Lee Yock Suan
Singapore
“The position will be clear when the regulations have been drafted. Right now we are debating it in the absence of actual wording of the regulations. The regulations will be fair, they are meant to maintain a level playing field, and we should wait for the regulations before we pass judgement. The intention is not to go after everybody.”
“I think the Member will be aware that Internet is a very dangerous place. We can have all kinds of poison letters and they will just spread like wild fire. So we must have some means to try and minimise this and make sure that everything is orderly and fair.”
“The other Members have no problem supporting the Bill, including Mr Chiam. I think the position is about 95% clear. 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. - [Mr Lee Yock Suan].”
“Then we will have to see the actual situation. But, as I said, the intention is to go after the popular sites, the main sites of parties and non-party political sites. If it is an individual, eg, a young man posting up his own site and saying "These are my views", we are not going to go after those people.”
“The intention is to make the rules clear for the main parties involved in the contest, in other words, the party websites. These are the areas we are mainly after.”
“I thank Mr Chiam for reminding me about his question. On listening to his speech, I was under the impression that he was asking whether this ban on opinion polls applies to the mass media. The answer is yes, it applies to all media, not just the Internet but also newspapers, TV and so on. Thank you for pointing this out.”
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“Sir, over the years, there have been many studies. I did not just cite one study. There were in fact many studies in the United States, in UK and so on. And the studies have been inconclusive in general. Some show improvements, others show no improvement or, in fact, worse performance. This particular study shows improvement. For the information of Members, the study involved a reduction of class size from 24 to 15. That means a reduction of about one-third, and they applied it to pupils in kindergarten to Grade 3, which is our Primary 3. Even then, despite the substantial reduction in class size by over a third, the achievement gains were relatively small. In our case, the norm is 40 students per class. And it may be of interest to Members that the top school in Singapore at 'O' levels, Raffles Girls School, in fact, has 40 students per class.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, research evidence on the effect of reducing class size on pupil achievement is inconclusive. While studies such as the one conducted in Tennessee favour small classes, there are other studies which suggest that small class sizes do not result in any gain in pupil achievement. Better instructional methods and the use of information technology may well result in larger achievement gains. This is an important consideration in view of our limited manpower and land. A reduction in class size will entail the recruitment of significantly more teachers and the building of more schools. We should not commit such scarce resources unless there is strong and conclusive evidence that smaller classes do in fact bring about significant gains in pupil achievement. Schools in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong generally have large classes of 40 or more pupils per class. Yet they have achieved better academic performance than western countries with much smaller class sizes. In Singapore, our better and more popular schools tend to have larger class sizes than schools with declining enrolment. One reason for the smaller class sizes in western countries is their reluctance or inability to close schools which have declining enrolment.”
“Special schools are run by voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs) and funded jointly by Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council of Social Service. They cater to children with different disabilities. Special schools admit children throughout the year although some schools restrict their intake to twice a year. There is currently a total enrolment of 2868 children. As at 1st June 1995, there were 343 vacant places available in the various special schools. The number of children being processed for admission was 279. Placement of children in special schools requires careful matching. Various factors have to be taken into consideration, such as, their specific disability, their functional age, preferred location of the schools, availability of suitable personnel and facilities. The Government has approved funds for the development of a 400-capacity purpose-built school for the Movement of the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) to replace its Towner Gardens School which has a capacity of 285. Three other VWOs also have plans to replace their present schools with purpose-built facilities for children with disabilities. They are the Rainbow Centre, The Spastic Children's Association of Singapore and the Association for the Educationally Subnormal. When all these purpose-built schools are completed there will be an increase in capacity of around 700. NEIGHBOURHOOD PARK 18. Mr Goh Choon Kang asked the Minister for National Development when will the planned neighbourhood park fronting Block 217 Serangoon Ave 4 be built, when will it be completed and what are its features.”
“Besides ruling inadmissible confession evidence which appears to have been obtained through any inducement, threat or promise made to the accused person, statements containing confession evidence will be ruled inadmissible if, for example, the court is satisfied that the requisite warning for caution which precedes the statement by an accused person has been inadequately explained or interpreted to him or if there were some other kind of irregularity in the recording of the confession or substantial non-compliance with any statutory requirements which will make it unsafe to admit it. Therefore, confession evidence can be rejected by the court for a variety of reasons. We cannot presume that every rejected confession implies an intentional abuse or malpractice by the investigator. WATER RESOURCES IN SINGAPORE (Enhancement) 4. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what measures the Government has taken since 1990 in identifying and planning the enhancement of water resources in Singapore.”
