Tay Eng Soon
Singapore
“Sir, up to now, the numbers involved are very small. Quite often, it is a small group, together with the lecturers, who work out the project. In other words, it is their initiative. Included in that is fund-raising, which they do.”
“The universities are also planning to introduce a modular and semester system for some of their courses. This will enable their students to do part of their course in overseas universities and gain credits for these modules towards the fulfilment of their degree requirements in NUS and NTU.”
“The polytechnic graduates who go overseas are quite a mixed group of people. Many of them do have working experience. In fact, they save the income from their working experience before they go overseas. So many do have working experience before they go overseas. PRE-SCHOOL CLASSES RUN BY PRIVATE ORGANISATIONS (Regulation) 8.”
“I think this is something which we can ask the universities to look into. Mr Umar Abdul Hamid: Does the Ministry have statistics to show that graduates who went overseas do have industrial experience before they get into the university?”
“Sir, the experience of the universities with polytechnic graduates is that they do well when they have practical working experience in addition to the diploma course that they have done.”
“They may not be highly educated themselves. Many of them are, in fact, not rich at all. They are refugees. But they pay attention to what their children do, they encourage them, they supervise them where they can, and as a result of that kind of encouragement, the children concentrate on their work and they do well in the American system.…”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thought I have already given the answer. ADMINISTRATION OF JURONG PORT 7. Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Minister for Communications and Information whether his Ministry intends to take over the administration of Jurong Port so as to standardise port administration in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this question is premature as the implementation plan for independent schools has not yet been finalized. One possibility that is being considered is for Government to give a grant for each pupil studying in an independent school equivalent to the recurrent expenditure expended by the Government on a pupil in a Government school today.”
“The Ministry intends to increase the intake for the Institute of Education. This has to be done progressively as we find more candidates who have the right qualities and qualifications to become teachers. But we are committed to increasing the intake for the Institute of Education and, in the course of time, the numbers of relief teachers will diminish. INDEPENDENT AND NON-INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS 6. Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Education what will be the ratio of Government recurrent expenditure per year on each pupil in an independent school to that of a pupil in a Government non-independent school.”
“I thank the Member for Moulmein for his question. We do not know what the impact of this new policy will be. We believe that if more women teachers become pregnant and have to take leave, more temporary vacancies may be created and therefore we have to recruit more relief teachers. If that does happen, I think it is in a sense a cause for rejoicing because this is something which we as a nation would like to see. On the other hand, even today under present circumstances, we do have many teachers going on maternity leave and there will always be a need for relief teachers to cover these temporary vacancies. I believe we are able to cope with an exigency of that kind.”
“I do not have the exact figure with me, Sir, but the figure is around 150.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the number of untrained relief teachers as at January this year was 594, or between one and two relief teachers per school. Our main shortage today is for teachers able to teach English, the Humanities, and Physical Education in secondary schools. Besides the Institute of Education, which is the main source of trained teachers for the Ministry, Physical Education teachers are trained at the College of Physical Education. This year 54 graduates from the College of Physical Education are expected to join the Education Service. Serving non-graduate teachers are encouraged to upgrade themselves through the Ministry's bursary schemes and through the grant of study leave to further their studies in degree courses relevant to the Ministry's needs. In 1986 about 60 serving teachers were given leave or bursaries to further their studies. Where necessary, the Ministry will also continue to recruit expatriate native speakers to teach English in our schools and junior colleges and to help in teaching specialized areas, for example, the Humanities Programme, the Art Elective Programme and the teaching of foreign languages.”
“Going by past records, the construction time of a junior college is about three to four years. QUALIFIED TEACHERS AND UNTRAINED RELIEF TEACHERS 5. Dr S. Vasoo asked the Minister for Education (a) what was the number of untrained relief teachers employed as at the latest convenient date; and (b) what steps are being taken to ensure that there are sufficient qualified teachers available besides the supply from the Institute of Education.”
“All I can say is that the whole process took some time because it involved a lot of parties, including the Singapore Institute of Architects, the PWD and others.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the three junior colleges that are being planned for construction beginning sometime this year or early next year were chosen as a result of a competition among architects for the design of junior colleges. In an open competition of that nature, time has to be spent by firms as well as by judges to make sure that the best design is selected.”
“Sir, the Working Group is still at work over its details and I am not ready at the present time to discuss any of them. PRE-PRIMARY CLASSES (Number in 1987) 8. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon asked the Minister for Education how many pre-primary classes his Ministry will have by 1987; and how many more places will be available in 1987.”
