Chan Chun Sing
Singapore
“Since 2002, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has worked with the autonomous universities (AUs) to establish arrangements that minimise disruption to National Servicemen (NSmen) who are pursuing full-time studies up to the undergraduate level, while meeting the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) operational and training needs.”
“Secondments help to build up the range of competencies and work experiences of public officers to strengthen their longer-term employment relevance and resilience. The Public Service Division's guideline to agencies is to support public officers even while they are on secondment.”
“The priority of our National Servicemen must be their military duties and operational training, to meet the Singapore Armed Forces's (SAF's) operational requirements.”
“In January 2026, I had informed this House that the Government had convened an independent committee to conduct a review of the political salary framework that was laid out in 2012. The Committee has completed the review and submitted its recommendations to the Government in April.”
“All countries seek to develop mutually beneficial partnerships, and the United States-Indonesia Major Defence Cooperation Partnership is one such example.”
“Since the Singapore Armed Forces Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) was established in 2014, over 1,500 men and women have completed training and served as SAFVC Volunteers (SVs). Presently, there are about 1,100 in-service SVs, comprising 52% male and 48% female. About seven in 10 of our in-service SVs are new Citizens or Permanent Residents.”
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“Chair, first, let me thank both sides of the House for their support for our educators and their support for them in conducting this very challenging CCE lesson. I am truly thankful for their support. Indeed, teachers are our most precious resources. I have studied very closely the last few years why countries do well and do not do well for their Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and their educational outcomes. And even in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report, it comes out very clearly. If there is one reason and only one reason that we choose as to why an education system works or not work, it is the quality of the teachers. I asked myself this very difficult question: what determines the quality of the teachers? Is it because of the pay that we give them? Is it because of the infrastructure that we provide for them, the lesson material? All those are important. But just as the OECD report has highlighted, ultimately, the most important support that we can give our teachers and attract the best and most committed people to join the teaching service in service of our future generation is the respect that we give to our teachers. When a society loses the respect for their teachers, when their teachers feel disrespected and hassled, no good people want to join the teaching service, then, regardless of the policies, regardless of the infrastructure and the investment that we have, it will come to naught. So, I thank Members for their support. On Dr Wan Rizal's point, I also discussed this extensively with my colleagues in MOE whether we should just publish the MOE slides. We have come to this one conclusion that even the slides will not do justice to the teaching done by the teachers because the slides do not speak.”
“Chair, indeed, that is what we are doing. Because different schools have different capacities and different needs, so they will organise their sessions based on their capacities and needs. Some schools have adopted a two-tier approach whereby the one that is more knowledgeable of the context sets the context and then they allow the discussions. And we fully agree with the Member that for many of these, we need smaller discussions because the students are trying to grapple with their own emotions. So, in fact, we have a pedagogy that is called "Think, Pair and Share". So, the two persons start sharing about their different perspectives and then coming to recognise each other's differences and diversity of perspective, learning to empathise with one another before we go into the bigger group sharing.”
“Chair, MOE has indeed considered this issue very seriously about whether we should issue PLDs to our primary school students. We have also done some pilot studies to see whether it is effective and so forth. Our conclusion at this point in time is that, as a general policy, we will not want to issue the devices to every upper primary school student yet. The reason is because it is not just about the device. We need the programmes. Also, we need the guidance to make sure that the devices are used appropriately. We need to strengthen how we guide our youngest students to use the devices responsibly so that we do not get into the ills of using those devices inadvertently. But having said that, what we have done is that instead of issuing every upper primary school student with the device, we have increased the provision of the devices in the school so that for more classes, they can use the devices and to share the devices rather than to own it themselves. So, we are fully committed to leveraging on technology to the extent possible to enhance the quality of teaching in our classes. But as to the ownership of the device, we will need further studies before we come to a conclusion where we can balance the benefits with the potential downsides of having the youngest students in our cohort managing the devices on their own.”
“But we will review this and MOM will be making subsequent announcements on how we intend to help people make the right choices on the type of courses that they might want to consider for the next step of their career.”
“Mr Chair, let me address the three questions in turn. The answer to the first question is, yes. We understand that there are calls for us to extend this to a second degree and so forth. At this point in time, I think let us get the scheme started first and get some experience doing this, and focus our finite resources on the group that need it most, which is the ITE students. We have not precluded extending this to other training programmes, so long as they are good for the people to start a second career or there is a substantive reason for them to take on other roles. So, we keep that in mind. But as to eventually how much we can extend and to what programmes will depend on the quality of the programmes, the relevance of the programmes, as many Members shared, and also depends on our budget space. So, that is the first comment and we note that. On the second one, can we allow more than one G2 subject to be considered for polytechnic? I think let us start with one. Our goal is to make sure that the students who qualify for the polytechnic has the capabilities and the capacities to finish the course and do it well. And at this point in time, we start with one. We do not preclude revising this in the future, based on the experience gained from those who enter polytechnic with one G2 subject first. On the third question, at this point in time, we do not use the SkillsFuture Credit for counselling yet because they can access this through some other means, such as through the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme and so forth. So, we want to focus the resources on the programme course itself rather than the counselling.”
