Lee Chiaw Meng
Singapore
“" I think it is an opportune time for the Minister to examine the whole issue of statutory contributions rather than its individual components.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I seek clarification from the First Deputy Prime Minister. This is related to a certain provision in the Companies Act. I believe that section 69N of the Companies Act empowers a company to write to a member of the company to disclose the beneficial ownership of the shares.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I disagree. Is the Minister, therefore, saying that the HDB policy and the PWD policy is this: "We will cross the bridge when we come to it."? With such a policy they will not consider building any road until they have built a housing estate or until a big traffic jam occurs.”
“Sir, I believe the present differential between the Upper Timescale and the Superscale 'H' grades is about 33%. Whilst I appreciate the Minister's contention to retain the distinction between the Timescale officers and the Superscale officers, would not the Minister consider that 33% is too big a gap?”
“I think the best strategy s for us to adopt whatever development that is carried out elsewhere and provide our own innovations to it. The third question the Member asked is how successful we have been in developing Singapore into a brain and service centre, Sir, it is a bit difficult to quantify.”
“To reduce opportunity for cheating, the Bill requires instruments used for trade to be tested by an inspector of Weights and Measures and manufacturers and repairers of weighing instruments to be licensed. Further, shortweight and misrepresentation of goods sold will be regarded as an offence.”
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“They are likely to be put in special classes. Perhaps they will not be given reduced exposure time as originally intended. And as suggested by the Member for Jurong, they may be given more intensive coaching; hence they have to be put in special classes. We have to recognise the fact that we have to assist those people who cannot be effectively bilingual. The standardisation of performance and method of assessment is one of the topics discussed at the Principals' seminar, and certain recommendations have been made. We are studying the recommendations, which are very similar to what has been put up by the teachers' unions. This will be made known to all the principals and teachers concerned. The channelling of students into either three or four years' upper primary education will only take place in December this year. Therefore, those students who will be going to Primary IV in July this year will not be affected by this change. Those in Primary 11 now and going on to Primary III in July will be affected in June 1976. I hope that clarifies the point raised by the Member for Jurong. The Member for Potong Pasir also raised the question that there will be more private tuition. I am one who is not in favour of private tuition. But I also realise the parents' anxiety to encourage their children to take private tuition because of the restructuring. At the beginning of this year the Ministry conducted a very brief survey on one well established mission school and one typical Government-integrated school on the trend on private tuition last year, and again this year. The survey is not conclusive, but the results indicate that there is no rush for private tuition for the Primary III pupils.”
“First of all, may I reiterate what I have said in public. The Ministry has recently done a very detailed analysis of the last PSLE results. There appears to be a very good correlation between the predicted results by schools and the actual PSLE. We are sending this assessment to individual schools so as to assist them in making their assessment as to which students should do the remaining upper primary in either three or four years. I think the Member for Serangoon Gardens as well as the Member for Potong Pasir mentioned the stigma on the three or four-year upper primary. Let me say this. Whether a child completes his upper primary in three years or four years has absolutely no impact whatsoever on the secondary education he will receive. He will have to cover the same syllabus. He will have to take the same Primary Schools Leaving Examination, and the sort of secondary education and training that he receives will depend on his performance then. The Member for Serangoon Gardens also asked about the restructuring of the secondary level. The Ministry is now finalising the broad framework for the secondary level, and this will be sent to the various teachers' unions and professional bodies for comments. When finalised, it will then be made public. The Member for Jurong raised the point about those students who could not be effectively bilingual. In my statement in November I did admit that those who were genuinely incapable of being effectively bilingual would be given less exposure time. Since then I have given much thought on this and recently I have made certain clarifications on that point. First of all, I say that less exposure time will be allowed for those who are genuinely incapable, and I expect the number to be very small.”
“For example, most teachers' unions have already set up their own committees to do an in-depth study of the implications, and some have already made their recommendations to the Ministry. Recently, we had a series of workshops and seminars organised by principals with exactly the same purpose. It is also the intention of the Ministry to carry out a series of in-service courses to prepare the principals and teachers for the proper implementation of these changes. I agree that many teething problems will be faced on the introduction of the new system at the end of this year. Many of these problems, in fact, have been envisaged by the unions and the principals, and recommendations are being made. The Ministry is presently studying them and adjustments will be made where necessary. Sir, I will now deal with the more specific issues of the restructuring of the education system, which have been raised by various Members. The Member for Paya Lebar mentioned the difficulties that will be faced by schools with a small enrolment. He suggested that the Government should assist the merging of such small schools, particularly those in the rural areas. I could not agree with him more. In fact, a couple of years ago the former Minister of State for Education, now the Minister of State for Communications, announced that the Ministry encourages such moves. 4.00 p.m. Wherever possible, the Ministry will make available land and financial assistance to effect such a merger. In fact, merging of such small schools will also solve the problem, as cited by the Member for Serangoon Gardens, of small schools having only two classes of students. With a fair-sized school, this problem will be minimised. Various questions have been asked on how assessment will be done.”
