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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“Respect begets respect. An eye for an eye, makes us all blind and robs us of our future and humanity. Eight, we are our children’s most important role models. If we act like bullies, offline or online, they will too. Threatening, doxxing and being disrespectful to other children and teachers are not actions that make our children better. This is also not how we demonstrate to our children that we care for them and protect them. Nine, subverting the schools’ authority, by appealing to external “higher” authorities or seeking to use the media to attack and cast aspersions on our schools and teachers, will make us all losers. Ultimately, our children will no longer respect authority. Such actions also take up the precious time and bandwidth of our teachers, at the expense of other children and parents who deserve more. Ten, when we, as adults and parents, shield our children who have done wrong from punishment, we are teaching them the wrong lessons – that perhaps they do not have to take responsibility for their actions, that perhaps someone else is always at fault, or that they will always be bailed out. So, Mr Speaker, Sir, let us work together. Let us not let the unrepresentative actions of a small minority colour the perception and behaviour of our children, our parents, our teachers and our schools. As parents and members of the public, let us work with our teachers to be positive role models, carefully considering how we should respond in ways that are helpful and kind. By sharing and responding to information thoughtfully and respectfully, we contribute to building a wiser and more compassionate society.”
“In the recent incidents, school leaders were flamed online, the school was unfairly represented and the steadfast efforts of our educators to support all affected students were left unacknowledged and unappreciated. Mr Speaker, Sir, and Members of this House, I am sure we can all agree that we can and must be better than this. I understand that many of us care deeply about the well-being of our students. Compassion forms the foundation of a strong, nurturing society that we all strive to build. While MOE continues to take a firm stance against bullying, take care of our children and staff, help feuding parties to heal and guide our children in the proper ways, we – as parents and the wider community – can also partner our teachers and play our part by reminding ourselves of the following. One, what we hear and see online may not be what it is, especially when we only choose to hear and see what we want. Two, he who shouts the loudest and fastest, may not be the most innocent nor most accurate. Three, swinging the sword of vigilantism in the dark, online and in real life, always hurts the innocent ones that one may claim to protect. Four, broadcasting the extremes will normalise the extremes and encourage even more extreme behaviours. Five, when we amplify one-sided perspectives, we should have a care if we are not being used to further the agenda of specific individuals. Providing partisan support to feuding parties would only fuel the fire and embolden the feuding parties to be even more strident, making reconciliation more difficult. Six, retributive justice must be coupled with rehabilitative justice. Punishment alone, without due care to rehabilitate, is not in line with the long-term developmental interests of our children. Seven, hate begets hate.”
“The outcome was not something anyone wished to see happen. But the intent and efforts of the school to help the child and the family, seeking to partner the family, should not be doubted. Mr Speaker, Sir, at this juncture, while I will not comment on the specifics of various cases, let me share some broader reflections on how we should respond as a society to these and similar ones that have arisen. When such incidents happen, some of us, including adults, may react reflexively or emotionally. The court of public opinion, often with an incomplete view, then reacts and complicates an already difficult situation. MOE is particularly concerned when adults take to social media or turn up in our schools to threaten our staff, demanding action on behalf of their children, or even threatening the other children. This is wrong. MOE will not tolerate such actions. We will do all that is necessary, including taking firm action in accordance with MOE’s Engagement Charter and our laws to safeguard the well-being of our staff and students while we work to counsel and discipline the students involved. While these incidents are few, they incur disproportionate amount of time and bandwidth to manage and must not be allowed to grow. While a small number of parents may think the schools have not done enough in their eyes to address their grievances, we can all be confident that our teachers have the best interests of our students at heart and will deal with all of them, take care of them impartially, and not just a few or selected ones. It is useful to remember that it is one thing for children to fight and quarrel. It is quite another for adults to jump in, take sides, aggravate the quarrel and detract us from guiding our children towards reconciliation and rehabilitation.”
“When it happens, our school leaders seek to extend help to affected students and families and work closely with families in managing their grief. When our schools manage these situations, MOE maintains strict confidentiality and does not disclose details of the incidents or the child’s family circumstances to the public out of respect for the family’s privacy and in view of the sensitive nature of these matters. However, this often leaves our school leaders and teachers vulnerable to misunderstanding, leading to online attacks and abuse of our teachers and staff while they continue to exercise restraint and sensitivity to the families. Given that this particular student’s case has now been made known to the public, I would like to assure Members of the House that the school had gone above and beyond in supporting this student when she was experiencing emotional challenges. When the school was informed that the student was going through some friendship issues, the school took action to guide the affected students to resolve their differences and to reconcile. A dedicated team comprising experienced school staff and school counsellor extended counselling to her and facilitated restorative conversations amongst the schoolmates. Even after this incident, when the student experienced other challenges, the school continued to provide support and intervention over several months. Throughout this process, the school staff maintained communication with the student’s family, reaching out to work with and support them. The one-sided allegations lobbed at Admiralty Secondary do not reflect the full picture. They do not do justice to the efforts that the school had made to help the student and her family in her time of need.”