“In the fourth case, the accused person was convicted on the basis of other evidence. As for Subordinate Court cases, 39,804 and 41,203 criminal cases were disposed of by the Subordinate Courts in 1993 and 1994 respectively. The number of cases where statements from accused were ruled inadmissible is not readily available. Sir, the trend in the cases tried in the High Court illustrates that the number of confessions ruled inadmissible by the courts is small. Nevertheless, the fact that the courts do reject confession evidence shows that it is an important check against inadmissible evidence. Sir, let me assure this House that there are sufficient legal safeguards to firmly check any abuse in the police investigation. The law ensures that only properly obtained confession evidence is admitted as evidence of guilt. Under the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act, a confession which appears to have been obtained through any form of threat, inducement or promise is not admissible as evidence in court. The law places on the prosecution the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that the confession was made voluntarily. This is a heavy burden of proof. In addition, police carefully monitor all cases where confession evidence is ruled inadmissible. They will not hesitate to deal firmly with any officer who has run foul of proper practices and procedures or has resorted to assaults to obtain such evidence. Sir, having addressed the immediate concerns raised by Assoc. Prof. Walter Woon, let me caution that it is common for the defence to raise doubts on the credibility of the prosecution's case by casting aspersion on the manner in which such inculpatory evidence was obtained.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, a school principal does not need to seek the approval of the Ministry of Education before removing a student from the school. However, he has to inform the Ministry of his action. He is not required to give prior written notice to the parents concerned. Nevertheless, in all cases involving recalcitrant and severe indiscipline necessitating removal from the school, the principal and teachers would have informed the parents and sought to work with them to help the student change his ways before the school is forced to take the ultimate step of expulsion. A student is expelled from school only if he commits a very serious offence such as assault and if allowing him to remain in school would threaten the safety of staff and other pupils and severely undermine the good order in the school. Each case is unique with its own contributing and mitigating factors. The principal and his staff are in the best position to judge when a student should be removed from the school for severe indiscipline. If they are in doubt they will consult the Ministry. CONFESSIONS MADE BY ACCUSED PERSONS TO POLICE (Rejections by courts) 3. Assoc. Prof. Walter Woon asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will inform the House on how many occasions in 1993, 1994 and 1995 (up to the latest convenient date) courts in Singapore have rejected confessions made by accused persons to the police. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, from 1993 to April 1995, 166 criminal cases investigated by the police were tried in the High Court. From available police records, confession evidence was ruled inadmissible in four cases. In three of these cases, the accused persons were acquitted.”
“Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for Education (a) when a school principal wishes to remove a student from his school, whether he has to seek the approval of his Ministry and give prior written notice to the parents concerned; and (b) under what circumstances a school principal may remove a student from his school and whether his Ministry has a set of guidelines pertaining to this.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in 1994, the Ministry of Education (MOE) conducted a pilot study on abacus instruction for Primary 3 pupils in seven schools. These schools were representative of the various school types (SAP, Government-aided and Government schools) with a range of mathematics achievements. The objectives of the study were, firstly, to measure the effectiveness of abacus training on mental calculation and understanding of place value concepts and, secondly, to assess some affective outcomes related to mathematics such as pupil interest, confidence and perception of ability. Results of the pilot study showed that pupils who went through abacus instruction showed improvement in their mental calculations. There were clear indications that pupils in the experimental schools had a more positive attitude towards mathematics. They maintained their interest and exhibited greater confidence in the subject. The findings of the pilot study are positive as interest and confidence are important attributes for educational achievement. MOE has thus decided to implement abacus instruction at Primary 3 starting with 15 schools this year. The instructional time for abacus teaching will be 11 hours, or 5% of the total Primary 3 mathematics curriculum time of 220 hours. The programme starts in Term II and continues to Term III. MOE will accelerate the implementation next year and in 2-3 years, all schools will conduct abacus lessons for their Primary 3 pupils. MOE is also currently conducting another pilot study at Primary 2 level to ascertain the feasibility of implementing abacus instruction at an earlier level. REMOVAL OF STUDENTS FROM SCHOOL (Guidelines) 2.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, my answer is yes, we will consider. But, of course, it will not be possible to have primary schools near the doorsteps of every home. BILL INTRODUCED INSURANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Insurance Act (Chapter 142 of the 1994 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1995 TO 31ST MARCH, 1996 Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [7th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head U (cont.) - Resumption of Debate on Question [22nd March, 1995], "That the sum to be allocated for Head U of the Development Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code UJ 5100." - [Mr Chiam See Tong]. Question again proposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the four schools I mentioned include Guangyang Primary School which still had vacancies at the end of the Primary 1 registration last year, despite it being a year for Dragon babies. Encik Ibrahim bin Othman: Is the Minister aware that the school which has the vacancies is not convenient to the residents? Would the Minister consider again the request made by my residents two years ago?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there are four primary schools serving Bishan New Town. My Ministry is studying more closely the projected supply and demand of primary school places in the area before deciding whether to build another primary school in Bishan North Estate.”
“Although there is no formal twinning arrangement, various universities overseas allow our polytechnic graduates advanced placement in their degree programmes. The Ministry is studying carefully whether it is necessary and desirable to further facilitate the offer of foreign degree programmes to Singapore students, bearing in mind that the two local universities and four polytechnics will already cater for 60% of each age cohort of students. In addition, many students prefer to study overseas for personal and other reasons. The graduate output must be guided by our manpower demands and befit the structure of our economy, including our regionalisation efforts, to minimise graduate unemployment or under-employment in the future. The quality and standard of education in Singapore must be maintained. SUBDIVISION OF INDIANS 4. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Home Affairs the reasons for subdividing Indians into different categories such as Sri Lankans, Ceylonese, Punjabis and Tamils in the new Identity card, when (i) there are no such subdivisions for the Malays and Chinese and (ii) there is no such thing as a Sri Lankan race, only a Sri Lankan national.”
“(i) For the school year 1995, 1276 children in secondary schools were granted waiver of standard miscellaneous fees. The numbers were 1369 in 1994, and 1067 in 1993. (ii) Granting waiver of 50% of standard miscellaneous fees is in line with the Government's philosophy that parents must be responsible for the education of their children. Hence, parents are required to pay a token amount of the fee to instil this sense of responsibility. (iii) Information of this financial assistance scheme is made known to parents who have difficulty in paying the token fees. On top of that, principals will refer needy children to community and charitable organisations for further financial assistance. TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS 3. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education, in view of the large number of our students going abroad to study in tertiary institutions, if he will consider allowing some reputable tertiary institutions to start twinning programmes in Singapore to reduce the inconvenience and expense to our local students. Mr Lee Yock Suan: Some private organisations in Singapore are already offering various modes of degree programmes in collaboration with foreign universities. They include correspondence courses, distance-learning courses, external degree programmes and open university degree programmes, and can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis. A twinning programme involves a formal agreement between a local institution and a particular overseas university to run a split-site programme in which students undertake the first part of the programme in the local institution and then proceed to the overseas university for the final part of the programme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there is a reserved secondary school site in Simei Estate. However, there are no plans to develop it immediately as there are sufficient school places for pupils in the Simei Estate area. My Ministry will monitor the demand for secondary school places in the area and initiate action to develop a school on the reserved site when it is needed. SHORTAGE OF HOTEL ROOMS 3. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether there is a shortage of hotel rooms and, if so, what measures he proposes to take.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think it would be a good idea for him to consult the school and maybe the parents and some of the students involved whether they are in favour of a change of name. SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SIMEI ESTATE 2. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Minister for Education whether a secondary school will be built in Simei Estate.”
