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.”
The complete record
Every one of 341 lines we hold for Lee Chiaw Meng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 7.
“Sir, the Singapore Youth Festival is, in the nature of things, an excellent opportunity for highlighting the achievements of our youth and the rich cultural heritage of a multi-racial society. The Festival brings about a sense of fulfilment in many schools and also serve as a source of inspiration to others. However, if and when the activities connected with the Youth Festival become too onerous, we will consider holding it biennially, as suggested by the Member for Moulmein.”
“The particular case that the Member for Jurong has raised has become so famous that it has also come to my ears. It is about a teacher with teaching experience in some other countries, and the delay was due to the prolonged correspondence between the Ministry and the foreign government on the recognition of his experience as a teacher. Technical education has only been introduced very recently and we have not really drawn up a very comprehensive list of textbooks to be used; we have to bear in mind that the system we adopt, which is the modular system, is quite unique. We will develop the textbooks to be used by all the technical students. The guidelines we provide to the teachers are very comprehensive and, in fact, are based on a programme-learning approach, which is fairly satisfactory. In fact, the Member may be interested to know that we are in the process of developing textbooks for metal work at the moment. Both the Members for Jurong and Anson raised the question of students being transferred out of academic schools to attend technical schools. We tried to rectify this by introducing the concept of the arrangement of centralised workshops at Technical III and IV levels, which is now being practised for 16 schools, whereby a student will remain in his own school but go to a centralised place to study the technical subjects. This arrangement unfortunately will affect the E.C.A activities of the students and, therefore, both the supervisor of the centralised workshop and the principal of the sender-school have been asked to liase with each other to cut down the interference with the E.C.A, activities of the students as much as possible.”
“The Member may be interested to know that for the students of the only Government-aided vocational institute, i.e., the Boys' Town Vocational Institute, there is a limited form of insurance cover for each student provided by the school management. The Member for Anson has some misgivings about the channelling exercise. As pointed out by the Member himself, the channelling exercise was based on (a) aptitude; and (b) their performance in related subjects, i.e., Language, Mathematics and Science over the first two years in the secondary school. As far as we are concerned, the preliminary evidence seems to indicate that the system we are adopting is functioning very satisfactorily, although I must admit that no amount of testing and measurement is 100 per cent accurate, and there is bound to be a few exceptional cases. I am afraid it is not true that we have put too much emphasis on technical education. After all, technical education is only part of an all-round education to be provided in secondary schools. And there is, therefore, no danger of over-training. I think the Member also asked for the number of technical students. The intake of technical students depends very much on the manpower requirements of our industrialisation programme. Our present level, which is roughly one-third, or one in every three school leavers will be technically biased, is, I think, about the right level for any country. I do not think we should increase it any further. The Member for Jurong referred to the efficiency of the Department of Technical Education. I must apologise if the Department has not replied to his letter. It must be due to an administrative slip-up. I give him my assurance that it will not happen again and, in future, all such inquiries will be acknowledged immediately.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has always been aware of the need to develop safety consciousness and correct work habits and aptitude among technical students, In fact, we consider this an integral part of the whole training. In most technical schools, we have introduced instruction in first aid, and in most schools we have such a set-up as a safety committee. Constant care is always taken to stress the safety aspect of workshop practice to the students by the teachers. In fact, pupils are not allowed to use any machine unless they have been briefed by the teachers on its proper use and the safety precautions to be taken. I believe the Member for Moulmein also raised certain issues about the question of insurance coverage in case of accidents occurring in technical schools. All technical teachers in Government schools enjoy the same coverage as any civil servant. So there is no question of a separate insurance scheme to cover any occupational hazards encountered by them. In the case of aided schools, their technical teachers are in a position similar to all other teachers in aided schools, where there is no insurance scheme to cover them. It is up to the management committee of the school to decide whether they should provide such an insurance scheme. There have been no major injuries sustained by the technical students so far, largely due to the safety precautions that we have taken, But should any accident occur to students in the Government schools, the Government will take full responsibility of the accident, as in the recent case of accident in Anderson Secondary School. In the case of aided schools, I am afraid the first claim will be on the management committee. To the best of my knowledge, there is no precedent case yet.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wonder whether the Member for Anson watches television. The E.T.V, service for adults was introduced as far as five years ago. There is a programme titled English for Everyone, dramatised by "Connie and Walter". It was produced jointly by the Adult Education Board and the E.T.V. This is followed by "Slim John". In addition to this programme designed specially for adults, there arc other programmes, which the Member for Anson has made reference to, which have been repeated on T.V. over the last five years. These are being telecast during viewing hours on Sunday evenings. The programmes include Health Education, Discovering Science, etc. With the establishment of C.E.P.T.A., that is, the Centre for the Production and Training of Adult Education and Television, the Member can be rest assured that both the range and intensity of E.T.V, for adults will be increased.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, all foreign qualifications should be considered on their individual merits, and there is no question of giving a blanket recognition.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, one of the findings of the Foreign Qualifications Committee was that, and I believe the Member for Anson will agree with me, different universities have different standards.”
