Chai Chong Yii
Singapore
“The other problem is that manpower will not be fully utilised due to the reduction of routes or frequency. Now, the MRT is only running at about half of its full capacity. When fully completed and all the routes are fully used, it will affect the manpower even more.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T be reduced by $10 in respect of Code TG 2000 of the Main Estimates. Sir, this morning the Minister of State explained the rationale for withdrawing the priority in the allocation of rental shop units. I have no quarrel over that point.”
“Sir, perhaps I did not make myself clear. The other park which the Minister of State mentioned is normally known as Xiao Qui Lin. It is more or less completed. But if he can put in some more facilities, like pavilions or running tracks around it, that would add to the facilities and it would make it an even better attraction.”
“The Government looks forward to cooperating with leaders of the Malay community to build a stronger multi-racial society, both in Singapore in general, and particularly in the Singapore Armed Forces.”
“Purchase of Properties for Overseas Missions (7) That the sum to be allocated for Head O be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead OA-03-8101 of the Development Estimates. The sum of $56,192,200 for Head O ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $20,776,000 for Head O ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.”
“I would like to ask the Minister for Communications and Information to be bold and courageous in the formulation of land transport policies so that our successors in this Parliament, and our children, will not, 20 or 30 years from now, blame us for the problems that we have caused for them or for the lack of courage in opting for firm mea…”
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“It may be that that interviewer did not speak up at that time. I do not know. But it is so arranged that there is always someone on the interview board who speaks the language. The Member suggested giving medals as a recognition of a teacher's service. This is actually being considered by the Ministry, but the difficulty is in the implementation. We do realise that perhaps monetary.reward is not necessarily the only reward that a teacher expects. Some form of recognition is always desirable. He complained that too few teachers were promoted. In any promotion exercise there cannot be too many promotions. Promotions are meant for those who have performed outstandingly, so the number cannot be many. Many Members complained that interviewing so many teachers but promoting so few might bring down their morale. Perhaps this is a lesson we have learnt. Previously, the complaint was just the reverse. The complaint was, "Why was I not given a chance to be interviewed?" It is really a difficult question. The Member asked me whether there would be a vocational institute in Sembawang. For his information, vocational institutes are now under the control of the Industrial Training Board, which is actually under the charge of another Minister, Dr Ahmad Mattar. As far as I know, there is no provision to build an institute right now. A vocational institute is a very expensive project. Maybe with a shift in population, the Member may have hopes of a vocational institute in his constituency. As for a junior college, I have to disappoint him because right now there is no immediate plan to build a junior college in that area. But there seems to be a rapid shift of population to that area.”
“At the moment, due to inadequate facilities we still cannot make secondary schools into single session schools. But we are considering making some secondary schools, it is not possible to have all secondary schools, into single session schools. There is no urgency in this respect at the moment. The Member for Punggol asked me, "What are tried and tested Asian values?" It is a very general term. It is very difficult to say what are the tested Asian values. I can say filial piety is one. But to say what exactly is a tested Asian value is very difficult. Some which we consider good are personal discipline and personal righteousness. I am not saying the West do not have good values. They may have them in other ways or else the Western culture will not be there. So I cannot give him an answer which will satisfy him as to what are really the tried and tested Asian values. He asked for the number of trained teachers recruited. I am afraid I have to disappoint him. I do not have the figures. If he wants the figures, maybe he can put in a Question for oral answer. The Member for Bedok made some complaints. He quoted an instance where the students stayed for 12 hours. This may be an extreme case. He may not know the functions of a junior college. He said that he was suggesting something in his private capacity as a secondary school principal and that he was not complaining. Of course, we will take note of the various questions which he has put. As I said, the idea of a single session junior college is not new. When the first junior college was started, it was in single session. The Member for Sembawang said that there were some difficulties in language used in the recent promotion exercise. For his information, in every panel there is one interviewer who speaks Mandarin.”
“The thought has never even occurred to us. This policy will be pursued relentlessly until it is fully successful. I am not saying that it is fully successful right now, although we have achieved a certain measure of success. But there is still room for further improvement. I thank him for his observations and for bringing to my attention some of the information which even I do not know because he has dug it up from the old Hansards. On the whole, of course, I cannot say that I do not know the policy. What I am referring to are the speeches which are quoted from the Hansards. They were not made by me anyway. But I can assure the House that the policy of bilingualism will be implemented in full force until we succeed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the question of being effectively bilingual is not as simple as the term implies. We must admit the fact that not everyone can be really effectively bilingual. Based on our present population, perhaps about 5% can really be said to be effectively bilingual. By that I mean a person who can switch over to any language; he can use it, speak it and write it. He even thinks in that language. There will be about 20% to 25% at the bottom of the human pyramid who would be lucky if they are effectively monolingual. So I think what we have are those in between who are effective in one language but not so effective in the other, depending on how much he knows of one language or the other. The Ministry of Education does know the policy. But language is a very sensitive issue. Although we have set the trend, or the direction and set out the policy, timing is a crucial point which we must take into consideration. Members will realise that recently there was a greater effort to implement our bilingual policy. This is because the timing is now-ripe. Evaluation, as the Member has mentioned, is a constant process. Feedbacks from principals and teachers will give some indication as to whether the policy is being implemented as it should be implemented. I am not saying that the Ministry does not make mistakes. After all education is something which nobody really knows until we see the results. A certain degree of trial and error is unavoidable. But, of course, the moment we see that it is not moving in the direction that it should take, then we must make some adjustments. I agree with the Member that bilingual policy is a major national policy. This is a policy on which our survival will depend. There is no reversal of that policy.”
