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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“The Pastoral Care project, first implemented in 17 secondary schools in 1988, has been extended to all secondary schools by 1994. This year 30 primary schools are in the Pastoral Care project which will be extended to all primary schools within the next four years. Schools not yet officially in the project generally mount their own pastoral care programme to cater to the overall development of their pupils. RECRUITMENT OF TEACHERS IN 1994 8. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the target of recruiting 800 more teachers for secondary schools in 1994 was met and (b) how many of these teachers are polytechnic graduates. Mr Lee Yock Suan: In March 1993, I mentioned that 800 more teachers would be needed in our secondary schools in 1994 with the implementation of the Improved Education System. This estimate was based on the assumption that all pupils who sat for the PSLE in October 1993 would proceed to Secondary 1 in 1994. However, this was not so as about 4,500 pupils did not perform well in the PSLE and had to remain in primary schools or be channelled to vocational training at ITE. As a result, the additional number of teachers required in secondary schools was revised downwards to about 650. In 1993, the Ministry managed to recruit a total of 678 teachers for deployment to secondary schools. The Ministry mounted the first exercise to recruit polytechnic graduates for primary school teaching in 1994. A total of 75 polytechnic graduates accepted the offer and are currently undergoing teacher training at the National Institute of Education. STOPPING ILLEGAL GAMES SALOONS 9. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Home Affairs what further steps his Ministry intends to take to stop the operation of illegal games saloons.”
“Sir, I am not aware of any such case. If the Member is aware, she should bring it to my attention. STAGING OF LOCAL SHOWS BY FOREIGN SOFT PORN ACTRESSES 6. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Home Affairs why the staging of local shows by foreign soft porn actresses is allowed. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, all public performances, whether they involve foreign or local artistes, are permitted by the Public Entertainments Licensing Unit (PELU) only if the police assess that they would not pose law and order problems, or be offensive to the general public. If any artiste has a reputation of performing acts which are likely to hurt local sensitivities or are considered obscene, PELU would exercise greater care in scrutinising the application to assess whether the artiste is likely to flout PELU's conditions. If there is any doubt that the artiste would comply with the licensing conditions, the performance would not be allowed. In the recent case which I believe prompted this question, the Hong Kong soft porn actress, Loletta Lee, complied with all the licensing conditions. In fact, a newspaper reported that the audience was disappointed and the club lost $200,000 as a result of her performance. This, I think, speaks well for the police system of control over public entertainment.”
“Our schools will continue to work with the parties involved and make every effort to rehabilitate recalcitrant youths. Ultimately, however, these youths must have a desire to learn and benefit from the educational opportunities offered to them. Those who do not would be better off seeking gainful employment outside the education system.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the number of students expelled from schools in the last three years and the number of these students admitted to other schools after expulsion are as follows: 1991 - 15 expelled and three admitted. 1992 - 16 expelled and three admitted. 1993 - nine expelled and none admitted. Our schools are doing their utmost to ensure that almost all pupils will complete at least 10 years of general education. Recalcitrant pupils are given many opportunities to realise the error of their ways through counselling and disciplinary measures. Expulsion is a course of action taken only as a last resort in the case of pupils who have resisted all attempts made by the school to correct their behaviour. Among these are pupils who have run foul of the law and are therefore more appropriately dealt with by due process of the law. Others are asked to leave school for repeated serious offences such as persistent defiance and disregard for school rules, gangsterism, bullying and other extreme disorderly conduct. Principals must have the authority ultimately to expel such recalcitrant pupils to maintain discipline and good order and for the safety and welfare of other pupils in the schools. There are existing schemes to rehabilitate pupils who have broken the laws of society or who need close supervision for other reasons. My Ministry will cooperate with but not duplicate such schemes. Various homes set up by the Ministry of Community Development and other organisations provide care for youths who need supervision. Youths on probation and the inmates of these homes who are of school-going age can continue to attend school and are closely monitored by probation officers, the school and the home.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this is a fine-tuning. Under the present system, the weaker pupils in EM3 are supposed to follow the same syllabus and take the same examination papers. But, in practice, because they are slower, they are only able to cope with the more basic elements. So the purpose of this change is to focus the teaching and learning on areas where they are able to cope. But at the Primary 4 streaming, parents will still have the option of putting the pupils in the stream that they want. However, in Primary 6, if the pupils are unable to perform, they will have to go back to the EM3 stream. Subsequently, when they move on to secondary school, there will still be possibilities for them to cross streams, depending on their abilities. For example, some of the EM3 pupils do very well and they are allowed to go on to the Normal (Academic) stream. There will be remedial lessons for the weaker pupils. TEACHERS (Reduction in administrative workload) 4. Mr Lau Ping Sum asked the Minister for Education what steps will be taken to reduce the administrative workload of teachers, such as that of computer data entry.”
“It will enable teachers to focus on the teaching of core content areas and prepare the pupils for the Normal course, in particular the Normal (Technical) course, in secondary school.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the first streaming exercise under the modified streaming system was carried out at the end of 1991. Pupils joined one of three streams (EM1, EM2 or EM3) at Primary 5 in 1992. These pupils sat the modified Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) last year. Under the present provision, pupils in all three streams follow the same syllabuses and take common PSLE papers in English language and mathematics. In practice, however, EM3 pupils, being the weakest, can only cope with the more basic aspects of the curriculum and answer the easier questions of the examination papers. My Ministry has reviewed the system. It is of the view that some fine-tuning of the curriculum and examination in English language and mathematics for the EM3 stream is needed to better suit the abilities of the pupils. The Ministry is modifying the syllabuses and writing separate textbooks and workbooks in these two subjects for pupils in the EM3 stream. Consequently, EM3 pupils will sit for separate papers, to be called Foundation English and Foundation Mathematics, at the PSLE. From next year (1995), EM3 pupils in Primary 5 will use the modified syllabuses. These pupils will sit for Foundation English and Foundation Mathematics, in addition to basic mother tongue, in the PSLE in 1996. A new grading system (grades 1, 2, 3 and 4) will be adopted for the three subjects taken by EM3 pupils. Those who meet the requisite standards will proceed to secondary schools either in the Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) course. This fine-tuning will better serve the needs of less able pupils in the EM3 stream in Primary 5 and 6.”