“Sir, the few Members who have spoken have covered a very wide spectrum on the issue of education. Generally, the points raised fall into several categories and I propose to deal with them under these categories - changes in the education system and restructuring, professional matters concerning teachers, school management, and others. First of all, on the restructuring of the education system, may I compliment those Members who have spoken for their in-depth knowledge of what is being done, in particular, the Member for Moulmein who spoke very eloquently in defence of the changes. Let mc assure all Members of this House that this proposed change is not an exercise on paper and it will not, as the Member for Katong has said, start with a bang and end with a whimper. I agree that superficially there appears to have been a lot of changes and at times confusing, as the Member for Jalan Kayu has said. All these changes over the recent years are actually the logical development of our education system over the last one and a half decades. Our education policy has been spelt out very clearly in our 1959 documents. All these changes are no other than logical developments of this policy. Why does there appear to be more changes than before? Well, it is because we have been able to consolidate and build up the base which enables these changes to take place. With respect to the implementation of the restructuring of the education system, as all Members know, the Ministry is in close consultation with the teachers' unions, professional bodies and those in the field, like principals and teachers, on how best to implement it.”
“It is all right, Sir. 3.05 p.m. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it is very likely that the queries to be raised by the other Members will overlap. I would rather answer them altogether.”
“The information in respect of the Institute of Education is as follows: (i) The total number of teaching staff in January, 1975: Full-time: 100 Part-time: 4 (ii) The total number of trainees/students in January, 1975: Post-graduate 13 Pre-service 480 In-service (teachers) 375 In-service (others; e.g. Telecentre staff, Nurses, AEB staff) 38 --- 906 === (iii) The total number of trainees/students admitted in the last admission exercise: Dip Ed 85 Cert Ed 34 Others 38 --- 157 === (iv) The total number of graduates in the last graduation: Month Dip Ed Cert Ed Total June 49 48 97 Dec 51 24 75 --- --- --- Total 100 72 172 === === === The information in respect of the Ngee Ann Technical College is as follows: (i) The total number of teaching staff in January, 1975 73 (ii) The total number of trainees/ students in January, 1975 1,567 (including 189 students doing the Preparatory Course) (iii) The total number of trainees/ students admitted in the last admission exercise 307 (iv) The total number of graduates in the last graduation 251 Annex A - RESEARCH AND STATISTICS UNIT (Cols 467-468) Appendix - MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1975, TO 31ST MARCH, 1976 (Cols 469-472)”
“Conceicao asked the Minister for Education if he will supply the following information regarding the Institute of Education and Ngee Ann Technical College: (i) The total number of teaching staff in each of the institutions in January, 1975; (ii) The total number of trainees/students in each of the institutions in January, 1975; (iii) The total number of trainees/students admitted in the last admission exercise; and (iv) The total number of graduates in the last graduation.”
“The research function of the Research and Statistics Unit of the Ministry of Education was transferred to the Institute of Education after it was established on 1st April, 1973. Since then the Unit has functioned mainly as a statistical unit; i.e. the collection, preparation and publication of education statistics, although it does continue to carry out simple studies into areas such as teachers' attitudes, pupils' transportation to school, physical facilities, etc. No papers have been published on these studies. The research reports published by the Unit are in respect of projects carried out prior to 1st April, 1973. They are grouped into three categories: (a) Restricted circulation - 14 titles. These are not available for public reading. (b) Semi-restricted circulation - 6 titles. These may be released for public reading at a proper time. (c) Non-restricted circulation -- 12 titles. These are available to interested individuals. The titles of the publications in categories (h) and (c) are given in *Annex A (See cols. 467-8). Because of their confidential nature, the titles of those in category (a) cannot be given. Annex A - RESEARCH AND STATISTICS UNIT (Cols 467-468) The Institute of Education is currently engaged in a number of research projects. These have not been completed. The Research and Statistics Unit has always worked as a part of the Ministry. Its staff are paid from the Ministry's provision. They use common facilities, etc. No allocation has been made to finance any specific project. Therefore, no figures are available on the expenditure incurred on the projects. In the Institute of Education budget, a sum of $10,000 is set aside for research purposes. INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION/NGEE ANN TECHNICAL COLLEGE 6. Mr J. F.”
“(i) The number of candidates who sat for the Skill Evaluation Test for Electrical Fitting and Installation conducted by the Industrial Training Board from 1st January 1974 to 26th October 1974 was 172. (ii) The number who have been awarded the full certificate was 82. The Evaluation Test consists of one theory and two practical papers. Full certificates are awarded to those who pass in all three parts. (iii) The number who failed in the theory paper was 34. Eight candidates did not qualify for full certificate due to failure in the theory paper only. (iv) The number who failed in the practical paper was 82. APPENDIX I - CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN WHO HAD LEGALISED ABORTION 1970-1973 (Cols 1151-1152) APPENDIX I - RESULT OF APPLICATION FOR LEGALISED ABORTION (Cols 1153-1154) APPENDIX II - CHARACTERISTICS OF FEMALE STERILIZATIONS 1970-1973 (Cols 1155-1156) APPENDIX II - RESULT OF APPLIATION FOR FEMALE STERILIZATION (Cols 1157-1158) ASSENT TO BILLS PASSED The following Bills were assented to by the President of the Republic of Singapore on the date stated: 2nd December, 1974 (i) Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill; (ii) Naval and Air Bases (Repeal) Bill; (iii) Enlistment (Amendment) Bill; (iv) Singapore Council of Social Service (Amendment) Bill; (v) State Lands Encroachments (Amendment) Bill; (vi) Abortion Bill; (vii) Voluntary Sterilization Bill; (viii) Police Force (Amendment) Bill; ( ix) Cancellation of Planning Permission Bill; (x) Foreshores (Amendment) Bill; (xi) Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Bill; and (xii) National Police Cadet Corps Bill.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the first point about social care, the Ministry has plans to enlarge its social work unit. It will not be school-based, as recommended by the Member for Potong Pasir, but community-based, and we intend to introduce a pilot project in a few constituencies for a start. His suggestion on the use of school facilities is a good one. I did mention a couple of months ago that we would consider allowing the public to use the school facilities and that we would welcome, say, the CCC of any constituency to be the body responsible for the use of these facilities. His other suggestion on increasing school holiday amenities is a very good one, and the Ministry will definitely look into this.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fact is that the decision to raise the standard of admission has been known to principals for quite some time. There have been meetings between the Admission Section and the principals before the exercise was carried out. The reason why there are not enough students in certain schools is that a new Junior College has been established and it attracts a lot of students away from other schools.”