“The form teacher intervened immediately on witnessing the scene and separated the students. The injured student received first aid for the cut on his head, while the school leaders called for an ambulance to convey him to hospital. Based on MOE’s investigations so far, the school had acted appropriately to support the student’s well-being. The school had ensured that he received medical care in a timely manner. During his medical leave, the school maintained communication with his parents, provided learning support for the child and monitored his well-being. The student has since returned to school. The school has also been assisting the Police in their ongoing investigations of the case. The student who struck the other student has been suspended, is counselled and will face further disciplinary actions when he returns to school. The school will also facilitate the restoration of relationships between the two students when they are both back in school. The objective of these educative and restorative efforts is to help students learn and grow through these experiences. Sir, we understand the anxieties of parents whose children are or have been involved in fighting or bullying incidents, but please allow the school and the authorities to deal with the cases and carry out the necessary disciplinary and restorative actions professionally. Without the full facts, let us not speculate or jump in to complicate matters further. Regarding the incident involving a former student of Admiralty Secondary School who fell from height in 2023, MOE is deeply saddened by this loss and our condolences are with her family and loved ones. Sir, the causes and possible triggers for suicides are complex and multifaceted.”
“I invite Members to seek clarifications if need be. I will also make some broader comments on how we should handle such incidents as a society. Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Members of Parliament and members of the public for showing concern for the well-being of our students. The Ministry of Education (MOE) takes a serious view of any act of bullying or violence. No one should be bullied. No one wants to be bullied. No one should bully. MOE monitors these cases that are reported to or are identified by our schools, whether the incidents happen in or outside schools, online or offline. While cases of physical bullying are relatively stable and manageable, other associated issues have arisen, especially online, to compound our concerns. First, the virality of social media postings has heightened sensitivities and increased social media vigilante actions. These can normalise the extremes and hinder rehabilitative actions. Second, the unhelpful involvement of even a minority of adults can complicate the situation and compound the challenges faced in guiding our students. Let me now touch on the Admiralty Secondary School incidents. For Admiralty Secondary School, in the last five years, there was an average of about two incidents of bullying per year per 1,000 students, both within and outside of school. This is no higher than the national average of bullying cases in secondary schools. Regarding the alleged assault case at Admiralty Secondary on 7 January, preliminary investigations by MOE reveal that it was not an incident of bullying, but an altercation that happened between two new Secondary 1 students during transition between periods. This resulted in one student striking the other on the head with a plastic water bottle, giving rise to a cut on that student’s head.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, may I request for my response to also address Written Question No 27 in today’s Order Paper and a written Parliamentary Question which is scheduled for a subsequent Sitting, please.”
“Over the past five years, on average, 0.2% of international students were not allowed to continue their study in the Ministry of Education schools due to fees arrears that remain unpaid despite repeated reminders. International students who require financial assistance can approach their schools, community or welfare organisations for advice on assistance that is available to them.”
“All students, regardless of their SEN condition, are encouraged to exercise self-advocacy to communicate their needs and request job accommodations at the workplace, if needed. For students who offer a customised curriculum in SPED and demonstrate potential for employment, MOE also partners with SG Enable on employment support through programmes, such as the School-To-Work Transition Programme. MOE has also enhanced the SPED Vocational Education curriculum to emphasise the intentional teaching of soft skills and more structured vocational guidance. Eligible students can also enrol in selected Institute of Technical Education Skills Certificate programmes and Workforce Skills Qualifications courses in SPED schools, such as Metta School and Delta Senior School. In addition, SG Enable provides incentives, such as grants, from the Open Door Programme to help employers redesign jobs for students with disabilities. We encourage more employers to be part of our whole-of-society effort and adopt an inclusive mindset to enable more young Singaporeans with SEN to enter and thrive in our workforce. With some adjustment and greater understanding, employers can benefit from the value that students with SEN bring to their work teams.”