“Sir, my Ministry is still analyzing the figures. But for the information of the House, there are four other primary schools within one kilometre of Changkat Primary School. These four schools are Griffiths Primary School, which still has 103 vacancies; Qiaonan Primary School which has 94 vacancies, Yumin Primary School which has 3 vacancies, and Chongzheng Primary School which is full. HDB UNITS IN TAMPINES NORTH AND PASIR RIS (Allocation) 11. Mr Charles Chong asked the Acting Minister for National Development (a) if he will give the number of Housing and Development Board units in (i) Tampines North and (ii) Pasir Ris that have not been allocated and (b) when and how these units will be allocated.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has no immediate plans to construct a second primary school in Simei Estate. In the Primary One registration exercise this year, there are still 24 vacancies in Changkat Primary School which is situated in Simei Estate. For the Simei/ Tampines area as a whole, there will be a new primary school, Tampines North Primary in Tampines Estate, which will be completed by the end of this year. With the completion of this school, there will be 11 primary schools in the Simei/Tampines area. These schools are well distributed and have sufficient places to serve the population in the region. If the need arises in future for another primary school in Simei Estate, the Ministry will certainly consider it.”
“As she has mentioned, it costs about $300,000 of taxpayers' money to train each medical graduate at NUS. It takes five years and the annual operating cost alone is about $60,000, or three times that of arts and science graduates. Therefore, we should make sure that the money is put to best use with minimum wastage. She also mentioned the point that this quota of one third is against the Constitution. I have asked the University this and they have checked with their lawyers. They have been advised that it is not against the Constitution. If Dr Soin disagrees, she can put this to a test in a court of law. The University must have proper requirements and qualifications for its students, and certain jobs are more suitable for men than for women. So they have this rule which is not against the Constitution. As I said, the essential difference between her figures and mine is that a lot of the female doctors worked part time. For example, in 1993, of the female doctors, 11.2% were working part time, as compared to 2.8% for male doctors. So in percentage terms, four times of female doctors were working part-time as compared to male doctors. This represents an under-utilisation of a very valuable resource. In the case of doctors not working, in 1993, 4.4% of the female doctors were not working as compared to 3.2% of male doctors. So if you add up both the part-timers and those not working, for females, it was 15.6%, as compared to 6% for males. So I think the reasons that were given in 1979 still remain valid, and I have no intention to change the policy.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think it is getting late, and so I do not want to go into a very long debate on this issue. I will give a very brief and to-the-point reply. As Dr Soin has said, since 1979, the intake of female medical students into the National University of Singapore has been limited to one third of its total intake of medical students, and this is because of two main reasons. Firstly, women doctors, particularly, after marriage, cannot be assigned duties as freely as male doctors. Secondly, a significantly higher percentage of female doctors do not work or work part time. The policy was announced in a press statement in March 1979 and is reviewed regularly. In 1988, 32.8% of female doctors, as compared to 8.7% of male doctors in the Ministry of Health, its restructured hospitals and NUH, were deployed in positions which did not involve irregular working hours. The 1988 Singapore Medical Council register showed that the proportion of female doctors who did not work or who worked part time was three times that of their male counterparts - 16.3% for females and 5.4% for males. The difference between these figures and Dr Soin's figures is that my figures include the part-timers. I think Dr Soin only mentioned those who stopped work. Last year, the figures still showed that 23.3% of female doctors, as against 12.4% of male doctors in the Ministry of Health, its restructured hospitals and NUH, were deployed in positions which did not involve irregular working hours. The 1993 Singapore Medical Council register also indicated that 15.6% of female doctors, as compared to 6% of male doctors, did not work or worked part time. There is, therefore, no need to change the existing policy despite the very strong appeal by Dr Soin.”
“Sir, the ranking of secondary schools is meant to guide the parents and to tell them, for example, that not all the popular schools are really doing that well. There are many neighbourhood schools which are very good. And besides the ranking, we also look at the value-added. In other words, we compare the "0" level results with the entry qualifications of the students. If the students did not do so well in PSLE but performed very well at "0" levels, it means the school has added value. 1.30 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the challenges are different. In a good school, you have very bright children. You have to stretch them further. So I think we have to try and balance out and make sure that all our schools provide a good quality of education. Mr Chia Shi Teck: Sir, what is the purpose of ranking schools if the objectives are met?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we do send good principals and teachers to all the schools. And when the time comes, we do rotate them to give them a wider exposure. I think it is a misconception that neighbourhood schools do not have good principals and teachers. In fact, very often so-called good schools do well because the children are very bright. They have tuition at home and all the support. And often it is the teachers in the neighbourhood schools who have to work harder, provide remedial lessons, and so on, to give the children that additional advantage. So they are the ones who add value. I would urge parents not to be taken in by the schools' results alone. Concerning the ranking of schools, there is no plan at the moment to rank primary schools.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in the current Primary One Registration Exercise, which saw a record number of 53,000 children being registered for admission to Primary One in 1995, 3,259 children (or 6.1% of the total) secured places for having direct connections with the school under Phase 2B. Of the 197 primary schools, only 13 closed registration at Phase 2B. The remaining 184 schools had places for children who did not have any direct links with them. These data show that parents who did not have any direct links with schools still had ample opportunities to register their children in schools near where they live. The priority given to parents having direct connection with the school serves to acknowledge their contributions and support to the school. It strengthens the bonds between the community and the school and helps to build up good schools. My Ministry therefore does not see the need to change this aspect of the registration scheme.”
