P. Govindaswamy
Singapore
“Sir, the purchase of SBS shares should not be made compulsory. It should be voluntary. If a poor man were to use all his $5,000 CPF savings to buy SBS shares, he will not know what will happen to his shares in one or two years' time.”
“Sir, we know that Singapore Government Officers' Cooperative Housing Society has been in trouble for many years. But I fail to understand why when members write in for a refund, they do not even get a reply. Nobody seems to know exactly what is happening with this society.”
“In the past few years and even now, every Malaysia Cup soccer tie that is played at our Stadium, the tickets are sold out within hours and many fans are disappointed. Even ugly scenes have happened, to the extent that one soccer fan fell dead whilst trying to buy tickets.”
“If the Minister approaches the Finance Ministry for extra staff, he must press on with his request. Anyway, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have forgotten one point. Regarding the word "million". can the Minister please give instructions to the RTS staff not to use the English word "million" but to use the Tamil word for it? If they do not know the Tamil word for it, they can ask the people from the higher institutions.”
“The Minister must think it over. Mr Ng Yeow Chong: Sir, can the acting Minister give me an assurance that my request for the re-naming and for the re-location of the creche within the constituency's housing estate will be brought up when his Ministry starts negotiations with the NTUC for the taking over of the creches?”
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“Sir, I am not talking about that. There was previously a hawker site in that area. But it has been converted into a car park. Why? That is what I want to know.”
“Sir, my question is this. I want the people in the Silat Square area to have the benefit of a market where they could get things easily. There may be a market in the Telok Blangah estate. But how far is Silat Road from the Telok Blangah estate? The people, want to get their foodstuffs or any other things easily. Are there any supermarkets to be built in that area?”
“Sir, can the Parliamentary Secretary tell me what are the criteria for the building of hawker centres?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir.can the Parliamentary Secretary please explain further? He has said that there are markets and hawker stalls all over Singapore. But what I am asking is that the people in the Silat Square area should have a hawker centre. I want to know whether that can be done. The Parliamentary Secretary says that there are hawker centres everywhere. Yes, there are hawker centres everywhere in Singapore. But I want a hawker centre in the Silat Square area.”
“Sir, the Minister knows that there is no rain today and yet Robinson Road and parts of that area are flooded. Is there any policy to block the water from flowing into the drains?”
“Sir, can the Minister enlighten the House on this point? Four cables which were wrongly connected had burst because the engineers had not done their work properly. Have the engineers been working well or not?”
“Sir, the Minister has not heard me correctly. He does not want to change his policy or practice. I accept that. But I do not want to see the proceeds of these shows going into the pockets of individuals. If they are used for charitable purposes, tax exemption should be given. If it is not for a charitable cause, entertainment duty should be charged, as for the cinemas. Otherwise the people will complain. We must try to make this clear and spell it out in the law that if a show is organised by a private individual entertainment duty will be levied. Then there will be no trouble. Sir, at the time I organised a charitable show there were so many individual organisations. My organisation is a charitable one but these individual organisations have all mixed together -”
“Sir, I would like the Minister to clarify this point. What is the difference between a show organised by a private individual and that of a charitable organisation? Recently, there have been many shows organised by private individuals for their own benefit, and they were given tax exemption. Why is there discrimination between the cinemas and the National Theatre? If entertainment duty is paid by the cinemas, why is duty not charged for shows organised ,by private individuals at the National Theatre? If a show is organised not for a charitable cause, then entertainment duty should be levied. If the private organisations want to organise shows for their own benefit, entertainment duty must be imposed as for the cinemas. If it is a charitable show, then it should be exempted from tax. There is a loophole in the law and I hope the Minister will look into this. The Minister should also look into the wording of the relevant law. I have received so many complaints on this that I have to put forward this question. The Minister must stop this.”
“I have already mentioned it. My grandchild went to the Anglo-Chinese School and offered Tamil as a second language. But there was no vacancy and he had to take Chinese as a second language.”