“Students with special educational needs (SEN) are enrolled in either mainstream or Special Education (SPED) schools. For students in SPED schools, some learn the national curriculum with support and others benefit from a customised SPED curriculum. For students with SEN learning the national curriculum, the Ministry of Education (MOE) strives to have as many of them progress to post-secondary education institutions (PSEIs) as possible. Secondary and older students in mainstream schools have Education and Career Guidance Counsellors to guide them in making informed decisions about their education and career plans. Students with additional needs will receive further guidance and support from teachers and school personnel, such as SEN officers. Students in SPED schools also receive support in transitioning to PSEIs. Schools work closely with students and their families to develop an Individual Transition Plan for each SPED student, to realise their post-school goals. Presently, we have approximately 7,000 students with reported SEN enrolled across the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). For IHL courses that have internship requirements, students with SEN are expected to participate in them. The SG Enable IHL Internship Programme assists in matching students with disabilities to inclusive organisations in various sectors. Many of our IHLs provide internship opportunities on campus for students who may face greater difficulties securing external internships. Pre-internship, employment workshops and job matching programmes are also provided to help manage the transition of students with SEN from IHLs to the workplace.”
“Over the past five years, about 17% of the Primary 1 cohort successfully registered under Phase 2A. Phase 2A includes children whose parents or siblings were former students of the school, whose parents were staff members of the school or members of the School Advisory or Management Committee or who came from the Ministry of Education Kindergarten located at the primary school. During the same period, about 5% of the Primary 1 cohort successfully registered under Phase 2B. Phase 2B includes children whose parents were eligible parent volunteers, church or clan members directly connected with the school, or active community leaders. The children of active community leaders made up around 1% of the Primary 1 cohort, which has been stable.”
“The total value of scholarships and tuition grants given to international students in our schools, polytechnics and autonomous universities is comparable to that of five years ago. The value of scholarships given to international students amount to less than 1% of the Ministry of Education's (MOE's) budget. The total combined value of scholarships and tuition grants amount to less than 2% of MOE's budget.”
“The proportion of polytechnic and autonomous universities (AU) graduates working in jobs related to their fields of study has increased in the last 10 years. Based on the Ministry of Education's Graduate Employment Survey, polytechnic graduates working in a related full-time permanent job increased from 71% to 79% from 2014 to 2023. For AU graduates, the proportion increased from 82% to 86% in the same period. Graduates from specialised disciplines are more likely to enter related jobs. For example, more than 95% of polytechnic and AU graduates from the health sciences reported entering related jobs in the last 10 years. In comparison, a greater proportion of graduates from broader disciplines report working in unrelated jobs. For example, an average of 69% of humanities and social sciences AU graduates entered related jobs in the last ten years. Given that students have diverse interests that may change over time, it is not meaningful for Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to set hard targets to ensure that graduates work in jobs related to their field of study. That said, our schools and IHLs provide education and career counselling to help students identify their strengths and interests and encourage them to choose courses accordingly, rather than simply choosing the most popular courses. IHLs also work with sector agencies and employers to encourage the inflow of graduates into jobs related to their training. This includes, enhancing students' internship experience and raising awareness of available job opportunities in the sector. More broadly, IHLs seek to ensure that students are equipped with skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, that are valued across different job roles and industries.”
“To ensure that our students can have access to a good range of food options, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has been working with schools that face or foresee facing difficulties in filling vacant stalls. For schools that are keen and ready, MOE is exploring different canteen operating models, such as those using central kitchens. Schools that still have a healthy number of stalls operating can retain their existing model of individual stallholders. As we explore these new models, we will make every effort to preserve the livelihoods of existing stallholders who still want to work. We do so by referring them to nearby schools and recommending them for employment under the appointed central kitchen operators. Similar to our existing canteen stallholders, MOE will require central kitchen operators to serve meals that adhere to the Health Promotion Board's (HPB's) guidelines, which require a balanced diet covering the four main food groups: carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables and fruits. In fact, it will be easier to ensure the quality of food prepared in central kitchens, as HPB officers can carry out checks directly at these facilities, compared to the current practice of checking across many individual stalls. Schools will work closely with central kitchen operators to provide feedback on the variety and quality of meals, based on surveys and food tasting sessions with parents and students. MOE will continue to work with schools to explore a diversity of canteen models to complement individual canteen stallholders to ensure students continue to have access to a good variety of nutritious yet affordable food options.”