“Dr Toh Keng Kiat asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there will be an enquiry into reports of alleged brutality on a Thai national by officers investigating a case of murder. CONFESSIONAL STATEMENTS (Safeguards) 8. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Home Affairs, in view of the recent murder case implicating a Thai worker, whether he will identify the existing safeguards that are employed to ensure that confessional statements are recorded voluntarily. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, may I take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together as they are related to the same subject?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the school year does not end with the final examinations. The time between the end of the examinations and the issue of report books is used to conduct a variety of activities which could include a review of the examinations, enrichment activities such as excursions, and programmes which prepare pupils for the next stage of their education. These activities form an integral part of the educational package which our schools provide for their pupils. BALLOT PAPERS FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS (Inclusion of photographs and names in different languages of candidates) 6. Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the Prime Minister whether the Elections Department will include photographs and names in different languages of candidates in the ballot papers for future general elections. The Deputy Prime Minister, Prime Minister's Office (BG Lee Hsien Loong) (for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Elections Department does not intend to include on the ballot papers photographs of candidates, or the names of candidates in the three other official languages. This would make the ballot papers cumbersome, especially in Group Representation Constituencies. Every polling station already has a notice showing the names of the candidates in the four official languages. The ballot papers will continue to carry the names of candidates in English together with their respective symbols. Singaporeans have voted this way in many elections and are accustomed to these arrangements. They have never had any difficulty identifying the candidates or the parties which the candidates belong to. ALLEGED BRUTALITY ON THAI NATIONAL BY OFFICERS INVESTIGATING MURDER CASE 7.”
“The Government has decided to leave the kindergarten and pre-primary sector to the private sector. So it is up to the market forces to determine where the kindergartens are built. TAX RELIEF FOR FOREIGN MAID LEVY FOR SINGLE WOMEN (For caring of aged parents) 4. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon asked the Minister for Finance whether he will allow single women who take care of their aged parents to claim tax relief for foreign maid levy. Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: Mr Speaker, Sir, the tax relief for foreign maid levy was introduced to specifically encourage married women to join the work force and at the same time have children. It is not meant to help all employers of foreign maids. However, I recognise the difficulties which singles face in taking care of their aged parents. Singles who maintain their aged parents are allowed a tax relief of $3,500 for each dependent parent. The savings from this tax relief will partially offset the cost they incur in looking after their aged parents. ATTENDANCE IN SCHOOL DURING PERIOD BETWEEN END OF FINAL-YEAR EXAMINATIONS AND ISSUING OF REPORT CARDS (Rationale) The following Question stood in the name of Mr R. Sinnakaruppan - 5. To ask the Minister for Education what is the rationale for making all school children attend school during the period between the end of the final-year examinations and the issuing of report cards.”
“Sir, those that wish to set up will have to get the approval of the Ministry under the Education Act. If they wish to change their plan according to the market demand or resource constraints, they will have to inform the Ministry. That is mainly for record purposes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education has not been notified that the kindergartens run by the PAP Community Foundation at Potong Pasir Estate and at Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, in the Potong Pasir Constituency, will be discontinued in 1995.”
“There is a cap on the number of applicants with outstanding 'A' level results to be admitted to Medicine to ensure a better spread of talent to other faculties. The basis for this policy is that Singapore also needs good minds to be trained in other disciplines. Top students who apply to study Medicine therefore have to compete among themselves for a place. In the selection process, aptitude and suitability for the course are taken into account together with 'A' level performance. CHILDREN OF SCHOOL-GOING AGE (Number who did not attend school) 8. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education what is the number of children who reached school-going age but were not registered for schools by their parents or guardians in 1989. Mr Lee Yock Suan: The data for 1989 is not available. In November 1993 the following data were presented to Parliament covering children of school-going age who did not register to attend school in Singapore from 1990 to 1993: Year Year of attending Number of children of Birth Primary One Classes did not attend school 1983 1990 80 1984 1991 243 1985 1992 305 1986 1993 319 These figures include children who have either emigrated with their parents or were living with their parents overseas. CRIME RATES FOR SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG 9. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the crime rate in Singapore is higher than that in Hong Kong and if he will provide statistics comparing the crime rate of these two countries from 1990 to 1993.”
“About 80% of the foreign students who graduated from our universities and polytechnics between 1991 and 1993 are working in Singapore. The Ministry does not have information on foreign students who graduated earlier. DEATH SENTENCES 15. Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many (i) Singaporeans and (ii) foreigners were sentenced to death for (i) drug trafficking and (ii) murder from 1990 to 1993 annually; (b) how many persons are now serving the death sentence; and (c) whether statistics have shown that the death sentence has deterred or reduced crimes.”
“Currently, there are four hostels built with full Government funding that are open to both boys and girls. There are a total of about 340 girls in these hostels. Most of them are foreign students. In addition to the existing hostels, the Government recently approved a proposal for Nanyang Girls' High School to build boarding facilities for 500 girls. The facilities will be open to girls from all secondary schools in Singapore. Priority will be given to the daughters of Singaporean expatriates living and working overseas. FOREIGN GRADUATES FROM SINGAPORE TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS (Percentage working in Singapore) 14. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education what percentage of foreign students who studied in Singapore tertiary institutions from 1989 to 1993 are now working in Singapore.”