“Mr Speaker. Sir,I am afraid the Member for Jurong has completely misunderstood the Minister when he said in Parliament last year that we were reviewing the role the Institute of Education would play. In fact, with the closing down of the School of Education in the University of Singapore, the T.T.C, will enlarge its function and take over the work of the School of Education in preparing students for post-graduate degrees. like Master of Education and Ph.D. (Education). If he wants to know more about the degree of Bachelor of Education, I would like to refer him to the report by Lord James who was appointed by the British Government to study the question of the role of the Institute of Education in the United Kingdom. The finding is very revealing. With regard to the query raised by the Member for Anson, there is absolutely no question of discrimination. As far back as 1961, a Foreign Qualifications Committee was set up by the Public Service Commission to assess the qualifications and to consider the merits of applicants possessing foreign degrees. As a result, many teachers in possession of Indian university degrees were put on the appropriate salary scale. Since then all teachers with foreign qualifications, irrespective of the country of origin, have been considered on individual merit for emplacement on the appropriate salary scale.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, with regard to the first part of the question, a Special Committee, headed by the Director of Education as Chairman, has been formed, and it will study and review the position and carry out a promotion exercise for all aided school teachers. It will also follow the same pattern as the promotion exercise for Government school teachers. On the second question regarding holiday bungalows, aided school teachers can apply for bungalows as any other member of the public. The fees chargeable to them will be the same as those for the public. Incidentally, I would like to point out that bungalow allocation is under the charge of the Ministry of Finance.”
“This is subjected to the final agreement with the P.S.C, and the Ministry of Finance. Once the newly developed Staff Confidential Report is ready, we will carry out a promotion exercise.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe the Member for Moulmein will recall that when agreement was reached on the restructuring of salary scales, it was pointed out that it may take a few months to finalise the conversion. 1 think we will he able to finalise it by the end of this month. Meanwhile, we have already drawn up certain criteria for promotions for the consideration of the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Finance. This involves a newly developed Staff Confidential Report which, among other things, takes into account assessment on the performance of teachers, including personality, E.C.A., and work in community services. As soon as agreement is reached, we will carry out a promotion exercise. The promotion exercise will be carried out for Group III officers first. Being smaller in number, we will carry out promotions first for craft teachers, and then for technical teachers. As for frequency of these exercises, I am afraid I am not able to answer the question, but it is supposed to be flexible. For the coming exercise, we do not know the number of promotion posts that will be available. I believe I have answered most of the points raised.”
“Sir, as the Member for Jurong is aware, the newly revised salary structure is to allow for greater flexibility. Therefore, we do not intend to designate the principal of any two schools for these two Superscale G posts. At the moment, these two Super-scale posts are held by the Principal of the Raffles Institution and Principal of the Raffles Girls' School. Sir, if the Member will refer to last year's Estimates, he will see that it was designated as Principal, Raffles Institution, and Principal, Raffles Girls' School. But this year, it has been designated as "Principals of Secondary Schools" to allow for the necessary flexibility.”
“Sir, I hope the Member for Jurong does not imply in his question that we should abolish the two Superscale promotion posts for secondary school principals. I agree with him that the designation does not sound very well. Perhaps it should rear! "Education Officer, Superscale G" instead of "Principal of Secondary Schools". But this is a minor point. Promotion posts to Superscale grade are very hard to come by. We have only two and we intend to keep them for the promotion of those in the teaching profession.”