“The Government provided a one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $500 for eligible Singaporeans in 2020. This top-up will expire by the end of 2025. As of 26 November 2024, about 26% of eligible Singaporeans have used their one-off top-up. Many individuals have also gone for training, without tapping on SkillsFuture Credit. For example, of the 520,000 individuals who participated in training supported by SkillsFuture Singapore in 2023, almost half were sponsored by their employers. We encourage individuals who wish to use the $500 top-up to plan how they can utilise it meaningfully. A wide range of around 30,000 skills-related courses are available. The list of courses can be accessed on mySkillsFuture portal, which has been enhanced so users can more easily search for courses that match their interests and career goals. Individuals could also refer to the jobs and skills insights published by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to guide their training decisions. Those who require more personalised guidance could sign up for SSG's free Skills and Training Advisory services. We also welcome more community partners to work with SSG to raise awareness of SkillsFuture Credit and eligible courses, through local workshops and roadshows.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) conducts the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise in accordance with a clearly defined set of criteria. This is publicly available on the MOE website. The first posting criterion is determined by the student's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) score, which is the sum of the Achievement Levels of their four PSLE subjects. If there are more students with the same PSLE score vying for the remaining vacancies in a school, MOE will apply tie-breakers: first, based on the students' citizenship, then their choice order of schools and, if there is still a tie, computerised balloting. Students whose school choice required tie-breaking had their posting mostly determined by citizenship and school choice order. Over the past three years, the proportion of students who underwent computerised balloting has remained at around one in 10.”
“The $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) supports mid-career Singaporeans aged 40 and above to pursue substantive upskilling and reskilling to stay relevant and competitive. Today, it can be used on over 7,000 courses with better employability outcomes, including academic full qualifications and industry-specific courses. SkillsFuture Singapore will work closely with sector agencies, industry and training providers to refresh these courses and ensure that they support our economic and manpower needs.”
“Our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) offer students a wide variety of internship opportunities and all IHL students who are required to complete an internship to graduate have been able to secure one. While IHLs continue to work with companies and sector agencies to provide quality internship opportunities, students can also look for their own internships to support their education and career development, beyond meeting their graduation requirements.”
“As with all community facilities, the use of sports facilities, whether in Private Education Institutions (PEIs) or Sport Singapore (SportSG) facilities, should not cause undue disamenities to residents in the surrounding areas. Where specific instances of feedback are raised, SkillsFuture Singapore, SportSG and other relevant agencies will work with the PEIs and/or public users to address the issues. For example, PEIs have, in some instances, reduced the luminosity of floodlights in their premises to reduce light pollution and switched to lower decibel whistles to address noise pollution. PEIs may also be asked to align their practices, that is, operating hours, with that of SportSG facilities and/or the Housing and Development Board common spaces.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I will just make the following points in response to Member Assoc Prof Jamus Lim's comments. First, we certainly agree, it is not an either/or thing. Of course, the foundation is important, just as the need for us to upskill and reskill continuously is important. This is why MOE in the recent years has been using this phrase and has been implementing programmes that we refer to as "the joy of learning" – that people want to learn because they enjoy learning, not just for tests. And if Assoc Prof Jamus Lim had read my recent interview with The Straits Times, he would also understand that we are using this catchphrase now, which is: "learn more, test less". If you look at our education system, the recent changes that we have made, we have allowed students to, indeed, learn more, but we do not need to necessarily test everything that the student learns, so that there is an innate desire to want to learn, not just for the exams, but to learn for life. This is a habit that we want to inculcate in our children: the joy of learning that you can learn widely, but you do not always have to just focus on the test. The test is but a means for us to let the individual know where you are strong or weak at, so that on that basis, you can be put in a learning environment that best suits you, to help you to continue to grow.”
“Because the same content delivered to a 25-year-old, a 35-year-old, a 45-year-old, will need to be different. And in fact, the most interesting institution that we have today is the Singapore University of Social Science, because many of their classes have what we call inter-generational students from different backgrounds and it requires different pedagogies or adult andragogy for us to effectively teach and allow and help our adult students to master the content. That is what we will do.”
“We need to couple the SkillsFuture effort, where we target our efforts to improve the skillsets of our people that are job-specific, with a more general culture that Ms Usha Chandradas mentioned; that we need to encourage our people to read, to maintain their literacy proficiency in order to process and manage information, especially in today's bewildering world, where the problem is not a deficit of information; the problem is a deluge of information which becomes bewildering. How do we help our people to do the three "Ds", which I always emphasise in MOE? To "distil" the information; to "discern" with values; and to "discover", meaning to create new value propositions. These are the new competencies that we have to encourage our adults to have, starting from school, where we keep emphasising the abilities for our students to distil, discern and to discover. Having said that, what else are we going to do? We need to spend much more effort and pay more attention to what we call the adult-learning andragogy. We have spent a lot of effort over the previous decades and years on how to build up the science of learning for our school children. More recently, we have also invested in the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) to look at the pedagogies and the methods to help our younger cohorts, the preschool cohorts, to build the necessary foundations for their education. So, we have done this for the school and the preschool, in terms of pedagogical developments. Now we need to have the third limb. And this is why I have tasked the Institute of Adult Learning to set up the equivalent of what we have, in the National Institute of Education and NIEC, to look at the adult pedagogies, how we can use technology to mass customise the learning for our adults.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me put in context what the results measure and what the results have shown. In the first PIACC cycle, they measured two things: numeracy and literacy. In the more recent PIACC cycle, they measured three things: numeracy, literacy and problem-solving skills. Of the three, our adults' numeracy atrophy problem was not that much of a problem – it stayed stable for numeracy. For literacy, just like the worldwide trend, we have seen a dip. It is of concern to us because literacy is the basis upon which we acquire and process information. So, that is the second point. For adaptive problem-solving, we have no basis for comparison because the first cycle did not measure this. This was the first time that they measured problem-solving. For that, we are at the OECD average. But within that, just as we have expected, we see a difference between the younger age group which performed very well, versus the older age group that did not perform so well. But our average for the whole workforce is at the OECD average. Of course, one can take the argument that with more cohorts coming in, our flow of the cohorts will slowly overturn the stock effect. But to us, that is not satisfactory because that will take us too long for us to want to be competing at the top end of the global league. So, what are we doing? Indeed, we need to step up our SkillsFuture programme, but the SkillsFuture programme does not address literacy per se. The SkillsFuture programme addresses the kind of skillsets necessary for that.”
