Ng Eng Hen
Singapore
“I think we try to keep this virtuous state of affairs as long as we can to make sure that we can invest steadily. Year-to-year fluctuations would occur, whether it is economic, not so much in COVID-19, but remember the Global Financial Crisis? Everybody needs to take a haircut. If you have to take a haircut, you have to take a haircut.”
“Mr Chairman, as the World around us becomes more unpredictable and changes, the more we need to keep the strongest commitment to strengthen our own defences and, if needed, we must be willing to do more. Singapore celebrates 60 years of Independence this year.”
“MINDEF will continue to work with partners to encourage Singaporeans to raise their digital literacy, develop and maintain good cybersecurity habits, protect sensitive data and guard against scams, fake news and disinformation so as to make the digital domain a safer and more secure space.”
“The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) conducts regular mobilisation exercises (MOBEX) of our National Service (NS) forces. In a silent mobilisation, NSmen are notified through their personal contact numbers. Open mobilisations include the broadcast of unit code-words through mass media.”
“In 2020, the Ministry of Defence replied to a Parliamentary Question on this matter that the relocation of Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) would likely occur around 2030 or beyond, after Changi Air Base and Tengah Air Base have been expanded to house the existing assets at PLAB.”
“When incidents or near-misses happen, as it did where one Hunter armoured fighting vehicle rear-ended another during Exercise Wallaby in Australia, thorough investigations are conducted and lessons learnt shared across the units.”
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“In doing so, the CPE may also link up with other regulatory authorities such as the Police, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Ministry of Manpower, depending on the nature of the alleged contraventions. With regard to work privileges of student pass holders, unless otherwise permitted by ICA, a Student Pass holder is not allowed to engage in any paid employment or business in Singapore during the validity of his or her Student Pass. SUBSIDISED DEGREE PROGRAMMES FOR POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS 21. Mrs Josephine Teo asked the Minister for Education whether there are plans to enable all polytechnic students who wish to pursue a degree to have access to subsidised degree programmes in Singapore.”
“The Council for Private Education (CPE) is currently following up on a number of tip-offs related to dubious and unscrupulous practices within the private education industry, including false applications of student passes. As investigations are underway, it would not be appropriate for them to discuss any details at this stage. The CPE will make the necessary announcements in due course. Such acts are damaging to Singapore's reputation as a education hub and, therefore, harsh penalties are imposed on those found guilty. The Private Education Act empowers the CPE to take errant Private Education Institutions (PEIs) to task. As part of the enhanced regulatory framework, managers of PEIs have certain prescribed responsibilities and duties. These include the keeping of proper records, including information on course administration and student attendance. Any manager who fails to perform any of these duties without a reasonable excuse is guilty of an offence. A PEI that has been found to have contravened the requirements of the Act can have its registration period shortened, suspended or cancelled. Its EduTrust certification, if any, may also be revoked. In addition, the managers of the PEI can be held liable for a criminal offence. All regulatory actions taken by the CPE against the PEI will be publicised on CPE's website. The CPE is in the process of evaluating registration applications from PEIs as part of the 18-month transition into the new private education regulatory regime. Besides vetting documentation submitted by registering PEIs and carrying out on-site inspections, they will also investigate reports of malpractice, including the peddling of student passes by rogue agents.”
“Social workers from voluntary welfare organisations will help the families to resolve their social and financial problems. The Community Development Councils will provide job matching and access to Government-assistance schemes. Adult residents in the shelters who are work capable are strongly encouraged to go out to work. As at 24th March 2010, 165 of the 270 adults housed in the transitional shelters are working. Some are not working because of medical reasons or in the midst of a job search. In the Government welfare homes, work capable residents are encouraged to be gainfully employed. However, persons who are admitted for begging or vagrancy under the Destitute Persons Act may have to stay in the welfare homes until social investigations are completed and a bona fide job found for them. In the shelters, the social workers will also explore longer term housing options depending on their circumstances. These include HDB assisting them to buy a flat within their means or access to rental flats under the Public Rental Scheme if they are eligible. Families facing financial and housing difficulties should seek help early. They can call the Comcare Call Hotline at 1800-222 0000 or visit a Family Service Centre or Community Development Council office. APPENDICES Section Name: ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Title: CORRELATION BETWEEN MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND RESALE PRICE INDEX Filename : Median Household Income vs RPI (Charts 1-3) MP Name: The Minister for National Development (Mr Mah Bow Tan)”
“A total of about 11,000 graduates were surveyed, and the number of graduates by course/university surveyed is proportionate to enrolment. Of the 11,000 surveyed, about 8,500 responses were valid and reported on; thus, the overall response rate was 77%. For results to be reported, the sample size for each degree from each university should meet two criteria – a minimum of 70% of those surveyed and a minimum of 20 completed or useable responses. PLAN FOR FAMILIES LIVING BY THE BEACH 15. Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) if he will provide an update on the Ministry's plans to manage families who are camping and living by the beach; (b) how is the Ministry working with other agencies to assist families who have refused the offer to be transferred to shelters; and (c) whether there are any specific guidelines pertaining to whether families transferred to shelters can continue to work. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: It is illegal for families to become squatters in beaches or parks. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) will investigate the social and financial circumstances of all squatters found in public areas and help them to arrange suitable housing. Some may opt to live with their relatives or friends. If this is not possible, they can consider interim rental housing managed by HDB appointed agents or transitional shelters run by voluntary welfare organisations. The last resort is admission to a Government-funded welfare home. The shelters are temporary accommodation to tide needy families over while they work towards a longer-term solution. The ultimate objective remains achieving self reliance.”
“One general lesson is that the active involvement and support of the school leaders is a critical factor in the success of school-based curriculum innovations. Another is that structured time has to be formally set aside in the timetable in order to support teachers in their efforts to collaborate and plan together. Such lessons have enabled us to guide schools more effectively in their TLLM initiatives. There are many platforms and opportunities for schools to share their TLLM innovations and good practices. Last year, 92 primary schools and 117 secondary schools and JCs have shared their school-based curriculum innovations in the form of publications or at platforms such as conferences and workshops. Twenty-five primary schools and 26 secondary schools and JCs have shared their TLLM initiatives at international platforms. With the setting up of the Singapore Teacher Centre, there will be even more opportunities and platforms ahead for our schools to share their innovations, collaborate on projects and learn good practices from one another. GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT SURVEY 2009 (Survey components) 14. Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Education what were the sample sizes, broken down by university and degree, which formed the basis of the 2009 Graduate Employment Survey published by the Ministry on the employment status of graduates from the three public universities.”
“The "Teach Less, Learn More" (TLLM) movement, started in 2006, helps our teachers and schools to focus on the fundamentals of effective teaching so that our students are engaged, learn with understanding, and are developed holistically, beyond preparing for tests and examinations. (It is not about teachers literally "teaching less".) To do so, schools have innovated in curriculum (what to teach), pedagogy (how to teach) and assessment (how much have learners learnt). In leading the TLLM journey, MOE has made judicious reduction of curriculum content to provide teachers with more scope for innovation in their teaching and to reduce the curriculum load on our students. This has provided our students with the time for more holistic development and to take part in learning activities that will help them to think more critically and creatively. MOE has also provided schools with additional resources and support to carry out school-based curriculum innovations. Evaluation of the TLLM effort has shown that teachers are now more able to customise the curriculum, apply a variety of pedagogies and use more varied modes of assessment. By the end of this year, a total of 266 (74%) schools would have leveraged on resources and expertise offered by MOE to embark on their school-based curriculum innovations. (This compares with an initial 29 Prototype schools in 2006.) Our school leaders and teachers have found that students are more engaged and motivated in learning as a result of their TLLM efforts. There are many lessons that we have learnt from this TLLM journey, some with general application and others relevant for certain subjects and learner profiles.”