“I regret I simply cannot consider that because this is a subject which has been discussed by the teachers' unions and the Ministry for l� years. This point has been thrashed out over and over again, and we have signed the agreement. That is that. I think there is one more point raised by the Member for Paya Lebar. But he is not here. Mr N. Govindasamy rose -”
“Members will recall that in the 1967 National Day Message it was specifically mentioned that Singapore wants to encourage people to have small families of three or even fewer children. Then the Minister for Health gave a 10-month warning in 1968 that accouchement charges for children of the fourth and higher order were to be increased in 1969. We are not really that heartless. We entertained hardship cases. Where a child is the last child in a family, we allow him to enjoy the same privilege. Where one of the parents has gone through sterilisation, we also allow the child to enjoy the same privilege, whether he is the last child or not. Having done all these, out of the 47,600 pupils who applied for admission into primary one, 93 per cent got a place in schools of their choice. Of the 3,000 who did not get a place in schools of their choice, only 500 belonged to the fourth child and higher order. So although we may sound heartless, in hard facts and figures we are not that bad. The Member for Jurong asked about the promotion exercise. He will recall that the Ministry had written to all the teachers' unions asking them for their views about shortlisting and so on. The views of the unions will be taken into consideration in the next exercise. I can assure Members of that. 7.30 p.m. About Pre-University admission, it is true we increase the standards of admission for the simple reason that every year only about 60 per cent obtain a full certificate or a good certificate. We do not want to waste the student's years in studying in the Pre-U in vain, when he can gain admission to the Polytechnic, the Ngee Ann Technical College, or to other vocational institutes to learn a vocation and be a more useful citizen. He also mentioned about allowance for principals.”
“We have also introduced, since last year, a milk feeding scheme whereby we approached a major dairy to provide milk at a very low price, 10 cents per 150 milliliters, to primary school children. It has been extended to about 30,000 students at the moment. We plan to extend it further. At present our efforts are concentrated in densely populated housing estates where one-room flat prevails. We are negotiating with dairy firms to see whether they can provide a wholesome meal, milk with different flavours, plus something more substantial, like a bun or pudding, and so on. We are working on this scheme. Of course, our main effort will be concentrated at the lower income group at the moment. The Member for Telok Blangah queried the policy of admission to primary one. It seems that the Ministry of Education is a bit heartless in this respect, but it is not quite so. No one is denied the opportunity of choice. What we have done over the years was to accord privilege to certain groups of people. This year we have decided to withdraw this privilege to a group of people, i.e. children of the fourth and higher order. It is true that the Ministry of Education has at no time given this warning that children of the fourth and higher order will not enjoy this privilege. Anyway the privilege is something earned and may vary from year to year. However, I would like to point this out. The Family Planning campaign has been going on in Singapore for a long time, and the poster for family planning, which is a silhouette of two parents and two children has been in existence since 1966. It is now used as the logo of the Family Planning Board.”
“As the Member for Telok Blangah pointed out, these are the "international classes", where five teachers teach the same subjects, and so on. This is obviously not in line with the rationale of the policy. Since then the inspectors have been going round to schools to assist the principals in re-arranging the time-table. We have sent out circulars to school principals explaining how this can be done. We invite principals who are in difficulty to contact the Inspectorate so that assistance on how to arrange this block time-tabling could be given. Whether this new approach will result in a fall of standards of either one or both languages only time will tell, as the Member for Telok Blangah has also pointed out. Personally, I do not believe it will lead to a fall in standards. We all know that every lesson could be a language lesson and within every language lesson knowledge can be imparted. In January, 1971, that was a few years' ago, we introduced the primary pilot project, the PPP. This was discussed in this House and was given wide coverage in the media. I do not want to go into this again lest I will be accused of being carried away by my own work. Last year, we invited some overseas experts to do an analysis and evaluation of this particular project. The object was to evaluate those children who had gone through the PPP against those who had not, taking into consideration their social and economical background. The preliminary results indicated that the standard of spoken and written English of those children who had undergone the PPP is, in fact, higher. PPP, incidentally, Sir, is the forerunner of the block time-tabling, which I have just mentioned. The Member asked questions about tuckshops. We have reduced the rental of tuckshops at the beginning of this year.”
“Sir, may I be allowed to answer the Member for Telok Blangah first? His remarks on the second language and the increased exposure time for second language, and so on, are actually confined to primary schools where there is no such thing as specialist teachers. All these changes resulting in what we call the block time-tabling, are being carried out in the various schools. What does block time-tabling mean? It simply means this: all subjects that are being taught in one single language are put together. We also increase the exposure time of the second language to 43 per cent. The advantages are quite obvious. First of all, we allow teachers the flexibility of allocating teaching time for the various subjects within the same block, i.e. subjects being taught in the same language, instead of adhering to the very strict time-table prescribed. Secondly, it eliminates the undesirable feature at the moment where we turn on and off a child's interest in any subject every half-hour according to the clock. Thirdly, it cuts out the unnecessary wastage of curriculum time as teachers are not required to teach single subjects at half-hourly intervals. Fourthly, the 43 per cent magic figure we worked out represents half the teaching load of a single teacher. The purpose is that each teacher will take two classes, and for every class the children will be taught by two principal teachers for the two main blocks and other teachers for the third block which consists of physical education, music, arts and craft, and so on. Arising out of the fourth advantage, we hope to cultivate a more meaningful student/teacher relationship. Unfortunately when this system was introduced at the beginning of the year there was some confusion and it backfired.”