“I agree with the Senior Minister of State. However, if the school does not want to register Tamil as a second language, how can you get the required number? Mr Chai Chong Yii: Sir, I will appreciate it if the Member for Anson can let me know the particular school where this is going on, so that I can look into it.”
“Sir, will the Senior Minister of State for Education agree to encourage the study of Tamil as a second language or not? I want to know that. If he agrees, he must try to find ways and means of implementing it.”
“Sir, I propose that the Ministry appoints a Commission of Inquiry, and then everything will be put right. I want every Government and aided English school to offer Tamil as a second language. That is my proposal to the Ministry.”
“Sir, the Senior Minister of State for Education mentioned that another 33 schools had been asked to register children who wish to offer Tamil as their second language. But recently in New Town School when some parents wanted to register their children, who wish to offer Tamil as a second language, there were no vacancies. They live near that school but they cannot get a seat in that school. So they went to other schools but there were also no vacancies. Which school can they go to? In some of these schools which the parents went to, they were told, "If you are willing to offer another second language, then we can accept your children here." My grandchild went to Anglo-Chinese School and offered Tamil as a second language, but the school said no. They said. "If you want to offer Chinese as a second language, then we will accept." Where is the encouragement of Tamil as a second language? Many children look forward to studying Tamil as a second language but there are no vacancies in such schools. I propose that the Ministry of Education appoints a Commission of Inquiry into this matter.”
“Another year! SCHOOLS OFFERING TAMIL AS SECOND LANGUAGE (Registrations for admission) 11. Mr P. Govindaswamy asked the Minister for Home Affairs and Education (a) how many Government and Aided English schools offer Tamil as a second language; (b) how many children have registered to take Tamil as a second language in the recent registration for admission into Primary One classes; and (c) whether some schools, in which Tamil was supposed to be taught as a second language, rejected or discouraged parents from registering their children in those schools if they opted for Tamil as a second language. The Senior Minister of State for Education (Mr Chai Chong Yii) (for the Minister for Home Affairs and Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, the number of Government and Government Aided English Schools which offer Tamil as a second language is 69 (53 in Primary and 16 in Secondary). During the recent Primary I Registration Exercise, however, another 33 schools were asked to register children who wish to offer Tamil as their second language. The recent Primary I Registration Exercise ended on 28th August 1976, and relevant statistics are still being processed. I shall keep you informed when the figure is available. For your information, figures for 1974 and 1975 registrations were 1.542 and 1,563 respectively. The choice of the second language for their children rests entirely with the parents concerned. No designated school for the teaching of Tamil language has ever rejected or discouraged parents from registering their children on the grounds that they would like their children to offer Tamil as a second language.”
“Sir, when will the new equipment be ready for use? I want to know the date.”
“Sir, when will the new equipment be ready?”