“Sir, Encik Ibrahim Othman raised the question of Primary 1 admission. Last year's registration was a rather unusual year because we were dealing with a particularly big number of children who were born in the Year of the Dragon. So as a result, there was a big competition and rush for places in schools. In normal years, the situation is much calmer and more people living in the neighbourhood are able to benefit in registering their children in Phase 2C. Having said that, I think it is important that we continue to recognise the links with the old boys because this is important for us to foster loyalty to the alma mater and to encourage greater parental support for the school and contribution to the school. That is the reason why we continue to have these priority schemes. The top most priority is of course for siblings who are already in the school so that they can go to school together. I think that makes a lot of sense. The second priority is for children of old boys, or siblings of old boys in case of ---”
“We have also cut out the R&D portion. The R&D is now funded by the academic research fund. So that part is again not costed into "under-graduates". If there are areas where we can refine, I hope he would let me know and I will look further into it. 4.00 pm But I think we have to accept that despite their best efforts, so long as the economy continues to grow strongly and salaries continue to rise, costs will have to go up and we will have to make annual adjustments of the fees, small amounts each time, so that it is more affordable. My colleague will respond to Mr Cheo.”
“Although the Hindi and Punjabi groups seem to have organised their tuition centres rather well, the principle remains that we have no expertise in those areas and we are not able to assess whether they are doing it professionally, whether in the long term the standards will be maintained, and so on. For that reason, it is very difficult for us to recognise those grades that are awarded by the private tuition centres for purposes of promotion between streams. Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay asked about the cost of university education. I think he knows the university situation very well. We are trying to build up world class universities and therefore we have to pay world class salaries. Also, our teacher to student ratios are quite comparable to good universities overseas. This is one fundamental reason why our cost here per student is comparable to developed countries like the UK and Australia. In some cases, we are a bit lower than them but we are catching up quite fast. I agree with him fully that we should try and control this cost. The universities now have been moved to a block grant scheme. That means they get a sum of money every year to finance so many students. If they are able to save money, then they get to keep the money for other purposes. That gives them the incentive to control cost. Both the universities have either set up or are in the process of setting up management accounting systems so that they have a better hold on the cost situation. For purposes of fees, we have been careful to separate out the other items. For example, the postgraduates are more heavily subsidised. So we separate the cost of undergraduates from postgraduates. We only look at the undergraduate part for the purpose of fee setting for undergraduates.”
“We have to provide some guidance to them on the "N" level. For the PSLE there has been a big hustle trying to provide these examinations. We went to India and consulted the various educational authorities and we are not sure yet that the arrangements are working out well. The cost per student is also very high. Despite all that, we are doing our best to try and accommodate the needs of these people. So where the examinations are properly set by these recognised external bodies, we have no problem recognising them. They are used for purposes of promotion. For example, for entry from primary school to secondary school, we take into consideration these national examination marks for deciding which stream and what school they go into. Similarly, for entry into junior colleges after the results are known from GCE. But where it is done by private tuition centres where they give examinations, for example, for primary one to primary five students, it is very difficult for us to assess what is the quality and standard of teaching and examination by these centres. So our principle all along has been that we cannot recognise these marks for the school's internal promotion purposes. We have told the parents right from the beginning. We will allow the students to do these languages instead of Tamil or Malay, but we cannot recognise these marks for purposes, for example, of deciding whether they can go from one stream to another stream. For those purposes, we look only at the other subjects. This is an understanding that we had with them.”
“In terms of numbers of teachers recruited under this scheme, in the 1993 exercise, 149 were recruited. In 1994, another 23 were recruited. As of now, there are 53 such teachers in service. The Ministry is planning to have another such recruitment exercise later this year because we continue to have some vacancies in selected areas, especially in secondary schools. We are also going overseas to Australia, New Zealand, UK, and maybe even Canada, to try and get teachers for mainly English and Mathematics. It is better if we can get the teachers locally and, as far as possible, recruit the teachers from our own domestic sources. That is why we have this provisional scheme. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked about the teaching and examinations in the minority Indian languages. My Ministry has gone to great lengths to provide for the examination of these languages at the PSLE, GCE "N", "O" and "A" levels. The number of students doing these minority languages is actually very small. Let me give you some figures. For example, for primary students doing Bengali, for primary one to primary six, there are only a total of 73 students. That means on average about 10 students a level. For Gujerati, for the six levels, a total of 49 students or less than 10 per level. For Urdu, a total of 19 students for six levels. So on average only three students per level. The bigger numbers are for Hindi and Punjabi. For Hindi, from primary one to primary six, 312 students. For Punjabi, 347 students from primary one to primary six. Despite these small numbers, the Ministry has recognised the sentiments of the community and has gone out of its way to arrange for these examinations. Where the examinations are available, say, in Cambridge, there is no problem, for example, "A" level and "O" level.”