“Singapore’s Business Councils in China Province/City Business Council [Date of Establishment] Chairman/Adviser Guangdong Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council (SGCC) [Set up in March 2009] Acting Minister Lui Tuck Yew Jiangsu Singapore-Jiangsu Co-operation Council (SJCC) [Set up in November 2007] Chairman: Minister Khaw Boon Wan Vice-Chairman: Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan Liaoning Singapore-Liaoning Economic and Trade Council (SLETC) [Set up in April 2004] Minister Gan Kim Yong Shandong Singapore-Shandong Business Council (SSBC) [Set up in November 1993] Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan Sichuan Singapore-Sichuan Trade and Investment Council (SSTIC) [Set up in May 1996] Advisor: Minister Lim Swee Say Chairman: Minister of State Koo Tsai Kee Tianjin Municipality Singapore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council (STETC) [Set up in January 2007] Chairman: Minister Mah Bow Tan Vice-Chairman: Senior Minister of State Grace Fu Zhejiang Singapore-Zhejiang Economic and Trade Council (SZETC) [Set up in November 2003] Minister Lim Hwee Hua NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT (Highlights for Singapore) 25. Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs what are the highlights of the recently concluded Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC.”
“These activities provide our companies with business matching and networking opportunities, and update our businessmen on the latest industry trends in different regions of China. The Councils have achieved notable success in facilitating SMEs' entry into China, and also in the conception of large scale projects in China. From Breadtalk, Bee Chang Hiang and Old Chang Kee opening shop fronts in shopping malls, to infrastructure projects in water treatment, power generation and integrated township development, the Councils have played facilitative roles in securing access to opportunities for Singapore firms. Some of the large scale projects have generated economic spinoff for smaller Singapore firms. With a Singapore company as the master developer or main contractor, IE Singapore has been able to match other Singapore companies, including SMEs, to downstream projects. Some Singapore SMEs, such as First Automobile and Ednovation, have also secured projects in Tianjin and Sichuan through the facilitation of the respective councils. The business or cooperation councils also help raise the profile of Singapore as a destination for investment, listing and regional headquarter. Through the work of the councils, increasing number of Chinese companies are starting up operations in Singapore as they internationalise. China is a huge country. To understand China, its market dynamics and people in charge, we need to create both formal and informal opportunities to interact and learn from its leaders. In this regard, the councils provide an effective platform for leaders of both sides to engage and get to know each other. The resulting goodwill, trust and personal relationship will be helpful for future cooperation.”
“This is below the average annual inflation rate of about 3% for the past three years. When economic conditions require it, the universities have also chosen to defer fee increases, such as in AY2009, due to the global economic crisis. BILATERAL BUSINESS COUNCILS WITH CHINA 20. Mr Teo Siong Seng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether he will provide an assessment and progress report on the several bilateral business councils set up jointly by the Government and various provincial governments of China; and (b) what is the economic impact or benefit of channelling our limited resources to servicing these business councils. Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Singapore has set up seven business councils in China, in the provinces of Shandong, Sichuan, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Guangdong. Co-chaired by a Minister or a Minister-of-State (List of the co-chairs is appended below), and a Chinese counterpart of at least Vice-Governor rank, the business councils are established in provinces where Singapore companies have strong business interest. Over the years, the councils have served as useful platforms to strengthen our economic cooperation with China at the regional level. Council meetings, usually convened annually, review the progress of bilateral trade and investment projects, and explore new areas for collaboration. Council members include representatives from government agencies and private sector from both sides. Apart from the annual meeting, secretariats of the councils, represented by IE Singapore on our side, also organise mutual visits, trade and investment missions, industry roundtables and investment promotion seminars throughout the year to promote economic linkages between Singapore and the provinces.”
“The Government will continue to subsidise substantially the cost of university education to ensure that it remains affordable to Singaporeans. Currently, the Government generally subsidises 75% or more of the cost of education for general courses such as Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences provided by the autonomous universities, or about $76,000 to $105,600 for a four-year course per student. Students are expected to bear their fair share of the cost of education as they are the prime beneficiaries who would benefit from higher starting pay and successful careers after graduation. Specialised courses such as Medicine and Dentistry or within Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), cost much more than general courses. For these types of courses, we would want to move towards a funding model that reflects the higher costs borne by public funds. Students within these courses and SUTD should therefore be prepared to pay higher fees. However, MOE and the universities will ensure that no deserving students who are admitted to our universities will be denied a place due to financial difficulties. There is a wide range of financial assistance schemes – loans, bursaries and work-study schemes – offered by the Government, universities, foundations, private and professional organisations, community groups and self-help groups. As such, a Singaporean student can obtain up to 100% of funding for tuition fees and living expenses through a combination of loans and bursaries. Tuition fee increases have been modest over the years. For example, this year's fee increase (AY2010) for most undergraduate programmes is under 2% on an annualised basis.”
“Sir, the Member is spot-on in terms where our focus is. It is not an easy task. Members may be aware that MOE, on its own, hires one out of eight graduates that come out from our universities. As a single employer, we hired 2,000 over last year. There are various ways we do it. There is an enriching study by McKinsey that looked across the system and ranked our system for teacher recruitment and retention as a robust and good one. We do not pay the highest, South Korea does. The teachers there are in the top 5% of wage-earners. We pitch our starting pay slightly above the median. But our career paths are on a sharper incline. For those who show passion and ability, we train them to be leaders. We have principals even in their 30s. So I think career proposition and professional development are important. But obviously at the start point, we want to make sure that we bring those in with passion. If you like what you are doing, you stay on the job. I do not think there are easy answers. We will continue to look for ways to assist our teachers. Last year, I announced how we started the Allied Educators scheme. So when I go down to schools, I speak with them. Many of them are mid-career entrants. They spend a few months to convert and they have always wanted to be teaching but are unable to find time to do so. After they become Allied Educators, some of them are converting to become teachers. I am confident that as we continue to provide resources to the schools, develop these developmental pathways that will maintain a strong teaching force, I would say that it is a continuous process that we need to look at.”
“I understand that there has been quite rapid development of such modes of communication in the students' life as well as it is predominantly affecting them in the way they write as well as the way they speak in schools and at home. And it is deep because it travels down into their cognitive senses. I would like to ask the Minister the depth or seriousness of such problems among our students and how the Ministry is addressing it because it affects not only the English Language but also affects Mother Tongue such as Tamil, Mandarin and also Malay.”