“Sir, it is not that I do not understand. The definition of "drop-out" varies. It depends on how one looks at it. If by leaving school, one means a drop-out, then there are lots of people who are drop-outs. Mr Tay Boon Too(In Mandarin): Sir, in spite of the Minister's praise of the senior officer that I referred to, I am not here to praise him.”
“I do not know which article he referred to. There were a few articles on the question of dropouts. As I said, the question of drop-out is a question of definition. If by "dropouts" we refer to those students who leave the primary school as a result of failing the PSLE, then that is what we have done.”
“I am not exactly defending this officer, but I just happened to know of this particular incident. I had attended, similar meetings before. If those who attended the meeting asked the same question 200 times and we explained 200 times, and if they still asked for the 20 1st time, then who would not feel exasperated?”
“Even next year, we will still aim at a higher target even if we have achieved what we had set out to do. He can be rest assured of that. The Member for Paya Lebar referred to a certain incident. I was familiar with this incident because the union saw me on this. I think we must look at this problem in its true perspective. The senior official made the remark that if the principals were not prepared to carry out their jobs they could step down as school principals; nothing prevented them from doing so and they would lose nothing. I believe the long meeting with a large group of school principals had exasperated him. In fact, this particular officer had proved to be one of the most polite and the least aggressive of all officers. It was most unfortunate that this happened. An hon. Member: Please do not defend him.”
“I think the figure of 7,000 which he referred to was the figure given in 1971 by a certain local English paper. It was a very well written article but completed with the wrong headline. I think this article referred to those who twice failed their Primary School Leaving Examination and were asked to leave school. As he may be aware, the Adult Education Board is carrying out a very good programme known as the Pre-Vocational Class (PVC) to train these pupils of 14 to 15 years for a vocation. At present, about a few thousand of them are in these centres under training by the Adult Education Board to prepare them for specific vocations. The courses range from construction trade to welding, spraying of motor cars, and all sorts of other trades. I can assure the Member for Henderson that the Ministry of Education never rests on its laurels. We are never satisfied with what we have achieved. We always try to aim at a better and a higher target. That is what we will do, and will do it again.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, to a certain extent I agree with the Member for Changi that the year-end holidays are too long. I do not think there are that many teachers who go to the Stock Exchange. Members will recall that the Ministry has shortened the year-end vacation. We have tried to spread them out evenly throughout the year. But unfortunately we are handicapped by certain restraints, for example, lack of physical facilities to conduct the PSLE and the GCE examinations. When physical facilities are available to conduct these examinations separately, without having to interrupt the schools' functions, we should be able to spread the holidays out more evenly. I am sorry that I have forgotten to reply to the Member for Tiong Bahru about the conversion. The conversion is based on the existing salaries. There is a conversion table and we convert according to the salaries, because qualifications and experience and other considerations must have been taken into account on first appointment. Of course, there is nothing to prevent the existing staff from applying for higher posts. I believe they have done so and will continue to do so. The Member for Jalan Kayu said that I was rather pleased with my own speech. I am not. It so happened that in my speech I mentioned the measures that we were going to take to enlarge the social work unit and to prepare the teachers to cope with the different conditions. I did make reference earlier to the heavy load on the students. That is precisely why we introduce the PPP, the Primary Pilot Project. The whole project is so constructed that it gives the children the minimum amount of homework to do. The Member also mentioned about the 7,000 school drop-outs. What do we mean by "drop-out"?”
“I am sorry I really do not have this sort of information now. I do not have a computer out here unfortunately. Sir, I hope I have answered most of the questions.”
“For clear-cut cases, like the medical and legal professions, accountancy, and so on, there is no difficulty in appraising the respective lecturers and putting them on the proper scales. But the difficulty exists in the peripheral area. For example, should outstanding lecturers in Economics and Business Administration be emplaced on the professional scale? So the university service commission was appointed jointly by the councils of the two universities to consider these cases. The members are drawn from both universities as well as from the professions outside. He also raised the point about re-designations and asked how many professors, associate professors, etc., were left at Nantah. I am sorry I do not have the exact figures, but I believe that only a handful of substantive professors are left at the Nanyang University, and as a result Nanyang University has started a recruitment drive to fill these chairs. By the time we have a common admission criterion and the academic structure of the two universities harmonised, we can foresee a greater exchange of students between the two universities. Perhaps then we could see more students from one university taking Honours courses in the other university. But I think it is a bit premature at this stage to predict what would happen. The Member for Sembawang asked for information about how many graduates from the University of Singapore and the Nanyang University are being admitted into the Institute of Education. I am afraid I cannot supply him with the figures off-hand. He can file a Question and I will supply him with the details. Similarly, this also applies to his enquiry on the number of graduates being turned out by the ITB, how are they employed, how much they are earning, and how many staff have resigned.”