“In fact, this phenomenon is partly a mask for their high unemployment situation where students are spending many years at public expense studying in universities. Many of the universities in English-speaking countries have also over-expanded and they are now strapped for cash. Many of them are eager to admit foreign fee-paying students even at the expense of quality. All in all, we have to be very careful here and I will caution the parents and students to have realistic expectations. By all means, do their best, get a place in the universities here or the polytechnics, but do not overstretch themselves by trying to go overseas to chase after a piece of paper called a degree. Next, I would like to answer Mr Low Thia Khiang concerning the Provisional Graduate Teachers Scheme. This is a scheme to enable the Ministry to hire graduates on a temporary basis to fill up vacancies which arose last year and this year because of the change in the education system with most of the students who were formerly from the monolingual and extended streams going to the secondary schools. There was a big bunching effect and we needed a lot of secondary school teachers. So we came up with this idea to hire graduates on a temporary basis. They may not really be interested in teaching but they have the necessary qualifications and knowledge and we allow them to teach maybe for a year or two years. Based on experience and qualifications, we can then allow them to enrol in the National Institute of Education, if they are seriously interested in taking up teaching as a career. So far, the scheme has worked out well. I do not have the actual figures on mobility. If he is really interested, I can provide him with the figures later.”
“So it is important that parents and students realise the importance of spending their money wisely and keep within their own limits. Over the last 10 years from 1984 to 1994, the number of university places in the NUS and NTU has doubled from 13,000 to 26,000 and the polytechnic places have more than doubled from 14,000 to 34,000. With the completion of the two new polytechnics, the capacity in the four polytechnics will reach 48,000. Our targets for higher education are that 20% of each cohort of students should attain tertiary education and another 40% polytechnic education, making a total of 60%. I believe this is one of the highest post-secondary rates in the world, even compared to countries in the West. Our targets have already been exceeded with students going overseas and polytechnic graduates upgrading to degrees. In terms of the job market, whilst the economy is booming and the short and medium term prospects for graduates look good, I think we have to be mindful of the longer term prospects as well, with so many graduates from the universities and polytechnics entering the market. Even allowing for our regionalisation programme, it is important that we provide our students with a broad range of education and skills according to their ability and to suit the needs of the economy. The problem is that in developed countries there is a big rush for university education, partly brought about by the unemployment situation where people have to train further and further in order to do the same level of jobs. In fact, there is under-employment. For example, in Europe, many of the universities are bursting at the seams with a flock of students rushing for higher education.”
“Sir, Mr Peh Chin Hua has asked whether the Government would consider extending low interest educational loans for children of low income families to attend foreign universities. Whilst I sympathise with the aspirations and needs of these people, I am not in favour of this proposal for the following reasons: I think it is important that students and their parents should live within their means and not over-commit themselves to high expenditure on a foreign degree. Some of these oversea degrees are of doubtful value. The range of qualities is in fact very wide. For example, in the United Kingdom a few years ago, all the polytechnics were converted to universities. In fact, in the UK, about half the universities were actually former polytechnics. So our students have to be very careful, when they are considering going overseas for further education, whether it is a worthwhile investment on their part. I would suggest that those students who are unable to make it to NUS or NTU should consider enrolling in our polytechnics instead. The polytechnics are very well established. They provide good courses, they are well equipped, they have good teachers and they provide a very useful three-year training programme to equip the students with job-related education and training so that the diploma that they can get from the polytechnics is of good market value and provide a good basis for them to build their professions. After some years of working experience, they can consider enrolling perhaps in the Open University or in the NUS' part-time Bachelor of Technology programme or proceed to other avenues for higher education. I believe banks have been quite liberal in lending to this area, but the MAS has been cautioning them and has provided the banks some guidelines.”
“I think it will be a great loss to Singapore if we were to close down these schools just to avoid the racial segregation. The issue of racial mixing has been discussed before in the House and I do not want to go into it in great detail. But the point is that we live in a multi-racial society and most of our children come from HDB flats. There are, in fact, many opportunities for them to meet and interact. Perhaps what we can do is to provide more opportunities for the SAP school students to interact with the other schools and try and compensate for this factor. But I do not think we should do away with SAP schools for the reasons which she advocated. Sir, I will leave it to my colleagues to answer the other points.”
“When their children come back, there is no problem for us to fit them back into the school system. We may have to assess at that point in time what is their level of competence and put them in at the appropriate level. If they are going to China, for example, the Chinese language is no worry for them. In fact, the immersion will be very good for them. But they may be concerned whether the children will be able to still follow the Singapore curriculum. 2.15 pm There are some private enterprises which have expressed interest in putting up commercial schools overseas, catering not only to Singaporeans but also to the international community. And if they are interested in the Singapore curriculum, they can approach either the Ministry or the Singapore Teachers Union which has an interest in this area. The STU is prepared to get them in touch with retired school principals and help them with the curriculum and so on. So there are these other possibilities at present. Dr Kanwaljit Soin talked about the SAP schools and asked whether they are still relevant today, especially in view of the fact that they tend to be predominantly of one race. You have to go back a bit and understand the history of it. These schools were set up at a time when more and more parents were going into English education. So the Government decided that it was important that we preserve some of these good schools, the ethos, the discipline, the Chinese environment, the high level of Chinese. There is extensive use of Chinese in these schools. For example, the school song, the way they go about the education system and so on. So it may be a bit too simple to think that it is just a matter of values. Values are common, but the "Chineseness" of these schools cannot be reproduced easily.”