“In response, many of my principals shared this. We asked ourselves: how can we allow the seeds of hatred and distrust to be planted in our next generation? How can we allow our society to be split by this and other similar issues? When we look back in years to come, would we have discharged our duty as educators if our people became more divided, unable to respond as one, view each other with suspicion or become unable to manage differences or diversity respectfully and sensitively? What is our responsibility as educators? We asked ourselves the toughest two questions. If not us, who? If not now, when? I drew comfort and confidence from their conviction. Indeed, it is our duty to guide the next generation well, help them develop good character and values and build a sound foundation for them to thrive in the future. Education is a serious responsibility. My MOE colleagues and I feel the weight of our mission. We are determined to discharge our duty and do right by our students. I thank all principals and teachers for standing firm by their convictions despite the challenges and the diversity of their beliefs. I extend my deepest gratitude to all who have given us your feedback. We will continue to work with you all as partners in education so that we can plant the seeds of hope and harmony in the next generation. This remains a work in progress and we are fully committed to keep on improving. Our teachers and principals asked if they would have the public support in this important yet challenging task. I gave them my full support. I hope Members of this House and the public will do, too. Let us stand united as Singaporeans to support this important yet challenging effort for the sake of our children and the future of Singapore. [Applause.]”
“We have come across one picture of an educator being circulated online. The caption contained a racial slur, insulting her as an uneducated person of her ethnicity and encouraged others to make this educator's photo go viral online. MOE takes this very seriously. While we may disagree on issues, personal attacks and racial slurs against fellow Singaporeans cannot be condoned. We have to be positive role models for our children. MOE will investigate all instances of abuse, harassment or threats against our educators. They have MOE's full support and the full protection of the law. Our third learning point: we must be very watchful for potential external interference. Some external online parties have taken an active interest in our discussions. Some show no hesitation to join in the discussions and add their comments to incite anger and unhappiness. Yet others try to play on Singaporeans' conscience to adopt their positions. It is not difficult to guess the agenda of these external parties. We have to be careful to not fall prey to their attempts to rile up our people and undermine our cohesion. Fourth learning point: our unity depends on sustained commitment and effort. Last week, Second Minister Maliki Osman and I met more than 300 school principals again to listen to their feedback since we last discussed the issue with them in January. Many of them shared the challenges they encountered and how they had overcome them. It has certainly not been an easy time for our teachers and principals. In the light of this episode and criticisms against our schools and teachers, we discussed frankly, should we continue teaching this CCE lesson, given that some people have suggested that we should abandon it since it is so difficult and sensitive? Is it still worth doing it?”
“For us at MOE, there were other useful learning points from this episode. First learning point: we cannot underestimate the damage that misrepresentation can cause. Let me cite an example. Some online commentators selectively picked out one slide out of many in an MOE lesson deck which was circulated last week, asserting that the schools were telling the students the situation in Israel and Gaza only started on 7 October 2023. This insinuated that MOE was pro-Israel and that we characterised one side as the aggressor and the other side as victim. This riled up many but actually, the words on the said slide were "events since 7 October", and it came after a slide that emphasised the long, complex and often violent history of conflict in the region. In addition, MOE had provided background material on historical developments behind the conflict to help teachers better understand the context. This was meant to be shared with students who wished for more information on the history rather than for the teacher to teach history to the whole class, which is not the learning objective of this CCE lesson. This is, indeed, a sobering reminder that in the online space, it is not always easy to separate those who question the material with well-meaning intentions from those who join the fray with ulterior intent to stir up negative emotions on an already sensitive topic. Our second learning point: managing differences respectfully is still a work in progress. By and large, Singaporeans express our views in a civil and respectful way. Still, some of the online vitriol and anger towards MOE and our teachers from this episode remind us that we cannot take this for granted. Some educators have received rude and abusive comments.”
“Where appropriate, we will involve resource persons to assist with these workshops. This is in addition to the current suite of teachers' preparations within schools. Given the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of our teachers, some schools have adopted useful approaches, like organising their teachers in teams to conduct the CCE lesson, which enhances the quality of delivery. For example, Jurongville Secondary School carried out this lesson with a pair of teachers. One teacher focused on facilitating the discussion in class while the other looked out for the emotional well-being of students. In Yishun Innova Junior College, the history teacher did a large group briefing on the historical context of the conflict before students discussed the issue further in smaller groups facilitated by their CCE teacher. For a sensitive topic like the Israel-Hamas conflict, having teachers from different backgrounds and faiths to conduct the lesson together is also a powerful example to our students of how, while we can have different beliefs, we can come together as Singaporeans to discuss complex issues sensitively and respectfully. We are also making broader efforts to train teachers to teach CCE. Last May, we set up the Singapore Centre for CCE at the National Institute of Education to support professional development of educators in CCE. There is a corps of specialised CCE teachers in the teaching fraternity who are available to mentor their colleagues. Let me assure all teachers that MOE and your school leaders are aware of the challenges you may be facing in delivering the CCE lessons, especially those that touch on sensitive topics. Speak with your school leaders who will support you in carrying out your professional duties.”
“For the most mature students, we will update the lesson material based on more recent events and help them better understand Singapore's national interests. Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had set out at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MFA) COS last week some of these recent developments and how Singapore is responding. To reiterate, after the 7 October attack, we said Singapore recognised Israel's right to self-defence. But Israel's military response has gone too far. The catastrophic situation in Gaza demands a humanitarian ceasefire to alleviate the suffering of the civilian victims and to enable humanitarian assistance to reach them immediately. We will also explain to our students Singapore's principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue over the decades – and this is for the older students – such as how Singapore had voted in favour of calling for an immediate ceasefire at international platforms, how we have contributed to capacity-building efforts to the Palestinian authority and how we will continue doing our part to advance international efforts towards reaching a two-state solution at the UN. We will certainly continue to reflect the diversity of views from our community within our lesson material and it is a key learning objective for our students to understand how to manage differences and diversity with respect and sensitivity. To the extent possible, we will also design the lesson material to avoid parts being taken out of context selectively. Second, beyond updating the material, we will also better equip our teachers to engage their students in this CCE lesson. For teachers who would like the extra support, we will organise extra CCE workshops for them to go through the lesson plans with specialists and experienced teachers.”