“Actually, we have a suite of schemes that help people from the time they leave school, all the way until they grow much older. It is just that we have intensified our efforts for the post-40, because our surveys, our dipsticks show that that is the most urgent part. So, even for people below the age of 40, we have other SkillsFuture programmes that allow them to access training programmes, as part of the larger SkillsFuture movement. But in the recent announcement, we have made more and we have intensified our efforts to help those above the age threshold of 40, because that is most critical and most urgent. As to whether we will review that age threshold of 40 and bring some of the programmes even earlier, we keep that option open, depending on the market demand. But given the resources and the urgency of the problem that we have, that is why this year we have made the effort to focus on the post-40 age group. That does not mean that the pre-40s do not need to upskill. That does not mean that we have no programmes to help those in the pre-40s. Whether we need to step up the efforts, we will continue to review our programmes and make sure that we support Singaporeans accordingly.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Ms Foo Mee Har for her two questions. First, let me respond to the first on how we help our workers to be more focused and targeted in their selection of training courses and modules. We do it in different ways. One way that SkillsFuture Singapore does it is that we generally curate a set of courses that we think are industry relevant and we publicise this set of courses to encourage people to take up the courses. That is why there is a set of curated courses under the SkillsFuture programme. The second thing that SkillsFuture Singapore has been doing is that every year, we will regularly identify the new skillsets in the emerging industries that will create new job opportunities for Singaporeans with better prospects. For example, in the care economy, in the green economy and the digital economy. Beyond this generic high-level cluster of skills required, we try to drill down to the specifics so that we can have curated programmes for our workers to subscribe to, so that they can improve their skillsets as necessary. What we want to also do is have a broader culture where every one of us – individuals and employers – take ownership of this process to keep upgrading our skillsets. Our competition is not within Singapore. Our competition is how we, as a Singaporean workforce, compete with the rest of the world, the best of the world, so that we can continue to find our own niche areas to make a living for ourselves. So, this is evergreen work and we must keep doing this. On the second issue about the age threshold of 40, let me just put in context the SkillsFuture framework of assisting our people to upgrade their skillsets. It is not a binary thing, where there is a before or after age 40, where we help or do not help people.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we certainly would like to work with the various institutions that Member Ms Usha Chandradas mentioned. Indeed, it is a multi-prong effort. It is not just encouraging people to read more, but also to read widely and to be more reflective. And we are all conscious of today's media environment, whereby there are so many different channels competing for the attention of our people and we will have to keep up our efforts to continue our encouragement to our people to keep learning, to keep reading even as they are working and have gone beyond the school years. Really, we all have to be aware of this famous dictum: we either use it, hone it, or we lose it. And that applies to all the skillsets that we picked up from young and we just have to keep working on it; otherwise, the atrophy effect will set in, regardless of our background.”
“Our overall economic and workforce competitiveness also depends on other factors, including but not limited to, our ability to provide a business-friendly environment, consistent policies, stable government and measures to attract complementary talent and skills from the global networks to complement and supplement our own. These factors contribute to an ecosystem where businesses can make the best use of our workforce’s talent to innovate and thrive.”