“Sir, we have already allowed flexibility for those who can do well. I think Mdm Cynthia Phua's suggestion was a child may have some strength in some subjects, weak in others. He actually progresses not as one whole group but based on subjects. Obviously, there are logistical challenges, there are so many permutations that a principal can handle but, in principle, there will be no objection to that. In our system, indeed, that is what we have already catered for. I mentioned to the House yesterday that we have allowed Normal Academic stream students to take, for example, subject of a higher level. I said that one in three Normal Academic students actually do take "O" level subjects. I was very glad to look at the figures that they are doing well. About half of them took Mathematics, the other half took language-based subjects. And I think along those lines, the Ministry will continue to look for opportunities. What we have also done is, for example, to allow Normal Technical students to take ITE modules within the schools which give them advanced standing credits so that when they go to ITE, they can count that against for what they are taking. Beyond that, even within the Express stream, there are varying abilities. On the ground, the principals and teachers do make decisions based on this group needing to learn at this pace and that group needing to be stretched because students are getting bored and they understand the curriculum. Those are professional decisions that are best left to the schools. Assoc. Prof. Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, besides Singlish, I believe there is also a new lingo that is developing among students in their youth with regard to their engagement in the Internet via Twitter, SMS and also Facebook.”
“The JC students found it an exciting idea and an exciting example. And we continue to emphasise that there are other traits beyond academic ability that ensure their success; they should not only be defined by their academic ability.”
“Just keep doing the test papers until they pass". A university don in Korea, who was previously a MIT professor, was so upset with this obsessive desire by society to want children to do better so as to get to university. He is of a leading university, and he banned entrance examinations. So I said, "Ban entrance examinations for a top university, then how do you select your students?" He said, "Interview. I do not tell them what I am going to ask them." Every year, he changes it. But after a while, the students know and they drill for them. It is innate in our Asian culture. I think if there is any comfort, we are not as bad as the Koreans. We have quite a few Korean students who come here to Singapore and also other Asian communities who come to Singapore because they think our system is easier than theirs back home. Yes, the other point is drilling leads to diminishing returns, it is unproductive. But for our schools, I think we cannot stop parents from wanting their children to do better than the other person to get into the top schools. But where we have done is try to broaden it to include more holistic developments, to try to place emphasis on other aspects which we think are important because soft skills are important. And then, over time, allow parents, as the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Masagos, said, to be realistic in their expectations and also to create more mountain peaks, more opportunities for children of various abilities to rise. We try sometimes to give them examples which are different. So in the last JC forum, I gave them the example of Charles & Keith. Charles, as we know, has a string of shops with a turnover of $100 million a year in 40 countries. Both brothers did not go beyond "O" levels.”
“The learning support programme for Mathematics already exists. We started it a few years ago and it is working. As we can expect, the gains in languages are greater because the language facility and mathematical facility and aptitudes within the same child and within the population in general are different. So we can see better advances in terms of language catching up. But for Mathematics, with a greater innate component, it has already been started. On tuition, as the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Masagos, said, in his three-year sojourn in Australia, he noted how parents complained that Asian communities drive their children very hard. This is something which I have been looking at for sometime. So, in my last trip to Korea – Korea is famous for its tuition – I asked to visit a cram school. In Korean, it is hagwon. I asked to visit the most successful and leading hagwon in Korea. For this particular facility, applicants have to take an entrance examination to enter the tuition school. They have to do an admission test. So I wanted to spend some time visiting the hagwon. The fees, they charge about US$10,000 a year. I went to the classes, they were much smaller than ours. The desk was this size. And on the desk, there were stacks of assessment papers. So I asked the Principal, "Why are you so successful?" That hagwon is famous because their track record is that 50% of their students go to the top five Korean universities, which drives itself. "It is very easy", he said. He showed me the list of teachers with credentials. And he says, "Whenever students say that this is not effective, the teacher is dismissed." I said, "What is your plan to elevate it?" He said, "Nothing. Just to drill them and practise.”
“Sir, I think our clarification time is limited! The first reason is that I like the cold. On a more serious note, Finland does very well and has been doing very well in international comparisons for a few years now. We usually study systems that do well so that we can learn from them, not only Finland but also other top performing systems – Australia, Korea and even Ireland. One main learning point is teachers, as Ms Denise Phua rightly pointed out. She is quite correct. I asked their Minister of Education why is it that Finns want to teach. It is revered. He says that it is partly history. They moved from an agrarian to a modern economy. They had to teach their folks. And they also have big neighbours surrounding them who make them very tough people. Go and look at your map and see who are their neighbours. Therefore, they are a very homogenous society with this ethic to want to bring up the next generation. They have many more applications than places. I think McKinsey has done a survey. It is not as if Finland pays teachers, by international comparisons, the highest salaries worldwide. They do not. So there is this ethic and the teachers are indeed very passionate. This is what we also want in terms of our selection criteria. That is why we have a selection panel for all would-be teachers. We have also introduced more time for would-be teachers to spend time in the schools, either during NIE or before they even do that, to see whether they are compatible, because teaching is a vocation and we need to be passionate about it. We will continue to learn from these systems and adapt them when we think it is applicable.”
“Mr Chairman, I do not have a breakdown of where our children go for their overseas programme by schools. Obviously we could get that information. But basically we leave it to schools and the principals and the teachers to justify what learning points they want for their children; and to allow them to plan. From my own experience – my children and children of friends – they do go to ASEAN countries. I remember my daughter going to an orphanage in Malaysia; some of them go to Asian countries. So I am not quite certain if Mrs Teo's impression that they only go to Europe and western countries is true; but we can get that information for her. Needs-blind policy for our autonomous universities and Singapore University of Technology and Design: That in essence is what it is and I did not want to use that term because "needs" can mean different things to different people. But the basic philosophy is that no student who can gain admission to these universities will lose their educational opportunity because he does not have the financial means. That is as plain as it is. In other words, there are a number of scholarships, tuition loans, grants; so anybody who is admitted will be able to have the financial means to continue and get his education there.”
“Madam, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2010/2011, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”
“I can finish in one minute, Madam. Teachers and schools know when they have made an impact, even if the public at large do not. Recently, a former student of Pioneer Junior College wrote in the ST Forum Online. There was an exchange, as usual after the "O" Levels results or PSLE, how difficult it is to get to RI, HCI and top colleges. This student, his name is Tang Shangjun, had this to say – nobody had asked him to write in to ST Forum – let me quote him, "I would not trade my time at Pioneer Junior College for a place at any of the so-called elite schools, because I have received an excellent junior college education." A very short letter but Shangjun has done his teachers proud and for him if others do not recognise it, even others do not recognise it, they have met his KPI. Students are finally the ones that tell us whether we have succeeded in our educational efforts. I know that Members have raised a number of points and I beg your indulgence that I wanted to give an overview, Senior Minister of State Fu, Senior Minister of State Iswaran and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Masagos will add to the details and answer Members' specific details and, obviously, if we have not adequately addressed them at clarification time but I do ask for indulgence.”
“Paulin Straughan had asked that we reduce the class size. Our approach is to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio which is now 19.6 at the primary level and 16.9 at the secondary level. We leave it to the schools to see how they are deployed because that gives them the flexibility. Our goals for the next decade will require new engines and we will build the Singapore Teachers Centre to anchor their professional development. We want to strengthen the quality of PE, Art and Music Education. I have mentioned Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and the Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (STAR). For Mother Tongue Languages, we have the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL), the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) and the Malay Language Centre of Singapore, to cater to professional development needs of our Malay Language teachers. We need to put new infrastructure in place – such as Indoor Sports Halls – and we have designed these facilities so that usage can be optimised for our primary schools because all of them will move to single session. We expect our budget to increase to $11 billion over the next few years, with a very important caveat – if our economy continues to grow as planned. For those who do not understand that relationship between an economy that needs to grow for us to be able to spend dollars on education and defence, let me say that this caveat is all important. If we continue to grow, we can continue to invest in our education. And if we can do that, we can invest these resources to build up more peaks of excellence in the school landscape and tertiary sector, then I think that we would have achieved a lot. How do we judge what we have achieved? Members have talked about that.”