“I can give assurance to the Member for Jurong that we will try our best to get the forms translated into all the four languages.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, just now the Member for Jurong complained about the Ministry of Education changing its policy without planning, but now he is complaining that we send the principals too many forms calling for statistics. I do not see how the Ministry can make any plans without statistics and data. The sending of the various forms to schools asking for details is an annual affair, We are trying our best to send them out in one lot so that the schools can fill them up either at the beginning: or at the end of the term, With respect to the particular form mentioned by the Member, he has correctly pointed out that it is designed to make a study of the mobility patterns of the student population, and so to enable us to prepare a school building programme for the next ten years. The Education Ministry has already clarified that the information, regarding the constituency where the student is residing, is supposed to be filled in by the teacher and not the student or his parents. This information is only used as a rough guide. He has also asked about the work of the Research Unit. The Research Unit has various functions. amongst them the appraisal of the education system -I believe the Member for Jurong is extremely keen on this - the evaluation of teaching methods, and curriculum development. Over the last two years, the Research Unit has done some 20 reports, which have proved extremely useful to the Ministry.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this provision of Visiting Professor was made with a view to engaging an expert in Teacher-training to assist the Principal of the Teachers' Training College, in view of its enlarged functions because the School of Education of the University of Singapore has closed down. We are keeping this in review, if the manpower of T.T.C, is sufficient to meet our own requirements, we may not fill this post.”
“Conceicao asked the Minister for Law and National Development if the Housing and Development Board will continue to retain a proportion of new 3-room flats for rental and not put all such units for sale under the Home Ownership Scheme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, a site at the junction of Jalan Membina and Gagak Selari Barat has been reserved for a primary school in the Tiong Bahru Constituency. Owing to great shifts in the population caused by the Housing and Development Board building programme, certain areas like Toa Payoh, MacPherson /Aljunied, and Tanjong Pagar/Queenstown, which includes the Tiong Bahru Constituency, are now suffering from acute shortages of school places. To rectify the uneven distribution of schools, the Ministry of Education has initiated studies on schools required in the next 10 years so that suitable sites can be reserved in centres of population, and funds will be provided by the Ministry of Finance. The school building programme will give priority to the areas where the demand for school places is most urgent. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD (Policy on applications for flats by non-citizen permanent residents) 10. Inche Abdul Aziz Karim asked the Minister for Law and National Development if the Housing and Development Board will adopt a new policy to allow non-citizens, who are permanently resident in Singapore, to apply for flats after the untimely death of their citizen-spouses, in view of the fact that their children, if born in Singapore, should enjoy the same rights and privileges as any citizen. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Law and National Development (National Development Division) (Mr Ho Cheng Choon) (for the Minister for Law and National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, if a non-citizen is the surviving spouse of a Singapore citizen and is a permanent resident of Singapore, his or her application for a Housing Board flat will be favourably considered. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD (Retention of proportion of new 3-room flats for rental) 11. Mr J. F.”
“Whenever sufficient staff and facilities are available, we will consider the Member's proposal. As the intention of the Government is to concentrate all the Pre-University classes in the Junior Colleges, therefore, there is no purpose in diverting them in various centres at the moment. TIONG BAHRU CONSTITUENCY (Building of new schools) 9. Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon asked the Minister for Education whether sites have been reserved for schools in the Tiong Bahru Constituency; and whether it is planned to build new schools in that Constituency in the near future and what type of schools.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we have always been encouraging the teaching of such subjects in English. In fact, when a survey was conducted recently among the Secondary IV students in a certain Malay secondary school, the majority of the students indicated their preference for these subjects to be taught in English. However, the proposal of the Member will be taken into consideration when we plan for next year's intake. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Sir, in addition to the classes at the Sang Nila Utama and the National Junior College, will the Minister of State consider opening up another Malay Pre-University class in Tun Sen Lanang?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the criterion for entry into the PreXUniversity classes remains essentially the same. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, will the Minister of State consider the possibility of teaching Mathematics and Economics in English in the Malay Pre-University classes?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there were 70 students in 1970 and 100 in 1971, increasing to 170 for this year, 1972.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the number of Pre-University I classes for Malay-medium students in 1972 and the schools in which these classes are conducted are as follows: School No, of Total Enrolment classes Sang Nila Utama 3 131 students National 1 39 students Junior College - --- Total 4 170 students = === Another class will be started in Sang Nila Utama if there are enough late applicants with the requisite qualifications. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, can the Minister of State tell the House the number of students admitted into the Pre-University classes (Malay stream) for 1970, 1971 and 1972?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, at present, pupils from the eastern sector are being catered for by the centre at Mountbatten. However, if there is sufficient response and when facilities are available, we may consider setting up a centre in the Kampong Kembangan area. MALAY PRE-UNIVERSITY 1 CLASSES IN 1972 (Particulars) 8. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff Bin Suradi asked the Minister for Education the number of Malay Pre-University I classes in 1972 and the schools in which they are conducted.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there are at present four such centres. They are at Parry Avenue, Kim Keat, Mountbatten Road, and Queenstown. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, will the Minister of State consider setting up a similar centre in the eastern sector to cater for pupils in Kampong Kembangan and the surrounding areas?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, of the 75,000 pupils who sat for the 1971 Primary School Leaving Examination, 29,000 or 39 per cent were unsuccessful but allowed to repeat Primary VI classes in 1972. The breakdown figures, according to language streams, are as follows: English 20,264 Chinese 6,577 Malay 2,263 Tamil 102 ------ Total 29,206 ====== With respect to the second part of the question, the number of unsuccessful pupils who had to leave school is as follows: English 4,306 Chinese 1,221 Malay 394 Tamil 52 ----- Total 5,973 ===== These pupils had to leave school because they were over-aged for the Primary VI classes. However, they were invited to join the Vocational Preparatory Classes which were specially organised for them by the Adult Education Board. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff(In Malay): Sir, can the Minister of State for Education tell the House in which centres are these Vocational Preparatory Classes conducted?”