“For instance, whether our workers have job-specific skills is crucial to their competitiveness. There are also other metrics that measure the competitiveness of a country or workforce, such as our employment rate, the number of companies that continue to invest good jobs in Singapore and whether our workers command good wages. Nevertheless, to mitigate the atrophy and obsolescence effects, it is necessary for us to continuously upskill and reskill throughout life, beyond the first 15 years of formal education. Which is why I always emphasise that while we have done well for the first 15 years of our student achievements in school, we must also focus on the next 50 years of our time beyond school. To this end, the Government has been investing heavily in continuous education and training through SkillsFuture, and this is a key pillar of our refreshed social compact under Forward Singapore. However, the Government cannot do this alone. Individuals and employers also have key roles to play. Individuals must take ownership of their learning journeys throughout life and take steps to constantly upskill and reskill, to push against the natural skills atrophy that the PIACC results suggest. Employers must also stay nimble and transform their business and jobs to compete internationally. They must also invest in their employees’ career health, such as by articulating their company’s skills needs and supporting their employees to undergo training so their employees have the capabilities to successfully achieve employers’ business goals. Some have asked how we should interpret the PIAAC results in relation to our overall economic and workforce competitiveness.”
“In Singapore, our education system has developed rapidly over the past decades and younger cohorts have benefited from significantly improved educational opportunities compared to earlier cohorts. This is reflected in the OECD PIAAC scores where our younger adults scored near the top in all three proficiency domains, while older adults scored below the average OECD scores. This is what we call the "cohort effect". Second, the atrophy effect, where acquired skills decline after adults leave the formal education system and enter work. This could be because the skills are not as frequently used or as deliberately honed at work compared to during the formal schooling years. Third, we also need to be mindful of the obsolescence effect, where skills become less relevant or even obsolete at the workplace, given rapidly changing market demands, technological advancement and enterprise transformation. There is also growing research interest on how technology has changed the way we consume and process information, with many people moving away from complex writing to shorter social media posts and videos. As cognitive outsourcing becomes more prevalent with artificial intelligence (AI), there is also a risk of erosion of deep thinking and reflection. Some Members have also asked what the results mean for the competitiveness of our workforce. We take part in PIAAC to help gauge our progress in adult continuous learning. In that regard, our improvements over the two cycles of testing are encouraging. However, the skills assessed by OECD are not the only skills that affect the employability of our local workforce. To put together a better picture of where we are, we need to consider other data points as well.”
“My response will also cover the matters raised in the oral Parliamentary Questions (PQs) scheduled for the Sitting on or after 9 January from Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim and the two written PQs scheduled for Sittings on 7 January and on or after 9 January 2025 from Members Ms See Jinli Jean and Dr Wan Rizal, please. And I invite Members to seek clarifications as needed. The Survey of Adult Skills is developed by the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to assess the proficiency of adults in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills. These are key information processing skills that are used and developed at work and in daily life, and also enable the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. Thus far, two PIAAC cycles have been conducted – the first from 2014 to 2015 and the second, more recently, from 2022 to 2023. Overall, we have made progress since the first PIAAC cycle. Singapore was the most improved country for numeracy alongside Finland while our literacy proficiency scores remained stable. Our adaptive problem-solving score was comparable to OECD’s mean. In this latest cycle, the OECD has found that in the majority of countries, including Singapore, older adults have lower skills proficiency. When comparing adults born in the same years across the two cycles, the OECD also found that nearly half of the countries had substantial age-related skill losses. In Singapore, this phenomenon was seen for literacy skills, but not in numeracy. Further studies will be needed to understand these findings. But these observed trends are likely due to a combination of several factors. First, the cohort effect.”
“Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 2 to 7 on today's Order Paper, please?”
“The Ministry of Education will provide an oral answer to this Parliamentary Question, together with other Parliamentary Questions which have been filed on this topic, at the next available opportunity. [Please refer to "Addressing Survey Findings Which Showed Decline in English Literacy Skills amongst Older Workers and Average Scores for Adaptive Problem-solving", Official Report, 8 January 2025, Vol 95, Issue 149, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“The Learn.gov.sg (LEARN) platform is designed to serve the learning and development needs of in-service public officers and the courses address specific job requirements. Retired civil servants who are re-employed by the Civil Service will have access to LEARN. Other retirees can continue to be lifelong learners by accessing SkillsFuture courses and other programmes available nationally, such as through the National Silver Academy and Institutes of Higher Learning.”
“The Civil Service regularly reviews its leave provisions to meet the needs of officers. The utilisation for childcare sick leave has remained steady at around 50% over the years and remains relevant for officers.”
“While we develop our students to suit their strengths, we also seek to develop our students holistically so that they will have a wide range of skills to thrive in a dynamic world and connect with people around them.”
