions. It is also what lies behind MIT's entrepreneurial culture, and it is why MIT has launched more than a thousand companies in the last decade alone.

Some very good high schools abroad also provide their students with these opportunities. An MOE team visited a top high school in California this year, the "High Tech High School", which emphasised practical learning. For example, instead of taking an examination, students were asked to present their science projects in exhibitions. The

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team met one of the students who already had a patent to his name and was working on another patent for his latest invention - a glove which allows people to type into their computers without a keyboard. The glove is wired so that you can key in letters and symbols by tapping your fingers in different combinations on a surface. The student was confident of getting into MIT based on his inventions, without having to worry about his SAT scores.

Some Japanese schools do the same. I visited the Tokyo Tech High School, which collects very bright students from all over Japan. They made it compulsory for students to take an applied subject because, as they put it, they wanted students to go beyond being "book-smart". Some students were doing mechanical engineering, wearing factory overalls and working on lathes. They were not just learning new skills, but applying their minds to problems in a different way. The Japanese still produce top minds in technology and innovation.

These benefits are experienced by our students in subjects like Design and Technology, not just picking up skills, but developing a knack for making things, and developing something of an innovative mind as they do so. We want to expand these opportunities and appeal to students with a broader range of interests.

Another implication of the new applied subjects that some of our schools will offer is that we are allowing a system of school-based curriculum and assessment. Schools will develop the assessment methods for the subjects they introduce, jointly with the polytechnics. There are advantages in this, because schools will be able to assess what their students have learnt and demonstrated more authentically. Assessment would be shaped by what schools teach, rather than teaching being shaped by what they are assessed in.

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However, MOE will ensure that standards are maintained. We will work with the polytechnics to establish an Academic Panel to ensure that the curriculum and standards of assessment for the applied subjects remain high, comparable in rigour to the existing O-level subjects. This framework will therefore allow schools greater autonomy to customise their curriculum to meet the interests of their students, without compromising on standards. It is a meaningful innovation, a way to preserve the core elements of our national system while allowing schools to develop niches of their own.

The third implication of these new applied modules and subjects is that they will bring new types of teachers into some of our schools. MOS Gan's Committee recommended allowing instructors who are trained and qualified in their specific fields to teach applied subjects in our secondary schools. They need not have been trained by the National Institute of Education (NIE), if they have the requisite experience, knowledge and skills, to teach the applied subjects. It will enrich the pool of teaching expertise in our schools. Over time, we may also see some synergies, some cross-learning, between teachers of existing subjects and the instructors who are hired by the polytechnics to teach the new applied subjects. It can lead to useful innovations in the way some of our existing subjects are taught.

Mr Chairman, Sir, the expanded choices and opportunities that we are bringing into our schools is the way we are developing a mountain range of diverse talents amongst our young. Wherever there is a talent, we want to do all we can to develop it and take it to the fullest. Talents like Stefan Tseng of the Sports School - some of you might have read in today's news - just broke the Under-17 triple jump record in at the UK Amateur Athletic Association Indoor

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Championships over the weekend. In fact, he broke a 25-year-old record by 30 centimetres. For Members who are familiar with triple jump, 30 centimetres is quite a distance. In fact, he broke the Under-20 record as well by something like 12 centimetres. These are the talents we will search out for, nurture, give them the best, take them as far as possible.

But it will be a mountain range of peaks where the foothills are also well above sea level. We will keep high average standards and improve the quality of education that all our schools provide. We will keep our robust national curriculum framework. We will preserve the core curriculum in schools while allowing them to have more free play around the core, to differentiate themselves. And this new balance, between what is common and what is diverse in education, will be founded on our system of meritocracy - a meritocracy that is more lively but also in many ways more authentic in the way it recognises a full range of Singaporean talents and helps them to go as far as possible.

Tuition Centres

Dr Ong Seh Hong (Aljunied): Sir, there has been some debate in the media on the importance that is placed on private tutors and tuition centres. UNESCO refers to this group as the "shadow education system". They provide reinforcement for what is taught in the schools and allow students to practise until a level where they understand and learn.

In fact, Singaporeans are very generous in spending on tuition. A survey in 2000 revealed that actually about $70 million was spent just on Chinese tuition alone. Given the significant role that private tutors and tuition centres play in the education of our young Singaporeans, we have to pay heed to the rumbles from the ground about this industry. In a recent

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Straits Times' article titled "MOE-certified - What Does It Really Mean?", a writer lamented the lack of clarity on tuition centres which claim they are MOE-registered. My point is that MOE should make it clear what it means when a tuition centre claims that it is MOE-registered. As the lead agency for education, MOE must ensure that tuition centres do not misrepresent or take advantage of the lack of knowledge. Sometimes, it is very confusing. I understand that for the tutor, "MOE-registered" simply means that the teacher has "qualifications beyond the levels that the school has proposed for them to teach". Worse still, I also understand that there is another segment of private tuition that is not being regulated, ie, private tutors from tuition agencies.