“Sir, I would like to assure the hon. Member that we are not conducting another survey. Mr Tan Cheng San( In Mandarin): Sir, in view of the explanation given by the Senior Minister of State, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. The following amendments stood on the Order Paper Supplement -”
“The Member for Serangoon Gardens would like the Principal's allowance to be extended to Senior Assistants if possible. For his information, there would be a post known as vice-Principal. I am afraid I have to disappoint him because the allowance will not be extended to the Senior Assistants. We have to draw a line or else there may be requests to extend it to Sports Secretaries and somebody else. The Member also suggested introducing meet-the-teacher sessions. For his information, the Permanent Secretary of my Ministry does conduct meet-the-principal and teacher sessions in the school itself and not in the Ministry. He has already visited more than half the total number of schools. This process is continuing. The Member for Jalan Kayu would like to find out whether we are sending more English teachers to Chinese schools. I am not avoiding the issue but we are really trying our best to send more English teachers to the Chinese schools. English teachers will be sent not only to the 28 Chinese schools but if there is a request from the other Chinese schools we will do our best to help them too. I suppose I have answered all the points. Mr Tan Cheng San( In Mandarin): Sir, the Senior Minister of State did not hear me correctly. In reply to my question yesterday I was present. Yesterday I asked for the inclusion of the subject but now I am asking whether the teaching of this subject could be strengthened. Mr Chai Chong Yii( In Mandarin): Sir, maybe for that moment I did not differentiate between "addition" and "strengthening". I could not really remember the exact words he used. But we are already teaching this subject at the present moment. As to what extent we can strengthen the teaching of the subject, that depends on the teachers.”
“Then maybe we can improve upon the promotion exercise. I would like to make all our teachers happy if I could, but this is something which is impossible. As to the comment that if we carry out a survey after the promotion exercise we will find that the result would be different, this is a matter of opinion. There is no point to go into an argument over this. It may be true immediately, but after some time it will come back again. This is human reaction.”
“Sir, I will answer the Member for Paya Lebar first. I have already replied to that question last evening but unfortunately the Member for Paya Lebar owing to some commitment, was not present at that time. Sir, I would like to repeat again. At the moment, this topic is included in Civics and General Affairs in the secondary school and, at the Pre-university level, it is included in the General Paper. Even Economics touch on this topic. But at the moment the curriculum is really quite heavily loaded. We cannot have a separate subject on that basis. Being a lecturer, the Member for Whampoa knows the problem. It is not a matter of giving sufficient thought. As we all know, there are a thousand and one things we would like to do in our schools. We would like our students to do this, to do that and to be the best in the world. The point is how. We do give a lot of thought to that. But how to do it? That is exactly the question. To be very honest, perhaps he knows more about the students' reaction than I do. I have to concede this point because he comes into contact with students more than I do. If he has any suggestions that are of practical value, I am always willing to listen to him and put them into practice. The Member for Serangoon Gardens said that I did not give the criteria. I did give them but only the general criteria. I cannot give the very minute details. It is more or less as what he has said - ECA, community service, etc. It is very general, a broad outline. I do agree that these are the main criteria. Sometimes it is very difficult to say whether one person's teaching is better than another because it can be quite subjective. That is why we are now revising,the staff confidential report and hopefully we can have a more objective reporting system.”
“The Member for Changi would like to know whether those who attend overseas training would get some sort of incentive when they return. My answer is yes. There is the incentive bonus payment as well as the incentive increments, depending on the type of training. I think I have replied to all the major queries. If I have left out any, please let me know.”
“The Member for Serangoon Gardens drew the attention of the House to the remarks made by the Director of Education who said that students are not asking questions. What I would like to say is that question-asking is an important educative process and should be encouraged. Teachers in general welcome questions from the pupils. 3.00 p.m. He complained that the attitudes of the Ministry's officials were wrong or that the officials were rude to the school teachers. I would like to say that all the officials of the Ministry have been specifically told of the importance of establishing a cordial working relationship with schools. If there is any evidence of harassment by them, appropriate action will be taken. If there is any specific instance of complaint that can be substantiated, I will look into it. The Member for Moulmein complained that the setting up of the Language Project Centre gives the wrong impression that those who attended the courses were unqualified or underqualified. I would like to clarify that it is not true that those who attended the course are unqualified or underqualified. They are all professionally trained teachers. No one can deny that we always have something more to learn. The teachers who attended the courses are not known as students. They attend as course participants. They can learn from the lecturers as well as from among the teachers. Transfer of teachers is unavoidable. It is not really possible to accede to every request for transfer. Personally, I do not believe that the transfers made recently, though large in number, were due to poor planning. There may be room for improvement, but sometimes time is a factor. If there is any case of genuine personal difficulties, where I can be of any help, I would appreciate it if he could let me know.”
“Sir, in view of the change in the medium of instruction for pre-university students, the Member for Jurong was worried and he wanted to know how the excess Chinese teachers would be deployed. I can assure him that they will not be retrenched because I agree with him that it is not their fault. Those who can be retrained will be retrained. For those who cannot be retrained because they are old or otherwise, we will find suitable employment for them within the Education Service. Of course, some sort of adjustments will have to be made. The Member suggested allowing teachers to go on educational tours as a means of reward for their service. This can be looked into. In principle, we do encourage our teachers to tour ASEAN countries to see for themselves. But the details will have to be worked out later. As for the raising of the standard of English in Chinese schools, I agree with the Member that the most important factor is to have more English Language teachers. Every assistance will be given by my Ministry to the Chinese schools in respect of the required number of English Language teachers. However, there are many other things which a school can do. For example, it could set up a language laboratory; it could have remedial classes; it could fix a day or more than one day a week for students to speak only English in order to break the psychological barrier towards more unfamiliar language. There are various methods that Chinese schools can adopt to improve the standard of English. My Ministry is prepared to give whatever assistance, including financial assistance, to help Chinese schools to raise the standard of English in the shortest possible time.”