“Sir, I believe all these children have been admitted to Primary I classes, and about 95 per cent of them have been admitted to the schools of their choice. 1971 PRIMARY SCHOOL LEAVING EXAMINATION (Particulars of failures) 7. Tuan Haji Mohd. Ariff Bin Suradi asked the Minister for Education how many children who failed the Primary School Leaving Examination in 1971 (i) were allowed to repeat in Primary VI classes in 1972; and (ii) were asked to leave school, giving breakdown figures for each of the four language streams.”
“This Bill seeks to enable the Polytechnic to carry out its intention by means of a simple amendment to exempt compliance with section 10 of the Singapore Polytechnic Act, in so far as affixing the common seal of this institution's diplomas and academic certificates is concerned. The Bill will not involve the Government in any financial expenditure. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Dr Lee Chiaw Meng]. Bill considered in Committee: reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. PARLIAMENTARY MEMBERSHIP BILL Order for Second Reading read. 4.10 p.m.”
“Mr Govindasamy, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." It is the convention for an institution of higher learning to affix its common seal to its degrees, diplomas and certificates. The Singapore Polytechnic is no exception in this use of the common seal. However, at present section 10 of the Singapore Polytechnic Act requires two conditions to be satisfied before the common seal can be affixed to any instrument. Firstly, the Chairman or a member of the Board and the principal will have to sign the instrument. Secondly, these same persons will both have to be present together while the seal is being affixed. Therefore, in affixing the common seal to the Singapore Polytechnic diplomas and certificates, certain obvious difficulties arise. When a small number of diplomas and certificates is involved, compliance with this formality is tolerable though irksome. While the expansion, as envisaged, to develop the site to the north-west of Dover Road is in progress, it is expected that the number of graduates will rise steadily to well over 1,600 by 1976-77 when the new campus will have been completed. Under such circumstances, the affixing of the common seal to each and every diploma and certificate will become excessively cumbersome. The Singapore Polytechnic intends that each of the technician diploma and certificate will in future continue to bear the common seal and be individually signed by the principal and the head of the school concerned. However, the Chairman's signature will no longer be hand-signed but only be printed on the diplomas and certificates.”
“Let me quote an example. Last year. after parents had queued for many days to get places in Primary 1 classes for their children at the Raffles Girls' School, an established Government English primary school, there were still 12 vacancies remaining at the end of the registration exercise. Perhaps the Member for Jurong would like to send his sympathies to those who had queued up for the seven days. At the same time, for the other established schools, such as Chong Pun Girls' School, which has an average of 96 per cent P.S.L.E, passes for many years, and, for that matter, Nan Chiau School, there are hardly any queues at all. An analysis of the background of the primary schools attended by this year's President's scholars could be very interesting. Of the nine scholars, seven received their primary education in Singapore, of whom three are from Government schools, and four from Government-aided schools. Of these four, three are from Government-aided Chinese schools, and one from a Government-aided English school. This school and another Chinese school are the only schools in the list having long queues. Mr Speaker, Sir, this phenomenon of queuing up for registration at the schools is not a new one. It has occurred year after year. We are considering various alternatives, such as registration by balloting, and registration limited only to children living in the neighbourhood of the schools. But we believe that whatever measure we take cannot do better than satisfy 95 per cent of the people. 3.53 p.m.”