So I hope MOE can consider whether there is a need to certify the private tutors instead of just registering them. This will ensure that, by saying "MOE-registered", it actually means that the tutors have been certified to meet the minimum standard set by MOE and are actually qualified to teach the subject. After this certification, it will also be important to carry out regular audits and accreditation to maintain the certification, and to ensure that it is not abused.

Private Education

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang (Aljunied): Mr Chairman, Sir, many students, especially the foreign ones, tend to perceive the registration of Private Education Organisations (PEOs) here in Singapore with MOE as an endorsement by MOE of their courses, and that MOE is responsible for the performance of such PEOs.

Unfortunately, PEOs know that this is the misperception on the ground and, taking advantage of this link with MOE,

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have been promoting themselves as "MOE of Singapore registered school", giving the impression that they have attained certain approvals, standards and requirements with this registration. You can see this in most of the advertisements that they put up in all the media, claiming that it is " xin jia bo jiao yu bu zhu ce pi zhun de ke cheng ", ie, it is all approved by MOE. But the students do not understand that MOE only registers but does not care at all for these PEOs in terms of their performance.

This is unacceptable. I hope that MOE will seriously look into ensuring that the schools registered with it are truly able to perform reasonably and are not just using the MOE as the endorsement authority to promote themselves as qualified and quality schools when they are not.

On the other hand, we need to help students to make an informed choice in selecting the good schools to enrol in. Currently, there is no central accreditation body in Singapore. Today, the students, be they local or foreign, usually have to base their decision on trial and error to get the right schools to enrol in. There is no authority to turn to when assessing the credibility and performance of the PEOs. They really do not know what to do. Many foreign students, after having attended several sessions with the PEO, would have to switch schools, thereby incurring inconveniences and extra costs. It is useful if MOE could have a website to provide relevant information, such as the ranking of the PEOs in Singapore, and whether the PEOs are accredited with the various schemes.

The Minister of State for Education (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Mr Chairman, Sir, as Singapore's economy becomes increasingly diversified and knowledge-based, our education system must also change in tandem to produce students and graduates with the right mindset, knowledge and skills to meet the manpower needs of our new economy.

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MOE has, over the years, introduced significant changes in our schools to provide greater diversity and flexibility in our education system, and we will continue to do so. Dr Amy Khor has asked for more pathways and options in applied learning. My Minister has earlier outlined a few new initiatives that MOE will be introducing in our schools, and I will now elaborate.

The Polytechnic-School Review Committee was set up in October last year to look at how we can introduce greater diversity and flexibility in our secondary school landscape, by offering more options for applied learning. In the course of our study, the Committee consulted widely among the stakeholders, including principals, teachers, parents, students, as well as the industry. We also studied the education models of Europe and the United States.

When I was in Sweden, I visited a few upper secondary schools. I was impressed and inspired by the level of energy and excitement among the students in one particular school. This school had a special niche in Mass Communications. The students were highly motivated and engaged in exciting hands-on practical projects like producing television programmes, documentaries and radio shows for their schoolmates. They were even tasked to organise an annual film festival for the city. We want to similarly enthuse, engage and motivate our students, some of whom may learn better through a more practice-oriented approach.

When we consulted students through focus group discussions, many shared with us their desire for greater exposure for applied subjects in their secondary schools. They found applied learning experience very interesting and practical. It helps make the lessons come alive.

5.15 pm

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Today, our secondary schools offer a robust GCE 'O' level curriculum which prepare our students for a broad range of post-secondary options. While this option has served us well, we can do more to enrich the secondary school curriculum and provide more choices for our students, especially in applied learning experience.

The Committee has therefore made three key recommendations.

Firstly, the Committee recommended the introduction of elective modules with applied content in the secondary school curriculum.

The polytechnics have been working together with schools on a variety of programmes for secondary school students, such as seminars, camps, workshops and projects. For instance, students from Bishan Park Secondary School have been attending short courses in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Video Production and Food Science at Nanyang Polytechnic. Temasek Polytechnic conducts Aerospace workshops for students from Bedok South Secondary School and Yuying Secondary School. These workshops introduce students to the basic theories of Aerospace Engineering, such as propulsion systems and aerodynamics.