“Sir, I am very glad to hear the Hon. Minister's reply, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“41 million is provided for the Science Centre Building in Jurong. When will this building be finally completed so that it could be suitably used for scientific purposes?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head X be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 1004. Sir, under this Ministry we have a new Department of Scientific Services which was formerly known as the Department of Chemistry. I want to know the functions of this Department. What sort of scientific services is this Department offering to the various organisations in Singapore? Sometime ago, the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Singapore conducted a research on the feasibility of using solar energy as an alternative or extra source of energy. They have collected information on how much sunlight Singapore has for a whole year. This information has been obtained to formulate ways and means by which solar energy could be used. I wonder what has happened to the research. Is it feasible to use solar energy as ar-i extra source of energy for Singapore? Besides this, have there been any other studies made on the use of monsoon winds as an additional source of energy? I feel that as our population and services grow, we also require the much needed energy in the various fields of activities. There was a threat to our oil supply sometime ago. Now, the position has improved. But we would not know what would happen in the future. Therefore, in this respect, the Department of Scientific Services should conduct studies and find ways and means of creating extra sources of energy in the Republic. Sometime ago there was a move in making Singapore the brain centre in this region. I wonder how much have we achieved in this aim. Do we have enough facilities and manpower to fulfil the concept? I would also like to know how best have foreigners used our scientific services. In the budget allocation, we note that a revote of $3.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Minister for the explanation. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“But often their aged parents do not stay with them for they live in another house or probably in one of the other children's houses because of the lack of rooms, Parents need not have to stay together with the claimants. They could stay in another house. Nevertheless, claimants should be allowed tax relief so long as they support their parents. I hope the Minister would relax this regulation. Sir, the income tax form has been modified over the last two years. I must thank the Income Tax Department for simplifying it. However, there is still a snag. The present system of a joint declaration in a single form may at times be impossible. There may be cases where husbands and wives have been separated because of some personal problems. Thus, the verification of the returns by one party may not he possible. I suggest the form should be further modified and, if possible, the ticking system should be adopted. Finally, the relief granted for a wife is only $1,000 per annum. This relief is completely out of proportion. Since inflation has brought so much hardship, the $1,000 relief, which was introduced a long time ago, is chicken feed. It is time the relief for the wife be increased and, if possible, the personal relief for the taxpayer too.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead DEC 1111 Sir, in order to claim tax relief for aged parents, one has to satisfy the following conditions: (1) They are living in the same household as the taxpayer; (2) They are 55 years old or more or physically or mentally handicapped; (3) They do not each have an income exceeding $750 in the year preceding the year of assessment: and (4) They are not the subject of claim made by anyone under any other provisions of the Income Tax Act. 4.15 p.m. With these conditions, it appears that some genuine cases of claims have not been granted tax relief. I would like to seek clarification from the Minister on this particular case of a girl who has to pay income tax for the first time last year. She has a widowed mother whose identity card shows the date of birth as 1920. All these years this girl has been supporting her mother by giving her a monthly allowance. Last year, when she claimed for tax relief, the Income Tax Department rejected her claim on the ground that the mother was only 54 years. She was told that she would be eligible for tax relief this year. I wonder whether this is fair. If the girl is not supporting her mother, will the Social Welfare Department give aid to the old lady? In exceptional cases why not allow children to claim relief for maintenance of their parents who are not working because of some reasons. Another condition for relief is that the dependent parent must be living at the same address as the claimant. Many of our citizens are living in HDB flats and look after their family.”
“Sir, in view of the explanation by the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn, The following amendment stood in the name of Mr J F Conceicao (5) That the sum to he allocated for Head W he reduced by $10 in respect of subhead DAA 1105.”
“Sir, the duty of the Central Supplies Department is to buy the things and keep them in stock for supply to Government departments. However, sometimes the Central Supplies Department does not even keep a stock of duplicating paper and the Government departments have to purchase them from outside. They should keep a stock of all these items. Mr Hon Sui Sen: Sir, I accept the fact that the Central Supplies Department must try and keep in stock all the requirements that Government departments will need from time to time. In fact, they do keep most of the items which are in common use. Occasionally, they may be out of stock, in which case, they may have to replenish them by purchasing from outside. I think that is still the system.”
“Sir, I think the Minister did not answer my question. Should the Government departments purchase the items from outside or obtain them from the Central Supplies Department?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BCA 1111. Sir, the Central Supplies Department is supposed to be responsible for the supply of all the necessary items which Government departments require. It is a standing rule that Government departments are not permitted to purchase anything from outside suppliers. Yet quite often when a requisition is made for certain items, the reply is "Out of stock". Sometimes, even common items like batteries, duplicating papers, etc., are out of stock. This Department which is supposed to cater for the needs of all Government departments should keep their stocks of all items up-to-date.”
“Sir, the Minister has not replied to my question on whether or not the 13th month allowance will be continued.”