“Some thought the issue was too difficult for Primary 5 and 6 students to understand. Some questioned why some slides seemed to focus only on the more recent events in the long history of the conflict. Others wondered if the historical context of the conflict was properly emphasised in this CCE lesson. Yet others felt that we should give our students more information on Singapore's position on the Israel-Palestine issue. We take these concerns and feedback seriously. Some suggested we drop the lesson altogether. But will this be better for our students and society in the long term? If we agree on the intent of CCE, then we must keep striving to improve our delivery. We are fully committed to equipping our teachers to help our children better navigate this complex world. As I shared with the media last week, we will update our materials to address the feedback and ongoing developments. We will also improve our teaching methods based on the experiences gained. Let me elaborate. First, we will customise the lesson material further for students of different age groups. At this point, let me emphasise that this CCE lesson was not meant to teach the Israel-Palestine history or Middle East politics. It is impossible to do so in an hour-long session, and it was never our intention in the first place. For younger students, we will simplify our material even more. Our focus will continue to be on sensitising our younger ones to the plight of the innocent victims, how they can express sympathy for and empathise with others, and how they can manage their emotions regarding the conflict. For the older students, we will also teach them to be more discerning of different sources of information.”
“Some were initially unsure whether they had sufficient content mastery to teach the lesson. Some needed more time to process their own views and feelings about the conflict. And for those who were still uncomfortable and had asked to be excused from conducting the lesson, their school leaders supported their requests. By and large, most took on the challenge and carried out their duties professionally because they understood the importance of the task. We are grateful to them for stepping up despite any initial hesitations. To conduct CCE lessons well, our teachers will require facilitation skills, much more than just content mastery, and this is not an easy task. For students, some schools which have conducted CCE lessons have also shared feedback from their students. A Primary 6 student said, "We should pray for all the innocent victims of the war and cherish the harmony and peace we have in Singapore." In one secondary school, some students asked their teachers for more information on why the war started in the first place and why the leaders on both sides could not come to a resolution. Many of them expressed sadness about the tragic situation. A first-year junior college student said the CCE lesson was beneficial, as the information presented did not force him to agree on a certain stand on the matter but gave him the space to have his thoughts and considerations towards the issue. Some students also asked thoughtful questions like: "Is there a way out of this circle of violence and hatred?" and "What else can we do to help?" These student voices reflect the intent and learning objectives of the CCE lesson which I described earlier. We have also received much feedback from parents and other stakeholders.”
“30 pm The young and old can get into heated conversations, insensitive and disrespectful remarks may be made, misinformation abound, especially online. Different parties appeal to our emotions to side with their cause, and information war is being fought all around us. We risk being drawn into other people's fights and conflicts. This is why the CCE lessons on contemporary issues often draw from events happening around us to help students better navigate the vagaries of the world. We can neither shelter our children from the world nor keep the world from intruding into their lives. In the case of the CCE lesson on the Israel-Hamas conflict, our aims are for students to (i) help them understand what is going on, express their own views and manage their own emotions; (ii) appreciate diverse perspectives sensitively and respectfully; (iii) discern information from different sources; and (iv) play their part to support racial harmony and social cohesion. Let me emphasise what this CCE lesson is not about. It does not tell students that one party in this conflict is good and the other is evil. It does not impose any particular perspective or interpretation of events. It most certainly does not create a wedge between our students' religious beliefs and their national identity. It is also not meant to bring other people's politics into our schools. I hope all Singaporeans can agree with us on the intent and importance of CCE. The question then is: what do we do in schools to achieve these shared objectives, especially when dealing with sensitive issues like this? What feedback have we obtained so far? For the teachers, by now, our teachers have had a few weeks of experience preparing and teaching the package. We have also heard some of their reflections.”
“Chair, may I take this opportunity to say more about MOE's Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lesson on the Israel-Hamas conflict, building on what I had said in my interview with the media last week. This issue has stirred strong emotions amongst many. It is also reflected in the range of PQs filed by Members for upcoming Sittings. I thought I will say something here today to allow Members more time than the 30 minutes Question Time on Thursday. The key questions raised were: why conduct such a lesson? Can MOE teach such a complex and emotive issue effectively? Could MOE have supported our teachers better? What are the learning points from this episode? Chair, CCE is an established and integral part of the holistic education we provide to our students. We teach CCE in schools because we know how important yet how difficult it is to build our national identity amid the larger forces, including civilisational and religious forces that our multiracial, multi-religious society is subject to. We know how global and social media news and fake news compete every moment to pull our people in different directions, challenging our efforts to maintain national cohesion and harmony. We do not have the luxury of time or a geographical buffer to insulate our people, including and especially our very young. We need to equip our people, starting with our young, with the skills and values to navigate this fast pace, often divisive and confusing world. The latest escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict is a stark reminder that external events can affect our people in different ways and even fracture our society if not well managed. 12.”
“SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) provides enhanced training support for selected courses curated by Enabling Academy to meet the training needs for persons with disabilities. Between 2021 and 2023, an average of about 380 persons with disabilities benefited from this enhanced training per year. Persons with disabilities may also take courses from the mainstream catalogue of courses funded by SSG and benefit from course fee subsidies available to Singaporeans. With SG Enable and other community stakeholders, we are encouraging and equipping training providers to improve the accessibility of mainstream courses. For example, adult educators can tap on SG Enable's capability development grant to develop training programmes or incorporate use of assistive technology into the training to better meet the learning needs of persons with disabilities. SSG does not collect data on unsuccessful course applicants, including those with disabilities. In addition to available feedback channels, SSG engages community stakeholders, like SG Enable, social service agencies and training providers, to proactively obtain feedback on how to make training more accessible for persons with disabilities.”