We can formalise and build on these linkages between schools and polytechnics to develop and offer Advanced Elective Modules (AEMs). These AEMs can include topics as wide-ranging as Creative Game Design, Electronic Product Design, Entrepreneurship and Food Innovation. As Dr Khor pointed out, applied learning such as the AEMs, will give our students a broader and richer learning experience, help them discover their strengths and interests, and help them make better decisions on their future course of studies.

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The content covered in the AEMs will be of a greater rigour and depth than the existing enrichment activities and programmes, but less than that of a full GCE 'O' level subject. Each AEM will comprise about 40 hours of contact time, of which practical content such as laboratory work, projects and presentations will make up about 50%. Depending on the type of facilities required, AEMs could be conducted either in the secondary schools or in the polytechnic campuses.

The polytechnics will recognise students' efforts in taking the AEMs. For example, polytechnics will take into account students' participation and performance in the AEMs if they apply through the discretionary admissions system. Students may also be given credit exemption for relevant polytechnic modules.

Initially, the polytechnics will work with 10 to 15 secondary schools to develop a range of AEMs customised to suit the areas of focus of the participating schools.

The AEMs are meant for a wide range of students: those who are keen to go to polytechnics as well as those who wish to study in the JCs. The applied learning experience will benefit both groups. It is interesting that among the schools which have indicated interest in introducing AEMs, there are four Integrated Programme (IP) schools - ACS (Independent), Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls High School and Raffles Institution. The IP schools are well-positioned to introduce these modules because of the greater curriculum flexibility that they have in not having to prepare their students for the 'O' level examinations. The list also includes Autonomous schools like Dunman Secondary and Temasek Secondary

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Schools, and neighbourhood schools like Bishan Park Secondary, Dunearn Secondary, Outram Secondary and Choa Chu Kang Secondary.

We aim to roll out the first AEM from January 2007. As the polytechnics and schools gain more experience in offering AEMs, more schools can come on-board to offer AEMs to their students.

In addition to these AEMs, there are students who are keen to take up applied subjects in greater depth. Today, there are a small number of applied subjects available at the secondary schools, such as Design and Technology, Food and Nutrition and Principles of Accounts.

The Committee's second recommendation is to introduce more 'O' level equivalent subjects in applied disciplines at the upper secondary level, which will be known as the Applied Graded Subjects (AGS). Like the AEMs, the AGS will enhance our curriculum offerings and provide more opportunities for students to pursue their interests in areas currently available only in the polytechnics, like Electronics, Creative 3D Animation and Cell and Molecular Biology. For example, students taking the Creative 3D Animation course will learn how to create a 3D animation movie, from plot development and character design, to the final rendering of the animation scenes.

The new AGS will be equal in rigour and scope to a full GCE 'O' level subject. These subjects will be equivalent to the other elective subjects that students currently take at the 'O' levels. They can also be included in the computation of scores for admission into JCs/CI as well as polytechnics. Students will still be required to offer the five core subjects - English Language, Mathematics, at least one Science subject, at least one Humanities subject, and the Mother Tongue Language, to ensure a strong foundation of basic academic knowledge.

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Students may also be given exemptions for certain polytechnic modules if the same content has been covered in the AGS. We expect that AGS will initially be offered in four to five secondary schools.

The AGS will be rolled out in 2008. To date, Ngee Ann Polytechnic has expressed interest in working with St Andrew's Secondary School, while Temasek Polytechnic will be partnering with Temasek Secondary and Dunman High Schools. The polytechnics may extend their offerings subsequently depending on students' interest and resources available.

Let me now move on to the Committee's third key recommendation, which is the introduction of the Direct Polytechnic Admission Exercise.

Today, most students apply to the polytechnics through the Joint Admissions Exercise, based on their 'O' level performance. Starting this year, the Joint Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise will admit up to 5% of the enrolment based on special talents. Both of these admission exercises are conducted after the 'O' level results are released.

We recognise that there are some secondary school students who are interested in, and have the aptitude for, an applied education. Many of these students will already have decided quite earlier on that they want to study in the polytechnics, and even the specific courses that they want to take up.

There is therefore scope to put in place an additional pathway for direct admission of these students who are clearly intent on going to the polytechnics, similar to the Direct School Admission Exercise at the JC levels.

The Direct Polytechnic Admission (DPA) exercise will allow some secondary

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school students to obtain confirmed places in the polytechnics even before they take their 'O' levels. However, they will still need to sit for their GCE 'O' level examinations and obtain the minimum polytechnic entry requirement.