“Sir, having replied generally on what we have done in the Education Ministry, I would like to go back to a few points raised by hon. Members yesterday. The Member for Anson asked how successful was the recruitment exercise, and he would also like to know how many resigned from the Education Service. I have only figures for last year. Our recruitment for the Institute of Education in July 1977 was 150 graduates and 95 non-graduates. In the 1978 recruitment, there were 86 graduates and 114 non-graduates. Besides the Institute of Education recruitment, there were direct recruitment of 24 trained graduate teachers. The resignation for 1977 was 62 graduates and 191 non-graduates. The Member for Jurong would like to know whether the teacher quota and the capitation grant would be revised. I agree with him that the teacher quota has been in use for a number of years. Although there were revisions done previously, they were done quite sometime back. We are at the moment having a re-examination in the teaching load of the teachers. While this may result in the change of the quota or it may not, I cannot promise him. As for the capitation grant, we are looking into the matter. It is true that the capitation grant at the moment is not enough to meet the expenses it was intended. We are still looking into this matter and we are having a lot of discussions with the Ministry of Finance. I hope it may result in some upward revision but the matter is still not decided. As for principal's allowance also mentioned by the Member for Jurong, it has already been agreed to in principle by the PSC and the Ministry of Finance. As I mentioned earlier, the scheme of service is being revised. The principal's allowance will be implemented only after the scheme of service has been finalised.”
“(15) School Administration To strengthen administration in schools, courses in educational administration are being conducted for newly appointed principals and senior assistants to equip them with the necessary management skills. (16) Systematic Feedback and Monitoring To obtain regular feedback on all activities and aspects of the school programme and monitor all measures introduced in the education system, a Planning and Review Branch was set up in October 1976. The monitoring mechanism set up by the Branch has to date obtained feedback on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English in non-English medium schools and on nine areas of the school programme including school administration, staff, curriculum, ECA and examinations. Feedback obtained on the school programme will be discussed at a series of Principals' Conference scheduled over the next four months. The Branch also co-ordinated the monitoring of the implementation of the Basic Course, the Junior Trainee Scheme and the planning for the implementation of the revisions to secondary education. New measures to be monitored include the teaching of foreign languages, the Assistance Plan for Chinese Schools and the optional third year Pre-U Course for Chinese stream students. (17) Conclusion The developments in education over the last two years have firstly, made adjustments to the structure of our education system for better co-ordination with national manpower needs and individual educational needs and capacities; secondly, directed all efforts at improving the quality of teachers and meeting teacher shortages; and finally, strengthened organisation and administration of the whole system by careful planning.”
“Briefly, the entire record of an officer, his ECA duties, community service, his self-development and national awards are all taken into consideration. An officer has to be assessed against the role he functions in and in relation to others functioning in the same role. The Ministry is attempting to improve the evaluative criteria so that the reporting can be more objective. A revised staff confidential report form has been drafted and has been commented on by a number of principals at the principals' residential seminar held in February. Their reaction has been quite favourable so far. (13) Morale of Teachers The view that morale in the teaching profession is low is not substantiated. The findings of a recent Survey on Teachers showed that 75% of teachers found satisfaction in teaching and were satisfied with their current postings. The survey also established that the majority of teachers had no complaints about their ECA load which is an integral part of the educative process. (14) Consultation with School Principals Closer rapport between Headquarters and schools has been established through the regular visits of senior HQ officers to schools. A continuous dialogue has been established through residential seminars for principals. Principals have been delegated with greater authority. Financial procedures have also been simplified. Consequential desirable effects are the solutions found to the more pressing problems such as in the maintenance of school plants and the improvement of the physical facilities of schools. Such improvements are in addition to the current School Building Programme under which it is planned that by 1980/81, a total of 66 schools will be built.”
“(10) Teacher Recruitment Steps are being taken to attract more high-calibre graduates into the Education Service. There are generous awards of scholarships and bursaries for teaching by the Public Service Commission. To make it more attractive to prospective teachers, the Ministry is revising the scheme of service for Education Officers. We expect to finalise the scheme within a few months. (11) In-Service Education Many of our serving teachers were recruited in the crash training programmes of the 1950s and 1960s. Present in-service courses as well as those to be mounted under the 1978-81 5-year Rolling Plan of In-Service Education will upgrade their professional competence and extend their expertise. In-service courses at the Language Project Centre at Portsdown Road as well as workshops on political, economic and social awareness conducted at the National Youth Leadership Training Institute will give new insights and strengthen the general capability of teachers and enhance their job performance. 2.45 p.m. (12) Promotion Exercise Any promotion exercise because it is competitive leaves those who are unsuccessful disappointed. The system in the last promotion exercise was adopted after thorough examination of all other possible alternatives and, as far as is possible within a sector of 18,000 employees, assessed by over 500 supervisors, has been a fair system. More teachers were promoted in this exercise than at previous exercises. The general complaint of Members is that criteria for promotion are not made known. It is not possible for the Ministry to set out in detail all the requirements officers should meet to merit promotion. The broad outlines were published in the Teachers' Rostrum, a Ministry publication given free to all staff in the Education Service.”