“As a percentage of GDP, countries like the US spend more on education compared to the OECD average, but do not fare as well. We should look at outcomes as well as how we spend our dollars. Over the past decade, MOE has consistently been spending on average of 3.5% of GDP to raise the quality of education. During this 10-year period, our budget has increased by 45%, from $6 billion in FY2000 to $8.7 billion in the current fiscal year. Our share of total Government expenditure has remained fairly constant at around one-fifth, significantly higher than countries such as Korea which spends about 15%, Japan –10%, UK – 12% and the US – 15%. We have spent judiciously, to invest in providing more opportunities for students across all levels. Each year, about 50% of the budget is invested in the school sector, 41% in post-secondary education sector and the remainder in HQ and its statutory boards. This is roughly the mix in most other countries. There are other sectors we would like to talk about – the pre-school education and special education needs. Senior Minister of State Fu and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Masagos will speak on these areas later. But at the heart of the process are our people. And she talked about Finland teachers. I visited Finland three times just to learn from them. I sit down in their classrooms, spend time just seeing what they do. We have invested good teachers but we can always do better. We have since 2000 increased from 24,000 teachers to 30,000 teachers. We are moving towards all-graduate recruitment by year 2015. A new career track was announced last year, the Allied Educators. We were able to recruit 1,217 Allied Educators and by 2015 we will double that number. Assoc. Prof.”
“In that model, students who will be the prime beneficiaries after graduating from the prestigious Universities, because they benefit from the higher pay and successful careers, are asked to pay much higher fees. MIT charges roughly S$53,000 per year for its students. Philanthrophists who believe in education and successful alumni lend their support to maintain their university's standing by contributing to its endowment, and this creates a virtuous cycle. We are setting the principle and the model for funding to be higher than the 25% cost-recovery ratio (CRR). But for the first few batches of students at SUTD, who will be in the interim campus, we will not aim to achieve this more than 25% cost-recovery ration. The fees will be set around $11,000 per academic year and this is only about 17% of the cost-recovery. Once facilities are built up, students would be expected to bear their fair share and fees will go up to attain the higher target cost-recovery ratio. Nevertheless, we will still maintain our standing that no student who can benefit from an education will be denied that opportunity due to lack of means. And they will have access to the various grants that we now give to universities and a Singaporean student can obtain up to 100% funding for his tuition fees and living expenses through a combination of loans and bursaries. Opportunities for all and a range of peaks that match the abilities of our students – these are our guiding lights. I have given a panoramic view and Members have asked whether we should fund our outcomes instead of by levels. Let me say that when it comes to spending on education, spending more does not always guarantee better outcomes.”
“This is the rationale for SUTD to team up with MIT and Zhejiang University, but such research-intensive Universities are expensive because, basically, there is a strong demand for top faculty to move your university up the ranking and Universities are willing to pay top dollar to get these faculties. The Government recognises that it must build leading institutions to provide our brightest Singaporeans an education here that can match that of other leading Universities elsewhere. However, it would only be fair for such benefiting students to bear a fair share of the costs. This is because they would have received much heavier subsidies than other students. For SUTD, we want to move towards a funding model that is more equitable, that reflects the higher cost borne by public funds to educate its students. Normally, for universities, we seek to recover 25% of cost from fees. In other words, Government subsidises 75%. This applies to the SIT courses we have just announced and other courses in existing Universities. But similar to more specialised courses like Medicine, Dentistry and Music, the total cost of SUTD can be up to two to three times that of other traditional courses. Students in SUTD can expect to receive much higher subsidies of nearly $50,000 per annum, sometimes over this amount. For SUTD, it is appropriate that we aim for a higher cost recovery ratio than 25%. Now, I am announcing this to set the principle before we take our first intake, so that the public, the students and parents can understand the rationale. In fact, for SUTD, we want to move towards a funding model, based more on endowments, scholarships and grants because this is a more equitable model for higher education, and is practised by leading private Universities in the US.”
“Members will know that this is done in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Zhejiang University – it brings together the best of East and West. The SUTD represents another response to meet high expectations of Singaporeans students and parents. We all celebrate when more students do well in their A-level examinations as they have done in this recent A-levels. But as more and more do well, we also have a problem – a good one, but nonetheless still a challenge. Our top performance students are targeted by leading foreign universities. Ms Denise Phua may have seen the advertisements too. Top universities from UK and US come to Singapore and even offer fully funded sponsorships to our top students. Countries have recognised that those who win this "war for talent" will have a strategic advantage over others. The US is a prime example who creams from the world's best. Sir, our universities must compete in the race to attract top talent if they are not to be relegated to "second division" – using the football parlance. NUS, NTU and SMU have done well. NUS ranks fourth within Asia, NTU ranks 13th – and 30th and 77th globally respectively. SMU, a respectable business and management university, ranks third in Asia in the 2009. But to stay in the first division, strategic partnerships count, and this is why NUS tied up with Duke University for the medical school, and Peabody Institute for the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. NTU has partnerships with Imperial College and Carnegie Mellon for a number of post-graduate programmes.”
“SIT and our polytechnics will launch eight new degree programmes with five overseas universities this year, so students can start this year, admissions will start tomorrow. These five overseas universities are leading institutions who are global leaders in their respective fields. Some of you may know it. The Technical University of Munich for electrical engineering and information technology, the Newcastle University for naval architecture, offshore and marine engineering, the Digipen Institute of Technology, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Hotel Administration, and Culinary Institute of America. These are brand names. These leading partners will add value and recognition to our Polytechnic diplomas as they provide advanced standing for our Polytechnic graduates, because our Polytechnic graduates will be able to obtain degrees – they do not have spend three or four years, they will get their degrees in two years. These institutions will give them their advanced stand. Together, these programmes will add some 500 additional university places for 2010. In steady state, SIT will offer places for 2,000 full-time students by 2015. MOE will provide subsidies for these students and Senior Minister of State Iswaran will give details on fees and subsidies. Undergraduate intake will be 15,300 places this academic year, more than the number last year even though the size of this year's cohort is smaller, it is about 26% of the cohort. With SIT and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), we are on track to achieve our target cohort participation rate of 30% by 2015. The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will add to the dynamism of the university sector.”
“We constantly upgrade ITE. Some of you may have visited ITE College East at Simei. It has received many international visitors who are impressed with what they have done. Last year, MOE announced that ITE would consolidate its smaller campuses into two remaining regional campuses by 2013, and we are on track. ITE College West will be completed in July this year and College Central by the end of 2012. Over the years, ITE graduates have also seized opportunities to upgrade themselves. Let me give you some figures. In 1995, only 12% of ITE graduates moved on to polytechnics. It is now 19%. In fact, among the Higher Nitec graduates, 37% subsequently did well enough to directly enter the Polytechnics. That is a very high percentage for students from a vocational institute to articulate to our Polytechnics. By 2015, we expect 45% of a Primary 1 cohort to access polytechnic education. We have to keep pace with this growing demand. MOE has decided to invest up to $1 billion to increase capacity in the five Polytechnics by 20% over the next four years. We are going to increase the capacity in our Polytechnics by 20%. We will need $1 billion and Senior Minister of State Iswaran will provide more details. 7.00 pm Last year, MOE announced that the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and our polytechnics would work with selected overseas universities to start programmes in 2011 – next year. It will offer to Polytechnic graduates a wide array of reputable universities to choose from right here in Singapore. Now, I mentioned that we will start next year, I am happy to report to the House that we have made good progress on this major effort, and as a result can start these degree programmes ahead of time.”