“The Ministry of Education does not track the intake of students with disabilities at the Institutes of Higher Learning. Our data covers a wider range of students with special educational needs (SEN), which includes disabilities like physical and visual impairment, as well as learning and behavioural conditions. Between 2019 and 2023, around 3% to 5% of those admitted to the polytechnics, Institute of Technical Education and autonomous universities were students with SEN.”
“In the past five years, each School Counsellor supports an average of 70 students with social-emotional and mental health issues annually. The time spent on each case varies according to the student's needs and the intensity of support required. The Ministry of Education does not track the time spent on each case and has no plans to do so. Besides counselling students, School Counsellors also work closely with school personnel, community partners and parents on other aspects of the ecosystem of support for students, such as in planning preventive programmes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2024/2025 and ask leave to sit again on Monday, 4 March 2024.”
“Chairman, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again on Monday, 4 March 2024?”
“They will play a bigger role as coaches and mentors, guiding students in developing softer skills and navigating complex issues. We will hence be committed to making time for our teachers' growth professionally to learn new pedagogies and skill sets, but also personally to spend time away from the classroom and gain exposure and new perspectives so that they can broaden their minds, refresh themselves and bring back ideas to share with their students and fellow colleagues. But the last T is most critical, and that is trust. We must maintain our trust and support in our educators. Our teachers undergo years of rigorous training and professional development. They are experts in their subject areas and pedagogy. They invest their time and energy to nurture our students, often going above and beyond their official responsibilities. So, we ask that everyone respect and trust our teachers to do their work as professionals and to support them in giving the best opportunities to our students to develop their talents, find their footing and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Sir, the collective effort of education requires communities to work hand in hand, not just in the classroom but beyond the classroom. Together, we can show our children that their growth matters more than their grades. But change is not easy, especially if we are to reshape our own perspective and redefine our definitions of success. But change will be impossible if we do not try. But if we can come together to refresh our understanding of education and what it means for all of us, it can underscore Singapore's success for the next 50 years and beyond. MOE and our partners are committed to delivering this for our children and our nation. [Applause.]”
“We recognise the challenges that our teachers face and we will continue to support them, through what I call three "T"s. The first T is technology. Technology must increasingly be the multiplier of our teachers' capacity. We will continue investing in EdTech and adaptive learning systems, to help our teachers support those who need more help, while stretching those who can do more. For example, our Language Feedback Assistant for English provides feedback for basic language errors in students' writing. This allows our teachers to spend more of their time guiding students on higher-order elements, such as logic and persuasiveness and creates time for teachers to work with students in the same class who require more attention or support. 7.45 pm What we recognise is that it is not always easy to use new technologies. It takes time for us to feel at ease with them and trust them to complement our work. For example, many of us may have struggled in the early days of COVID-19 in shifting our work online. So, I want to salute our teachers who are challenging themselves to adapt to these new tools, not just because they are new and exciting, but because they will help our students learn better and relieve the load of our teachers. The second T is linked to technology, but the second T is time. Technology will not replace our teachers, but it will change their roles and responsibilities. Our teachers will spend less time, going forward, delivering information and more time facilitating learning and collaboration. They will spend less time delivering information as information becomes commoditised, but they will spend more time facilitating learning and collaboration, which are higher order skills.”
“I want mainstream and SPED educators to grow together, with porosity of pathways, sharing best practices and supporting each other. I want to see the SPED students having pathways integrated with their post-18 work, life and care arrangements. Chair, recently, I met the leaders of our 25 SPED schools. I shared this vision with them. I want to say that after the meeting, it is no longer my vision. But, hopefully, it is now our vision. I want to thank all the SPED school leaders for agreeing to work together, towards our shared vision for the sector. We agreed we are not where we want to be, not yet. But we know where we want to get to and we are determined to get there for the sake of our children. Second Minister Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman will share more details about our efforts. Now, let me turn to the third point. Education must be a collective effort from all of society. This leads me to how we must fundamentally reshape the way we see education. Education must be a collective effort from all of society. First, I want to thank two groups of people for their contributions. First, the over 150 industry partners who have come forward through MOE's Partnerships Engagement Office to collaborate with our schools, to create authentic learning opportunities for our students. Second, our Parent Support Groups, which have stepped up to support our students' well-being and development. Minister of State Gan Siow Huang will be sharing an update in her speech of how we have expanded the Parent Support Groups and how we have strengthened their capabilities to partner our school. But above all, I want to recognise our educators. More than any policy change, it is our teachers who are key to preparing our students for the future.”
“Younger students will receive the award if they demonstrate attributes like creativity in generating ideas to solve problems in their school or outside while older students in polytechnics and ITE might demonstrate interpersonal and collaboration skills by working effectively with their colleagues in an internship. With this, an additional 21,000 students could receive an award every year, bringing the balance of academic and non-academic awards given out to around 60:40, down from around 70:30 ratio. This signals our commitment to reducing the overemphasis on academic results and balancing that with better preparation more holistically for the future. Our efforts to celebrate diverse strengths must also extend to students with SEN. One key challenge for the families of children with disabilities are the significant out-of-pocket expenses. As announced at Budget, we will alleviate these pressures by reducing school fees in nine higher-fee SPED schools. But beyond financial support, I also want to share my vision for the SPED sector, which has been close to my heart since my Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) days. I want our young people to aspire to join SPED fraternity, be inspired by its deep sense of mission, like any mainstream teacher. I want our SPED educators to have promising careers, that will encourage them to stay in the sector, like the mainstream. I want our SPED school leaders to have structured and rigorous leadership development opportunities, like the mainstream. I want our SPED sector to have their own communities of practice, specialising and developing deep authoritative professional body of knowledge for each of the SPED specialisation.”