“I would like to inform him that the school has been doing well since it was established some years back. It was opened in September 1991 and currently the enrolment is about 620 pupils, of whom more than 70% are citizens of Singapore, or PRs of Singapore. They are still operating from temporary premises but will be moving soon to new facilities which are being built. So far, this school is concentrating only on the primary section. The thinking of the Ministry is that when the children are older, it may be better for them to stay in Singapore in boarding schools or hostels, so that they are more involved in the local situation and better able to look after themselves even whilst their parents are working overseas. So for the Hong Kong International School, the thinking is confined to the primary section, at least for the time being. As for schools in other areas, my position is that we are very short of teachers. So our first responsibility is really to make sure that our system here is functioning properly. Of course, at the same time, we need to support those Singaporeans who are venturing overseas. But the numbers going abroad at the moment are still small and they are scattered all over the place. Even China is a very big country and you have some in Beijing, some in Shandong, some in Suzhou, and so on. The Ministry will get involved when there is a critical mass of students so that we can put up a proper school where there are enough classes for the different levels and it means committing a lot of manpower and other resources. So for the time being, I hope these people will understand that when they go overseas perhaps the practical solution is to enrol their children in some of the international schools.”
“So we have to keep our controls quite tight and limit the amount that we spend on R&D. So far the Auditor-General's office has had a look and they are quite happy with the situation. So we will see how it goes from here. Mr Koo Tsai Kee came up with this interesting idea of how to rank our universities. I think it is something that is worth exploring and if there is information on how it can be done, I would like to discuss with him. As a matter of interest, it was brought to my attention recently that in the 1994 issue of the Journal of Systems and Software, which is a New York publication, NUS has been rated the fifth top university worldwide and the top non-US academic institution in terms of publications in the field of systems and software engineering. So I think it goes to show that our universities are getting somewhere. And with the huge amount of resources we are pumping into the universities, I think we should be able to build up the universities into world-class universities. Some years back, we had Lord Dainton from Shelfield University who came to do a study for us and it was he who recommended that we should have two competing universities, NUS and NTU. His own assessment was that our universities were comparable to the redbrick universities in UK, for example, Manchester and Shelfield. So when our students look overseas for education, they may want to bear in mind that our universities are actually very good and it is much less costly for them to study here than overseas. Of course, if they want the overseas exposure, then they have to go there. But do not always assume that foreign universities are better. Mr Sinnakaruppan asked about the international school in Hong Kong.”
“So there is no question of whether this grant is going to run out by 1998 or not. If they come out later with programmes that the Government supports, then we may provide more funding front-end, for example, for development of the courseware. But as of now, we have provided money to help them put up a new facility next to Ngee Ann Polytechnic. We have provided the land and this money will also be used to finance the computer facilities, the library, and so on. Hopefully, through this kind of support, we will be able to build up a good institution. Mr Sinnakaruppan also asked about the quality audit of the R&D programmes in universities. I share with him the same concern that there should be proper checks and balances and control to make sure that the money is well spent. As Members are aware, the Government has provided a sum of $100 million to be used for academic R&D. This is not so much the applied side, and not so related to the immediate use. For those with more immediate possibilities, the funding will be through the NSTB. So, basically, there are these two streams of money coming, partly from the academic research fund and partly from the NSTB. For the academic research fund, there is a committee chaired by PS (Education) and comprising members from the Ministry of Finance, NSTB, NUS and NTU to manage and administer the fund. So they are learning how to have proper checks and controls on the use of the fund. And one of the basic concepts is that the research workers will have to justify their needs for the fund, that their research work is worthwhile, that they can do it and that it is worth doing. So they have to compete for money from this fund. One of the problems is that if you have too much money, then it could be mis-spent.”
“So the idea came to me and I thought it was good. We should start, and they are ready to start, very soon from 1st July or early July this year. It makes use of the lecturers from the university. It also makes use of the workshop and laboratory facilities in the university. So we can start off very quickly and I expect the first batch will be about 100 students. This does not mean that the Open University programme is now out of the question. I think that is still possible. But in the case of the Open University of UK, I believe they are more experienced in the area of non-technical subjects, ie, more in the area of English Language, Mathematics, Humanities, where there is no need for much hardware. So if you want to do it with the Open University, it may be possible but we have to develop further courseware and also we have to find out how to get the facilities to teach these pupils. So for the Open University, it may take some time. But I think it is not ruled out. As far as the Open University is concerned, our thinking is still the same and, that is, we want to use the Open University as a venue for those who have missed on the educational opportunities to come back and upgrade themselves on a part-time basis. As for the support for the Open University, I have made it clear in previous years that the Government's policy is to support the University on a front-end basis with a block grant of about $38 million. They have come back since to ask for more money because the costs of building, and so on, have gone up and we are looking into it. But the main thing is that it would be a front-end support. The cost of running the programme is basically recovered from the students and it comes to about $4,000 per year which I think is affordable by most working adults.”
“Two, the quality has been consistently very good and Cambridge has built up a good pool of teachers, assessors and examiners who can set very good and original questions. And this arrangement is also good from the point of view of security, despite this one incident of loss of some scripts, and also from the point of view of lack of bias. Because Singapore is a very small country, it is important that we have a good system that is fair. From the point of view of cost, there will be no cost saving even if we do it ourselves because I think our examiners will have to be paid and the rates will not be different from what the UK teachers are being paid. So, overall, there will be no saving. Having said that, I would like to assure Members that, of course, we want to build up expertise within the Ministry in this important area. So the Ministry will be progressively more involved with Cambridge to see how we can develop some expertise in this area. But, on balance, we feel that it is better for us to stay with the present system. Next, there are various questions about the universities. Firstly, the Open University programme. Mr Sinnakaruppan has asked about the recent introduction of the Bachelor of Technology programme at NUS and what this means for the Open University programme. Just some background on this programme. This idea came out from the National Science and Technology Board and the NUS. They feel that it is good if we can have a programme on a part-time basis to enable engineers who are working on the shop floor to upgrade themselves without having to leave their jobs to go overseas, for example. These are people who could make very good R&D people, if you give them the additional knowledge. They could also become good shop floor engineers.”