“Oracy weightings will increase by 5% to 20% across the national examinations to reflect the greater focus on the functional use of Chinese language. For those who would benefit from taking the CL "B", we will increase the access to this option. We want to develop a pool of CL "B" teachers with the right aptitude and drive to teach this group well. The idea is not to lower their standard, as some Members are understandably worried about - Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Teo Siong Seng have talked about that, but to make sure that the student does not get so turned off that he just does not want to use the language. Allow him to use it because a language must be used if it is to be effective. Senior Minister of State Grace Fu will provide more details later on the measures to help us transit to a new and more customised system. Let me now turn to the post-secondary education sector. We are building more opportunities and peaks of excellence. Beyond expanding opportunities for our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), we recognise that it is increasingly a strategic asset as we move towards a knowledge and innovative-driven economy because they are new engines that power Singapore's next phase of growth. As we expand, we want to be careful that we do not do it at the expense of quality. Our prevailing benchmark is that all our IHLs must strive to be the best in their class globally – whether you are ITE, Polytechnic or Universities – you have to compete globally. Because that is the best way to serve Singaporeans, ie, the certificates that they get will have a value. The Polytechnics and ITE are key pillars of a typical Primary 1 cohort. Members may not have kept track but 42% now goes to Polytechnic. We take it that it will increase further. 22% goes to ITE.”
“The Committee will develop a curriculum that effectively creates the ladders and not hurdles for students to progress based on their ability. Students will be guided to select which level of attainment they can reasonably achieve with the appropriate effort. If you do not achieve it in that year, you can achieve it in the next year. This is quite radical and it will require sometime to conceptualise and develop. For the next few years, MOE will focus on intermediate changes that will bridge us from the current curriculum to this new structure. Let me highlight the broad approach for Chinese language but similar changes will occur for Malay and Tamil. At the primary level, MOE's approach will be to build strong foundations for Chinese language learning. We will enhance the modular approach. Mr Ong Kian Min asked for details which will be provided later. But we will introduce more ICT because that is the way to engage students. Their learning becomes authentic and functional. At the secondary level, we will continue with a differentiated approach. For those who excel, we will provide more opportunities for them to deepen their knowledge of Chinese culture. We will also provide more opportunities for potential and current SAP school leaders to have extended attachments in leading schools and institutions in the People's Republic of China and in Taiwan. I am going to send would-be Vice Principals and Principals to these schools, attach them there for an extended period so that they come back more energised and with new ideas to see how they can deepen the SAP culture. Across the board, we will see greater use of ICT in the curriculum.”
“The HSK philosophy is that, "You may not be able to catch up but even if that gap is still wide, I want to encourage you to go even higher at the next level – secondary school, pre-U and even university". It is an entirely different approach. They make the language accessible with great emphasis on listening/speaking skills but less on writing for the beginning levels. Because they believe if we help them to listen and speak, for those when they gain their proficiency, they then move on to writing. The test questions that they start with at the beginning level are contextualised. They use exactly what Mr Baey Yam Keng said, "What do you do in a social situation? How do you respond? How do you respond not in a stilted way but in a conversational way?" They start with very reachable goals – a vocabulary book with 581 characters which forms 90% of all daily conversations. Five hundred and eighty-one is achievable, right? It is quite different from 3,000 characters. If they study that, 90% of the time, you can communicate with somebody. This goes a long way towards motivating the learner with a sense of achievement to acquire enough proficiency to function in several scenarios. I agree with Mrs Teo that we do not have to swing to a position where mother tongue is taught as a foreign language. It is a not a foreign language. We do have a Mandarin-speaking environment in different segments of society and in the media. We have newspapers, radio and TV stations, pop culture in Malay, Tamil and Chinese and we need to take advantage of this environment. But we want to encourage the functional use of language by emphasising effective oral communication in everyday contexts and functional writing.”
“We need to engage him because he is very hip and he is able to connect, whether it is the films that he suggested or the pop songs. I think that there is traction. Kids will be excited about this. So, Mr Baey, if you do receive a call, you will know why. For those who face difficulties in learning the language, we want them to acquire competency in oral communications for daily living. Apart from teaching – Members are again right – how we test students will shape their attitudes towards the language. Mrs Teo said, "Look, grounded on educational grounds." We are. We are open-minded and indeed, we are studying various systems, from China, Cambridge and advanced placements in the United States. This is work-in-progress but let me give you one example. China's Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) is a proficiency test geared towards learners, not as a foreign language, but who are not immersed in the Chinese language environment. They are not immersed. They can hear it sometimes but it is not the total immersion. They adopt the philosophy of encouraging and motivating more students. They treat language proficiency as a marathon, not as a sprint, encouraging each student to finish but at his own pace without being discouraged between him and the other person who finished first before him is very wide. And I think that is an enlightened approach. Consistent with this approach, HSK has multiple proficiency levels. If you imagine someone coming at Primary 1 who comes from an English language background versus one who comes from and is immersed in a Chinese language-speaking background, they have different starting points. The catch-up speed, even by Primary 6, may be very different.”
“As announced, the Director-General of Education is currently leading a review of three Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs), to respond to the language home environments and educational goals. Mrs Teo suggested that this should be grounded on solid educational grounds and not personal experience. She is right. That is the way to move forward. The review is expected to be completed by year end. It will design a mother tongue curriculum structure that basically recognises the wider range of starting points. It recognises the starting points of students' home environment, their prior backgrounds and devise customised approaches for different groups of learners. The basic goal is the same. There is alignment here. We want to evolve a framework that will facilitate the learning of Mother Tongue Languages in three broad groups – the majority who come from English language-speaking homes, those who are are very capable and the other extreme, those who face exceptional difficulties. For those with the ability and interest to do higher mother tongue, we agree to help them to develop fluency in all these programmes. There are good avenues to do this, such as SAP schools and the Bicultural Studies Programme (Chinese) (BSP(C)), and the Higher Malay and Higher Tamil programmes. As I have said, if there is demand for more SAP schools, MOE will build them. For the vast majority, the middle ground, the goal is the same. We do want our students to cultivate an interest to be able to use the language because if they do not use it, they will lose it, and we want our teaching methods to encourage students to use the language. This is the point that Mr Baey Yam Keng made so strongly.”
“It may be a good idea. But we have given this and it amounted to about $1.3 million to recognise students for their achievements in sports, art and music. Let me move on to communication skills and language ability. I agree with Mr Ong Kian Min that the ability to communicate with clarity, impact and emotional appeal is a valuable asset. English is paramount because it is the lingua franca of the globalised world and Internet. And we agree that teachers are role models for the use of good English. We have strengthened in-service training. I need to be honest, we have a long way to go in terms of raising English standards. We are starting, we are consolidating. We need to pool much needed expertise and training resources in teaching English to bilingual learners. And as I have announced, the English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) will be set up. Senior Minister of State Iswaran will give further details. Mr Ong Kian Min suggested encouraging more students to learn Malay as a third language. MOE agrees. So far, the response from students has been positive. Let me give you some figures. Around 500 Secondary 1 students offer Malay as a third language, while 80 offer Bahasa Indonesia. It is a small proportion of a large base, but at least it is a start. Of these, 130 students are enrolled in the regional studies programme, which MOE started in 2008. Mr Baey Yam Keng, Mrs Josephine Teo, Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Teo Siong Seng spoke about the teaching of Chinese language. With the rise of China, we absolutely agree that it will be a valuable cachet. Similarly for those who speak Malay or Tamil languages as markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and India expand. There has been considerable debate over the last few months and I need not repeat the arguments today.”