“It is my hope that the private sector will introduce a better disciplined force of workers so that our productivity will increase several fold and benefit Singapore in return. Finally, I would like to comment about the ugly tendency that is growing in certain departments. Whenever a Member of Parliament requests certain matters on behalf of his constituents, a blunt "no" is given by some officials who quote rules and regulations to support their negative answers. However, the same officials are very lax towards other enquirers who do not go through the MPs, and they seem to get away with whatever they do. In some cases if an MP's request is turned down, the same person gets things worked out through other loopholes. Something is drastically wrong somewhere. Why do these loopholes exist, and why do these officials make use of these loopholes to oblige certain individuals and to turn down others according to their whims and fancies? I hope the Minister will see that no double regulations are used in all Government departments.”
“I hope the Minister will see that the departments are not scattered in a way that will cause inconvenience to the public. On the subject of inflation, with the assistance of the various consumer associations we have been able to curb profiteering to a great extent. Though the prices of many commodities have gone down, we still find hawkers quoting exorbitant prices. What is the use of having price tags when no one is checking on the prices quoted? For instance, iced water costs 10 cents a glass. If you buy it in a plastic bag it costs 20 cents. Just imagine, one has to pay the extra 10 cents for the bag alone. In all the hawker centres too you will find that the prices are high. The people have no choice but to pay for it. Will the Minister see that remedial steps are taken against unfair profiteering? Banks in Singapore open for business at 10 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. during weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. on Saturdays. These hours are extremely short, and the banks are still observing these times introduced during the colonial days, though the work-pattern and the number of working hours have changed. Banks, except the POSB, have not adjusted their hours of business as far as service to the public is concerned. It is time the banks were made to realise that it is for their own good and for the convenience of the public to extend the banking hours. Sir, the economic policy of 1976 seems to lay emphasis on the growth of the private sector. This emphasis is on diversifying productivity, increasing the skills of our workmen and to train them in higher levels of technology in skill intensive industries. This is a right move. It is this type of workman that Singapore needs badly.”
“At the moment there are so many allowances stated in the pay-slips, such as NWC recommendations for 1973. 1974 and 1975, leave allowance, shift allowance, etc. These allowances are rather confusing, when it comes to analysing them. I wonder whether the Ministry will consider consolidating these allowances without any loss to the wage earners. In the past many hotels have been built. Tourists were encouraged to come to Singapore. Now what has happened to the occupancy rate of hotels? There seems to be a downturn in the number of tourists coming to Singapore. Despite this the international airport at Changi is to be expanded. Can the Minister supply facts and figures on this matter and state whether any move is being made to raise the occupancy rate of our hotels? In the trading section, it seems that ships calling at Singapore are not as many as before. What has happened to our trading missions? How best have they been successful? Our statistics show that trade with Japan, America and European countries have gone down. Why is this so? Is the Government doing anything to revive our trade with these countries? Next, on Singapore Airlines, how are we faring in competition with the other airlines? What is our profit during the last one year and are we expanding the airlines? Sir, previously there was a tendency to house many offices and various departments under one roof. But, of late, owing to traffic congestion, the Government tends to decentralise some of the departments all over the island. Although this may be a good move to ease traffic congestion, there may be difficulty for a member of the public who has to go to several departments to settle a problem. He will have to travel from one area to another.”
“Sir, before I make my speech, I agree with the Member for Sembawang regarding his comments on smoking. But if he takes too much meat he will suffer a heart attack. Therefore he must be careful in not taking too much meat. While advising other people, he must also look after himself. Mr Speaker, Sir, I notice that we have 2,414 vacancies in Division I alone, and so many Ministries are short of these officers. Is this caused by officers in the Government sector migrating to the private sector? Or is it due to their emigrating to other countries? May I ask what steps are being taken to reduce this migration of officers? I suggest that further incentives be introduced to retain them so that they will be able to produce work that will best suit their ability. Every Ministry has a shortage of staff, so much so that temporary recruits are being taken in. For how long are they going to be temporary? They themselves do not know. Why is the Finance Minister not taking steps to fill the gap instead of relying on the temporary staff who feel insecure and after some time would leave for greener pastures in the private sector. There was a hint recently that the automatic yearly wage increments would from now on be subject to productivity. This casts a pessimistic note on the 13th month allowance and the NWC recommendations for this year. May I know what is the position of the NWC recommendations? Could the Minister elaborate? I hope the NWC recommendations are not taken away, because the people's burden of livelihood has been cushioned by these allowances to meet the increased cost of living. But if this is withdrawn, it will affect the daily expenses of the ordinary worker. I wonder whether all the past recommendations will be consolidated in the pay chits.”