“In fact, as I have explained before, very often it is the weaker pupils who require more attention and the job of teachers in the neighbourhood schools is, in some respects, more difficult than the job of teachers in the top schools. Of course, the challenges are different. Teachers who might do very well in a top school where there is a lot of intellectual stimulation and interaction may not do equally well in a school where you need a lot of patience and understanding of the pupils. So we do post the principals and teachers around but we must make sure that we fit the right teachers into the right schools, and not do it just for the sake of doing it. Dr Ow Chin Hock has proposed various refinements to the ranking system. As I said before, I am open to ideas. If there are ways we can improve on it, I would like to do it. But we should give it some time and see how it goes before we make any further changes. For example, how do we rank ECA? Of course, we may have a subjective basis but then it is open to question. And the public somehow still tends to focus on examination results. If you are complaining that in fact there is already too much competition and you add in further elements of ECA, and so on, would that not further compound the problem? So we would like to study this further. As I said, if Members have good ideas on how we can refine the system, I would welcome them. Next, I wish to turn to the question of the setting of the Singapore-Cambridge GCE examinations which arose last year because of the loss of some scripts. The Ministry has studied this question carefully and come to the conclusion that it is better to stay with the present system for various reasons. One, the examination is very well recognised internationally.”
“00 pm Next, I would like to take up the question on the ranking of schools since I have answered this question recently from Mr Low Thia Khiang. I think the sentiments expressed are not dissimilar. The general thrust of Mr Peh Chin Hua and Dr Ow Chin Hock is that they are in support of the ranking of schools. There are certain advantages. It provides information about these good schools and it adds a certain amount of competition and in our context we cannot avoid competition. The main point is to avoid over-competition, to make sure that we do not over-emphasise the academic aspects at the expense of the other areas which are necessary for the total development of the pupil. If Mr Peh Chin Hua is aware of any school where the teachers tend to set difficult questions so as to get rid of the weaker pupils, he should let me know. I would be very surprised if there are schools like this. I believe all our schools are doing their best to try and teach their pupils. The question on the Normal Stream is a separate one which will be taken up separately. But in general terms, as a result of ranking, of course schools are competing harder. But I do not think they go out of their way to get rid of their weak pupils, and they should not do this. If any school is doing that, I would like to look into it. Let me have the information. Also, I do not think it is really true that the principals will pressurise their teachers so much that if they do not produce results, they would be got rid of. I am not sure this is in practice. But again, if there are instances, please let me know. The Ministry is giving attention to all the schools, and not only to the top schools.”
“Not everyone can learn to be an artist, although most pupils can learn to draw simple objects. Higher order thinking skills may be beyond the reach of a large number of pupils. In this connection, I would like to inform Members that my Ministry will be expanding the Gifted Education Programme which caters to our brightest pupils. The plan is progressively to double the intake from about 0.5% of each cohort to about 1% by 1998. The intake at Primary Four will increase from 200 to 400 pupils and that at Secondary One, from 50 to 100 pupils per year. To conclude, I would like to say that I agree in general with the sentiments of the Members that this is an area which deserves careful study to make sure that we do not lose out in terms of our flexibility and ability to think and learn independently. But we must be realistic about the possibilities. I think it is not everybody who can do this. But if we can improve on the speaking skills, thinking skills, then I think we should do our utmost to try and achieve it. As quoted just now, there is some movement in Japan which is doing the same thing. The difference between the Western system and our system is that ours is more Asian and tends to be more structured and rigid, and it makes sure that large numbers of pupils learn a set amount of knowledge. In the West, they tend to be more free. So you get a wide variation in the standards of achievement. But at the same time, they tend to be more creative, I believe. So the question is how to strike a medium between the two. But I am afraid some parents may object because if we start doing this, then the questions may in fact become harder for the children, and not easier. 2.”
“We must of course bear in mind that the percentage of students enrolled in our two universities has doubled over the past decade and the bright students tend to be attracted to popular courses like medicine, law and business administration. The language ability of our students varies but the important thing is that they should be able to express themselves with sufficient clarity to communicate effectively in their chosen fields. Our education system has developed in response to pressure from our society which has tended to focus on examination results. In this information age when a vast amount of knowledge can be accessed by the touch of a button, it is important to teach students how to find and process information rather than merely acquiring a vast amount of knowledge. Since 1987, schools have been offered the CORT, which stands for Cognitive Research Trust, Thinking programme developed by Edward de Bono. The programme teaches critical and creative thinking to lower secondary pupils. In the module on creativity, pupils are taught to generate ideas and to break out of established patterns of thinking and to look at things in a different way. Using the processes advocated, pupils learn to generate creative and practical solutions to problems. At present, 103 secondary schools have adopted this programme. As an extension of the current thinking programme, my Ministry is working on a programme to incorporate core thinking skills into the learning of subjects and to make thinking more pervasive in the curriculum. However, it takes time for pupils to acquire these skills and be able to integrate thinking into the learning process. A fundamental question is whether creativity can be taught or is largely inborn.”