“We have to build up the pipeline of PE, Art and Music teachers by 2020. And we have done our calculations. We will need 80% more, nearly doubled, four-fifths more, to be mathematically precise. Otherwise, my students would say that I do not know my Mathematics. This move will provide an attractive career option for PAM teachers and enable them to elevate the standards of these programmes in schools to achieve our educational outcomes. We are serious about this. We want them to stay within the system. We are providing the same three career tracks that are given to academic teachers. In other words, if they teach PE, Art and Music, they can aspire to be principals or be in positions of school leadership while those who are interested in advancing by doing research and developments can go that track and be Senior Specialists in MOE HQ. Those who are interested to become "teachers of teachers", ie, Master Teachers, can also do that. I have already announced that we are starting two institutions to support this – the Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and the Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (STAR). This is a professional home to ground to help them develop professionally. Mr Ong Kian Min asked about the KPIs for PAM programmes and Mrs Teo suggested introducing new categories in Edusave Merit Bursary awards to recognise achievements in sports, art and music. And she gave me a discreet number – 1,000. Our schools have clear expectations and learning outcomes for these domains. Last year, we gave close to 7,500 awards. In short, this award already exists. It is called the EAGLES award. It is an Edusave award for Achievement, Good Learning and Service. I understand that they want it more discreet and I will look into that.”
“I think it is very hard to start it, but we think it is actually possible for MOE to run competitions at various levels, whether it is at the novice level, intermediate or advance level, so that competitions are for the masses. I think Mdm Cynthia Phua brought this up before and we have been working on it. 6.45 pm Now, I completely agree, too, about specialisation of teachers. I think some Members brought up the point. To enhance the delivery of the Art and Music curriculum, MOE has decided that all new Art and Music teachers will be trained for single-subject specialisation, ie, just one subject. In short, they will focus on teaching either Music or Art, and handle Art- or Music-related CCAs and programmes. Existing Art and Music teachers will also move towards single-subject specialisation. PE teachers are currently trained to teach a second subject, but are deployed mainly to teach PE. That is because some PE teachers do like this ability to be cross-deployed in subjects beyond PE which provides them with the flexibility to switch to other subjects when they lose their flexibility. MOE proposes to allow more flexibility in the training and deployment of PE teachers. In other words, it means that teachers who prefer to teach only PE and sports-related work can already do so, if this suits the needs of the schools. We will step up the recruitment of PE teachers in tandem with the building of infrastructure in our schools as we allow more PE curriculum time. This is going to have a large impact on our recruitment. In view of single-subject specialisation, more PE, Art and Music teachers will obviously be needed and will be recruited. We currently have 2,500 qualified PE, Art and Music (PAM) teachers.”
“Several Members – Mrs Josephine Teo, Mr Ong Kian Min and Dr Mohamad Maliki – have suggested that sports, CCAs, PE and Programme for Active Learning (PAL), in particular, are actually excellent opportunities for students to develop a range of skills. They asked what the KPIs are, and I think what they are asking is: "Look, you teach Art, you teach PE, you teach CCA, what do you really want to achieve?" And this is what we are trying to achieve: it is a tool, it is a platform, and through these activities you help the students acquire an awareness of their physical well-being, develop a sense of self-esteem, to pick up important values such as teamwork, fair play and a "can-do" spirit. I think this was a point made by Ms Joscelin Yeo. MOE agrees wholeheartedly with all Members and will therefore provide more time, space and resources to schools for PAM (Physical education, Art and Music programmes). PE curriculum time will be increased across primary and secondary levels. For Primary One and Primary Two, the increase will be half an hour, from 1.5 to two hours as it is now. For Primary Three to Primary Six, it will be increased from the current 1.5 to 2.5 hours. At the secondary level, it will be increased from one to two hours across the levels. This will be done in phases, in step with the building of sports halls, the implementation of single-session primary schools and the recruitment of specialised teachers. I agree with Mrs Teo that sports should be for everyone, not just a select few. And, indeed, we are working towards the mass of the students to be involved in sports competitions. We think it is possible. In Australia, of course, they have clubs because they are geographically segregated. We do not really need that.”
“So they went on to develop a wheel diagram. In MOE, we have 500,000 students in many schools, so things must be communicated easily. I am very glad that we did not spend a lot of money employing consultants. This is done in-house. Let me just declare that I have nothing against consultants. But our spending will be prudent, and I think it is a very nice chart. At the centre are Core Values. What is it that we want to develop? They define a person's character. They shape his beliefs, attitudes and actions, and form the core of our approach towards nurturing 21st century competencies, rooted and grounded on values. So, whether it is communicated in English, Mandarin, Malay or Indian, it is the same philosophy – values. The middle ring signifies the social and emotional competencies – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management with others, different sexes, as well as responsible decision-making. The outer ring represents key competencies for a globalised world – civic literacy, global awareness, cross-cultural skills, critical and inventive thinking, information and communication skills. And then the outer aspects: four key traits in which we want to develop. I agree with Members that to do this well, a whole-school approach is required because we need every teacher or support staff to be aligned to this effort. And they need to work with parents and other community partners – a point which Mrs Josephine Teo rightly alluded. As the proverb goes – it takes a whole village to raise a child.”
“If Members open up the brochure, Members will see what we call "Competencies for a Changing World". It says, simply, that we want to nurture each child to become a confident person who has a strong sense of right and wrong – I think Mrs Mildred Tan talked about this – "adaptable and resilient" – Member Joscelin Yeo mentioned this – "knows himself, is discerning in judgment, thinks independently and critically, communicates effectively, a self-directed learner who questions, reflects, perseveres and takes responsibility for his own learning" – Ms Irene Ng was very passionate about that – "an active contributor who is able to work effectively in teams, is innovative, exercises initiative, takes calculated risks and strives for excellence" – I think this is a point made by Mr Viswa Sadasivan that you are able to work with others and not only think of yourself – and "a concerned citizen who is rooted in Singapore, has a strong sense of civic responsibility, is informed about Singapore and the world, and takes an active part in bettering the lives around him". Well, I can assure Members that the team that worked on this was not in cahoots with the MPs but Members will be struck by how much alignment there is. This was developed, in fact, by our school leaders and teachers. We asked the professional side of the House to tell us what we want to achieve for the next lap in education. They evolved this. We gave very little inputs, maybe some language to make it sure that it is communicated. They wanted this to provide a common platform for all MOE schools to anchor various efforts in developing soft skills and character. As many Members had noted, knowledge and skills must be underpinned by values.”