The DPA exercise will be open to all Secondary 4 students in the Express and Normal Academic courses. Students can begin applying to the polytechnic courses of their choice, around May/June of their Secondary 4 year and they will be informed of the outcome in July. The timing is in line with the current Direct School Admission Exercise.

The DPA exercise will allow the polytechnics to assess students in a more holistic manner. The criteria will be merit-based and transparent and may include factors such as students' interests and aptitude in the applied areas. Polytechnics may assess students through aptitude tests, school recommendations, school-based results, interviews or their participation in the applied subjects and modules such as Design and Technology, AEMs and AGS.

Early confirmation of polytechnic places through the DPA will also allow students to benefit from a special preparatory programme offered by the polytechnics, which will start in January, before the commencement of the formal polytechnic calendar. This preparatory programme will help broaden students' learning experiences, and help them build a strong foundation for the polytechnic education. For instance, modules such as Communications Skills, Creative and Applied Thinking Skills and Foundational Mathematics could be covered in the programme. As some of these modules are also part of the main diploma programmes, DPA students who have taken the preparatory programme can be exempted from these courses subsequently.

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For a start, we target to have about 500 students admitted under the DPA exercise each year, or about 100 students per polytechnic. This is equivalent to about 2.5% of the polytechnics' annual intake, in addition to the 5% currently allowed under the Joint Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise. Going forward, the DPA exercise may be expanded after the polytechnics gain more experience with direct admissions procedures. The DPA will start in 2007 for the 2008 polytechnic intake.

In the longer term, as the polytechnics and schools gain more experience, we can also further explore how some secondary schools can have closer tie-ups with the polytechnics. Some possibilities include allowing students who are very clear on their desire for polytechnic education to progress directly to the polytechnics without taking their 'O' level examinations.

Mr Chairman, our schools and polytechnics will have exciting and challenging years ahead with these new initiatives. They will help keep our education system relevant and produce students and graduates that will meet the needs of our changing economy, as well as allow every individual to develop their potential to the fullest.

Sir, allow me now to move on to address some issues regarding private education that were raised by Dr Ong Seh Hong and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang called for greater quality control of private educational organisations (PEOs) and for more information of PEOs to be made available to assist students to make an "informed" choice.

Under the Education Act, MOE registers private schools which include tuition centres, language schools and commercial schools. These private

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schools must meet building and fire safety requirements and have an acceptable curriculum and qualified teachers before they can be registered.

Tuition centres have to seek MOE's permission to engage teachers. Dr Ong is right that these teachers must possess educational qualifications beyond the levels they intend to teach and have the knowledge related to the subject areas to be taught. For example, for secondary level subjects, teachers must have 'A' levels or above.

However, some parents prefer to engage private tutors either through tuition agencies or their personal contacts; some engage their relatives and friends. Tuition agencies are commercial set-ups usually registered as businesses/companies with the Accounting and Corporate Regulating Authority (ACRA). Unlike tuition centres, they do not come under the jurisdiction of MOE and they do not operate as a "school" per se.

For PEOs who wish to offer external degree programmes (EDPs), MOE will register these programmes if the foreign university offering the programme is bona fide and that degree is conferred by the foreign university. However, MOE's registration is not tantamount to the accreditation of the PEOs or endorsement of the quality and standard of the courses delivered by them. MOE's registration is part of a multi-agency approach involving EDB, CASE, SPRING, ICA and STB to protect students' interest as well as to encourage PEOs to work towards organisational and academic excellence.

We believe that the market is the real test for the quality of education provided by PEOs. Industry players should work with accreditation agencies to differentiate themselves and to raise the overall standard of PEOs in Singapore. To this end, MOE is pleased to note that various industry associations such as the

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Association of Private Schools (APS) and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) have stepped forward to help private schools upgrade.

Students and parents, local or foreign, should conduct their own checks on the quality of the courses, tuition centres, schools or PEOs before enrolling in these programmes.

I agree with Mr Yeo and Dr Ong that we can provide more information to help students make an informed choice. Since February 2006, MOE has enhanced its private education website to include information on some of the checks that students can do when selecting institutions which offer external degree programmes. Other information available includes the CaseTrust for Education and SQC-PEO schemes and there are links to these and other relevant websites.

Moving forward, MOE will continue to enhance its website to provide more information to students and parents.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim's query on higher degrees will be taken up by my Minister later.

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang: Although the Minister has agreed to provide more information, will it not be better for the Ministry to also make the requirements and criteria for registration more stringent?