“I agree with hon. Members that it is important to teach young Singaporeans to think critically and creatively and to learn independently so that they are better equipped to face the challenges of the future. The questions are: how to do it and what can we realistically expect to achieve. I have asked my officers to look further into this issue. Our education system has kept to the fundamentals and is highly structured, with a clear syllabus, continual assessment and examinations to make sure our pupils learn. Pupils are channelled into different streams according to ability and taught appropriate subjects at the pace they can cope with. Our bilingual policy requires pupils to learn their mother tongue and be proficient in English so that they can master the other subjects. In contrast, some Western countries have for years been taken up with the concept that children should be left to discover things for themselves, to be creative. There are no set curricula, no examinations and little homework. The end result is that many adults are barely able to read and write. Our education system has done well as measured by examination results which have improved remarkably over the years. This applies to the broad mass of pupils and not just the top ones. The rising level of education has enabled our economy to grow strongly over the past 30 years. The steady improvement in examination performance has, however, given rise to doubts that our pupils have become too examination-oriented with little time and inclination for independent learning. It has also been observed that some NUS students have difficulty expressing themselves clearly or coping with the thinking skills of a university education.”
“We will have to look into how we can keep these new teachers who are on the CPF scheme. More and more of the teachers who resigned are those on the CPF scheme. Back to Mr Peh Chin Hua's point. Firstly, regarding the retention of pupils, this was discussed last year when he raised it. My Ministry has found it more effective to channel pupils into different streams so that they could be taught and could progress at the rate according to their ability. In the past, weak pupils could not cope even if they were retained in classes which catered to average pupils. Secondly, concerning school discipline, I wish to assure all teachers that MOE is fully behind them if they have to enforce discipline according to the school regulations. However, it is better that corporal punishment be vested only in the principal, the vice-principal or designated teachers and carried out after due processes and not in anger. This is to protect both teachers and pupils. As for administrative and ECA duties, some of these responsibilities go with the job of teaching. Wherever possible, MOE has computerised and automated the various administrative tasks to compensate for our perennial shortage of clerical workers which affects not only the schools and the Ministry, but I think the whole of Singapore. Nevertheless, the Ministry is trying harder to recruit more supporting staff and has given funds to schools to enable them to try and hire part-time staff on their own. Unfortunately, so far, they have not been very successful. Next, I wish to turn to the important issue of how to teach and develop creativity in our schools and in the education system. This has given rise to some commentaries and reports in the papers recently and I wish to thank the two Members for raising this issue.”
“This corresponds roughly to the 63% of the total population of Education Officers who are non-graduates. Thus, both graduates and non-graduates have a similar chance of being promoted. The prospects of career advancement are also similar for those teachers who are able and willing to serve in leadership positions. Besides the improved promotion prospects for classroom teachers, my Ministry also needs to attract and retain outstanding officers who are able and willing to take up leadership positions. Such officers, both scholars and non-scholars, need to be identified early and given challenging assignments with appropriate rewards so that they will grow rapidly to assume leadership positions in schools and at MOE headquarters. Faster promotion time-norms will be implemented for good officers. I wish now to touch briefly on some of the concerns which Mr Peh has mentioned as reasons for the low morale of the teachers who spoke to him. First, a point of clarification. He mentioned that last year 400 teachers who had less than three years of service resigned. This is, I am afraid, not correct. Last year, in fact, 576 teachers resigned for various personal and other reasons, not just work pressure alone. Of these teachers, 95 (and not 400) had less than three years of service. The situation in the Ministry of Education is that the manning position is fairly stable. If you look at 576, it is a big number. But if you divide it by 22,000 teachers, it is only about 3%. I think we are lucky because we still have a very big group of dedicated teachers who have committed their whole life to teaching and these are people who are on the pension scheme. Unfortunately, we are now on the CPF scheme and as more of them come in on the CPF scheme, I think it will be harder to retain them.”
“Before the introduction of these intermediate grades, teachers could only remain on one long salary scale, GEO I or GEO II, unless they took on leadership roles as Heads of Department, vice-principals or principals and were promoted to the senior scales. This promotion exercise has been welcomed by the teachers' unions and has generally gone down well, judging by the few complaints that my Ministry has received. Understandably, in any promotion exercise, those who are not promoted may feel disappointed. However, I wish to assure all teachers that the January 1995 exercise is only the first of a series of promotion exercises to promote deserving teachers into the intermediate grades. The next exercise will be in October this year and I expect thereafter, it will be held once a year. Those promoted so far include 11 principals and 221 vice-principals who were still on the basic scale despite their responsibilities and years of service. So I think it is high time that we promoted this group of people. Priority was also given to promote 1,240 serving Heads of Department (HODs) with at least two years in the post. This second group deserves priority because they are taking on additional responsibility besides their teaching load, and we have experienced difficulty in attracting teachers to become HODs. We are looking into this problem. One way is to give them priority in promotion. Besides these, a total of 822 classroom teachers were promoted. These are teachers with at least five years of service and consistently good performance. They were recommended by their school principals based on their ranking of the teachers in the school by performance. Of the 2,456 officers promoted, 60% or 1,462 are non-graduates.”
“Sir, I wish to thank all Members who have spoken for their continued interest in the field of education. Since so many items have been raised, I will be only answering some of them. But I wish to assure all Members that I will give every item my individual attention. It is just to share out the work that I can only answer some of their queries. First, I would like to touch on the question of the teaching career. The success of an education system depends critically on the quality and morale of the teaching staff. It is therefore a primary concern of my Ministry that our teachers are well looked after and that we continue to attract good recruits to the education service. With the recent restructuring of civil service personnel management, a Personnel Board chaired by PS (PMO) now has full authority to recruit Education Officers and to decide on their promotion into all grades below superscale. The PS and Director (Education) are members of the Board. This new arrangement has meant greater authority and flexibility for my Ministry to recruit and reward good officers. With effect from 1st February 1995, a total of 2,456 Education Officers were promoted to two intermediate salary scales. These are the General Education Officer (GEO) IA for graduates and GEO IIA for non-graduates. This promotion exercise is significant in two aspects. Firstly, the number promoted is big: more than 10% of the 22,000 Education Officers were promoted. Secondly, it enables classroom teachers to be promoted whilst they remain as teachers, without having to take on additional responsibilities.”