“The selection of pupils for the GEP is based on merit. Pupils are selected based on their overall performance on three tests measuring language, numerical and general abilities. Precautions have been taken to ensure that these tests do not contain items which are sex-biased. Over the last 10 years, the male-female ratio of selected pupils has consistently been in the region of 2 : 1. This ratio is similar to that found in the identification of children for gifted programmes in countries such as Israel and the USA. It is consistent with the well-established fact that there are more males than females both among those with very high IQs, and also among those with very low IQs. This is because the distribution of female IQs is more closely clustered around the average, whereas the distribution of male IQs is more widely dispersed. (However, the average male IQ and the average female IQ are the same.) HOSTELS FOR FEMALE STUDENTS 13. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education whether hostels will be built for female students, especially those whose parents are Singaporean expatriates living abroad and wish their daughters to study in Singapore.”
“The Ministry does not have plans to mount a "comprehensive" business language programme in schools and educational institutions. However, regional languages like Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu and Vietnamese are offered in business courses conducted at the universities and polytechnics. The regional language courses are also available as enrichment courses to other students in these institutions. GIFTED EDUCATION PROGRAMME (Measures to increase number of females) 12. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education whether any practical measures can be taken to increase the number of females qualifying for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) as there are only about one-third females in the programme as compared to males.”
“Where necessary, the government has taken action to discourage too many students from taking up certain courses overseas. (iii) Singapore Student Advisors appointed by the Government keep in touch with Singapore students overseas. There are six Student Advisors based in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, where most of the Singapore students are studying. Their role is to look after the welfare of Singapore students abroad and to help them keep abreast of developments in Singapore. The Singapore International Foundation has been distributing its bi-monthly news bulletin "Notes Overseas" and SINGAPORE magazine to 54 Overseas Singapore Clubs to keep their members informed on developments and major events in Singapore. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 5. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Trade and Industry how much energy Singapore uses to produce one dollar of Gross Domestic Product and whether Singapore is energy wasteful when compared to other industrialized countries.”
“(i) In the last few years, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has put in more efforts to promote career guidance in schools. The primary objective is to ensure that our pupils will be better able to choose their course of study in relation to their aptitude, interest and future career. Each secondary school and junior college has two teachers appointed as Career Guidance Coordinators to organise and deliver the school's career guidance programme and to provide career counselling. The MOE has been collaborating with the industries to produce print and non-print materials on careers in the respective industries for the schools' career guidance resource centres. The MOE has been updating biennially its career guide entitled "Planning Ahead: A Career and Education Guide". In this guide, there is a section on "Tertiary Education Overseas" which provides relevant advice on measures to take when proceeding for studies abroad. The MOE has jointly published with the Singapore Press Holdings the "Singapore Career Guide" which is available for sale to schools and the public. The MOE has also been involved in staging the annual career exhibitions and seminars with the Singapore Professional Centre since 1989. Students are advised to take into account the employment prospects in Singapore and the national manpower needs in choosing their careers. (ii) Students who intend to go overseas for their tertiary education are advised to pick reputable institutions and select courses which have good career prospects. They are also encouraged to make the most of their overseas exposure by learning about their host countries and extending their contacts to build up a useful network. As private students, they choose their university courses to suit their needs and interests.”
“To date, a total of 2,218 pupils have donated money from their Edusave accounts to their schools in 1993. SINGAPORE STUDENTS ABROAD 4. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education, with a record jump of Singapore students going abroad for further studies, what measures his Ministry has taken to ensure (i) that the potential of these students is being maximised with proper guidance for their career choices in relation to our national needs; (ii) that we are getting value for the huge amount of money spent abroad; and (iii) that we are keeping in touch with these students while they are abroad.”
“The number of accounts withdrawn as at 31st December 1993 was 52,086. This works out to a participation rate of 15%. As the Edusave scheme was launched only last year, the schools needed some time to familiarise themselves with it and to organise themselves before they could begin to tap the funds for enrichment programmes. Principals and school administrators were also prudent in the use of the Edusave funds as they wanted to ensure that they were getting value for money for the schools and their pupils. As they gain experience in evaluating and organising enrichment programmes for their pupils, schools will make more use of the Edusave funds and the participation rate is expected to increase. Money which is not spent will remain with the pupils for their future benefit. Some may well be saving for future use when they go to the polytechnic or university. DONATION OF EDUSAVE FUNDS 3. Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Education whether any parents have donated their children's individual Edusave funds to schools.”
“The reason why we establish these autonomous schools is to create more choices for parents as a new model where we contain the cost of running the school. We keep the class size the same, we keep the same teaching norms. But we allow them flexibility in changing their curriculum other than retaining the core curriculum. We allow them to introduce innovative programmes. So now we have two models to compare with. On the one hand are the independent schools where they are allowed to charge fees to cover the additional expenses over and above the base level, which is the same per capita level as given for other Government schools, and the extras the parents have to pay. That is one model. If parents do not want that, they can apply to the autonomous schools and some of them are of equal ranking in terms of academic performance. So there is a choice for them. I do not think it is fair for the independent schools now to come back to us and say because we have autonomous schools, therefore we must give them the same grant as for autonomous schools.”
“Sir, I realise that fund-raising for schools has been a problem and a burden. In the case of independent schools, the funding formula is 80% paid by Government and 20% by the school itself. The Government funding is up to a limit of $32 million. In the case of the eight independent schools, I think most of them have been able to raise the funds with a lot of effort, no doubt, but they have succeeded. And where they have difficulty, we allow them to come to us and we will provide some kind of loan for them. But so far, no school has come to us for any funding support. I think most of them have been able to manage. The only ones that are still raising funds are SCGS, where they are building their new school at Whitley area, and also Nanyang Girls' School, where I think they have almost achieved their target. And, of course, I think ACS has no problem at all. They have so many supportive parents. The issue, therefore, is more a question of grants for operating expenses. Here I would like to clarify that in fact the independent schools are quite flushed with money. They are having fees of $100 per month in the case of girls' schools, and up to $200 per month in the case of RI and ACS. From our records, that is in fact more than sufficient for their present needs. The question is whether the Government should further fund them because we have these autonomous schools established where we give them funding support up to 10% extra per capita and the school itself has to raise fees by 1%. So we give 10%, the parents pay 1% as a base case. If they want additional funds, then it is dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum of another 10%.”