“They manage a group of principals and they allow them to share best practices. So rest assured that we do recognise that the principals need leadership skills; and a principal is supported by a dedicated team of executive and administrative staff. But let us also be clear that the principal is accountable for all aspects of school life and that includes National Education, recognising the achievements of students, setting the tone. He is accountable; he cannot outsource his responsibility but he can get a team to help him achieve these goals. We have built a good education system but for the next decade, Members have said that we need to do more, and I agree. I have announced that it is timely for MOE schools to put more resources to develop soft skills and values. And this is a goal supported by as many Members that stood up to speak – all of you, Mrs Josephine Teo, Miss Penny Low, Mr Ong Kian Min and Dr Mohamad Maliki. Mr Ong Kian Min calls it "social aptitude" – the ability to speak publicly and confidently, the ability to communicate ideas well - which is vital in the new economy. Last April, MOE accepted the recommendations of the Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI) Committee headed by Senior Minister of State Grace Fu, which aim to nurture every child into a confident person, a self-directed learner, a concerned citizen and an active contributor. I have asked the Clerk of Parliament to distribute this to you [brochure on "Nurturing our Young for the Future – Competencies for the 21st Century " handed out ]. MOE has been thinking about this for some time. I was struck by how much alignment and resonance between this document and what Members have said.”
“When this was discussed, I remember that our approach was that the school would not start if we could not get any one to volunteer to teach in the school. We did not want to post the people there. Yen Ching is now the Principal. She has more applications than places to teach in that school. To be honest, these students are difficult in a sense that they have failed the mainstream schools and many of them come with social problems, but we have no shortage of teachers. So when I visited them, I talked to the teachers. I asked them, "Are there social problems?" They said, "Of course, it is to be expected." But they have evolved mechanisms to respond to these problems and they are very realistic. They have a chart of an emergency response system any time of the day, but the chart is based on where the teacher lives and it does not matter if the particular teacher does not know the students. To shorten the response time, you are activated so that that teacher can go to that student. They evolved these organic responses, I call it. Mr Viswa Sadasivan suggested engaging a professional CEO for each school – thank you for the suggestion. But I think he meant that the teachers do complain that they are overworked and they have so many administrative responsibilities, so this will free up teachers' time from "non-core" work. We expect the principal to be the school's CEO as well as the "Chief Academic Officer" and they are trained that way. We have the leadership track which they go on when they are vice-principals before they become principals. But he mentioned a good idea – to get the ones with experience to help new principals. And indeed that is what we do. These are called the cluster superintendents. They are experienced.”
“Then, on the other extreme, for those students who benefit from a different but hands-on learning style – we have Northlight School and Assumption Pathway School, which gives them a practical education. Many of you have visited Northlight and, in future, I hope, Assumption Pathway. If you have not, you do not need to be invited, just tell me when you can and you want to, it is an open invitation. I think you will be visibly moved by the passion and dedication of the principals and teachers of this group of students. I have tried to summarise what we have done over the last decade. But the message is: the changes over the last decade or so have helped us re-shape our education system, to cater to a wide palette of students' interests and abilities, and to help every child reach his or her potential. And the positive experiences in these selected programmes and niche schools add to the offerings of our mainstream schools and strengthen our system. They represent the other peaks of excellence in the system. They provide us with learning opportunities that we can start in a discrete programme because sometimes down the line it may not work so well; and at least it does not affect the general whole. So, we will consolidate where necessary or refine and sharpen existing programmes. And where appropriate, we will also expand offerings in these selected programmes and more of such schools to benefit more students. I agree with Mr Viswa Sadasivan that principals are key to the success of schools and programmes. Indeed, we have succeeded because there is a healthy synergy between systemic policies and ground-up initiatives. Let me give you one example – Northlight.”
“Some do very well without it; some not as good as they should without it. And so we are refining the process to see how we can attain our goals. You will remember the specialised independent schools for students with talents in Mathematics and Science, which is NUS High School, School of the Arts under MICA, and Sports School under MCYS. They are doing well and making a mark for themselves. Since its opening in 2004, the Singapore Sports School has produced four World Champions and its students have broken 46 national open records in Track and Field and Swimming. Students from NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, which started in 2005, have garnered 13 awards at international Olympiads over the past two years, including a Gold award for Chemistry. For those of you who are in the know, it is very hard to get a gold at the Olympiad – you compete with the best. The School of Arts, which started in 2008, has a beautiful campus next to Cathay. One wonders the distractions the children have but that is another story. It started in 2008, yet to see its first cohort graduate, but some of its students are already clinching places at summer programmes. They gave me a list – in prestigious institutions like the English National Ballet School, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago – I visited there, it has very good programmes – as well as the Yong Siew Toh Young Artist Programme. They have not graduated their first cohort, and yet their students have already received placements. This year, the School of Science and Technology, with its niche in applied learning and ICT learning, took in its first batch of 198 students, and is well positioned to be a new peak of excellence in the landscape, we hope.”
“Well, Mrs Teo will be glad to know that our schools have around 200 twinning programmes with schools in South-East Asia, China and India. And in 2008 – I am using 2008 figures because H1N1 struck last year and we had to clamp down on overseas travel – 9% of primary students, 29% of secondary and one-third of JC students had a chance to go overseas; across the board, we have 500,000 students in the system. That is no mean feat. It shows that this impact is there and it will accelerate. And they went for school exchanges, international competitions, overseas community involvement stints. We talked about China. I found out that out of 170 primary schools, 120 primary schools on their own have twinning programmes with schools in PRC. This is a ground-up initiative, which the Ministry helps to fund. And there are exchanges of students who come down for a week or so and that learning experience from being exposed to that is wonderful. Many of you would have children who have gone on camps. My own children went to an orphanage, came back, changed – different outlook, more serious sometimes, but understanding where Singapore sits, the neighbours and what learning means. 6.30 pm To stretch more academically able students, we started the Integrated Programme in 2004, only six years ago. As you have read the recent "A" levels results, we have the first batch who graduated. The reason was that we wanted to develop more critical, inquiring and independent learning. We continue to monitor outcomes carefully and refine processes along the way. It is good but not all good. From preliminary findings, we found out, but not surprisingly, some students actually do better with the examination structure.”
“We will study them because each one does require a lot of study, but I take the point that at the ground it is the schools that impact the students positively. And to maximise our reach, this is the reason why we provide extra resources for all principals to tap on, to fund deserving programmes. Let me give you a feel. For each school, we give Opportunity Funds, Edusave grants and Internationalisation Funds. So just these three big ticket items. Taken together, this means that a typical primary school has on average an additional $170,000 per annum that they can draw and tap on or apply for. A secondary school has an additional $300,000, and they use this to provide enrichment opportunities for all students. On top of this, primary and secondary schools can also apply for funding of up to $50,000 per year if they want to develop niche programmes in various fields. We do not prescribe it, they just have to justify that there is an educational component and merit to it. This approach, school-based, where it incentivises the principals to reach out to the mass of students, not only a select few, is responsive as well as productive. As a result, different niches of excellence are emerging across all sectors, with teachers and school leaders at the forefront, taking ownership of innovation school-based programmes. For example, across the board, our schools now offer a broad range of curriculum offerings and opportunities to develop a global mindset to be exposed to different cultures. This was the point that Mrs Josephine Teo made. Our Economic Strategies Committee recommended that we be a Global Asian Hub. But if we do not expose our students to Asia, to ASEAN, let alone Asia or both, how do they have their mindset, that multi-cultural orientation?”