“Sir, whether you list it out in order or not, I think the parents will tend to go for the top schools. For example, even for the JCs, there are 14 JCs and they are not reported as first, second or third, in terms of academic performance. But the readers will tend to go in and say, "This school is top and that school is not top." I think the ranking has certain pluses and minuses. On the plus side, the schools are more alert. They focus on the academic side which is, after all, an important element of schooling, ie, whether the students have mastered the areas which they are supposed to study. What we want to do is to try and avoid over emphasis on that and also focus on the other areas and, therefore, we should give a total picture including the other areas of activities. EMPLOYMENT ACT (Revision of salary ceiling) 11. Mr John De Payva asked the Minister for Labour whether he considers it opportune now to revise the salary ceiling in the Employment Act to $1,600 per month.”
“I am not sure how it can be done. If the Member has some ideas, I will be happy to consider them.”
“Sir, this question of too much pressure is very difficult to measure. I think a certain amount of pressure is essential. There must be competition. Singapore has to compete. The schools have to compete in order to improve. But we do have inspectors, for example, who go round to different schools and we do have feedback from parents, pupils and teachers. So we are constantly monitoring the situation.”
“As I have mentioned, when we do come across such cases, we try to tell principals not to over emphasise the academic results and that they should really look at the total development of their pupils. So it is on a case by case basis. For example, there were reports of some schools which reportedly have told their pupils to leave the school because their performance was not up to the grade. We have told the schools that they should not do that. They are responsible for all the pupils.”
“Sir, the Ministry has not done any formal survey to study the effects of the ranking in terms of pressure and so on. But we do get feedback, eg, on whether schools are over emphasising the examination results, getting pupils to focus on certain subjects and not taking others. When we come across such cases, we remind the schools that they should really look at the total development of their pupils.”
“Sir, it is a fact that most people tend to look at the academic results and the performance. And this is not wrong, I think. But it should not be just focused on that area. We should be looking at the total development of the pupils. Unfortunately, when you compare ECA, it is very difficult to say this particular activity should be given so many points and that activity should be given so many points. What we have done is to list out, for example, how many gold medals the school has achieved and in what fields. This is done in a qualitative manner. I think it is very difficult for us to assign marks or scores for the other areas.”
“The ranking is mainly based on the performance in examinations. As I have mentioned, it is based, for example, on the average scores for all the subjects taken by all the pupils. There are also other information provided like the percentage of 5 'O' level passes and so on. But the report also highlights other activities, eg, whether they excel in particular sports or in cultural activities and so on. The problem is that parents and the public in general tend to focus only on the academic side without realising that the performance of schools depends very much on the quality of the pupil intake. They should really look at the value added. In other words, have the schools added value? Have they taken in, for example, average students and done well eventually?”
“Our principals and teachers work hard to help their pupils to develop to their fullest potential. They are not merely engaged in competition with other schools. Whilst the ranking of schools has led to increased competition among schools, it is debatable whether such competition is healthy or unhealthy. To improve further, our schools need to know the quality of their pupil intake, how they have performed in terms of academic results and ECA, how they compare with other schools, what realistic targets to set and how to go about trying to achieve them.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the ST 100 ranking of schools provides parents with information on the top 50 secondary schools (about one-third of the total number of secondary schools) for the Express course and the top 40 secondary schools for the Normal course. The ranking is based on the average score of their pupils in the GCE `O' level examinations. The report also highlights the special characteristics and achievements of the schools in sports, cultural pursuits and other extra-curricular activities (ECA). Besides this, the report lists the top value-added schools. These are schools which have achieved better results than expected judging from the PSLE results of the pupils when they were admitted to the schools. My Ministry also provides every primary six pupil with information on all secondary schools in terms of their location, special characteristics, the range of PSLE scores of past pupil intakes, ECA provided, etc. The school profiles and the ST ranking enable parents and pupils to make informed choices of secondary schools to suit the pupils' ability and interests. The achievement of schools is not measured solely by their performance in the examinations. Also important are the activities carried out by the school to nurture the physical, moral, aesthetic, social and emotional growth of their pupils. Programmes are conducted to develop talent, build character and foster leadership and team work. My Ministry frequently reminds schools of the importance of providing a balanced education and monitors school activities to ensure that the pursuit of academic excellence is not achieved at the expense of other educational objectives. I announced recently that participation in ECA will be recognised for admission to junior colleges and the polytechnics.”
“I believe the schools attract a good spread of students from all the socio-economic groups. However, it is a fact that children from better homes tend to perform better in school. So you may find a higher proportion of students from good homes in, for example, the top schools. RANKING OF SCHOOLS 10. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Education whether yearly ranking of schools by examination results only has led to unhealthy competition between schools and exerted unnecessary pressure on teachers and students.”
“Sir, the answer to the first question is yes. In fact, an announcement will be made shortly of the names of the six schools which will be converted to independent schools and some of these will be neighbourhood schools. In fact, of the present lot of 12 schools, some are neighbourhood schools. They are decided based on their location and, of course, performance and other factors. As for the second question, we have eight independent schools and seven of them have already more or less completed their facilities based on the formula of 80% Government support and 20% raised by the school. So I hope when schools proceed to implement their projects they will be careful not to overspend because that is the best way to control the amount of money they have to raise. But if they face difficulties despite their best efforts, they can come back to the Ministry and we will see what can be done to help them.”