“I would like to refer him to the very successful seminar organised this year by the Singapore Teachers' Union. I think it is the general consensus that the bargaining power of the teaching profession is in the display of their professional expertise, and not in the constant moaning of self-pity. The negotiations between the Ministry and the unions are on the restructuring of the salary scales to iron out certain anomalies. I fail to understand what gave him the impression that only a certain selected group of senior assistants and principals are being promoted. The principle of the new salary scale is to enable teachers to be promoted within their own ranks. In fact, I could hardly answer any more of his questions because the negotiations have not yet been finalised. I believe the Member for Jurong also raised the question of the long queues at schools. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to emphasise two facts: (1) There are more Primary 1 places than are required. For 1972, there will he over 60,000 Primary I places for the estimated 51,000 children seeking admission. (2) For last year, 95 per cent of the parents obtained places for their children in schools of their own choice. There is therefore no reason for him to believe that it will be any worse this year. These facts have been reported by most of the local newspapers recently, and it is most amazing how the Member for Jurong, who is the President of the Singapore Chinese Middle School Teachers' Union and a teacher himself, could be ignorant of these facts. Perhaps the temptation for sensationalism and publicity is irresistible. Mr Speaker, Sir, the fact that there are long queues at the schools for registering children in Primary I classes is the most perplexing phenomenon.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, before the P.A.P. took office in 1959, there were only 300,000 children in schools, and the privilege of education was limited only to a lucky few. In less than a decade, this Government has ensured every child a place in school and 10 years of education. Today, the question is no longer the provision of sufficient places in school for children, hut the emphasis is on the improvement of the quality of education. As stated in the addendum to the President's speech at the opening of this Parliament, this Government will concentrate its efforts on developing a more flexible education system and curriculum, with particular emphasis on language teaching. I believe the Member for Jurong has certain reservations about this, and I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few points. First of all, let me assure him and the House that the emphasis on language teaching does not necessarily mean it will be done at the expense of other subjects. On the other hand, the teaching of other subjects is to supplement the teaching of language. What we try to achieve is to have all lessons being considered as language lessons. All these changes that have been taking place in the revision of the curriculum have been done in the closest consultation with the Teachers' Union and those in the teaching profession. 1 can assure the House, especially the Members in the teaching service, that there will be continuous and close consultations with them. The Member for Bras Basah raised the question of the salary structure for the teaching service. Mr Speaker, Sir, I could hardly disagree with him on the importance of a motivated teaching force. But 1 wonder if financial remuneration is the only criterion for motivation in the teaching profession.”
“Mr Speaker. Sir, each case will he considered on its own merits, even in respect of aided schools. It depends on the demand of that locality. PROSTITUTES DETAINED AND TRAINED IN WELFARE HOMES (Particulars) 3. Inche Rahmat Bin Kenap Al-Haj asked the Minister for Social Affairs how many prostitutes were referred to and detained in the approved homes of the Social Welfare Department between 1st. July 1970 and the latest convenient date: for how long are they detained: and what trades are they being taught in such homes.”
“The University complex is too big for the Polytechnic and it would be a waste of buildings. The University has at present 4,000 full-time students. For the purposes of the Polytechnic, it would be much too big, especially if you are going to put up new buildings. I think the Member for Punggol misunderstood me when I said that the decision is final. I said "final" not with any arrogance but just in case the Member thinks that the Ministry of Education will change its mind again and site the Polytechnic somewhere else.”
“Vacant grounds, meaning that we have to put up new buildings. Instead of building at Bukit Timah Road, we are building at Dover Road. It is not going to cost --”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I did not quite follow the Member for Punggol. Is he suggesting constructing new buildings in the Bukit Timah campus for the Polytechnic? Mr Ng Kah Ting: There are some vacant grounds at the University campus.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Punggol has quoted correctly. In fact, it was the intention then to move the Polytechnic to the University of Singapore Campus. But on further analysis, we found that it is not very economical for various reasons. First of all, timing. The University is going to move to Kent Ridge. But there will be a time-lag and the development of the Polytechnic will be hampered if it is to wait until the University has moved to Kent Ridge. I was not here when the Minister for Science and Technology answered Members' queries on the University of Singapore. But I believe it will take some time to move the University from Bukit Timah to Kent Ridge. The polytechnic cannot wait that long for further expansion. Secondly, the present building in Bukit Timah is not really suitable for the Engineering Faculty for purely engineering reasons. It was built for laboratories and lecture theatres of very light load. Whereas for an engineering institution like the Polytechnic, we have heavy machinery in operation. It may end up with the 10 storey Physics building coming down to the ground floor with all the machinery! In fact, considering the conversion costs, it will be cheaper to move to a new site. It is with that in mind that the Polytechnic will now be moved to Dover Road. That decision is final.”