“This is the direction we are taking and we are trying to help rural schools to merge to provide better facilities for their pupils. I am very flattered that the Member for Jalan Kayu should quote from my speech. Since he has done so, I presume he must have read the rest of my speech and the deliberation at the seminar. So there is no need for me to reply to his question at all. Of course, he would have known that in my speech I also made references to an earlier speech I made four months ago regarding what we proposed to do in that area of social work. Therefore, I presume that answers his question. The Member for Tiong Bahru asked a series of questions on institutions of higher learning. Regarding the joint admission exercise, in the past the admission criteria of the two universities differed vastly. In order to have better academic interchange between the two universities, we decided to have a common admission criterion and procedure. Therefore, from this year onwards, there will be a common admission exercise for courses common to both universities. Obviously if one applies for admission into the Faculty of Medicine, there is no point in doing a joint exercise since Nanyang University does not have a medical faculty. The members on this committee are drawn from both universities, the Registrar and the Dean. I do not know the names of the members. He also asked for information on the university service commission, its functions and its terms of reference. As the Member is aware, the salary scales of the institutions of higher learning, particularly the universities, were revised recently. During the revisions, we made certain distinctions between professional and non-professional academic staff.”
“There are very few schools in the Central Business District, and the Ministry is planning to resite those schools within the Central Business District away from the City centre. The Member for Anson passed some comments on ETV. I think `he is wrong. Our ETV is quite good. In fact, I recall three years ago the Member for Punggol, raised a similar question in this House. He said that ETV should not spend too much time in winning prizes. Our ETV production is of a fairly high standard. The Ministry carries out regular surveys to see how frequent does a school use the facilities provided. I can assure the Member for Henderson that the Ministry is sparing no efforts in inculcating a sense of proper national values and patriotism among our school children. We appreciate the importance of doing this at the school level. He can be rest assured that the Ministry considers this as one of its top priorities, although I do not think his observations about the attitude of his friends in the two universities prevail, otherwise we would not have so many professional members in this Chamber. The Member for Anson also mentioned about the Tamil word for "million". I must apologise for not being in this Chamber when the answer was given by my colleague, the Minister for Culture. But as far as I am aware, the original version of the word "million" is being used in schools. Unfortunately, I am not at all conversant in that language, therefore I am in no position to comment on its use over TV. The Member for Paya Lebar asked about improvements to rural schools. My Minister of State had on some occasions urged that all rural schools close to each other should try to merge so as to provide better facilities and amenities for the students.”
“As a result of the explosion at the Anderson School, we have drawn up very comprehensive precautionary measures for schools to adopt. We are very pleased to say that had that not been done the recent explosion may have caused greater casualties. The Member also mentioned that certain schools had not been inspected for years. I am not aware of any such cases. As regards teachers who had not marked their class work or compositions, as pointed out by the Member for Moulmein, there may `have been a few cases but I do not think we can generalise. As regards assembly, the Member for Sembawang said that he had attended a few assemblies - I hope he himself stood still instead of moving around. Recently the Ministry sent a circular to all principals reminding them of the importance of the assembly and that it should be properly conducted. The Member for Aljunied mentioned about car pools, and the success of MGS. Although MGS appears to have solved the problem, I think the problem should not exist in the first instance. Not very many schools in Singapore have 1,000 cars converging at any one given time. It should not be so. We are trying to encourage those schools in the Central Business District to organise car pools. The Ministry is sending circulars asking principals to form car pools. 6.30 p.m. This is not always possible. For example, we do not expect rural schools to form car pools. The chart circulated by the Minister for Communications must be read in the correct perspective. It represents the total person trips per day throughout the country, not necessarily those going into the Central Business District where the traffic jam is worst.”
“Of course, in certain instances, it seemed to be a deliberate attempt to run down the Educational Publications Bureau by falsely reporting that books published by the EPB were not available, which is not true. It is true that certain textbooks have increased in price, especially those that are imported. But I have to point out that all textbooks published by the Educational Publications Bureau remain unchanged, and as long as it is feasible we will maintain it that way. There are various ways of reducing the burden on parents of the higher prices of textbooks. Co-operative is only one of the various ways. I am not quite sure whether it will be as successful as the Member for Bukit Ho Swee envisaged. All the institutions of higher learning have their co-operatives, and I believe some do not know what to do with them now. We are toying with the idea of encouraging a few secondary schools with large enrolments to set up a co-operative to buy books, set squares, teaching materials and so on. There are many ways to solve the problem. For example, instead of asking the bookshops to tender on the basis of commissions to be paid to the school, we can ask the bookshops to tender on the prices of books, and then allocate the bookstore which can sell books at the lowest prices to the pupils. The Member for Anson raised the question of fire precautions. We do carry out regular fire drills in schools to prevent any mishap. It has been very unfortunate that there has been an explosion in a certain secondary school recently. But accidents do happen. We have no intention to find a scapegoat or go witch-hunting. What we are trying to do is to ensure the safety of children.”
“Sir, I was just coming to the third point, when I was interrupted. Perhaps if the Member had waited for two seconds, he could have saved a few minutes of our time. The third point I am going to mention is that the Schools Fund Regulations, as they stand now, have been too stringent in limiting the scope for which funds may be used and the freedom of principals to use them. We are revising these regulations. We are preparing a "Revised Schools Fund Manual" to enable principals to utilise their funds more freely in the interest of their pupils. Currently, the Ministry has also the following projects which are too large to be handled by schools individually. They have to be met from the miscellaneous fees collected. First of all, we intend to establish a number of centralised language laboratories to serve a cluster of schools, in line with our language policy. Secondly, we propose to construct and establish various centralised centres for ECA, which will include facilities such as swimming pools, where these facilities are not available. With all these projects in hand and with a greater flexibility and freedom given to school principals to utilise their funds, it is expected very soon that the collection of miscellaneous fees may not be sufficient to cover the expenditure spent on students on ECA. The miscellaneous fees may have to be increased again. Various points have been raised about textbooks. The Ministry of Education discourages too rapid a change of textbooks, and this is the declared policy; I would like to reiterate this policy. At the beginning of the year there was a shortage of textbooks. We were aware of it, but this applied only to a few titles. The position has since been rectified.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I seek your consent, and the general assent of hon. Members, to move that the adjournment be taken on the completion of the consideration of Head ND -- Police - today?”