“Last year, 4,750 Normal stream students benefited from taking a higher level subject. In fact, last year about one in three Normal (Academic) students took an O-level subject, and majority did well. Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students can also take modules which are delivered in collaboration with Polytechnics and the ITE and these provide them with course credits which they can use when they subsequently study there. The Direct School Admission (DSA) framework has also widened the scope for students to be selected into secondary schools and post-secondary institutions. Ms Denise Phua said she was shocked – 177 advertisements on tuition. It is a competitive system. But what we have done is to also recognise other talents. We cannot stop parents from wanting their children to do better than the others. But what we can do is to recognise their abilities. For instance, in some of our IP schools today, one in two, 50% of students, enters through the Direct School Admission. Let me give one example to bring this point home. Like Elaine Ng, she missed the PSLE cut-off for Nanyang Girls' High but entered through DSA because she was a talented in Chinese dance; she is Chinese. So far, she has done her school proud in winning gold with honours at last year’s Singapore Youth Festival, and she is now part of the school’s Mathematics and Science talent programme. So through the DSA, we are able to recognise wider domains of talent. But beyond these systemic measures, as Members have emphasised, schools are ultimately the nurturing ground for all our educational endeavours, and I take Ms Denise Phua’s rich suggestions.”
“7 billion in FY09, an increase of 5.5% from FY08. And this year’s education budget is a further increase from last year’s – an 11% increase, to $9.7 billion. While we appreciate the overwhelming support of Members for our spending on education, MOE will still ensure that spending is prudent, in order to maintain the strong support that we have from Members. Mrs Josephine Teo asked a very critical question – how does MOE approach its funding, where do you put your priorities, where do you put your dollars, and what do you hope to achieve. I will provide sectoral and numerical details later. But let me first say that the broad approach over the last two decades – if you look at the various initiatives across different Ministries, across different top management – has been consistent and there are two key aspects. First, it is to expand opportunities in education for all through building a mountain range of educational programmes with more peaks of excellence; second, to rebalance our system towards building values and skills to achieve broader educational outcomes. Just focus mainly on these two broad aspects – a mountain range of peaks and rebalancing towards values and skills, much of which many Members in their speeches before me focused upon. So it affirms to us that MOE is moving in the right direction. In fact, within the last decade or so, we have gone a considerable distance to cater to the diverse spectrum of abilities in all our students. In particular, we want to create paths for those with different learning styles. Members talk about late bloomers and let me provide some details of our various initiatives. Across schools, Normal stream students have benefited from more flexibility in streaming.”
“I invite Members to choose any school they like because it is system-wide, we let them look at our schools and they feedback to us that they are impressed with the level of engaged learning in our classrooms. But we are careful not to let these praises get to our head. In fact, often we say, "Look at our system, we do not want to teach anyone, we do not think we are in a position to but if you can learn something from the system, you tell us what you need to know." The positive comments encourage us to continually seek for ways to improve. We engage and listen to MPs in this House as well as to the broad segments of society for their views on education as an ongoing exercise, and we view education reform as a continuous journey because we have to equip each generation of Singaporeans adequately for their future. Mrs Josephine Teo made that stark remark that Primary 1 students today will still be in the workforce in 2070, for the future that we cannot know or challenges that we cannot predict. She is right. So the Government is committed to continue this major focus on education and we do this not only because it is critical for our economic competitiveness but for Singaporeans, it enables them to move up. As Dr Lily Neo and Ms Indranee Rajah noted in the Budget debate, for low-income families, it provides the uplifting power to break the poverty cycle. This is why in last year’s Budget – not too distant away, let me remind Members – in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis, we continued to increase our spending on MOE. The financial crisis was worse end of the year, Budget was brought forward because we wanted to have a response, and even then we increased – by the good grace of MOF – our spending and our budget was $8.”
“Let me share one anecdote. Last year,Cambridge University ’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Alison Richard, who was here to address the Cambridge alumni, said that Singapore was "renowned for its long-term investment in science and technology, for its commitment to nurturing exceptional talent, and also for encouraging students to study abroad – well before it became fashionable". And indeed she is right, we do not do things because it is fashionable. We continue to focus on the basics. She went on to relate that a hundred years ago, the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate was in Singapore administering school examinations and setting educational standards. But, today, Singapore is considered a leader in educational innovations and a key partner for its international division - it is now renamed Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). So the Cambridge certificate that you have, the organisation has been renamed, it is called CIE. CIE staff conduct examinations for many countries outside the UK. When they talk to these countries about their school curriculum, they tell us that these countries say to them "we want to be like Singapore". We regularly receive many delegations from overseas, including Ministers of other top-performing systems, who visit our schools and institutions and they are impressed. They visit our schools. We do not suggest to them which school. We say, "Well, this is a panel, you decide which one." Mrs Josephine Teo made a point that when she goes to school, she sees art being conducted and sometimes she is not sure whether that swallow makes the summer.”
“It brings to home how schools are fundamental learning ground and how we need to work with society to help our children navigate moral values, confidence, etc, in various aspects. For that particular case, we will look up the facts and work with MCYS and our schools and we will report back to Parliament because I think it is an important enough case for us to address adequately, but I do not have facts here and I will reply to Parliament when we do. Let me thank Members for their overwhelming support. I have not heard anyone say that we are spending too much. I thank them for their overwhelming support for our large investments in education and their support affirms that, by and large, we spend our education dollars well. There are many suggestions about what our education system should be but I think generally most of us agree that our students across the spectrum of academic ability receivea first-class education and at all levels – whether it is primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions, ITE, Polytechnics and Universities. The system we have today is a far cry from what we have inherited when we became independent. In the first PSLE held in 1960, we have it in our records, guess what the passing rate was – 55% failed! If you were the Permanent Secretary and the Minister, well, you can only go up from there – 55% failed, try to do better. Since then, we have persisted in our efforts to upgrade educational opportunities for all – steadily focusing on the fundamentals to build a cadre of good school teachers and leaders, to develop a rigorous curriculum and then to ensure that our assessment systems are of high quality and valued by educational institutions and employers worldwide. Outsiders have noted our achievements too.”
“I thank Members for their passionate speeches. I sat there listening and I felt very gratified because all the speeches have one singular theme – we really want something better for the next generation, for our children. We want to make sure that they are more morally upright, more confident, more equipped, smarter, rooted, some said "wings". A number of descriptions that Members said. Mr Ong Kian Min said we wanted them to have social aptitude. Miss Penny Low called them the "Gen Z" generation. Ms Joscelin Yeo said "value learning". Mr Viswa Sadasivan wanted teachers to be moral exemplars and in the course mentioned his teacher Mr Tang. Dr Maliki Osman wanted more weightage on the arts, physical exercise, education shaping their character. And on languages, the theme was same – whether it came from Mr Baey Yam Keng, Mr Teo Siong Seng or Mr Low Thia Khiang – how can we help them in their linguistic skills, as well as Mrs Josephine Teo, how can we make learning of languages more exciting, and I think someone mentioned a high bar, a high floor and a high ceiling, typical Singaporean style – high floor and high ceiling – and it is a worthwhile aspiration. And, of course, before I reply to the passionate speech by Ms Denise Phua, I am glad that she keeps count of how many times and how many years she asked the Ministry. We keep count too, and when we can say "yes", we will. I am sure Members were shocked as I was when they heard Ms Mildred Tan speak of an example. Shocking – in Singapore! We will have to say that the facts are not verified. We are verifying the facts but it is believable that there are young children – I do not know whether there are adolescents – who become pregnant.”