“Mr Speaker. Sir, as I have mentioned, there is a unit to maintain all the machinery. The frequency of the break-downs is high because the students are using the machinery for training purposes. A certain delay in repairing is inevitable Of course, the best way to maintain it is not to let the students touch it. But then you will not train anyone at all!”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am referring to the teachers trained locally: they are not bonded for five years. We had occasions when the teachers marched into the principal's office, threw down a cheque for three months' salary, and walked off.”
“The Singapore Vocational Institute is about the best equipped institution we have, and since the class is small we have it there. The Member for Punggol has also asked whether there will be some duplication of instruction. Duplication will be inevitable, Sir. The Singapore Polytechnic runs two types of courses, a three-year Technician course, which is called the engineering technician, and a two-year Industrial Technician course, which is called the General Certificate of Industrial Training. The course run at the Singapore Technical Institute is similar to this two-year course. I believe that at present there is a joint committee of the Singapore Technical Institute and the Singapore Polytechnic to work out a common scheme. I appreciate the concern of the Member for Punggol that as far as possible we should not duplicate, but since the demand for technicians is so large, the Singapore Polytechnic alone will not be able to train sufficient industrial technicians. Hence the establishment of the Singapore Technical Institute. I hope that answers the Member's question.”
“With regard to the last question about the maintenance of equipment, I hope the Member for Sembawang will appreciate that this is a training institute. They are students. They are not skilled workers. They are being trained to be skilled workers, so that they cannot be expected to be skilful in maintaining machinery. If they are skilful they should not be there for training. We can expect more damage to be done to the machinery there than in an ordinary workshop. As a result of the frequent break-down in the machinery - in the past we always depended on the P.W.D. to repair it - arrangements have been made with the Ministry of Finance to establish a Central Supply and Maintenance Unit in the Technical Education Department to carry out the maintenance work. Skilled teachers are being assigned to this unit to maintain the machinery. The Member for Punggol has asked why the Singapore Technical Institute is temporarily housed in the Singapore Vocational Institute, and whether this temporary arrangement will be of any good. Can I take the Member for Punggol back to 1960? He will recall that the present Vocational Institute and the Polytechnic were housed together under the same roof in Prince Edward Road. In fact, in the case of the Polytechnic in London, they train people from semi-skilled level right up to Ph.D. in Engineering under the same roof. The reason why the Singapore Technical Institute is housed in the Singapore Vocational Institute is that, first, we feel that there is a need for a supply of what we call industrial technicians. They are the lower level of technicians. There is a great need for them and, therefore, we borrow the premises at the Singapore Vocational Institute to make an early start.”
“This is a free country. Mr Ng Kah Ting: I mean an education bond.”
“They must be properly trained. We will be expecting something like 300 trained teachers coming out this year. One of the difficulties we are facing is that every time we finish training the teachers, the industries find that they are so well trained that they just grab them.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I will first answer the question which has been raised by the Member for Sembawang. The first part of his question has been amply answered in my reply to the Member for Punggol in an earlier question. Perhaps the Member for Punggol may like to explain to the Member for Sembawang. Then the Member for Sembawang asked a question about the output of graduates in 1968. I happen to have the figures here. The Technical Education Department was established in 1968. The vocational institutes produced 518 graduates in 1968, 400 in 1969 and the same number in 1970. The Singapore Technical Institute, which was formed in 1969, produced only the first batch of 96 graduates in February this year. The Member for Sembawang has also asked when the Singapore Technical Institute will be completed. Just now on my way from the airport to this House, I did some counting of the storeys of the building and it has come up to the 10th floor. They are putting a roof on it. It should be completed some time this year. It is in MacPherson Road, in a very clean environment. The Member also asked about the facilities and equipment. These are provided for mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, refrigeration and air-conditioning and furniture production. Most of this equipment is purchased overseas, particularly from the United Kingdom, as this Institute is being financed under the British mitigatory aid scheme. His next question is whether we have sufficient teachers for technical education to cope with the rapid expansion in industry. The answer is no. We are trying our very best to train them. We hope that in about two years' time we shall be able to produce enough teachers. Unfortunately, in the case of technical teachers, we cannot have relief teachers.”