“And this will make teaching even more challenging for our already stretched teachers to cater to a class with such diverse abilities. If we allow transfers out of the school, then, the question is: who gets to be posted out and to where? Will the stronger students try to transfer out, leaving the through-train as an option for the weaker students only? Or if it is the weaker students that leave, then school assessments might become the new frontier of stress, as students worry about performing well enough to remain in the said school. And which school will take these students to integrate them back into the mainstream curriculum and at what point in time? So, MOE is considering it but let us be upfront about these proposals. They are not without merits, but certainly they come with tradeoffs and non-trivial implications. Let us make help our students to understand their strengths in the meantime, approach stress and challenges with the right mindset and use exams to right-site themselves for the next stage of learning, rather than as a competition to beat others. In fact, we know that good grades are not enough to prepare our students for the future. We also need to equip our students with "21st Century Competencies" (21CC), like civic literacy and adaptive thinking. Hence, we will improve the balance of academic and non-academic Edusave awards. Today, the EAGLES and Edusave Skills Award are given to students who have excelled in non-academic activities or who have demonstrated leadership qualities and served the community. We will increase the number of these awards to recognise 21CC and LifeSkills.”
“Just like the "A" level certificate, which reflects each student's subjects and the level they have completed at – H1, H2 or H3. The certificate will continue to be jointly awarded by MOE and Cambridge, to preserve its standing. The SEC will allow students offering a mix of subject levels to access a wider range of post-secondary pathways. For students applying to Polytechnic Year 1, admission today is based on an "ELR2B2", otherwise known as English, Relevant to and the Best Two aggregate score comprising five "O" levels, or G3 subjects. From 2028, we will allow one of the "Best" or "B" subjects in the ELR2B2 score to be taken at either G2 or G3. Second Minister Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman will provide more details. From time to time, some call for MOE to remove examinations like the PSLE. Others ask us to bring back mid-year examinations. First, let me state that if we see our worth as being defined by examination results only, removing PSLE will not remove stress. Neither is removing all stress our goal. Instead, we need to help our students manage and overcome stress. We need to understand that examinations like the PSLE and SEC are not an end in themselves, but they are means to help our children find a suitable learning environment in the next stage of their learning journey. As I have mentioned before, there are non-trivial issues to overcome for a through-train concept, such as, how will we select students who are suitable for which school at age six? If we cannot select, how will we support diverse learning profiles for the next 10 years for us to be able to stretch the high ability students, while supporting those with higher needs? We may end up "teaching to the average", which does not bring out the best in any child.”
“Instead, there will be one common SEC examination period, with different papers for different subject levels. We will streamline the multiple examination sittings. This means we will have one written SEC examination sitting for all MTL subject levels. I understand that some may be concerned that they will have one less chance to improve their MTL grades. But we need to strike a careful balance between striving for excellence, chasing the last mark, and allowing our students to learn at a better pace. When we introduced the mid-year "O" level MTL examination sitting in 1980, less than 40% of our students passed both their First and Second Languages. So, we allowed students to take their MTL examination twice, to meet the Second Language requirement for Pre-University. Today, almost all our "O" level MTL students already meet the language requirement within their first sitting. Our analysis shows that taking a second sitting only changed the post-secondary posting outcomes for less than 2% of the students taking the examination. But most importantly, the new system will allow our students and teachers to better pace the MTL curriculum, with four more months of learning, rather than to squeeze everything into three-and-a-half years in preparation for the June examination sitting. To spread out the examination load at the end of the year, students will sit for their English and MTL written examinations in the second week of September, one month ahead of other subjects. After taking their examinations, students will receive a common certificate, the SEC, which will replace the current "O", N(A) and N(T) level certificates. The certificate will reflect each student's subject combinations and levels.”
“The Government will do what we can to partner our people and industries to achieve this vision of us for SkillsFuture to be a key pillar of our social compact to keep our people competitive and employable over the long haul. Next, let me touch on education as a celebration of our students' diverse strengths. We must resist the temptation to "teach to the average" and instead focus on bringing out the best in every child. We have introduced Full Subject-based Banding, or Full SBB, for the Secondary 1 cohort this year. We are now overcoming the challenges of reorganising the classes and shuffling timetables to match the resources available. But the positive outcomes in learning and social mixing give us confidence that this is the right thing to do, notwithstanding the challenges. Today, I will touch on what students can expect at the end of their secondary school experience under the new system. As the culmination of their Full SBB journey, in 2027, this year's Secondary 1 students will sit for a new Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examinations. The SEC examinations will replace the current Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE) "O" and "N" level examinations. Today, students take different examinations, with different provisions for different streams. For example. students in the previous Normal stream sit for "N" levels in September, while Express students sit for "O" levels in October. "O" level students have two examination sittings for their mother tongue language (MTL), one mid-year, one end-of-year, while "N" level students do not. Under Full SBB, there will no longer be separate "N" or "O" level examination periods.”
“There are also other intangible benefits for our economy and society, which are important but are not easily measured, such as greater confidence for businesses to invest in Singapore, with our highly skilled and adaptable workforce. Hence, the success of the SkillsFuture movement is about ultimately, whether Singaporeans have the confidence and competence to seize new career opportunities and tackle the future and whether our enterprises are well-positioned to capture new business opportunities because they have the quality of manpower required. This vision of success cannot be achieved by the Government alone. In the spirit of Forward SG, we must journey together – IHLs, employers and individuals. Our IHLs are doing their part. They are responding to industry needs to offer relevant courses and developing new programmes in emerging economic sectors. The are refreshing their CET capabilities to meet the wide range of workforce needs. More and more of our IHL capacities are shifting to support CET, beyond the conventional pre-employment training (PET). Employers, unions and enterprises will need to play their part too, to support workers with flexible working arrangements when they are upgrading, to work with employees to identify the new skills and competencies needed by the market and the companies, to recognise and remunerate employees based on those skills and competencies rather than just credentials and to create a culture of learning in every company, both small and medium enterprises, and large companies alike. And every individual will need to take ownership of their individual path, to plan their directions and way forward and to have the courage and conviction to take their first step.”