“Special tutorials will be conducted for students and every effort will be made to help them adjust. There is also the choice of reverting to the Chinese medium after six months for those really unable to cope. To implement the Scheme, 30 Arts and Science English medium graduate teachers have been selected. (7) Foreign Language Teaching Attention has also been given to other areas of the education system. The teaching of Japanese, French and later German is being promoted in secondary schools. This will develop a core of persons with the requisite foreign language skills to meet the nation's needs in future. (8) Moral-Social Education The need for more systematic moral-social education in schools is being emphasised. A project has been initiated to obtain feedback on such activities currently conducted in schools and to encourage schools to share their experience and pool resources. Work ethics is also emphasised in the Basic Course curriculum and the AEB Extension Education Programme for junior trainees, while correct attitudes towards manual work are inculcated through more "Use Your Hands" programmes in schools. (9) Education for the Handicapped Assistance is being given by the Ministry of Education to voluntary associations catering to the educational needs of handicapped children in addition to financial grants from the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health. Assistance from the Ministry of Education by way of secondment of teaching personnel and provision of suitable physical facilities will be increased. The resources that can be channelled to the education of the handicapped is limited at present as educational provision for normal children must be accorded priority.”
“In the preparations prior to implementation, all available resources were marshalled to ensure that the needs of pupils were not overlooked and that teachers implementing the adjustments are given the necessary support in terms of orientation and retraining. Guidelines to implement the policy of promotion and retention at the primary level were issued and discussed with principals, followed by syllabuses and specifications on assessment of attainment at each level. Basic Course syllabuses were issued together with teaching materials and textbooks. For the secondary level, guidelines on implementation of promotion and retention have been issued and discussed with principals, and detailed recommendations on formulation of schemes of work and assessment are being completed for issue to schools soon. (5) Monitoring for Improvements Implementation of all adjustments are monitored. The content of the first orientation course for teachers assigned to the Basic Course had been revised. Feedback on Basic Course syllabuses and materials have been obtained and will be taken into account in revisions of syllabuses. A total of 2,342 or 91% of Basic Course pupils available for placement have been emplaced in jobs. A survey of pupils who did not enrol in the Basic Course in 1978 has shown that about half of those who did not enrol have found their own employment while a quarter, mainly girls, preferred to stay at home. (6) Implementation of Options for Chinese Pre-U Students The Scheme of Options for Pre-U students in the Chinese stream is being implemented in the Junior Colleges where facilities and the environment for English language learning are better than at Pre-U centres. Students are also given options to select the one most appropriate to their needs.”
“100 Although under the above system a pupil very good in one language and very poor in the other can still pass his PSLE if his Mathematics and Science are both far above average, it is unlikely for many pupils to get through it this way. Besides, my Ministry is now placing greater emphasis on the study of the first and second languages in primary schools as younger pupils can learn them easier. This is being implemented stage by stage even at the expense of learning less of other subjects which they can catch up when they are in the secondary schools. Minimum language qualifications for admission to Pre-U courses have also been raised such that by 1980, P6 for First Language and P7 for Second Language will be required. For Members' information, this year, only a P8 is required. This, together with the special concessions given to pupils who score Distinctions in first and second languages, will actively promote effective bilingualism amongst our more able pupils who will be our future leaders. Where feedback has shown that children are unable to cope successfully with the learning of two languages, the approach has been modified as in the Basic Course which stressed the learning of one language and the acquisition of only basic oral skills in the Second Language. Our policy of bilingualism will eventually lead to the ultimate emergence of a national type Singaporean school which uses two languages, English and Mandarin, Malay or Tamil as media of instruction. (4) Implementation of Adjustments These adjustments were implemented after planning by the Ministry of Education.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I continue with my reply by first giving a summary of what we have done or what is being planned, to enlighten Members. (1) Review of Primary and Secondary Education In the last two years, the following adjustments to our education system have been made: abolition of automatic promotion in primary and secondary schools, introduction of the Basic Course at the primary level, establishment of the Junior Trainee Scheme to place Basic Course leavers in jobs in industries, and expansion of vocationally-biased courses at the Adult Education Board and the Industrial Training Board for less academically-inclined pupils at secondary levels. The aim of all these adjustments is to minimise wastage of our human resources through better co-ordination of our education programmes with our manpower needs. (2) Pre-U Education for Chinese Stream Students The recent adjustment to Pre-University education for Chinese stream students was necessitated by the changeover to English medium of instruction for new intakes at Nanyang University. The options offered are to help Chinese stream Pre-University students upgrade their proficiency in English language, thereby enhancing their prospects of University education or employment. (3) Bilingualism The adjustments are in line with our policy of bilingualism. At present a pupil has to pass the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) before he is allowed to proceed to Secondary 1. In order to pass PSLE a pupil must be quite good in the first and second languages because of the following weightage given to the four required subjects: First language ... 200 Second language ... 200 Mathematics ... 100 Science ...”
“Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Main and Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1978 to 31st March, 1979, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”
“Sir, I will continue with my reply tomorrow.”
“He mentioned about the Ministry of Education not supporting leave for M.A. courses in Education or Applied Linguistics. Personally, I would like to see that they be allowed to go. But the point is that right now a M.A. degree in Education or a B.A. degree in Education is not recognised for emplacement. So normally we do not support their application because we do not want to disappoint them when they come back to find that they are not emplaced on the graduates' scale. Until such time when the degrees are recognised for emplacement, the Ministry of Education cannot support them. If they undertake not to complain when they are not emplaced, I can ask my officials to let them go. As it is, emplacement is not the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Personally, I would like to see that they be allowed to go; after all a teacher with a B.A. degree in Education is better than one without it. He also touched on the part-time B.A. degree course in Education. This was planned before but it was temporarily shelved because there are other priorities at the moment. We have more urgent things to attend to right now, and we are at the moment in no position to take on this additional task. Perhaps at some other time in the future we can go into that. The Member for Potong Pasir would like to see our University of Singapore and Nanyang University appointed as Examination authorities. Perhaps this may be possible in the future but not right now. He also touched on ASEAN literatures. Perhaps it is a follow-up of the ASEAN spirit. As ASEAN countries get closer and closer together, we will know more and more about other ASEAN countries.”