“In the case of River Valley High School, it is one of our top schools. I think it ranks as number three or four in the school ranking list. But it does cause some confusion having River Valley High School in Ayer Rajah. The name "Whampoa School" is mainly associated with the area. There is Whampoa Constituency, there is a Whampoa canal, there is a Whampoa Community Centre. It is a well-known part of Singapore. So I do not see the reason why we should retain the name "Whampoa", unless it meets our criteria. As I said, it is always a problem retaining names. If you want to retain this name and I say yes, I have to say yes to a lot of other cases where they have to close down the school and not use the name again. Mr Choo Wee Khiang rose ---”
“Supposing we retain this name of Whampoa Secondary School and we put it in Bukit Batok. I think people will get very confused. So unless there are good reasons, we have to stick to these rules. It is not an isolated case. There are other cases. If I say yes to this, a lot of other schools will come after me and say, "How about this name, how about that name?" And often it affects the Malay schools. Quite a few Malay schools were closed down. We found that to retain Malay names means that the new school will have difficulty attracting other students. So whilst I appreciate the sensitivity and the unhappiness of the old boys, in this case, unfortunately, my answer has to be no.”
“Sir, the Ministry has to make decisions to close schools now and then because of falling enrolment. It is a difficult thing to do but has to be done. Otherwise we will be faced with a situation like in other countries where closure of schools is a problem and as a result, the class sizes become smaller and smaller, and utilisation of resources becomes poorer and poorer. We are not doing this as if we are running a business. But we do have to look after the use of our resources in Singapore. As the Member has said, the Ministry of Education has decided to close the school because the enrolment has fallen steadily over the past few years. And in this year, the student enrolment is only 262. So it has to close. Also, the results have been below average. This kind of problem arises every now and then and it is a very emotional issue for the old boys involved. I can understand their feelings but we need to have certain criteria to use. So far, our practice has been not to retain the names of Government schools when they are closed. If they are closed, usually it is because they have not been successful. So retaining the name does not really help in setting up a new school in a new area. Apart from the old boys, there is not the same kind of sentiment amongst the other members of the public. We have the experience of the Chinese schools. When we tried to close them, there was a lot of unhappiness. So in 1986 we laid down some criteria to decide whether the school name should be retained. We will retain the school name if there are good historical reasons, if it is a good name that has history in it, and, secondly, if the school has been performing well. So it is something that is worth preserving.”
“Sir, I thank Dr Toh for his suggestions. My Ministry will certainly look into his ideas. For example, the use of closed circuit television. This is a possibility. We are interested in using all kinds of teaching devices such as computer-aided instruction, television, videos and so on. Recently, I met a teacher, a Professor from Canada. I understand they make use of this in some areas where the children are very dispersed over wide areas. So if they can do that in Canada, maybe we can do it here too, to some extent. The use of non-teachers as administrative heads? Yes, that is a possibility we have considered. I do not think we have implemented it yet. There are a number of areas to consider. One will be whether these people will be able to provide the academic leadership because principals are not only administrators but they also have to guide the teachers in the academic field. Perhaps somebody else can supplement him in this area. The other point is whether the teachers will accept him. So far, we have not tried it out but maybe we should try it out in one or two schools. The third point is the concern about foreign values imported by these foreign teachers. Yes, we share the same concern. I think we will have to monitor the situation. So far, the indications are that these teachers from Australia, New Zealand and India have adapted quite well to our situation. But we will have to monitor and make sure that there are no undesirable values transmitted. Dr Toh Keng Kiat: Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply and beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Of course, we do need to make sure that these people have the adequate qualifications in terms of the academic knowledge to be able to transmit to the pupils. That is number one. Two, we have to try and assess their aptitude and commitment to their job. This is a difficult area. Third, we make sure that they are properly trained. There is no requirement that they must have administrative skills. This is more for people who eventually become heads of departments, principals and vice principals. In fact, for the latter group, we do send them for training at the NIE. There is a Diploma in Education (Administration) course specially for these people to teach them administration. These are the basic requirements that we have and we require them to go for some proficiency test, unless they qualify for exemption. Also, there is an interview process chaired by an Education Service Commission member. The key point is that there is no way of assessing whether a person would be a good teacher. They may tell us at the interview that they are very keen on teaching and so on. Until we hire them, we do not really know. So if there is some way we can assess that, we will, of course, like to have more of such teachers in our system.”
“As a result of this bunching effect of the former Extended and Monolingual stream pupils being pushed to secondary schools, we will have a shortage of teachers in the secondary stream for perhaps a year or two. That is why over the last year, we have stepped up efforts to bring back retired teachers and to recruit from overseas. There are all kinds of measures. I can say that in terms of numbers, the current manning situation in secondary schools is satisfactory. It is not ideal but I think they are able to cope. In terms of training of teachers, the assessment of my staff is that actually what we have given them is quite adequate. The skills that are needed are not very different from those of teaching other stream pupils, except that they have to realise the characteristics of these pupils, that they have to be more patient with them, know how to interact with them and so on. That is why we have this crash programme to train a large number of teachers over a short period, in fact about 2,000 teachers. These teachers were specially selected by the principals on the basis that they are likely to be the ones who can relate to this kind of children. We are equally concerned that these teachers should be well prepared, should be able to do a good job in the schools, otherwise our dropout rate will go up again. So we appreciate the feedback from the Member and from others about how the teachers are feeling. We will go round the schools and if there is a need for further training, we will be happy to do so, especially in specialised areas like application of computers where there are longer courses. Mr Peh Chin Hua mentioned about the need for flexibility in the selection of teachers. Yes, I agree with him that we should try and be as flexible as possible.”