“The amount of support provides enough coverage for the median mid-career worker, while preserving the incentive to return to work. The duration of support will cover more than one bout of full-time upgrading via SCTP and at least half the duration of a full qualification. In total, our lifetime commitment to help an individual will be around $300,000 or higher, not counting the Training Allowance of up to $72,000. While the exact amount may differ for different paths, the concept is similar – continuous investments for the next 50 years beyond the school, rather than just the first 15 years in school. We will make available the full slide to all Members after the speech. The SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme will cost the Government around an additional $100 million each year and more, if there is stronger take-up. This is a significant investment and commitment by the Government and it underscores our commitment to SkillsFuture as a key pillar of our social compact. Members have asked more broadly, how do we measure the success of SkillsFuture? The spending and course attendance numbers are just input and output indicators respectively. The real outcomes we want to track are employment, wages and the competitiveness of our workers and enterprises. 7.30 pm This is not always easy to measure. It is neither short term, nor a one-to-one causal relationship. For example, reskilling may have helped workers keep their jobs or transit to new careers, beyond getting a pay rise. Often, it also takes time for workers to cumulate and apply their newly acquired skills and for employers to see the tangible benefits of a higher skills base.”
“This is a substantial investment and commitment on the part of the Government. But we know that course fees are not the only constraint when it comes to upskilling. Adult workers may have other financial commitments and concerns. It could be difficult to take time off work to upskill and to lose income during the training period. Hence, on top of our investment in educational programmes, we will provide a Training Allowance for Singaporeans aged 40 and above who pursue full-time IHL full qualifications or full-time SCTP. Eligible individuals will receive an allowance of 50% of their average monthly income over a year, capped at $3,000 for up to 24 months over their lifetime. In another words, up to $72,000 over a lifetime. Individuals, including self-employed persons and freelancers will receive the allowance as long as they have earned income based on Government's records in the latest available 12-month period. Members have asked whether the long-term unemployed and caregivers who have left the workforce for some time will qualify for the training allowance. At this point in time, they will not, as the allowance is meant to provide support for workers who experience income loss when they commit to full-time training. However, they can still make use of the $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit to refresh their skills through industry-relevant training. They can also tap on career facilitation services and placement programmes that offer training allowance offered by Workforce Singapore and the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC's) Employment and Employability Institute. Overall, the training allowance thresholds reflect our carefully considered approach. The supported full-time courses are chosen to facilitate placement and entry into good jobs.”
“And it will also include industry-specific training, such as SkillsFuture Singapore's (SSG's) SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme (SCTP), which is a train-and-place programme that supports individuals moving into sectors with good hiring opportunities; and it will also cover courses that fulfil the training requirements in the Progressive Wage Model sectors, to support the career and wage progression of lower-wage workers. Singaporeans aged 40 to 60 in 2020 received a $500 top-up that was similar in intent. We will merge any remaining balance with this new mid-career top-up and the balance will likewise no longer expire at the end of 2025. For those who wish to pursue another full-time diploma, we will now provide additional subsidies to do so. Currently, Singaporeans can only receive one bout of Government subsidies for a full-time diploma at polytechnics, ITE and the arts institutions. From 2025, we will subsidise Singaporeans aged 40 and above who enroll in a second full-time diploma. Going back to the ITE-upgrader in the chart as an example, if he wants to pursue a career in a new sector like the digital economy, he can pursue a full-time SkillsFuture Career Transition programme. SSG provides approximately $10,000 in subsidies for the training and the remaining course fees will be fully offset by the $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit. He can also pursue a second full-time diploma in a high-growth area. He will receive subsidies of about $60,000 and his out-of-pocket course fees for the full-time diploma can also be partially offset by the $4,000 credit. Using the ITE-upgrader in the chart as an example, the lifetime investment in education and skills could go up to as high as $380,000 in total.”
“For those aged 40 and above – who have left school for a longer period of time – will require a more substantial skills reboot. Many in this group recognise the importance of lifelong learning and want to build career resilience through reskilling and upskilling. However, due to financial and other commitments, the course fees and potential loss of income during full-time training can hold them back. As announced in the Budget speech, we will introduce the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme to support these Singaporeans. Members have asked for details of the new initiatives. First, to provide more help with course fees through the additional SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $4,000. How is this different from the existing SkillsFuture Credit of $500? The $500 credit is meant to cultivate a national culture and broad-based interest in continuous learning. It supports bite-sized, just-in-time upskilling and reskilling. It can be used for a wide range of skills-related courses, whether you are at the start of your career, mid-way through, or in your silver years. This will continue to be the case. This $4,000 credit is geared towards boosting employability. It will not expire, so that you can use it at a juncture that suits you. The top-up can be used for over 7,000 full-time and part-time courses with better employability outcomes and they will cover academic full qualification programmes offered by our IHLs. These will include diplomas, post-diplomas, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees that are well-recognised in the market; as well as shorter modules that can stack to these full qualifications, to offer more flexible upgrading options.”