“This is the first time we have tried to get the views of as many teachers as possible through interview. Of course, part of the purpose was for promotion, but we also wanted to get their views. He also complained about the way the interviews were conducted. Unless he can give me specific instances, I will not be able to say one way or the other, especially when 9,000-plus teachers were interviewed by so many panels. The Member for Toa Payoh mentioned about education of handicapped children. At the moment there is a Committee in the Ministry of Education, with representatives of other Ministries like the Ministry of Social Affairs, looking into the problem of handicapped children to see how best we can help them. We must remember that, with the limited resources available right now, normal children are accorded priority over handicapped children, much as , we sympathise with them. The Member for Serangoon Gardens mentioned about the big difference of salary scale between EO III and SEO III. He suggested that perhaps we should have merit increments. I would like to inform him that, in fact, we are actively considering this issue of an intermediate scale, in-between the two grades. The Member for Changi is worried that Basic Course teachers are not trained. I can assure him that they are specially trained to teach Basic Course students. I do agree with him that there are slow developers among the students. We have made provisions for these students to be transferred back to the normal course if they subsequently pick up. In any case they are already given three chances before they are transferred to the Basic Course. His description of the promotion exercise as a big farce is perhaps his personal exaggeration. I do not think the teachers consider it as a big farce.”
“The Member for Jurong even suggested that P6 should be imposed for admission to university. This is a very important issue. Following the trend of implementing the bilingualism policy, what I can say is that, although there is no decision as yet, it is being actively considered. It will definitely not be imposed immediately. Neither will it be imposed within one or two years because this has very far-reaching consequences. But I can say it will be in the foreseeable future, maybe five to 10 years. Anyway, we are seriously looking into this issue. The Member for Jurong also complained that our textbooks do not teach patriotism. This is, in fact, included in our Education for Living. We try to encourage this, of course. As a nation, there is nothing more important than patriotism. He mentioned about Saturday formal classes. I presume he referred to Saturday formal classes in Chinese schools. At the moment Chinese schools do have two periods of formal teaching on Saturdays while English schools normally confine Saturdays to ECA programmes. The Education Ministry really has no objection, if Chinese schools would do the same by adjusting their time table so that Saturdays can be confined to ECA programmes, just like English schools, or the Saturday classes may be used for remedial teaching of the English Language. The Member for Kallang gave an arithmetic calculation of the number of minutes given to each teacher in the promotion interview. I would definitely say that it is not correct. Many panels consisting of experienced principals and Ministry of Education's officials are set up at the same time. The reason why we interviewed so many teachers is that it was not entirely for promotion purposes only.”
“So it means only 10% are not able to get in to the school of their choice. As for Secondary I pupils there are options and this resulted in 83% being posted to the school of their choice. The Member for Bedok brought up the point that since they are given three choices, why not limit it to one so that certain schools will not become"dumping ground", as he has described. I would like to inform him that we are studying this problem, but obviously it is a very complicated issue. On the matter of relief teachers, it is something which we really cannot do without. Until such time as we can afford to have supernumerary teachers standing by to take over the job of teachers going on leave, there will be relief teachers. There are always teachers who go on leave of some sort. We are looking into this matter because we are thinking of further raising the quality of our education. It is a matter of money. If we can have supernumerary posts and can train sufficient teachers, we can do away with relief teachers altogether. Right now, I am afraid we have to live with it for some time. In any case the percentage of relief teachers that we have in schools is slightly less than 5%. A few Members touched on the second language policy. The policy, whatever Members describe it, remains unchanged. We are actually pushing ahead according to our plan. As is described by our Prime Minister himself, the English Language is needed to make a living, in this case, in Singapore. We also want our students to learn their mother tongue so that they can be better Singaporeans, they know who they are and they know their own identity. Members have suggested that we specify certain requirements for second language for admission to university.”
“Yes, Sir. Many Members have spoken on education and they have covered almost all aspects of education. Frankly, it is not possible to give satisfactory answers to every Member. I would just touch on a few points and tomorrow I shall give a more detailed answer. The Member for Paya Lebar has touched on tripartism in the curriculum. He wanted it to be included in the curriculum. My answer is this. At the moment, the curriculum is fairly heavily loaded. Anyway, this topic of tripartism is not overlooked. It is being discussed in subjects like Civics and Current Affairs for the secondary schools. It is also touched upon in subjects like Economics and General Paper at the pre-university level. So our students do know something about tripartism. I can assure the Member that this topic is not overlooked. 7.45 p.m. The Member for Anson touched on students taking over the school servant's job of sweeping the classrooms. Students do not take over the jobs of school servants but sometimes they do help to sweep the classrooms. This is in line with our policy to inculcate healthy attitudes towards manual labour. He also mentioned about parents being asked to pay for the use of ambulance for accidents in schools. I do agree with him that this should rightly be paid by the school. I am not sure which particular case he is referring to. But if he will bring it to my attention, I will check it up. He complained of posting students to schools far away from their homes. It is not possible to accede to every request of parents for their children to be admitted to the school of their choice. My statistics here show that 90% of the students who were admitted to Primary I were admitted to the school of the parent's choice.”
“Sir, originally I intended to first inform hon. Members of what the Ministry of Education has done over the last two years. As there is not enough time, I will answer first the small points raised rather than tell Members what the Ministry has done.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I understand the Member's concern for his constituents. As this is part of the work of the Ministry, I can assure him that this is within my responsibility and I will do my best to see that a school is built by 1980. But as I have said, if there are difficulties which I cannot resolve, then I cannot deliver the school. 3.25 p.m. QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER (Exemption from Standing Orders)”
“Sir, as I have just said, this is one of the difficulties that we have to sort out with the HDB.”