“Sir, in view of the explanation of the Parliamentary Secretary, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendments stood on the Order Paper Supplement -”
“Si-, the Parliamentary Secretary has assured the House that when they have overcome the problem of shortage, they will be allowed to resign. Is that right?”
“Can the Parliamentary Secretary assure me that they can resign any time they want?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. That the sum to be allocated for Head V be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CCA 1111. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a must for teachers and pupils to involve themselves in some sort of extra curricular activities in the schools. This is in line with the policy of building a rugged and robust society. The different extra curricular activities are of varying degrees. Some may be tough and others may be easy or simple. The pupils and teachers have to carry out their ECA outside the normal school hours. This means that the time meant for studying is sometimes taken away because of these activities. The teachers who are involved in the uniformed groups like the Police Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Corps, St John's Brigade etc, find it difficult to resign from these groups after involving themselves for many years. It seems that once they are engaged in a particular ECA, they are unable to get out, though participation is voluntary. They themselves are in suspense and do not know exactly when they will be released. Are they to be released only when they retire from the service? May I ask the Minister why is this condition for release so strict? Because of this condition, the recruitment of new members to the uniformed groups is rather poor. Also one of the reasons for the poor response to join the Institute of Education is due to this move, as all new recruits must undergo training in one of the uniformed groups. Such conditions are obstructing the recruitment of teachers. May I get the Minister's view on the subject?”
“9 100 I can give more statistics for the other five schools but I will withhold them for the time being. I now come to the list of poor schools. These are the results for the second group of poor schools: Second Group of Poor Schools Percentage of Passes 1st 2nd 3rd 1971 44.4 43.3 42.1 1972 40.7 41 39.2 1973 43.4 44.6 39.1 1974 36.5 40.9 32.2 1975 37.6 40.9 31.6”
“Good teachers are getting lax; good principals are resigning; and good schools are becoming fewer and fewer. As a result, parents are scrambling to get places for their children in good schools. If they succeed, they feel happy and have peace of mind, knowing that they have done something for their children. If they fail, they become dejected and constantly worry over the fact that they could not succeed in doing something good for their children, And for this, they spend sleepless nights. Sir, to my colleagues here in this House and to my friends outside, I say to them: as parents, do you not hope that your children will some day become important figures, endowed with rare attributes, and be superior to others? This is the common aspiration of all parents. From the educational point of view, I feel that if a school is able to train only a very small group of talented children and weed Out a lot of those with a low Ia, then education is a failure. On the other hand, if a school is able to train a lot of children and weed out only a few with low IQ, then true education would have been achieved. In fact, a good school will produce many more talents than stupid people. I can give some statistics on examination results achieved by some 20 schools over the past five years, 10 of which are good schools and the other 10 are not so good schools. I have categorised these 20 schools into five groups, and the percentage of passes for these five groups over the past five years is as follows: First Group of Good Schools Percentage of Passes 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 1971 94.8 93.4 95.3 98.7 98.2 1972 96.6 89.1 93.5 98.8 98.8 1973 97.8 98.2 97.1 99.4 97 1974 95.9 95.4 96.6 99.4 98.2 1975 94.2 96.4 93 98.”