“Sir, as time is short, I have to be very brief in my replies. Firstly, concerning the shortage of new teachers. I share the concern of Mr Lew and we are doing the best we can to try and interest more boys to take up teaching. We are also working with Mindef to second some of their physical education instructors to our schools. At present, there are 72 of them attached to 72 secondary schools. Through our advertising campaigns and talks to 'A' level students and so forth, we have had some success in arresting the decline in the proportion of male teachers. Let me give him some figures. In 1992, out of 1,800 graduates and non-graduates recruited, there were only 7.4% male teachers. In 1993, the figure was 10.4% So through our efforts, there was an increase of 3 percentage points. But unfortunately, the ratio is very close to the 1:9 that he was fearful of. We will have to try and do something about it. Unfortunately, with so many opportunities in Singapore and overseas as well for our men, perhaps it is unavoidable that there will be many more females whom we have to depend on as teachers. This phenomenon is not peculiar to Singapore. If you go to other countries, even the UK and China, teaching is mainly a job taken up by the females. I also hope that Mindef will consider his suggestion and allow more men to come and join us, maybe as part of national service. Mr Chin Harn Tong brought up the unhappiness of the Normal (Technical) Stream teachers. He said that they were not adequately prepared. I can understand their feeling pressurized, because we tried to bring about this change in the education system rather quickly. This problem will be with us for about a year or two.”
“Dr Ker Sin Tze( In Mandarin): In his question, he said that even up to now I still had not answered his question in positive and concrete terms. So he asked me to answer in positive and concrete terms. Let me repeat what I had announced over three occasions last year. During Budget Debate 1993, I reported that some recommendations were implemented. On 21st March 1993, I announced that the number of periods for Chinese Language would be increased in the 15 SAP primary schools. On 22nd October last year, at a function of the Chinese Teachers' Union, I also announced, in positive terms, that more students would be allowed to take Higher Chinese in 1995. All these were reported in the Straits Times and the Lianhe Zaobao. Perhaps, he did not read the reports. I can give him the copies of newspaper clippings if he so requires. Dr Ow Chin Hock( In Mandarin): Let me repeat. I did not say that the Ministry of Education has not implemented the recommendations. All that I asked was: in the past one year, what progress has been made in the implementation? What is the effect? He has just to answer my question. Why did he say that I mislead the people? Dr Ker Sin Tze( In Mandarin): Because in his question, he said that, up to now, I have not answered him in positive and concrete terms. That is to say that the Ministry, or I, have evaded his question. I have not evaded his question. As I just mentioned, I had already answered him in part during the Budget Debate last year, and in March 1993, I had answered it. In fact, on 22nd October 1993, I also answered it. Perhaps, Dr Ow is too busy that he has not read the newspaper reports.”
“Firstly, on the simple question of class size. I think somewhere in the region of 10 to 20 will be a reasonable number and these pupils will have to be prepared to travel to the language centre because it is not feasible to do it in every school. I think we need not prolong this exchange. But I think many Members have got the impression, I myself included, that the Ministry has not been following up on the recommendations. I think the particular phrase that jarred on many people was this phrase yang feng yin wei [ ]. It means "Openly you are supportive, but behind the back, you are doing something else". I think that was a rather strong term. Dr Ow Chin Hock( In Mandarin): This was the expression I used on 10th March last year, that is, overt compliance and covert opposition. I did not use it this year. I repeat what I have said last year after I did not get a direct answer from the Minister of State last year: after reading the two notes of the dialogue session, he felt that the complaint of the participants in the dialogue was on the use of the dictionary in the examination. I did not pursue the matter at that time because he assured me that the Ministry officials would not be indulged in overt compliance and covert objection. I did not pursue the matter further because he assured me that there would be no such thing. Dr Ker Sin Tze( In Mandarin): Dr Ow said that I did not answer his question in positive or concrete terms. Is this not his question? That would imply that I had something to hide and did not give him the complete answer. Dr Ow Chin Hock( In Mandarin): I said, "Last year, you did not answer in positive and concrete terms." Before I ask the question this year, how would he know what I was going to ask?”
“We have implemented all recommendations of the Chinese Language Review Committee and will monitor the implementation closely. The second point raised by Dr Ow refers to the discipline among students in schools. I agree with Dr Ow that we must pay attention to discipline in schools, otherwise students in Singapore may behave like students in the US. Some even carry guns to school. In Japan, some older or bigger students always bully the younger ones. This is very bad. Of course, discipline must be implemented by schools and the Ministry of Education will oversee the activities in enforcing and developing discipline in schools. Next, I would like to reply to Dr Soin. Sir, may I be allowed to reply in English? The Chairman: Yes.”