“The new school building programme of the Ministry of Education provides for 28 primary schools and 26 secondary schools to he built in the course of the next few years. This is additional to 8 primary and 4 secondary schools which are scheduled to be completed in 1974 and 1975. The locations of these schools are as follows: - (a) Schools scheduled to be completed in 1974/1975 Primary Secondary Location School School Jurong Town 1 1 Mei Chin Road (Queenstown) 1 1 Henderson Road/Jalan Bukit Merah 1 1 Toa Payoh 2 1 Woodlands 1 - Kallang 1 - Tiong Bahru/Jalan Membina 1 - --- --- Total 8 4 === === (b) Schools scheduled to be constructed under the new programme Primary Secondary Location School School Jurong Town 6 5 Pasir Panjang/Ulu Pandan Estate 3 2 Queenstown Neighbourhoods/ Farrer Road 3 1 Redhill/Henderson Development/ Bukit Merah Centre/ BrickworkEstate 1 1 Telok Blangah New Town/ Kampung Silat 1 2 Toa Payoh 3 3 Ang Mo Kio 2 1 ---- ---- Total c/f 19 15 ==== ==== Primary Secondary Location School School Total b/f 19 15 Kallang Basin Neighbourhood/ MacPherson Estate 5 8 Bedok New Town/Upper Changi 1 1 Central Area 3 2 ---- ---- Total 28 26 ==== ==== Primary and secondary school places in the Yio Chu Kang and Jalan Kayu areas are at present adequate. The demand for school places in the Yio Chu Kang area will increase when the new satellite town in Ang Mo Kio is completed. To meet this demand, it is to be noted from the above that the two new primary schools and one new secondary school are to be constructed at the Ang Mo Kio housing estate.”
“Yes, Mr Speaker. APPLICATIONS FOR SINGAPORE CITIZENSHIP (Particulars) 5. Mr Teong Eng Siong asked the Minister for Health and Home Affairs how many persons applied for Singapore citizenship during the year ended 28th February, 1973; how many of the applications were approved; and how many of them were rejected, and the reasons therefor. The Minister for Health and Home Affairs (Mr Chua Sian Chin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the total number of applications received under all Articles of the Constitution during the year ending 28th February, 1973 was 9,068. The number of applications approved and rejected during the same period was 3,572 and 139 respectively. The reasons for refusal include the following:- (a) residentially not qualified; (b) failed National Language test; (c) character defects; (d) of no economic benefit; (e) no family roots in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the actual number of children who have registered for Primary I classes in Jurong for 1974 will not he known until the current registration exercise is completed in August. There are more than 1,200 Primary I places available in Jurong area, and this figure is estimated to be sufficient to meet the requirements of the residents there. However, should there be a further demand, some classrooms in the new secondary school can be temporarily utilised to accommodate the extra requirements until the new primary school for Jurong Town Neighbourhood II is ready in the beginning of 1975.”
“Sir, the attraction by the industry to experienced qualified staff from the teaching institute is a phenomenon throughout the world. It is not peculiar to Singapore, but we are trying our best to retain them. May I just quote an example? Recently the Ngee Ann Technical College offered an appointment to a former graduate. Immediately after the offer was made, the firm in which he is employed immediately doubled his salary, thereby pie-venting him from coming back to the College. It is precisely with this problem in mind that we have established joint training schools with major industries so that we can have their manpower to help us train our own people. On the question of long hair, the trainees in this joint training school have to observe the rules and regulations of the vocational institute in which they are housed. They are not supposed to keep long hair, and we will enforce the rule very strictly. The Industrial Training Board will take over the functions of industrial training formerly handled by the Technical Education Department. At present the Board runs some 40 different courses at various levels and of various durations, from six months to two years. The output for 1972 was 4,000 and we expect to increase it to 6,000 in the near future. This is in addition to the 10,000 expected to be trained by the joint training school, as mentioned by my colleague, the Minister for Finance, in an earlier debate. Mr Teong Eng Siong(In Mandarin): Sir, I thank the Minister for his answer, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $259,741,150 for Head 1501 ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $37,312,500 for Head 1501 ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.”
“Sir, I think the Member for Jurong is aware that a secondary school is under construction in Jurong, and a new primary school will be built sometime this year. In addition, new schools, both primary and secondary, are being planned for the future. Mr Ho Kah Leong(In Mandarin): Sir, talking about a secondary school, I would like to remind the Minister that the foundation work has already been done, but work has since then stopped for four months now. There has been no further progress beyond that. I do not know what has happened. I hope the Minister can go back and give his attention to this. As regards his intention to build more primary schools in future, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, the provision of staff quarters for Nanyang University for the last financial year was based on an overall master plan for the physical development of the University prepared by a Colombo Plan expert. Since then, we have a more detailed study of the master plan and are having second thoughts about it. We have decided instead to appoint a local team of architects to prepare another master plan, and this will be ready soon. As far as the provision of staff quarters is concerned, it is being finalised. We hope work can commence within this financial year.”