“I have been musing to myself that this exercise in copying and aping educational development in foreign countries, without taking into account our local conditions and practical reality, what will it turn our teeming youngsters into? What will they become after this training? We know that in this multi-racial and multi-cultural society of variegated backgrounds, education is a very big and thorny problem to handle. But it does teach us one lesson, and that is, if administrative instructions issued in the morning are changed in the evening, and innovations of teaching methods are churned out every so often as described by my colleagues here, then this kind of ad hoc exigency measures is not the way to plan our education programme on a long term basis. Now the Minister for Education has decided to carry out a thorough reform as indicated by the Senior Minister of State in his reply relating to the six-year or seven-year primary education. One characteristic is that the principals are given certain power of discretion in respect of administrative matters. This enhances the social status of the teachers. This is a good beginning as it has strengthened the confidence of the principals and the teachers in general and the parents in particular. In this favourable atmosphere of confidence, those people who have leadership potential, those teachers who have administrative capability, and those educationists who are good teachers, will then come forward to give of their best in education and lead the teaching profession forward for the benefit of thousands of our school children. In this way, they will gradually get the respect of the people in our country. In recent years, we can see a strange tendency in Singapore.”
“Finally, I would ask the Minister to respond to two issues which I raised in my opening observation under the Minister's subhead but which I grant the fact that he did not have time to do so. First. I would like to have the Minister's response to the desirability of reactivating parent-teacher association for the purpose of jelling obligations in education on the parents and teachers and to stimulate an awareness of how these obligations may be effectively undertaken. I think that the approach to parent-teacher association by the Ministry has been a nominal approach and I see a scope for the parent-teacher association in Singapore to make a substantial contribution to education especially in the primary school. The other issue which I would ask the Minister to respond is the observation which I made: to try and recover in the system the form teacher situation and the reduction of subject teaching in the primary school which, as I maintained, is dissipating the intimate relationship between the teacher and the pupil. Mr Lai Tha Chai (Henderson)(In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, before Parliament sat on this Budget debate the Education Minister announced outside this House a new education policy. Before I speak on the question of education here I would like to praise the Minister for having changed well and done well. I feel that over the past few years some educationists seem to be involved in a mountain climbing race, which is a favourite sport in the West. But our local mountaineers, however, are not as experienced as the Westerners. On climbing to higher and higher levels they have to work their way through a winding course, and in doing so they lose their bearing, and finally also lose their way.”
“I do not think he said it with the kind of reservation that he has intimated to the House. I asked the Minister again whether he really intended to incorporate this project method into our education system because, frankly speaking, I am apprehensive. I made it a point to try and gather as much knowledge myself on the effectiveness and efficacy of this project method. It is an integrated system of learning where one learns the 3-Rs all at a time Arithmetic. Reading, Writing - on apparatus prepared by the teacher. When I asked the question it was still a pilot project at that time and it was known to the professionals who were advising the Minister that about 250 upward schools had already been operating this project method -- which is a strange kind of pilot system, if you ask me, Sir. I would imagine that a pilot system would be limited to a few schools and an assessment and evaluation made before a decision is taken as to its usefulness or otherwise for the purpose of improving the education system. I feel that the project method of learning is unrealistic and unworkable for our needs and does not suit our educational imperatives. Sir, I would like to touch on the need to stir some areas in the Ministry of Education. In the Estimates, the lay-out of the Ministry of Education is impressive. But the question is how coordinated are the efforts of these units in getting the system remedied as fast as possible and going. In fact, the Minister may not know it but complaints have reached me that some of his officers are still retaining foot-stools in their offices to rest their feet on as they undertake their work. Whatever be the merits of foot-stools arid their contribution to the grey matter, I think that these are work excesses which we can do without.”