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Registration has a specific purpose, and that is to ensure the minimum criteria for teachers are met, the minimum physical configurations of the schools are met and that the curriculum that they offer is of acceptable content. That is the primary objective

of the registration. To really regulate the entire private education industry we have to rely on collective effort with the industry itself. That is why, I mentioned earlier on that we are glad to see that the industry

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itself is taking the initiative, through the Association and, in fact, through CASE as well, to look at ways to improve the image of the private schools and, at the same time, to preserve the interest of the students, including their fees and so on, to make sure that their interests are protected.

5.30 pm

Effectiveness of Education

Mdm Ho Geok Choo (West Coast): Sir, if there is a vote to select the Ministry which has the most nimble policies, the MOE would probably be a strong contender. We have produced many bright students, some of whom have made it to the top ranks of their graduating cohorts. At the same time, MOE has also paid attention on the slower students and the disabled. To date, 59 out of 330 primary and secondary schools have improved their infrastructure so that their facilities are accessible by disabled students. It is also heartening to note that the PCF kindergartens will be incorporating special syllabus to train autistic children.

The MOE has also overhauled and rebranded technical education in Singapore so as to boost the image and value of vocational and technical education. However, going forward, we need to go beyond academic pursuits and skills acquisition. A holistic approach includes instilling a sense of reality in our students and beefing up their emotional and adversity capacities. We also need quality learning resources to support our system.

Sir, Bill Gates hit the nail on the head in a recent talk to high school students. He highlighted a few rules which he said students do not, and will not, learn from schools which are geared to deliver only feel-good politically-correct teachings. Thus, we have created a generation of

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kids who may be lacking in the concept of reality and this could set them up for failure in the real world. I will quote two rules that have application in our situation. Rule One, "Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity". Grandparents call it "opportunity". In other words, make the best of what we have. Rule Two, "Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not." Some schools in the US have abolished failing grades and they will give as many times as you want to get the right answers. This is nowhere close to anything real in life.

I would like to link these rules to some observations and feedback from ITE, JC and Secondary Four students whom I recently had some conversations with. Their comments can be categorised under three categories on jobs. They are: how will their education land them a job when some of their middle-age parents remain unemployed? Why are jobs, including the lower-end ones, landing on the laps of foreigners? On skills and competencies, how can they better equip themselves to remain composed and achieve win-win outcome? On self-motivation, how can they be taught to look at a glass of water as half-full and not half-empty?

They wonder why are some of their friends not going beyond Secondary Four and Secondary Five and what is MOE doing about these drop-out rates. Would they contribute to the unemployment in Singapore?

The Chairman: Mdm Ho, can you wrap up, please?

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Sir, for slow learners who are on the learning support system, they are labelled as "lousy, slow and stupid". What are we doing about this label?

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Sir, lastly, I want to ask the MOS that, going forward, what would be the criteria for the selection of schools to introduce Applied Learning?

Neighbourhood Schools

Dr Tan Boon Wan (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, with the recent diversification of our education system, there are now many modes of schools and paths that our children can take, each according to his or her aptitude and capability. They can study in a private, independent, autonomous or neighbourhood school. They can follow the IP, AO-level, N-level or ITE path. There are now more choices. There is, thus, no need for all the schools to have the same objectives or performance yardsticks. But I still hear of school children overloaded with homework, as if school is nothing more than to score good grades. This may not be due to the school, but a mindset issue which takes time to change. Nevertheless, I think the most important role of the school is to educate our young to be good human beings and citizens of Singapore and to be able to seize the many opportunities that will arise.

School principals should recognise that they now have the opportunity to shape the role that their school can effectively perform to serve the community. The principal is the top leader in the school and has the most influence on its outcome. Teachers, staff and students take the cue from the principal. But the principal takes his or her cue from the Ministry of Education at the apex. Hence, it is vital that both the Ministry and the principal set the right framework for the school. This is especially so of our neighbourhood schools where some of the students may not be very academically-inclined. The school must find ways to bring out the best in the students in areas which their aptitude can do well and achieve.

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This brings me to a related issue - students dropping out of schools. There are many reasons why children drop out of school. Many find school boring and classes difficult to follow or nothing useful in them. Some are not academically-inclined, others are influenced by wayward friends, while others have personal family and financial problems. Most are resentful and angry and have no idea what the future holds for them. The hopeful part is that I have met some who have had a change of heart and sought help to return to school. They did well after that. Hence, not all are hopeless cases and they can be helped. Ideally for every child, we should investigate the reasons for the child dropping out and see how we can help to resolve their problems. In the schools and community, we should develop resources such as financial counselling to help our students stay in school. We should have the resources to detect and help the student before he or she drops out and stay in, but we must also develop resources to help bring back those who did. Every child who drops out of school before he or she develops his or her potential to be a useful citizen will become a lifelong burden to society. Besides saving a life and perhaps many others related to it as well, we can also reduce the long-term cost to society and the nation. Credit must be given to those principals and teachers who are prepared to give students a second chance. It cannot be an easy decision as the chance of misbehaviour remains. A lot of patience and effort have been put in to help to motivate these students. I have encountered several such principals and teachers. I am grateful to them and I know that the children and their families are grateful too.