“I said that we would also add an examination paper in Chinese, equivalent to General Paper, as an optional paper for students taking `A' level examinations. Overall, there are altogether 18 recommendations submitted by the Chinese Language Review Committee. I have just distributed a report on the progress in the implementation of each and every recommendation of the Committee in the House. Members may wish to refer to the Report for details. I would like to summarize the details into the following five aspects. First, we allow students who are strong in their language skills to take Higher Chinese in Primary 5 and Primary 6. Students with good results up to top 10 percent in PSLE Examination from Secondary One to Secondary Four would also be allowed to do so. Starting from 1995, the top 10 percent limit will be extended to top 20 percent, allowing more students to take Higher Chinese. Now there are 17 schools offering Higher Chinese. As I have just announced, this will be increased to 25 schools and two centres in 1995. Secondly, curriculum, teaching materials and examination papers have all been reviewed and modified. Thirdly, more extra-curricular reading materials are made available for students. The Federation of Clan Associations has also set up a committee to look into this and next week they will be announcing specially selected reading materials to be recommended to our students. Fourthly, from 1995, General Paper would also become a subject at `A' level in schools. Fifthly, we have sent school teachers for training overseas or locally. All these recommendations implemented have shown that the Government has been positively promoting the teaching and learning of Chinese.”
“For Higher Malay, we have also increased three more centres, namely, Anderson, Bukit Panjang and Temasek Schools. Altogether, we have five schools plus four centres offering Higher Malay. For Higher Tamil, we have also increased by one, that is, Victoria School. So altogether, we have three schools and one centre offering Higher Tamil. As regards other schools, so long as we have enough enrolment of 20 students to form a class, the Ministry of Education will consider allowing the school to offer Higher Chinese, Higher Malay or Higher Tamil. Mr Leong Horn Kee also asked whether we had carried out any survey on the mastery of these languages by students. Judging from the fact that our students today use English and mother tongue, especially English and Mandarin so commonly, there is no need to carry out such a survey. Next, I would like to answer the point raised by Dr Ow yesterday. Dr Ow asked yesterday whether the Ministry of Education had implemented the recommendations of the Ong Teng Cheong Chinese Language Review Committee. According to what he said, it appears as though the Ministry of Education or the Government has not been implementing any of the recommendations of the Committee. That is incorrect. I would like to say that what Dr Ow said yesterday might lead the public to a misunderstanding that the Government or the Ministry of Education has not implemented the recommendations of the Committee. I had already pointed out last year that some of the recommendations of the Committee were implemented. On 21st March 1993, I also pointed out that the periods for Chinese Language in the 15 SAP primary schools had been increased. On 22nd October last year, I announced that more schools would be allowed to offer Higher Chinese.”
“The Minister of State for Education (Dr Ker Sin Tze)( In Mandarin): Sir, first of all, I would like to reply to Mr Lew Syn Pau's and Mr Leong Horn Kee's questions on the second language and bilingualism. Mr Lew Syn Pau and Mr Leong Horn Kee have pointed out that under the policy of regionalisation, the value of Chinese has increased. The Ministry of Education agrees with their view. We are implementing the recommendations of the Chinese Language Review Committee led by former Deputy Prime Minister Mr Ong Teng Cheong. Because of the regionalisation development programme which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and India, the value of our other mother tongues like Malay and Tamil has also increased. We therefore encourage more students to take up Higher Malay and Higher Tamil. At the moment, we only allow those who are within the top 10% of students in the PSLE examination to take up higher mother tongue language. The Ministry of Education has announced that from 1995 the students within the top 20% of the PSLE examination will also be allowed to take up the higher mother tongue language. On 22nd October last year, I made this announcement at a teachers' union function. Today, in this House, I would like to inform Members that the Ministry of Education is also prepared to allow eight more schools and two centres to offer Higher Chinese in 1995, and these include Anderson, Cedar, Crescent, Bukit Panjang, Holy Infant, Temasek, Fairfield, Paya Lebar Methodist and two centres, Commonwealth Secondary and Ang Mo Kio Secondary Schools. Right now we have already 17 schools offering Higher Chinese. With these eight extra schools and two centres, we will have 25 schools and two centres offering Higher Chinese.”
“The other point to be clarified is that under our system of education, we used to send those who could not make it through the PSLE, after P7, P8 and Monolingual stream, to the ITE (former VITB) for training. So I am not sure to what extent this is reflected in the data. I think these people are trained and ready for employment. In a way, they have been provided with some form of post-primary or even post-secondary training. This is not reflected in the work force data. Because of the way it is constructed, in fact, this number could even include students who are working part-time. So it is not reflective of the real situation. A better indicator is to look at the percentage of students who score three "O" level passes every year. Take, for example, last year. Out of a cohort of about 45,000 children, 34,000 eventually made it to sit for the "O" level examinations. This represents about 80% of the cohort. Some would have sat for the "N" level and not made it to the "O" level. But eventually 34,000 or 80% made it to "O" level. Of this lot, 90% scored three or more "O" level passes. So the proportion with three or more "O" level passes is actually about 70% of the age cohort, which I think is very good by world standards. Compare this to the previous batches, the batch that took the "O" level examination in 1984, 56% scored three or more "O" level passes. The batch that took the examination in 1974, only 39% got three or more "O" level passes. So this is really what matters. It is not how many years they spend in school but eventually how they have benefited. This is a good measure of the quality of our work force in future. I think we should not be unduly pessimistic and we should interpret the data with care.”
“I am glad to inform the House that my Ministry has decided to contribute $ 1/2 million to this fund. It will be on a dollar-for-dollar basis - $ 1/2 million to be raised by the Students' Union and $(r) million to be provided by the Ministry from the Education Fund. I think it is a very worthy projet and it is good of the Students' Union and the students to go about it in such a positive manner. Mr Koo Tsai Kee asked about the correspondence courses. Yes, it is true there are a lot of these courses, some of variable quality. But these are beyond our control because they are not within our jurisdiction. I think whoever takes these courses will have to decide for themselves whether it is worth their while to spend so much money on these courses. I think, on the whole, it is beneficial for them to improve their knowledge. But as to whether they will earn more after that, I am not sure. As there is a bit of time, I would just like to take one last point and this is in response to several MPs who have commented on the data from the Labour Force Survey. Dr Soin, for example, has asked why amongst those who are employed, aged 15-20, there is such a high proportion of people who have below primary level or lower secondary qualifications. The number of these people is about 70,000 for these five-age cohorts. We must realise that this is a labour force survey. So it applies to people in employment. For that age group, in fact, the majority are still in school. Apart from this number, there are another 140,000 persons who are in full-time education. There could also be others who are in National Service. Furthermore, for this group of workers who join the workforce at this age, they are likely to be the ones with the lower qualifications.”