“Sir, first of all, let us take, for example, the vocational institute nearer to the Member for Punggol, i.e., the Ponggol Vocational Institute. One of the difficulties we are facing in respect of this particular programme at the Ponggol Vocational Institute is that the students are required to go outside and work in industry for three months, and they have acquired so much skill by then that they will not come back. The pay is so good! That is one difficulty. The other example I can think of is in the welding trade, for example. I think the biggest training institute we have is the Pasir Panjang Vocational Institute, and our graduates are booked up until the end of next year.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in answer to the question from the Member for Sembawang, I believe I did mention that the capacity in the secondary schools is 8,000 per year. But the output of the vocational institutes will be raised from about 1,800 in 1970 to about 10,000 in 1980. With respect to the point whether the graduates have acquired employable skills, the difficulty is for them to get deferment from national service to enable them to take up employment.”
“The training programme is in accordance with the module training system, which is mentioned in the Report. It is widely adopted in European countries. In fact, it was recently adopted by the British. The Research Department did a very thorough research of all the technical education and vocational training programmes in the various countries at various stages of development and, as a result of such an intensive study, they have come out with this module training scheme for our vocational institutes.”
“Their's is a very limited skill and requires only a very short training period. After a year's operation, we decided that we should enlarge its activities to provide not only just short training courses but also two-year training courses. With this in mind, we introduced in 1969 the module training scheme that integrates all training systems under one single scheme. I shall touch on this later. Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the confusion arises because of this. In order to clear up the confusion, there must be more confusion to begin with. That is why in order to have all secondary schools called secondary schools, you begin with bi-lateral schools and integrated schools. The Technical Education Department do have a very clear-cut policy on technical education, and this is stated in the Second Annual Report which was tabled in this House as Paper Cmd. 22 of 1970. Very briefly we separate the scheme into areas - those within the school and those outside the school. The training within the school system is done in ordinary secondary schools which have a technical department. The courses have a higher theoretical content, and prepare the students for examinations leading to the General Certificate of Education, Ordinary Level and Advanced Level. The training for those outside the former secondary school system is carried out in vocational institutes. All the industrial training centres are being converted - I should not use the word "converted" but rather "upgraded" to take in more machinery. It is not the same syllabus. If you go through the budget you will find that actually more machinery has been provided so as to improve the facilities and methods of training in the vocational institutes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I admire the Member for Punggol for his deep understanding of the history of technical education. I would like, first of all, to deal with the question of vocational schools, and then go on to the policy of technical education. The Member for Punggol has very clearly pointed out that the vocational schools were instituted in 1960 to train those pupils who failed in Primary VI for a certain trade up to a semi-skilled level. That did not prove to be as successful as we wanted it to be. When the Technical Education Department was established in 1968, one of the first decisions made was to abolish the vocational schools. So, instead of taking in pupils who were thrown out of their former schools, we took in pupils who had finished Secondary II for two years of instruction, and let them acquire a vocational skill that is employable. This is on the same lines as those run by the Singapore Vocational Institute at Balestier Road which, I think, is a well-established institute and everyone knows what it stands for. The vocational institute is to train semi-skilled craftsmen; I would say craftsmen who have the skill but not the experience. We decided to convert all vocational schools into vocational institutes. This conversion commenced in 1969 and is continuing to this day. Since 1969 all vocational schools have been abolished. The Member for Punggol raised the question of the Ponggol Industrial Training Centre which was originally the Ponggol Vocational School. The reason why it was changed to the Ponggol Industrial Training Centre was this: The Industrial Training Centre was first established to provide a very short crash programme for training semi-skilled operatives, not craftsmen, say people who lay bricks, plasters, plumbers, and so on.”
“Sir, unfortunately the response was not as good as we would like it to be. Therefore, generally, the criterion is not very strict. In fact, the Ministry's Research Unit has conducted a survey of the graduates from the Centre, and has discovered a very large turn-over. One of the reasons for this is that the Centre aimed for too high a qualification in the previous training scheme. They only took in girls with H.S.C. or a very good School Certificate. As a result, the trainees never stayed in their jobs. In fact, one does not need a Grade One School Certificate to be a room steward. It would be better to get someone who does not have a Grade One School Certificate!”