“Our Mother Tongue Language (MTL) enables us to understand our own culture and maintain a strong link to our heritage. It also offers Singaporeans a comparative advantage by allowing us to connect with people who speak the same language as well as tapping into wider opportunities in the region. To this end, equipping our students with strong foundation in MTL is important and has been a part of our education policy on bilingualism. The Ministry of Education recognises that students have different abilities in the learning of MTL. It is understandable for some students to feel stress in subjects that they are weaker in. Our MTL curriculum is differentiated to cater to students of different learning needs and levels of readiness. Students who faced difficulties in MTL can learn at a more appropriate pace. For example, they can receive more individualised support through the MT Support Programme at Primary 3 and Primary 4. They can take the less-demanding Foundation MTL at Primary 5 and Primary 6, and G1 or G2 MTL as they move up to Secondary level and still progress to pre-university. Our MTL curriculum is designed to enable students to use MTL in everyday situations, beyond just academic settings. For example, our Primary 1 students learn how to use MTL in their daily routines, like buying food in the canteen and greeting their family members. Other students also participate in activities like heritage walk, drama appreciation and songwriting competition to facilitate their learning and use of MTL. Such approaches help students learn better and reduce their anxiety. Students who are gifted in other areas, such as mathematics and arts, are developed through special programmes in schools.”
“This Question has been addressed in the Ministry of Education's response to Parliamentary Question No 42 at the 11 November 2024 Sitting and Member may refer to the response. [Please refer to "Ensuring Proper Use of Personal Learning Devices in Schools to Effectively Support Students' Learning", Official Report, 11 November 2024, Vol 95, Issue 145, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“The dedicated public access route to the Indoor Sports Hall (ISH) at North View Primary School was completed in June 2024. For safety and security purposes, Closed Circuit Televisions are now being installed. The ISH is expected to be available for public booking, under the ActiveSG Dual-Use Scheme, in January 2025.”
“Schools are committed to nurturing citizens of good character and teaching our students to be civic-minded and responsible. Through "everyday responsibilities" in Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), students take on daily cleaning duties of their classroom and common areas in school. This is Singapore's way for students to learn about the dignity of labour and the fulfilment of serving their community, that achieves the same intent as Japanese schools' lunch duties. Schools also design Values in Action experiences, such as service learning, recycling drives and energy conservation efforts, to enable students' civic participation. We seek and appreciate the support of parents and society in our CCE programmes to inculcate such values in our young.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I completely agree with Ms Denise Phua. Indeed, we have groups of civil servants who are passionate about this and they go about doing their work quietly to make sure that jobs that can be converted, or even modified, to take in PwDs. We have done so and will continue to do so. But as I have mentioned, the nature of the jobs is quite different. So, we should not set artificial targets or we should not do what we call "tokenism", just to meet targets. We want to make sure that every job counts, rather than count every job. It is important for us that we employ PwDs to give them meaningful work, rather than just to meet any numerical targets. And as what Ms Denise Phua has mentioned, it is important that we continue this journey, not only with top-level management attention on this, but it also requires every one of us who is working in the sector to make accommodations and adjustments, so that we can bring out the best in everyone, including PwDs. And we will continue to do so.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have already explained that the nature of jobs in the public sector is quite different from the nature of jobs in the private sector. For us, it is more important to make sure that instead of counting the number of jobs, it is to make every job count. And that is what the Public Service sector is prepared and is committed to do. We want to make sure that every PwD employed by the Public Service sector has a meaningful job, based on their capabilities and strengths, and we will continue to look out for jobs where we can meaningfully employ PwDs to best make use of their talents. We are not here just to meet the numbers. And I think all my agencies are trying their best to make sure that they can convert jobs that are relevant and meaningful for us to hire PwDs. I have said that there are many jobs in the Public Service sector that are not comparable with the jobs in the private sector, and it is not meaningful for us to make that comparison.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it is not meaningful to compare the hiring rate of persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the public and private sectors as the contexts and nature of jobs in the two sectors differ. The Government is focused on raising the overall employment rate of PwDs across both the public and private sectors, where PwDs are placed and retained in jobs that are best suited to their strengths and capabilities. However, the public sector also has a significant proportion of roles for which a certain level of physical and mental fitness is required, such as the uniformed services. This is one reason why hiring rates of PwDs may differ across sectors. There is also no comparative data for the hiring rates of PwDs in the public sector across developed countries. The hon Member also asked about the constraints of hiring PwDs and steps taken to address these constraints. The Member may refer to the responses to the Parliamentary Question (PQ) that he raised on 15 October, and the PQ raised by the Member, Mr Don Wee, on 9 September, where we shared the public sector's approach to the issue. The public sector has been and will continue to support the employment of PwDs.”
“This question has been addressed in the Ministry of Education's published response to Parliamentary Question No 59 at the 11 November 2024 Sitting and Member may refer to the published response. [Please refer to "Protocol for Staff Interventions in Physical Bullying by Students Under 14 Years Old and Sharing Guidelines with Parents", Official Report, 11 November 2024, Vol 95, Issue 145, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“Over the past five years, there were close to 400 graduates with a specialisation in actuarial science from the autonomous universities. The number of graduates each year has largely remained in the same range.”