“Let me walk us through. Today, up to the secondary school level, we invest around $200,000 in every student. This establishes the strong academic foundations and values for the rest of their lives. Next, at the post-secondary level, we make another major investment to help our students acquire a work-ready qualification through ITE, polytechnic or university pathways. Using an ITE student as an example, the subsidy will be around $70,000 for a Nitec and Higher Nitec qualification. So, on average, we would have invested more than a quarter million dollars for every Singaporean child to prepare them for their first career. As announced in the Budget speech, we will invest more in our ITE graduates through the ITE Progression Award (IPA). Upskilling to a diploma can help ITE graduates secure a better starting pay and a better lifetime earning trajectory through their improved skills and competencies. We will hence top-up $5,000 to the Post-Secondary Education Accounts (PSEA) of ITE graduates when they enroll in a diploma programme. For example, as shown in the chart, an ITE graduate who upgrades via a part-time polytechnic diploma will not need to pay any fees out-of-pocket after using the $5,000 top-up. When they graduate, they will receive a further $10,000 top-up to their CPF Ordinary Account. This can give them a head-start in buying their first home, or saving for retirement. Some Members have asked, how we are supporting younger working adults? For those under 40, they are in the earlier stages of their career and their first work-ready qualifications should still serve them well. But they may need regular, shorter skills top-ups. For this, they can use the SkillsFuture Credit of $500 that they receive at the age 25 to offset their course fees.”
“In the decades after formal schooling, there is time to discover new strengths and interests, to find our purpose and calling and to pursue them in different seasons of life. We will continuously invest in our people to help them to do well not just for the first 15 years in school, but over the next 50 years and beyond. With your permission, Chair, may I display some slides on the LED screens? This chart will illustrate the lifetime investment in our people, today and tomorrow.”
“Chair, we thank all Members for your suggestions, comments on our education system and most importantly, we want to thank you all for the support for our educators. Our education system has done well by most conventional measures. We continue to surpass ourselves in the PISA rankings. Our least-privileged students, on average, do better than the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average. The vast majority of our graduates find employment quickly, with good starting salaries. But we must be careful not to become victims of our own success – chasing yesterday's metrics of success, instead of building the competencies we need for our future. We should also be keenly aware that others are catching up and aiming to overtake us with new disruptive technologies and new pedagogies. To stay ahead and prepare our next generation to learn for life, we must evolve our vision of education. We need to work with fellow Singaporeans, parents and industries to redefine success and redesign education in three parts: first, as a continuing journey, where we learn not just in the first 15 years, but throughout the next 50 years of our lives; second, to celebrate the diverse strengths, where we appreciate a diversity of talents for our collective resilience; and third, it must be a collective effort, where students learn not just in schools and from teachers, but from the community, society and even in the virtual world. Let me first start with education as a continuing journey. Many of us worry that the system will only allow us one chance. That our futures will somehow, be set in stone if we fail one exam or get into a less popular school or less favoured course. When in fact, we have a lifetime ahead of us.”
“Social Studies syllabuses for primary and secondary levels were revised and implemented in 2020 and 2023 respectively.”
“As of 31 December 2023, the median salaries of non-faculty PhD holders employed as Research Scientists and Engineers (RSEs)1 at the four research-intensive Autonomous Universities – National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Technology and Design – range from $6,000 to $6,900. These RSEs are hired on contract basis, as permanent roles are usually associated with faculty on tenure track. Across the four universities, their median contract durations range from one to two years.”
“Schools have the autonomy to decide the end times for their co-curricular activities and other school programmes. They consider factors, such as the nature of activities, student profiles, student well-being and impact on nearby residents.”
“As of end January 2024, 101,464 non-voters from the 2023 Presidential Election applied to restore their names to the Registers of Electors. All the applications were successful.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there is an established process in the Ministry of Education (MOE) on when students can contact teachers and when parents can contact teachers. We appreciate everybody to abide by the rules to respect the time for our teachers. Of course, as in any organisation, there will be exigencies of service. What are some of these exigences of service? I have shared with this House previously. For example, in a particular high-needs school, if a child has been thrown out of the house in the middle of the night and he calls his teacher, I am very sure his teacher will respond. But on the other hand as I have shared in this House, we also hope that parents or students will not call their teachers after office hours for minor trivial things which they can otherwise handle themselves.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, three points in response to Mr Yip Hon Weng's comments. First, yes, we have received Mr Yip Hon Weng's Yip Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio request and we are processing it now. Second, yes, we will increase the number of multilingual-abled service ambassadors to the extent that we can. Third, indeed, we do not want to duplicate services and we want to rationalise, integrate and synergise the service delivery across the various agencies in order to save resources and manpower.”
“Trained service ambassadors are also present at these service centres to assist less digitally literate individuals in triaging their needs and completing their transactions. Seniors can also walk into ServiceSG Centres and no prior appointment is needed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Public Service is committed to ensuring that government services continue to be accessible and inclusive for all as more government services digitalise. We have put in place schemes and initiatives to bridge the digital divide, by enabling digital access and accessibility, and upskilling citizens on digital skills and knowledge. We have significantly expanded the number of ServiceSG Centres to better serve the community. Since its inception in 2021, ServiceSG has set up seven centres. These centres are strategically located at Our Tampines Hub, One Punggol, Bukit Canberra, Kampong Chai Chee Community Club, Nee Soon Central Community Club, The Frontier Community Club and Keat Hong Community Club. The ServiceSG Centres have also expanded their service offerings in partnership with more than 25 agencies, providing almost 600 services to citizens. We will continue to expand the network of centres to prioritise areas with higher demand and concentration of citizens, particularly seniors, who require support with multiple digital transactions. In line with this, two new centres will be established at Woodlands Civic Centre and Bukit Merah town central by the end of 2024. Presently, our agencies with physical service centres primarily offer in-person assistance on an appointment-only basis. This approach allows citizens to schedule visits at their convenience for transactions that cannot be completed online, thereby reducing the frustration of long queues or wait times. While agencies encourage citizens to make appointments for face-to-face consultations, they do exercise discretion in assisting less digitally savvy and vulnerable individuals who walk in without making appointments.”