“Sir, the project and design are being finalised. Construction of the CEPTA ETV Centre will begin soon, and it is expected to be ready sometime towards the end of 1974. With respect to his query about its physical facilities, the Centre will be built on a site adjoining the present Ministry of Education. It will consist of a complex with five studios, two of which will be used for colour TV, a theatre and a four-storey general block, which will house the main production, photographic and processing divisions as well as the instructional material library. This project is, in fact, to enrich the activities of the ETV with a view to developing it fully into an educational mass media in the future.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the function of the Institute of Education will be planned with three main objectives in mind. Firstly, this is to provide pedagogical training before they join the teaching service. Secondly, the in-service course is to enhance and enrich their knowledge and to provide promotion opportunities for existing teachers. Thirdly, to do pedagogical research as well as educational research. The Institute will not award degrees. At the last Budget sitting, I have given detailed reasons as to why we will not award degrees. I think those countries awarding Bachelor of Education degrees are now having second thoughts about the viability of such degrees. As to the question of the existing staff, in the first instance, all of them will be seconded to the Institute of Education. The Institute will advertise the vacancies and the suitable ones will be appointed, while the others will be reverted to the Education service.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the breakdown figures of Government grants to the various institutions of higher learning are as follows: University of Singapore $ 20.5 million Nanyang University $ 5.5 million Singapore Polytechnic $ 6.25 million Ngee Ann Technical College $975,000. Sir, the quantum of the grant to each of these institutions is computed on the basis of the estimated expenditure for the coming year submitted by the institution concerned, and not unilaterally by the Ministry. The second part of his question is very well taken. But I would like to correct one point, i.e., that the donation of 75 per cent of the net income to Ngee Ann College was a voluntary gesture by the Ngee Ann Kongsi. If what the Member for Delta meant is to ask the Hokkien Huay Kuan to give 75 per cent of its income to Nanyang University, I will convey his view to the Hokkien Huay Kuan.”
“The principle of parity of treatment to both universities is being applied a few years since. The trouble, as far as salary scale is concerned, lies in Nanyang University having a great proliferation of titles and names and scales. For example, in the University of Singapore there are ranks of Professor, Associate Professor, Senior Lecturer, Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer. Whereas in the case of Nanyang University, there are such titles as Foundation Professor, Professor, Associate Professor, Grade I; Associate Professor, Grade II; Assistant Professor-I am not quite sure whether there is Grade I or Grade II - then Lecturer, Assistant Lecturer, and Teacher. I am afraid that with about nine grades as compared with five, there is bound to be overlapping and misunderstanding. I can assure both the Members for Delta and Jurong that the principle of parity is definitely being applied. In fact, the Ministry hopes to take up this matter with the Nanyang University to consolidate the great number of grades of academic staff so as to conform with internationally acceptable ones. I am afraid the Member for Jurong does not quite get his facts right. Academic staff of the University of Singapore obtain their housing loans from the University of Singapore, and the loan is a private fund of the University. It has nothing to do with Government. It is an endowment from donations in the past, and they have a huge endowment fund from which, I think, the loan was obtained. I am afraid the Nanyang University has no such funds. Perhaps what it can do is to raise a large endowment fund, and the interest accrued therefrom can be used for housing loans.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as far as the Ministry is concerned, records show that there has been no demand for pre-University classes in that area. The nearest pre-University centre is at Thomson Secondary School. It does not matter whether a student is staying at 12 m.s, or 15 m.s. Thomson Road, he still pays 10 cents bus fare, and it is on one direct bus route.”
“I hope the Minister will carry out a detailed investigation to assess the need for pre-University classes in Sembawang.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am afraid the Member for Paya Lebar has misunderstood me, and this shows the failure of the bilingual policy in the past. What I meant is that the Ministry has conducted such courses before, and we are going to conduct more courses with the union for the coming vacation. The Member for Anson raised the point about promotion. I am afraid the Minister does not know whether one teacher is good and the other is not. As I have said just now, we go according to three confidential reports on the teachers - reported by the reporting officers and counter-reported by the counter-signing officers. So we do not depend on one person or one report. The Member for Bras Basah asked the question about the engagement of certain graduates to teach in primary schools. Sir, these teachers are engaged for that specific purpose, and nothing can be done about it. Mr Teong Eng Siong(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, there is a question which was insufficiently replied by the Minister. I asked him to consider setting up pre-University classes either in Sembawang or in Nee Soon. We have three secondary schools in Sembawang with a few hundred Secondary IV graduates every year, but they do not have pre-University classes. I am sure Sembawang has a sufficient number of students for pre-University classes to be set up in Sembawang. I think the Minister said just now that we could not have them or we could do without them. This is not the way. Some of the students have to travel a few miles to go to the pre-University classes. For the average family, it means an increase in transport expenses. This is a question which deserves our serious attention and should not be dismissed lightheartedly.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on the point raised by the Member for Paya Lebar about organising courses for members of the teaching service to learn a second language, I thought the Member has benefited from one of these courses. In fact, I thought he has got a bonus already. Anyway, the Ministry of Education, together with the Institute of Education and the Chinese Middle School Teachers' Union, is currently looking into the possibility of running courses during the long vacation, in July and at the end of the year, for this particular purpose. When it is organised, it will be open to everyone in the teaching service. Sir, the point raised by the Member for Jurong regarding the promotion exercise, where in one school practically all those who applied were shortlisted whereas in another school none of the applicants was shortlisted, is a very valid example. In fact, I am fully aware of this phenomenon. As a result we are contemplating introducing a ranking system for confidential reports in schools whereby a principal has to rank his staff, say, 10 per cent of the best, 15 per cent of the second best, and so on, so that there will be an even spread of those called up for interview. In this way, they will really be compared against their peers when they appear for interview.”