“This question has been addressed in the Ministry of Education's published response to the Parliamentary Question at the 11 November 2024 Sitting, and Members may refer to the published response. [Please refer to "Ensuring Proper Use of Personal Learning Devices in Schools to Effectively Support Students' Learning", Official Report, 11 November 2024, Vol 95, Issue 145, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“For SPED graduates who are transiting to community services, such as Day Activity Centres and Sheltered Workshops, Multi-Agency Transition Meetings are held to facilitate a more coordinated and person-centred handover process between SPED schools and post-school adult services. MSF is also reviewing and enhancing the continuum of post-SPED services, including the Sheltered Workshops, Day Activity Centres and the Home-Based Intervention Services pilot. The aim is to build on the functional skills SPED graduates learnt in school to enable them to exercise greater independence at home and in the community. Caregivers also play an important role to help SPED graduates reinforce skills learnt in the home setting. SPED graduates can also continue to develop work and life skills through continual learning. For instance, the Enabling Skills and Competencies Framework, which builds on the SPED curriculum, sets out the skills and competencies for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) for independent living and employment. PwDs can also draw upon SkillsFuture support and tap on courses organised by the Enabling Academy and Enabling Services Hubs to access opportunities for continual learning.”
“The Special Education (SPED) curriculum is designed for SPED students to acquire critical knowledge and functional skills to achieve the education outcomes for "living, learning and working" over a 12-year period, as they move on to post-schooling pathways at 18 years old, depending on their needs and interests. To help SPED students and their families make informed plans for the transition to post-school pathways, SPED schools work with families to facilitate a transition planning process for SPED students, starting from the age of 13, based on the students’ interests, strengths and aspirations. By the final year in SPED, typically 18 years old, each SPED student has an Individual Transition Plan to reflect his or her plan post-SPED. SPED students with the potential for open or supported employment may undertake the vocational certification pathway, where they have a longer runway of up to 21 years old to attain these certifications. The Ministry of Education also works closely with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and SG Enable to strengthen support and provide job opportunities for SPED graduates who are ready or have the potential to work. For example, the School-to-Work Transition Programme provides SPED graduates with the potential to work with customised place-and-train job training pathways for up to two years post-SPED. In addition, the Enabling Business Hub provides them with more training and employment opportunities and employment support services. For the remaining SPED students who require adult disability services, the Government’s approach is to develop and implement services and other forms of support to enable them to transition smoothly to living and learning through community services, rather than delaying graduation.”
“Certainly, in terms of civic responsibility, we can learn much from the Japanese in how the children come together to take care of their school environment, including keeping their classrooms clean, even though they consume food within their classrooms.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, can I deal with the second supplementary question first? We will try what we can to help our stallholders to get the most cost-effective produce for their stalls. This may include local farms, it may include overseas farms. I think our concern is not so much whether it is local or foreign. Our primary concern is to make sure that the produce acquired, purchased, is suitable for the school, for the vendors, and also that it is cost-effective. So, we are open to purchasing whether it is a local produce or overseas produce. We very much leave these operational decisions to the canteen stall operators. On the first supplementary question about what we can learn from Japan, I think the cultural context is quite different. In many of the Japanese schools that I have seen, they do not have the type of canteens that we have in the schools; they certainly do not have so many canteen operators like what we have in our schools. And they also have this culture of many of the children bringing their own bento sets, prepared at home, to school. This is something that many of our students also do. They do bring snacks and they do bring food from home. There is another difference between the many Japanese schools and the Singapore schools. Most of the Japanese schools do not have such big canteens like us, dedicated for the consumption of meals. And that is why in many of the Japanese schools, the children have their bento sets, they eat their snacks or their lunch in their classrooms and they clean up after themselves. So, this is quite different from the models that we have.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the use of vending machines is one out of many options that we employ to provide options for both food and drinks for our schools. So, there must be a reason why we have used vending machines for certain schools. Most of the vending machines are for drinks so that we can reduce the manpower required to serve them in our canteens and we can have the rest of the manpower available to have hot meals for our students. But as I said before, we will explore a plethora of options. This includes the conventional options of having stall operators provide cooked meals onsite. It can include vending machines, but most of the vending machines are for snacks and drinks. And then, there will also be options of a central kitchen delivery model. We will use all models to provide various options for the different schools, according to their different needs. On the second question, actually the best nutritionists that we can get are the people from HPB and they are regularly working with MOE to make sure that our students get healthy and nutritional meals throughout their time in school.”