Finally, let me say that the responsibility lies not only on the schools and community but also the parents and family members. It is only by working

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together that we can evolve an effective solution.

Vocational Education

Dr Ong Seh Hong: Sir, I welcome and support MOE's intention to set up a new vocational school, North Light School (NLS), in January 2007. To my mind, the formation of this school is a step in the right direction in reaction to the social trends in Singapore.

The trend, nowadays, in the job market is a preference for those with skills. When one grows older it is easy to lose one's job and harder to secure new employment. It would be even worse for those with little skill and no educational qualification. In 2005, there were 1,100 who failed to progress through mainstream education. When this group grows older, most of them would be confronted with the problem of making a decent living. Thus, the setting of the NLS is to meet this future problem head-on. However, I have a few comments on the NLS.

Firstly, while the NLS may be well-intended with the well-being of the students in mind, we need to ensure that this is not another dead-end type of school and it does not become another stigma for the students. Therefore, if students in this school do well, they should be given plenty of opportunities to progress further. If this is not spelt out clearly in the beginning, I am afraid we may face some resistance from parents to send their children to NLS.

Secondly, a good majority of these students may come from poor family background. Their parent's financial resources may be stretched. The programme and curriculum of NLS appear to be quite comprehensive. My fear is that meeting these obligations might stretch the students and their parents financially further and it might become a

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further burden. I, therefore, ask the Ministry to ensure that the fee for this school remains affordable with a view that these are students coming mainly from low income families and also to render generous assistance whenever needed.

Finally, I am glad that one of the stated objectives is for the graduates to progress to an apprenticeship scheme with industries. However, if students of NLS cannot find employment after graduating, it would send a strong signal to others not to enrol in NLS. Would it not be better to consult with the various industries on the type of manpower needs so that the proper type of manpower training is being given? Better still, I would urge the school to start offering apprenticeship during their school years. It will serve two purposes. First, to ensure employment after graduation. Second, they may get some allowance from this apprenticeship during their school terms and this will greatly reduce the financial burden of those poor families and act as an incentive to attract and retain the students.

Learning Support Programmes

Mr Ong Ah Heng (Nee Soon Central): ( In Mandarin ): Sir, in our schools, we will always find a small group of students who have difficulty keeping pace with the normal school curriculum and activities. May I ask the Minister what is the proportion of Primary One students in each cohort who are not ready or found it difficult to cope with primary education? I know that MOE has got the Learning Support Programmes. I would like to ask whether the Minister would review the Learning Support Programmes and enhance the programmes so that they can be more effective and more practical in assisting these students who have difficulties.

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Drop-out Rates

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, dropping out of schools, regardless at which level of the education ladder, is a difficult experience for both students and parents. It has a draining effect on our Education budget. I believe that the root cause must be dealt with effectively to minimise wastage of talent and resources. We understand, Sir, that not all students are academically-inclined. Thus, our education system can sometimes be a turn-off for these students. They lose interest and motivation. Sadly, some drop out of the system. We need to enhance the prevention measures and put in efforts to identify these at-risk students so that they do not fall out of the system.

In this respect, Sir, I would like to ask what are the drop-out rates for our primary and secondary schools. How effective are the LSP programmes? Do we have capabilities and capacities in the area of counselling to assist and guide the troubled students? Are we giving enough resources and support to the schools so that they could be more effective in handling the matter? Can we involve the parents and community to help those kids that are out, to get back to school?

Sir, I am very happy to hear that MOE is putting in effort and resources to improve vocational education in Singapore. I truly believe that this can be a viable and realistic option for the students who prefer to learn practical and hands-on skills. I would like to ask the Minister what are the prospects of graduates of technical and vocational institutes?

We, Sir, need to work very closely with the industries to understand what they want from the technical and vocational-trained workers. It is only then we can prepare our students with the up-to-date skills and know-how. They must

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come out of the school employable, otherwise we would not have met our objective. Hence, I would like to ask how relevant is their training? How do we prepare them for the challenges and new technologies? We need to constantly remember that we are preparing students to work in the knowledge economy. The educational experiences of our students need to give them the desire and drive to continue self-directed learning over a lifetime. Career change is a norm in a fast changing workplace. The ability to continue learning is a necessity. Hence, workers need to be equipped with a different set of competencies. Sir, I believe the above must be taken into consideration when planning for curriculum for their vocational education.