“Sir, we do not have the intention to set up a Physical Education Institute or expand the P.E, section of the Institute of Education at the moment. We will try our best to make full use of trained teachers as physical education teachers. We have made some studies. At the moment there are altogether 826 teachers who are trained and are teaching physical education in the schools. We shall make full use of the trainees for physical education but because of their age some may not be able to do so. So not every one who is trained in physical education will be put to teach physical education. In the primary schools there are some teachers who are not specially trained. We pay attention to all these.”
“Sir, this matter is an old issue, so I was making a guess. "D.D." seems to refer to the Deputy Director. If it is not this person, well and good. If it is somebody else, can the Member kindly let me know who is that person in the education profession, and I will be very willing to investigate into the matter?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this accusation is quite serious. This had happened quite a long time ago and had since been resolved. The Member for Serangoon Gardens himself had said that he could not ascertain whether this was true or not, as it was only hearsay. Since he heard it from certain quarters, he had deemed it to be true. I would say that this is quite unfair. It is not fair to attack in this House somebody who is outside this House. By "D.D.", I think he was referring to the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education who was the former principal of the National Junior College. But opinions differ. Some people criticised but others praised him. So on such matters to criticise him in such a way will not do any good to anybody -”
“Sir, in view of the shortage of time, may I be allowed to answer the Member's question first?”
“Because of limited time, I do not like to dispute with him over this. I would like him to offer me more data on these countries.”
“Sir, I will reply in one sentence. The Member said that our educational efficiency is very poor when it is well regarded in this region, therefore this is an exaggeration.”
“We do not want to talk so much about it because it is not going to help in our educational work. So we do not want to publicise our effort unless we have to. These are all undertaken quietly. Therefore, I quoted a saying by Lu Shun, a Chinese literatus, that we would just carry on our work quietly without pomp.”
“Those who possess a certain passable standard of English will be given retraining, so that they can be sent to teach in another medium. Those who are not so good in English will be deployed to the type of work that does not require a high standard of English. The Member also mentioned another point. He said that the Education Officers' visits to schools had led to storms of complaints and dissatisfaction among the teachers. But when the Permanent Secretary with his retinue of administrative officers went round to certain schools, he was received warmly. This is plausible. Yet not quite so. In fact, there were both Education Officers and administrative officers accompanying the Permanent Secretary when he made his round of schools. It was reported once that some dissatisfaction and complaints had been generated by visits of professional officers to schools. But that had long since been over, and I am not here defending them. He should make specific references. He should not generalise upon some random examples, because this would cause certain anxiety among the people concerned. The purpose of the visit was to explain to the teachers and the principals the education policy and to enhance the understanding between the teachers, principals and Ministry officials. 3.45 p.m. The Permanent Secretary and his senior officials have visited 120 schools to-date. This includes schools, junior colleges, AEB centres and vocational institutes, and there have been thorough and harmonious discussions between the officials and the teachers, in arriving at a mutual understanding of the practical problems of education, with the result that many forums and seminars have been conducted by the Ministry for the benefit of the teachers. All these are being done without publicity.”
“For Primary IV, V and VI, science is also taken into consideration when streaming them. The Member also enquired whether we intended to recruit those teachers who had retired to meet the shortage of teachers. In fact, we are doing so. Those who are good in teaching, physically fit and are willing to stay on, and the subjects they teach are those that we require to meet the shortage, then we welcome them back. But it sometimes happen that they do not want to come back. And sometimes what they are able to teach are not the subjects for which we are short of teachers. The Member also suggested whether we should employ married lady teachers who had given up teaching in our schools. He may be surprised to hear the figures I am going to give. At present 42% of the teachers in our schools are married lady teachers. Therefore, it is not the question of all married lady teachers giving up teaching. Actually I would like to see more male teachers in the secondary schools, because they are dealing with adolescents. I think male teachers are more suitable than lady teachers for the boys, and vice versa for the girls. Generally boys have problems that require male teachers to tackle while girls prefer lady teachers for help. So teaching should not be confined to either male or female teachers. The present trend is that the number of lady teachers is increasing. There are more and more lady teachers. Among the present group of serving teachers, more than 60% are women, speaking on a national basis. Most of these lady teachers are in the primary schools where they account for about 67%. The Member for Kolam Ayer also asked whether we were retraining those redundant Chinese and Malay medium teachers. Yes, we are doing this.”
“Basically this education system was still geared to the needs of average and above average students. There was no provision for retention classes. However, before implementing this system, some very important information had come to hand. We found that the automatic promotion system had produced a backward symptom among many students, especially those below average intelligence. They were very weak in mathematics and language. They become the so-called "educational illiterates". They could not speak Mandarin or English. This is a very serious problem. We therefore did not implement this restructured education system but straightaway reverted to the traditional system with certain modifications in streaming to meet educational requirements of the below-averaged. This is well-known to all and we are not ashamed about this. Since the system was not practicable and had we persisted, it would not be in the interest of education. The Member also enquired how the streaming of students was carried out. I would stress that there is no streaming at the Primary I level. Because in Primary I we just take in pupils without regard to their intelligence or their capability. They are just taken in at random. There is no bio-data streaming in Primary I. Actual streaming only takes place at the Primary II level according to their scholastic results and performance. If there is only one class in the school, of course there is no streaming. It chiefly depends on the number of classes available. It also depends upon the facilities and the type of teachers in the school. Basically, the streaming is dependent upon their results in mathematics and languages, first language and second language, for Primary II and III.”