“m. Earlier. Sir, I referred to a professional mechanism which operates in the Ministry and I called upon the Minister to be alert towards the operation of this in-built mechanism in his Ministry. This mechanism is barely discernible most times, but once in a while it shows itself. Let me give an example. In the Budget debate last year when I stressed to the then Minister for Education that a lot was wrong with the system. I said that "pupils' performance was falling, that pupils cannot count, speak or spell correctly,' (Hansard, Vol. 34, col. 1021). And I asked the Minister for his views. The Minister obviously answered on the basis of what the professionals in the Ministry had advised him. So the Minister denied that there were these defects and referred me to the Bullock Report on Reading which applied to the situation in the United Kingdom. The Report denied that "the standard of English was going down but that the demand on the standard of English was going up." (Hansard, Vol. 34, col, 1024), Sir, I am still wondering how this Report is relevant in our situation, A few months later the Deputy Prime Minister revealed the extent to which our school leavers are illiterate and the fact that illiteracy is acknowledged by all today. This is the mechanism in the professional side, which I am alluding to, which operates very insidiously. The Minister of State himself has not been spared. He has unwittingly allowed himself to be ensnared by this similar mechanism. In my subsidiary question to him on the evaluation of the Primary Pilot Project last year, he endorsed the project and stated his intention to incorporate the project method into our education system. (Hansard, Vol. 34, col. 131 7).”
“In view of the explanation of the Senior Minister of State, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Mr Rodrigo: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head V be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CAA 1105*. (* The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs Lai Tha Chai, Yeo Choo Kok, Sia Khoon Seong and Phey Yew Kok.) When we note that corrective and remedial measures to the education system have been taken to correct the defects which have persisted through the years before they are identified, I am led to the belief that there never has been an effective system of monitoring the effects of education policy and implementation. For instance, now we know that the additional learning load of bilingualism upon children was too much for them. If there had been a reliable feedback by the officers of the inspectorate, who are all professionals, the slide into illiteracy would have been apparent. What is wrong with the inspectorate of the Ministry? The inspectorate is the unit which should be able to quickly sense the effectiveness or otherwise of education policies. Assuming that this facility and expertise exist in the inspectorate, then the education and development officers (assuming that the education and development officers have fed back relevant information to a high level in the Ministry), the question may be asked, why then has there not been any impact on those people at the high levels in the Ministry who are in charge of policy? I feel that the inspectorate operates within limitations. Being a unit within the service (and they are constrained on educational development officers to make realistic independent views), to this extent the system of monitoring effects on education policies suffer. 6.15 p.”
“Will the Ministry of Education control the price of school textbooks?”
“I am told that some school teachers have reported the matter to the superiors in the V.C, who had promised to advise their members. But they seem to pay only lip service. Will the administrators see that remedial steps are taken in those schools with problems of this nature? 6.08 p.m. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]”
“They take up the job because they want to get extra pocket money, and in the meanwhile they are looking around for some other jobs. We are leaving the future of our young citizens in the hands of these inexperienced, undedicated young relief teachers. Is this the right thing to do? Why cannot our retiring teachers be given an extension of two to three years to meet the shortage of teachers, instead of depending on relief teachers? I am sure that many retiring teachers would certainly accept this offer, if they are given a chance. Sir, it is my fervent hope that in future the senior officials of this Ministry would consider the views of the principals and the teachers first before introducing any change in education policy. I also hope the senior civil servants in the Ministry would contain their enthusiasm about certain ideas which have cropped up in their minds, probably in their wild dreams. Finally, I understand that in some schools, the Vigilante Corps members who are using the premises as their branches at times misuse the place. For example, they have been known to damage school property, like tuck-shop furniture, displacing classroom desks, throwing cigarette butts into toilets and choking the sinks, etc. I have also heard that some of them who come very early to the school showed no respect for the National Anthem. They were seen moving around while the National Anthem was being played. And in co-education schools some of them went to the classrooms and started to change into their uniforms openly. What I want to know is whether steps have been taken to discipline these inconsiderate members of the V.C. I do not blame all of them. But these complaints do come from some schools.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head V be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BAA 1105. Mr Speaker, Sir, I wonder whether the authorities are aware of the hardship faced by parents in relation to the high cost of school books. Before the school term closed last year, some schools handed out to students book list with prices quoted for the books. But when schools reopened, the prices of some of the books went up by more than 100%. When the book sellers were questioned, they replied that freight charges had gone up and that their books were new stocks. How is it that these increases were permitted? Who authorised the sale of books, and who controlled the prices quoted in the price list issued by the school? Parents have been complaining about this, but nothing could be done about the increased prices. From the Budget estimates, there are 1 59 posts of non-teaching staff required by the Ministry of Education. I understand that at present most of the posts are filled by temporary clerks. I wonder why these temporary clerks are employed on a month-to-month basis. They have no incentive and they have nothing to look forward to. Therefore, their turnover rate is very high. How can a school work properly when the clerks are not emplaced on the permanent establishment? As a result of this, many school clerks have resigned and sometimes the teachers have to take over the duties. Another problem is that the relief teachers are employed on a day-to-day basis to fill the vacancies. These young school leavers are unqualified and inexperienced. They do not have any sense of attachment to the schools nor do they have any loyalty for the simple reason that they could become unemployed overnight.”