Gifted Education

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: The GEP was launched in 1984, more than 20 years ago, to develop talents. About 1% of each year's cohort is selected for the GEP every year. The GEP provides a different curriculum and teaching methods for exceptionally bright students.

Over the years, there have been many complaints about the perceived inequality of treatment by the schools for GEP and non-GEP students, in terms of provision of resources and attention given to these two groups of students. There have also been comments of how GEP students either keep to themselves or are ostracised by the non-GEP students. In their bid to promote interaction between GEP and non-GEP students, the MOE recently announced that mainstream secondary school students will be allowed to take some GEP enrichment subjects. Additionally, to increase interaction from a younger age, the MOE is also looking into letting primary school GEP students take subjects like PE and arts with their mainstream counterparts.

Sir, with the introduction of the through-train integrated programme for

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secondary schools and GEPs, many schools such as Raffles Girls School, which used to offer GEP are now offering just the IP programme as it, in fact, provides a more customised and flexible approach to developing talent. It is envisaged that most GEP students would choose the IP, making the GEP at secondary schools quite redundant. This being the case, the GEP at secondary schools could eventually be phased out. Given this scenario, one wonders if there is really a need to continue with the GEP programme in primary schools

with all the attendant problems of perceived discrimination and alleged elitism, especially from such a young age. Many of the teaching methodologies offered for the GEP would definitely prove to be useful for mainstream students. So, why can such methods not be used for all mainstream students instead, so as to benefit a larger pool of students? Instead of having dedicated programmes and classes for these GEP students, they could be intermingled with mainstream students and be allowed to take additional enrichment programmes to stretch them.

5.45 pm

Pre-school

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang: Sir, nowadays, almost all parents send their children for pre-school. The total number of kindergartens, excluding those registered or licensed under MCYS, is 485. I am concerned that, unlike many other countries, we still treat primary 1 as the zero starting point of the education for our children. We leave the pre-school totally to the private sector and so-called "market driven". The theory of child development shows that the critical stage in a child's development is from the age of three to five, particularly with regard to language skills acquisition. Children at this age acquire language skills most effectively, and we have to make sure that the pre-school programme is very effective.

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Sir, I wish to know whether the Ministry has a long-term plan for pre-school education and hope that the Ministry would not treat pre-schools as PEOs and simply leave them to Adam Smith's invisible hands. I wish to ask how MOE monitors the performance of all pre-schools here. In some of these pre-schools, the emphasis on learning is mistakenly placed on examination techniques, preparing the kids just for P1 and not the laying down of good foundation for the kids for the learning later on in life. The learning outcome is measured by how many marks the child gets and how many assessment exercises and worksheets he has done in a week.

In terms of education quality, may I know where our pre-school education stands compared to other developed countries? Does MOE have any plan to raise the standard of pre-school education here and improve the quality of the teachers? I understand that there is also no department to oversee the curriculum development of pre-school education in MOE. So, how does the Ministry ensure that the curriculum programme and materials used in all the 485 kindergartens are effective and will be able to help achieve the desired learning outcomes?

Last, but not least, may I also know whether the Ministry would consider granting the Opportunity Fund to pre-schools in the near future?

Second and Third Languages

Mr Chay Wai Chuen (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, the question I would like to raise is: should Singaporean students be allowed to learn second or third languages beyond the limit which is currently placed on children for the learning of the Mother Tongue in schools?

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Sir, language, as a means of communication for international contact and as a touch-point medium for meeting and interacting with people across countries, is very important. Speaking another language facilitates interaction with our neighbours, and perhaps may lead to more opportunities including business later on.

I am not talking about cultivating people with bi-cultural values. How many of us can claim to be bi-cultural? We all, in Singapore, can probably be just cosmopolitan or plain international. I am only thinking of preparing ordinary mortals who, at some stage in their life, would be running around making a living.

The emphasis on listening and speaking in the way of learning Mandarin that is currently being done, I think, is correct. It would be the same for learning any other language. By adopting this approach of listening and speaking, we can get many students to be interested to learn second or even third languages. By adopting this approach to learn languages, we will shift emphasis of learning by rote for examination to learning by speaking, by listening and by learning to read the language. Must the level of examination be pitched so high that so many students are put off by the learning of it? Language learning then comes to life when it opens up doors to opportunities and learning about people in other countries. And those who have stronger interest and capabilities can pursue further and develop their talents into literature and philosophy later on in their own way.