“We have taken in many teachers who are above 40. And the OUDP/SIM is keen to expand to other courses like Psychology and maybe to other subjects like Arts if there is sufficient demand. Several Members quoted the figure of $ 1/2 million contribution in the Budget for the OUDP. The reason for this small amount is that they have yet to build the building which they are planning to build near the Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The Government's contribution would come to $38 million. As the building plan comes on and as the course is being developed, this contribution from Government would then flow into the scheme. And that is the way we are supporting this project, not on a per capita basis but on a front-end basis. The Government has decided that this is the better way to go for this programme to cater to the working adults. I think the fees of about $3,000 per year, roughly speaking, or about $20,000 over six years for the programme, are quite reasonable and affordable. Next, the question of university fees raised by Mr Sinnakaruppan. I think his point about having possibly separate fees for NUS and NTU has some merit, and is something to be considered. The concern is, if you do it on that basis and NTU ends up with a lower fee, whether it would give an impression to the public that it is an inferior course. Of course, when you go on a per-capita cost basis, NTU, being a newer university, has a lower cost per student than NUS. So far, we have done an averaging of the two and come up with a common fee. But his idea is a feasible one and deserves consideration. He asked whether we are able to respond to the NUS Students' Union's proposal to have a fund to provide for bursaries and scholarships to help the students in the university.”
“Such universities vary in quality and cost over a very wide range. We will have to factor the number of returning graduates into our manpower projections. Ultimately, with an abundance of paper qualifications, it will be the quality of the person which counts, not the piece of paper that he possesses. The most useful person in a particular situation may not be a university graduate. He may be an electrician who can fix your TV set, the media expert who can put together an attractive advertising package or a technician who can keep the machinery running. Next, I would like to respond quickly to the different points raised on the Open University Degree Programme. Response, as you know, has been overwhelming, but it is not practical for us to take in all the students at one go. It has been the experience with other countries setting up similar programmes that there is always a backlog and a rush in the initial years. Apart from resource constraints, it is necessary to do it on a steady and sustainable basis. As it is, the OUDP has taken in 1,000 students, 920 to be exact, in the first batch and this is already almost double the original plan. I think we should let the OUDP carry on for some time and see how it goes. Whether the OUDP will offer engineering courses, the answer is yes, that is the intention. But the British Open University Programme does not have good engineering courses or it does not have engineering courses in the form that is presented in the Open University mode. So the SIM and the OUDP may have to approach other overseas universities for collaboration. This will have to wait till later because we want to see how the first programme gets on. Mr Lau Ping Sum wants to know whether there is an age limit for teachers taking the course. The answer is no.”
“As the manufacturing industry remains a pillar of our economy, we must produce sufficient engineers and scientists in future. One way is to take in a larger number of good engineering diploma holders from the polytechnics into second year Engineering courses at the universities. Such students have been found to perform well. With our limited manpower resources, it is important that we channel and guide our students into disciplines which will strengthen our economy and provide rewarding careers. Together, the universities and polytechnics will provide education for about 60% of each age cohort. This is an ambitious target which is higher than those of some industrialised countries. The bulk of the students will go into the polytechnics which provide a more practical and job-oriented education. The better ones will go to universities, preferably after some working experience. As we expand our regionalisation efforts, we should, of course, factor in the requirement for additional trained manpower. Such people need not all be university graduates. In fact, those with polytechnic diplomas may well be the ones with practical skills and the willingness to venture abroad. We should learn from the experience of countries like Australia and the Netherlands which have taken a liberal approach towards providing university education. The result is over production of graduates in the Humanities and other similar degrees who are not readily absorbed into the economy. The trend in industrialised countries is towards more job-related or vocational education in the broadest sense to include areas like nursing, banking and tourism. Whatever we do in Singapore, there will always be parents who can afford and who prefer to send their children to overseas universities.”
“As you know, our target is to have 20% of a cohort of students in universities, 40% in the polytechnics and 25% in the technical institutes. This leaves only 15% of a cohort who will not have some form of post-secondary educational training before they join the employment market and are trained on the job. With the achievement of these targets, we will have over time a highly educated and trained population, well able to earn a living in the world market. The expansion of our tertiary and post-secondary education sectors is guided by projections of our needs for high-level manpower. Such projections are made on a 5-yearly basis and reviewed annually by the Council on Professional and Technical Education (CPTE) which is chaired by the Minister for Trade and Industry. Whilst we are anxious to have sufficient high-level manpower to forge our economic growth and regionalisation efforts, we should be careful not to compromise our educational standards or to flood the market with graduates in disciplines which the economy cannot readily absorb. Already the NUS and NTU are finding that their students who qualify marginally for enrolment are having difficulty coping with their courses of study. The universities would like to take in more students into the engineering and science courses if there are suitable applicants who can make the grade. I think this is an important point. So long as you are able to make the grade and the university thinks that you can get through the course, they will be happy to take you in. But the experience is that those at the margin, the low pointers, find it quite difficult. Unfortunately, more of our students appear to prefer courses like Medicine, Law, Accountancy, Business and, to a lesser extent, even Arts and Social Science.”