“This year the results were announced on 5th February and school commenced on 10th March. The delay was partly because of the Chinese New Year holidays. This year the time taken was 24 working days against 19 days last year. In fact, we do not want to delay and waste even a day. The delay for this year was due to several reasons. First, there was a greater number of applicants. Last year there were 2,500 applications. This year there were 3,100 applications. The second reason was due to wrongly filled forms. There were 500 of them. The applicants filled up subjects which were not provided by the schools concerned. The Member also alleged that computerised processing was faster. I am not a computer expert but I have some knowledge about computers, because I have gone through some courses. I know that the computer is not infallible or cannot do everything. If you do not know how to use the computer, it cannot help you at all. The computer can facilitate or expedite the processing of application forms, only if the data and programming are correct and proper. Any delay, even for one day, is not good. However, we must look at it from a wider angle. I must thank him for bringing it up here. But if his criticism is highlighted in the newspapers the next day, and my answer is given a small space in the newspapers the result will be misleading. I do not think this is his intention. Is it? Therefore, although the intention is good the result may not be good. The Member for Kolam Ayer touched on several points and I have answered some of them. He asked why before the restructured education system was fully implemented it was superseded by the new system. This restructured education system had engaged much of our time in its planning.”
“But for the time being, because of certain administrative problems, these teachers are not yet able to fill up suitable posts, so they remain where they are. Sometimes this is because the subjects they mastered do not fit in with the requirements of the school. This is only temporary. In other cases, certain trained teachers have given up teaching. But in the meantime because of good ties with the principal or of other reasons these teachers do not mind going back to the schools to help do a stint. Most of the relief teachers do not teach for long. It is not possible to give all of them training. I must inform the House that before these relief teachers take up teaching we have instructed the principals to brief them on professional guidance wherever possible, so that they can cope with the job more efficiently, and the principals have also complied. 3.30 p.m. The Member for Kolam Ayer also touched on this point. He asked when we would stop engaging relief teachers. I cannot give him a date. Under any circumstances, we will need relief teachers unless we employ far more teachers whose sole purpose is to temporarily fill up vacant posts whenever the serving teachers go on leave or fall sick. We cannot do that financially. Therefore, under these circumstances, it is not possible to stop recruiting relief teachers. There can be no fixed date, in fact, the date to stop engaging such relief teachers will be remote. Touching on the Member for Khe Bong's criticism, this relates to what I said just now. The speech was full of exaggeration. I do not deny that recently the Chinese Secondary IV students had started their school term late by five working days. Last year, the examination results were announced on 6th February 1976 and the school commenced on 1st March.”
“The Member for Changi touched especially on the lowering standard of English in schools. As a matter of fact, I have read certain reports that even in England the standard of English has gone down. So it is not just in Singapore. On Friday, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Labour has also referred to a drop in the standard of Chinese. It is a matter of opinion whether or not there is a drop in the language standard. In the past our forebears probably read only one book in school. Therefore, they had higher demands and could be very strict and meticulous about the form and grammar of the language and tolerating no mistakes. However, in the modern society this has changed. With most of the young people, their attitude is quite different. They are quite tolerant of language mistakes. The problems of examinations and others may have some bearing on this. But I believe the change in attitude is a crucial factor. However, we do not say that we condone a low standard of English. Of course, we should at least strive for a minimum standard to ensure that the language used is not faulty, if not excellent, and would be sufficient for one to develop and build on. That is one chief reason why recently we issued circulars to schools stipulating that from 1979 students wishing to go to the pre-university classes or junior colleges must attain a certain minimum standard in language. We believe that if the attitude is correct the language standard of our youths will be gradually raised. Another problem touched on by him and which was also touched on by the Member for Kolam Ayer, relates to relief teachers. A few of these relief teachers are teachers trained by the Institute of Education. They will eventually take up teaching as their profession.”
“In 1976 the Institute of Education recruited a total of 547 trainee teachers. out of which 272 were graduate trainee teachers and 275 were non-graduate trainee teachers. In the first half of this year. 276 were recruited, out of which 115 were graduate trainees and 161 were non-graduate trainee teachers. In July this year the Institute of Education will take in more trainees to be trained as teachers. This is the main counter measure. Apart from this, we also provide an unrestricted number of scholarships and bursaries for university studies to those youths who like to take up teaching as a profession. We have also had arrangements with the authorities concerned in England, Australia and New Zealand on teacher exchange programmes so that we can send teachers in Mandarin in exchange for teachers in English. These are some of the measures we have taken to solve the shortage of teachers. He mentioned about a teacher who was recently asked to leave Singapore, who had taught in the International School, now called the United World College. I would like to stress here that this is a private school. The teachers were not recruited by the Ministry of Education. If they were recruited by us. they would have to go through certain procedures. Of course, we cannot guarantee that one or two undesirable elements will not infiltrate our teaching profession. However, this possibility is not great. But we will pay attention to his advice as to whether such teachers would produce any undesirable influence on our teachers and students. The Member for Kolam Ayer also enquired about the teachers' and pupils' reaction. I can say that up till now the reaction is quite positive and favourable, and they have carried out their duties as teachers quite well.”