“I feel that the rate of expenditure should be revised to a higher proportion of the total collections from the school. I suggest a commission of inquiry be set up to look into what has gone wrong because most of our teachers are now disgruntled with their duties. This inquiry could correct the defects in the education system so that our students would not be made guinea pigs where at the end of 1 0 years of schooling they would be more illiterate than literate. Sir, the education policy with regard to sterilisation is unfair. Most of the mission schools give preference of allocation to those who already have brothers or sisters in the school. The introduction of this new priority for children whose parents have been sterilised will seriously affect these mission schools. Therefore, could the Minister review this policy?”
“There was a case where a father checked his son's books and found an answer to a mathematical problem marked as wrong when it was, in fact, correct. So to seek clarification, the father wrote a note to the teacher through his son. The teacher in turn scribbled a note to the father in pencil admitting the mistake, and he also told the boy to erase the scribbled note after showing it to the father, Again, time-tables in some primary schools are not strictly followed. Quite often, the time-tables are changed all of a sudden. so much so that the students do not have the required books. Sir, in some primary schools teachers request pupils to pay for something which they do not properly explain. There was a case of a student who had to pay 50 cents for something which he could not explain to his parents. When the parents asked the teacher the reason for this collection, the reply was for a curtain. I wonder what has happened to the school's miscellaneous funds. Why are teachers collecting donations from students? Is this the type of education for our children? Sir, of late principals have been given the discretion to spend money collected from pupils. However. I wish to point out a certain anomaly. The schools are still allowed to spend only a certain sum, a sum specified several years ago. Let us take, for example, a school with an enrolment of 2,000 pupils. Tile collection from these 2,000 pupils will come to $7,000 a month and the school is allowed to spend only $3,000 a month. Any further expenses will need special permission to be sought every month. The figure is unrealistic, for the simple reason, that it was decided long before the fantastic price inflation occurred.”
“There is so much doubt that very few people are really convinced that it will really work. The simple reason is this. The judging of the individual student's potential is left in the hands of the young teachers, some of, whom have very little experience in teaching. What is the position of this system now? Is it still in force? Sir, we have also seen another move whereby pupils are allowed to take care of their schools by doing some kind of work in the schools. The danger is that principals may become over-enthusiastic and may use the pupils as substitutes for school servants. Some principals are only interested in creating all image to the Ministry at the expense of teachers and students. Many parents have complained that their children have been made to sweep the school floors. Why is this so? Sir, it has become a tradition with the Chinese schools to conduct classes on Saturdays. Of late, many English school teachers have been seconded to these Chinese schools because of bilingualism. Many of these English language teachers have expressed dissatisfaction with these Saturday classes. They say that during the weekdays after every subject period there is a short break and it has to be made up by the Saturday classes. I wonder why the Chinese stream does not follow other streams and leave Saturday for extra-curricular activities only. The standard of Tamil education is rather "high". I am told the teachers themselves are not familiar with the text books. They are not given proper training. If so, how are they going to teach? I hope the Ministry will recruit, more qualified Tamil teachers. In some schools the teachers themselves do not know what they teach.”