“Sir, my apologies. The Member for Moulmein has raised two points relating to the eligibility of the teaching service in respect of the conversion of leave eligibility into monetary terms, and the other the extension of the Merit Increment Scheme to the upper timescale officers in the teaching service. Sir, we are taking up these matters with the appropriate Ministry, and we hope to get a favourable reply soon.”
“If the Member for Sembawang knows of such cases, it is not only his duty as a Member of Parliament but as a citizen to let mc know instead of keeping us in the dark. Sir, I am afraid that the use of relief teachers is unavoidable. Relief teachers are used, as I have said, almost every year to relieve teachers on maternity leave and so on. Unless we can do away with maternity leave and prevent teachers from going on maternity leave, we still have to use relief teachers. Sir, I could not disagree with the Member that there must be greater rapport between teachers and students. We are encouraging this by all means and the ECA is one of them. Sir, there is one point which I am afraid the Member seems to contradict himself. At first he pointed out that we have a shortage of teachers, and therefore we have to use relief teachers. Five minutes later he said that we should reduce the number of students per class, which means that we require more teachers. Sir, we would not be able to get the teachers, and we would not also he able to satisfy the Member for Anson because there would not be enough classrooms. Until such facilities are available, we will not be able to do so. Finally, notwithstanding the many good words the Member for Sembawang has said about the Ministry, I am afraid there is no demand for a pre-University class in Sembawang. We will look into this when the need arises.”
“In fact, the Member for Anson can expect another massive transfer at the end of this year and next year so as to reach the target in 1975 whereby more than 40 per cent of the curriculum time in primary schools will be in the second language. Sir, in such a transfer exercise, school principals are generally asked to submit the names of teachers who will be redundant and, therefore, available for re-posting. Under this arrangement, certain appeals against the transfer are sympathetically considered and, in fact, entertained. But it is not always possible to accommodate the wishes of every teacher in respect of the school of his choice. To do so will result in chaos. Sir, I am afraid I am not aware of any case where teachers have been transferred by a telephone call. If the Member for Anson is aware of any such case, please let me know, and I will definitely look into the matter. 3.45 p.m. The Member for Sembawang has raised a number of questions. On the question of shortage of teachers for the second language in respect of the implementation of our bilingual policy, as I mentioned just now, the way to overcome this problem is to introduce an integrated teaching approach as has been done in many schools. And we will see the results of our work very soon. The Member has also suggested that in view of the shortage of physical education teachers, we should run more in-service courses during the school vacation. I think this is a good idea. We will look into his suggestion, and implement it if possible. The Member has quoted examples of relief teachers who have been doing relief teaching for 10 years or so. I am afraid I am not aware of such cases, and I would be most grateful if he could let me have more particulars.”
“, are asked to go for practice occasionally. The Member for Anson is wrong when he said that it is a compulsory requirement for teachers to do two ECA, although I am aware that some of them are doing so. But it is not compulsory. The allocation of ECA responsibilities to teachers is made by the principals in consultation with the senior assistant and the teachers concerned, based on their attitude and interest, so that they could specialise in a particular activity. He also passed some very interesting remarks on "floating" classes. Sir, the introduction of "floating" classes in January this year was necessitated by the unexpectedly large number of students who passed the Primary School Leaving Examination last year. I have to disappoint him by saying that this has no direct relevance to the withdrawal of history and geography from the examination. There are 92 such "floating" classes in about 58 schools, an average of two "floating" classes per school. This system has been introduced in schools where there is not enough ground for building temporary structures or where other means to accommodate the students have failed. As a temporary measure, we have built some 50 additional classrooms and converted another 50 special rooms into classrooms, in addition to these "floating" classes. As soon as we have built enough schools, there will no longer be any "floating" classes. Sir, last year I announced the change of exposure time for second language. As a result there is a massive transfer of teachers. This has to be done to meet this change of policy.”
“There was another question raised on school clerks for the small rural school with a small enrolment. Let me assure the Member for Paya Lebar that we are, in fact, actively looking into this matter. He is aware that a number of large aided-schools have more than their quota of clerks. We are looking into the feasibility of transferring the excess clerks from these schools to the smaller rural schools which do not have a clerk at the moment. The Member for Anson raised a number of interesting points, especially on curriculum. I agree with him that at the moment the students are overloaded. In fact, it is the Ministry's policy to avoid overworking the students. But in order to provide an all-round education within the present constraint of curriculum time, there is only one way out, and that is, the integrated teaching approach. We are currently working on this system. For example, a few similar subjects will be integrated into one, such as physics and chemistry will be integrated into physical science; history, geography and civics will be integrated into social study. At the present moment there is an experiment to integrate English, mathematics and science into a single subject in the primary schools. This may partly answer the query raised by the Member for Sembawang. If he has the time, he is most welcomed to visit this school to see how the system works. The Member for Anson also raised a number of questions on extra-curricular activities. The Ministry of Education attaches great importance to ECA. Pupils generally turn up once a week outside school hours for ECA, and three hours for workshop practice. Only those who have been nominated for participation in special events, such as the Youth Festival, the National Day Parade, etc.”