Sir, I believe learning a foreign language is extremely useful. For example, most European executives can speak more than two languages, unlike the British or the Americans. The reason is because they come from small countries where they have to interact across borders for business and communication all round Europe and all over the world. And they were the leaders

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and still are the leaders in international trade and contacts.

Students here are not allowed to learn a second language which is not their Mother Tongue, and not a third language unless they are permitted by the Ministry to learn French, German or Japanese, because these languages are considered to be good foreign or international languages. The question I want to ask is: why is Spanish, for example, not one of those foreign languages that we allow our students to learn? I think it is a more international language than French, German or Japanese, being the language of South America, south and south west US, besides Spain.

Many older Members of the House, including myself, have learnt Mandarin and Malay at school or as a civil servant besides English. How many of our younger Singaporeans know Malay besides Mandarin? Indonesia and Malaysia are at our doorsteps. They are countries with a lot of economic potential and opportunities. When the SAF detachment arrived in Aceh for assistance during the tsunami crisis, only a handful of Singaporean officers could communicate with the ordinary Indonesians. While English may be spoken in the big cities, speaking the local language will help a long way towards bridging and understanding, and building goodwill.

Hence, I urge the Minister to allow more flexibility for students to learn the second and third languages, especially if we are to be a global city. And if this is recognised as important, then the time and the resources can always be found for it.

The Chairman: Mr Inderjit Singh is not speaking. Dr Ong Seh Hong.

Mother Tongue

Dr Ong Seh Hong: ( In Mandarin ): Sir, last night, when I was making my house-

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to-house visit, I met a Primary 5 pupil doing his Chinese homework. He was copying a list of phrases. The mother complained to me that although her son was fond of the subject - Higher Chinese - the amount of homework for the subject was horrendous, particularly in writing and copy work. I thought she was exaggerating. But when I took a look at the child's exercise book, I was shocked to find that there was a phrase where the child had to copy more than 10 times.

I also found that the Chinese teacher had an innovative way of teaching the subject, namely, by making the child copy certain phrases many times if he did not hand in his work on time. To me, this is like borrowing money from a loan shark. The mother said, "Yes, borrow money, pay money. But the pupils owe homework, pay homework."

Sir, there had been many reforms and adjustments in our Mother Tongue education, such as acceptance of the White Paper on Chinese Language Teaching in 2004, the "Chinese B" scheme, the relaxation of requirements for Mother Tongue for university admission in order to ensure that our next generation would continue to study Chinese.

MOE has said that more flexible and lively methods would be adopted to teach the language and to inculcate a love for the language among the students. In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister whether the example I quoted above is an example of "innovative" teaching. Are our schools making efforts to implement the recommendations embodied in the White Paper on Chinese Language Teaching reform? Why was the teacher still using that kind of teaching method?

I would like to ask the Minister whether the lowering of requirement for entry into university education has led to the decrease in the number of students taking the Mother Tongue subject.

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Mr Ong Ah Heng: ( In Mandarin ): Sir, whether it is for economic reasons or to enable our own culture and traditions to be sustained and developed, the Government has repeatedly stressed the importance of learning our Mother Tongue language. The Ministry of Education has recently reviewed its policy on the learning and teaching of the Chinese Language. I understand that it is also in the process of reviewing the policy on other Mother Tongue languages. I would like to ask the Minister what is the progress in enhancing the learning and teaching of Mother Tongue languages in the schools. Is the MOE satisfied with the present progress or is there room for further improvement?

School Buildings

Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Sir, I have two small points to make.

School buildings are important. They provide a sense of history, identity and attachment for their students. But, nowadays, schools seem to be torn down as fast as the new ones are being built. We seem to pay more attention to the building of new schools. I think it is very disruptive and affects students because of transport and distance from home. And how do we develop alumni when we do not have a common reference point?

Sir, my point is: why can the planners not think long term? It is a very expensive exercise and should be avoided, as good times do not last forever. I just want to caution that we should be more careful with spending.

My second point is: why is a primary school built so big? Sir, have you seen Henry Park Primary School? I am sure you would have thought that it is an industrial building, with a big ramp running across the front of the building. I wonder how a Primary 1 student feels, just fresh from a void deck kindergarten, when he goes to this school. I think he will suffer a shock.

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I am hoping that, next time, let us have some sense of proportion when we build primary schools. They are young children. Give them a chance to play. Give them a chance to be educated in a very nice environment.