“Before this question was brought up, we have already talked with the Ministry of Finance on how to solve this problem and whether these classes for such children should be taken over by the Ministry of Education or whether they should be treated as aided schools and assistance rendered to them as such. But the question is not so simple. In principle, there is no great problem. But in actual fact these organisations are quite different from the aided schools. So this matter requires further consultation. His suggestion is quite agreeable to me in certain aspects and I will continue to pay attention to it. But there are many ramifying problems which cannot be solved now and here. The schools for handicapped children run by these organisations have accommodated 1,126 students and we have sent out 60 teachers to teach in these classes, 22 of whom have received specialised training in educating handicapped children and the rest have received other professional training. I do not want to spend too much time on details as there will not be enough time to answer other questions. Coming to the various questions raised by the Member for Changi. He talked about the Ministry's recruitment of teachers from England and other countries and put forward certain advice. On Friday I had already clarified the postion in this regard that we would pay special attention to this matter. But there are not many such teachers, and their number will not be allowed to increase very much. I must stress that this is not the only way to solve the problem of the shortage of teachers. This is only a short term or make-shift measure to solve the problem. The long-term solution chiefly lies in a greater intake of trainee teachers into the Institute of Education.”
“When he spoke of this in this House the debate was on the Ministry of Home Affairs. That is why I did not reply. The next day there was a big headline in the press. So the parents were confused and worried. I do not mean that he cannot speak on such matters. But I do not think there are instances of Ministry of Education officials trying to frustrate the efforts of the Central Narcotics Bureau to stamp out drug addiction. If there is any such instance, please let me know and I will take immediate action. Sir, now let me answer questions raised by various Members. The Member for Kallang appealed on behalf of those disabled children and urged the Ministry of Education to pay greater attention to this category of children. With regard to these handicapped children, their education has all along been undertaken by various voluntary organisations. They were well looked after by them. But it does not mean that the Ministry of Education does not concern itself with their welfare. It is very concerned with their educational needs. But things differ in their degrees of importance and there is different priority with every matter. Up to the present time what I can say is that these voluntary organisations have done quite well in looking after the educational needs of these handicapped children. The Education Ministry is also helping them in all possible ways. This Ministry has sent out 60 teachers to help these organisations to run the classes and their salaries are, of course, paid by the Ministry of Education. Apart from this, every year the Ministry of Social Affairs also provides grants to help them. This has been the policy, though I do not say this is an ideal way of doing it.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, last Friday when the House adjourned there were two Members who spoke on this same item. This item relates to the administration of the Ministry of Education. Educational administration is a very difficult and sensitive matter as it will easily arouse criticism. Furthermore, if the criticism is not proper, then although the intention may be good, the result will be bad. I feel that to do well in educational administration, it is necessary to follow what Lu-Shun had said: that one should be stout and cool enough to face the criticisms of a thousand men, yet be humble and willing enough to serve even a child. I think if the principle is practicable, then it may yet serve the purpose somehow. About educational officers, although they do not profess to be education specialists, they do know a lot about education. So, if there is anything that the newspapers like to play up the result will be that the aim of such criticism is not achieved; on the contrary, the mood of the teachers is adversely affected. Thus, in the end the children in our schools suffer. Let me give an example. The Member for Bedok attacked the Ministry of Education when he spoke on the estimates on the Ministry of Home Affairs. But he forgot to mention in the House that he was speaking only in the capacity of an MP because he was also a school principal himself. Therefore, the next day there was a big headline in the Straits Times to the effect that somebody had said that the officials in the Ministry of Education were not cooperative in the anti-drug campaign, and that they even tried to frustrate the efforts of the Central Narcotics Bureau. If he had any information he should give me the details, that is, the name of the principal, and so on.”
“Sir, money is almighty but money is also all-evil.”
“Sir, I can only reply in this manner. This question of post allowance for principals has not yet been finally decided. It is still in a stage of final consultation, and therefore this is not the proper time for me to announce it. But I sympathise with what the Member for Moulmein says, and I shall direct my attention to the points that he raised. Since he is the President of the Singapore Teachers' Union, he has the duty to raise them. But we must not forget that to traverse a hundred steps we can only do it one step after another. There is always a step that lies ahead. So it is endless. Therefore, the question is, when do we stop? Once you decide to stop, there may be people who are unhappy. I am not saying "Yes" or "No". But whether we stop or take a step further, there will always be another step ahead. So there are bound to be people who are unhappy in the process. Nevertheless we have to make a start sometime somewhere. Of course, by that we wish we could make everybody happy but we cannot. If most people are happy, that will be good enough.”
“Sir, the Member for Jurong asked me when we are going to implement post allowances for principals. I think we cannot fix a date. Since the Government is a large organisation, I cannot predict a date before the issue is decided. But I can say there will be news about it sometime in the middle of the year. Is the Member satisfied? The Member touched on accent. This is not something which I can solve. It is a complicated matter. What I want to stress is that before these teachers were placed in the schools, they had gone through a special consultation session with the principals and education officers from the Ministry, concerning local problems, our education system and its particular requirements, so that they will not transmit their own idiosyncracies into our schools. They have to fit into our local situation. What we want of them is to fill our present need for teachers of English language, as we are short of such teachers at the moment. There is really nothing much we can do about the accent of any of these teachers. As regards telephones, of course, we can install telephones in Government schools. But to install telephones in schools in the islands is a very expensive undertaking. Gradually most of the schools on the Outlying islands will over the years be transferred to the main island. In respect of those schools that will stay there for a long time. I will look into the possibility of providing them with telephones or radio-phones. 7.30 p.m. As regards aided schools, the power is in the hands of the school management committee concerned. In some cases where the installation involves large expenditure, it will be difficult to persuade them to install.”
“Sir, in Singapore. since land is limited. I do not see the possibility of full-day schooling being implemented officially, because it involves schooling time up to 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the students have to stay for lunch in school. As regards unofficial or modified type of full-day schooling the students and some teachers are just staying back to give additional guidance to the students. So it is just random pick. In so far as the long term policy is concerned, Singapore as a whole cannot carry out the system of full-day schooling.”