“The Member may refer to MOE's reply to Parliamentary Question No 19 for written answer on the Order Paper for 3 October 2023. [Please refer to "Percentage of Schools and Tertiary Institutions with Lactation Facilities for Nursing Mothers", Official Report, 3 October 2023, Vol 95, Issue 113, Written Answers to Questions section.]”
“The Public Service Division does not track the number of applicants who are not selected for Civil Service positions.”
“Currently, there are about 144,000 Singapore citizens, 5,000 Singapore permanent residents and 3,000 foreigners employed in the Public Service. Non-citizen officers generally serve in positions that require skills that are in shortage among our local workforce, such as engineering and information technology; and where the security concerns can be managed adequately.”
“I thank Ms Denise Phua for her cut on the Public Service for Good Movement. I launched it in July last year to provide public officers with opportunities to actively partner citizens on a personal level. I am happy to share that in 2023, over 1,000 public officers signed up to volunteer their skills for meaningful causes such as being a community befriender for low-income families and mentoring ITE students. Under the Public Service ITE Mentorship Programme, Higher NITEC students like Ryan and Ferris interned at GovTech for 20 weeks. GovTech officers Yeo Kian Chuan, Zorrel Chen and Supansa Tan noticed the interns' enthusiasm for learning and ensured ample opportunities for them to grow and eventually perform as Product Managers with the Public Service. In 2024, we will expand the Public Service for Good Movement to include a wider range of social causes and initiatives. This will include skills-based volunteering opportunities that empower our youths and families through mentorship, support seniors in ageing well, promote sustainability initiatives for a greener Singapore. Having said that, I come back to where I started. Past success is no guarantee for future success. I have shared how we are going to evolve the way we operate, develop our capabilities and partner others for the future. This is an ongoing effort. We must look ahead and continue to plan ahead, even if it means disrupting ourselves. In fact, we rather disrupt ourselves before other people disrupt us, so that our Public Service can continue to transform and remain relevant to the future needs of Singapore, and it will be a Public Service where all Singaporeans can be proud of.”
“The formation of the Singapore Government Partnership Office (SGPO) signals our commitment to the next round of partnerships and engagements. Beyond partnering on issues that are already on the national agenda, we will engage citizens to set the agenda. We are building from a position of strength. We have already established a clear track record of engagements and partnerships with the community from consulting to co-creating and co-delivering solutions. For lower-income families and their children, we have moved beyond public consultations on Government proposals to proactively co-create and co-deliver solutions with the public. For example, under the Growing Together with KidSTART initiative, corporates and volunteers partnered KidSTART Singapore to co-create fun learning opportunities for KidSTART families and their children. As part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, the Green Action for Community (GAC) movement was launched in 2022 to involve the community in co-creating ground-up sustainability efforts. We are also strengthening partnerships with the private sector. During COVID-19, many came forward to help and co-create solutions together with the government. We are doubling down on these new ways of working together. There are now about 15 active Alliances for Action (AFAs), covering a range of common interests. We are also formalising our partnerships with corporates, such as the MOU with Singapore Airlines last month, to collaborate in areas such as training and volunteer management in essential support care roles in the healthcare sector and this will also allow the Public Service to search our capabilities in the contingencies, drawing upon some of the capacities in the private sector.”
“First, we must make sure that we select good people with the right values to understand not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law and uphold them. Second, we must work as a system, as a team, to make sure that we look out for one another, check one another's blind spots, help to prevent one another from falling into a situation where they might be compromised. And third, we must have layers of checks internally and externally to pick up issues whenever there are problems. That is how we have managed to keep our system relatively corruption-free, lobby-free all these years. But we will be the first to admit that no system is perfect and the situation is evolving and every time we put in rules, there will be parties out there that will try to go around our rules and we have to keep constantly evolving our own rules to make sure that we are never complacent. In trying to copy other people's rules, we must see what they have been able to achieve versus what we have been able to achieve, what problems they have been able to solve versus what problems we are trying to solve. There is no magic answer to this. And we should also have a care for the confidentiality of the information, the privacy concerns of the senior officers in the Public Service, including the political office holders. Why stop at the Ministers? Why not the Members of Parliament? Why stop at the Permanent Secs? Why not the Directors? I think for every rule that we put in, there are implications that we should consider carefully and ask ourselves whether the price that we pay is commensurate with the problem that we are trying to solve. Mr Saktiandi Supaat also asked how the Government can partner citizens better.”
“The Public Service has worked hard over generations to earn the trust of Singaporeans and is committed to a strong system of governance. Ms He Ting Ru asked whether our regulations or practices need any updates to ensure that our governance frameworks are not compromised and Mr Louis Chua asked about making assets declarations public for Ministers. I think I have responded to these topics previously, extensively in past Parliamentary replies, but if I may, I will just reiterate a few things. I think different countries have different rules for their people and organisations and as all of us will agree, no one rule is a panacea to prevent corruption or lobbying. But what we need to do is to look at the system holistically. What we also need to do is to look at the outcome that we have achieved and ask ourselves what is the scale and magnitude of our problem. Putting in new and more rules does not necessarily solve the problems that we may not even have to start with. Whenever we put in new rules, we must also be careful if it causes any unintended consequences. For example, I just checked the data that was quoted by some Members about some of the countries that have perhaps adopted some of those rules. In the Corruption Perceptions Index, Singapore in the last five years has been ranked consistently between number three and number five. But those countries who supposedly have some of these more elaborate rules are actually ranked much lower. For example, the UK was ranked somewhere between 11 and 20. So, I think when we look at how to make sure that we retain the trust of our people, we must look at it at a system level. If I may reiterate what I have said previously, this must occur at three levels.”