“Without the bumboats which had not so long ago liven up the Singapore River, it now looks desolate and lacks lustre. Along the banks of the Singapore River, there are old houses which could be converted into theatres, concert halls, art centres where artists could resort to as centres for activities and exhibitions as well as for the sale of art works. This will also attract tourists. Another point mentioned just now by the MP for Siglap is that Singapore is a small place, and we are wont to blame our younger generation roaming about and criticizing them that they are wasting their time roaming about aimlessly, and describing such activity as unhealthy. But it is because of the lack of facilities that these youths, who are yet in their formative age, are trying to discover a way of living. They go to such places and we call them Centrepoint Kids, and perhaps MRT Kids in future. I think the more important thing is to get some places, as in Japan, at weekends, where we can close up roads leading to such places, so that our children, older people and younger people and music and art lovers can all go to such places to exhibit their musical talent or artistic talent, to dance or to folk dance, or exhibit and sell their art work which in a way will also promote tourism. Just now Members mentioned about Orchard Road or the open field in front of the Museum as likely places where suitable structures could be put up to let the young people organize their own activities. This could replace the disco dance or rock parties organized by the Police not too long ago. Moreover, the older folk can also organize their activities or go there to spend their leisure time as well. I hope the Minister concerned will consider the three points I have mentioned and implement them.”
“If they were to go to any hotel for a hall of a suitable size, the expense is too high and this would generally prevent our artists from holding an exhibition. Next, our national museum has a good store of art exhibits and continues to receive art pieces donated locally and abroad. But because of shortage of storage or exhibition galleries, we have often rejected such donations. If we can now build an art gallery, it would not only provide room for storage and exhibition of such store but also encourage our local artists to their creations exhibited so that our people, particularly the younger generation, will have a better opportunity to view these exhibits. The next point is that we should renovate or rebuild existing old buildings of historic value or of beautiful architecture. I notice that a few such buildings in the city area should be preserved and renovated or rebuilt into places for arts. For example, there is one old building housing the Immigration Office in Empress Place and there is another place, a cluster of old buildings behind the National Museum and beside Fort Canning Rise. There is also the old Tao Nan Primary School in Armenian Street. All these buildings can be turned into places for children's museum and centres for artistic and cultural activities. Earlier many Members have quoted examples of artists and cultural activists or organizations engaged in artistic activities finding it difficult to have premises or space for their activities. So if these structures are renovated, then the authorities concerned can rent them out cheaply to such groups of people. Another thing I would like to mention is the Singapore River which has donned on a new look after the cleaning up.”
“The standard of culture and arts of a country reflects the quality of a people. It has some relationship with the economy too. Arts and culture will help promote tourism. A high level of arts and culture will also enable specialists, professionals and well-known intelligentsia to come to Singapore to work, because these people are usually lovers of artistic activities. On the other hand, arts and culture can also cultivate one's character and spirit to enrich one's life, to help one to achieve not only in the academics, techniques and the craft of making a living but also contribute to one's spiritual and personality cultivation and balanced life. This will enable our people to have a balanced thinking, healthy physique, sound mind and good character. These will help promote and enhance their living and productivity. Ours is a newly independent country. We have not formed our own charactristic image or form of arts and culture. Therefore, we should not slow down our steps in our progress towards this goal. I would like to give a few practical suggestions regarding what I have mentioned earlier. First, we must set up a national arts gallery or cultural palace. I think this is the best time to set up an arts gallery because it will also help give the building contractors some work to do. There are important reasons why we must build an arts gallery. First, the premises of our present national arts gallery which may accommodate art exhibitions is a bit constrained in time and space because the Government or foreign artists have booked the place for the whole year, so that local artists do not have an opportunity to exhibit their art pieces.”
“There is a waiting list for such children, some 300 who are either ESN or children who are mentally retarded. My Ministry is working very closely with the two associations providing for the special education of these children to help them to get another one or two schools and also to help them get more teachers to run these schools. Sir, the voluntary organizations are doing an excellent job in running these schools. They bring to the schools their own expertise, their own enthusiasm. And by being autonomous, they are able to shape the syllabus, the curriculum, which is very different from that of the normal school system, to meet the special needs of these children. I think there is an advantage in that they are autonomous and able to tailor the educational needs to fit these children. And we should think very carefully about coming in to take over these schools and running them as suggested by the Member for Anson. The approach we have taken is a better one. We should let these schools be autonomous, free to run their own programmes, and to provide them with as much support as we can in the way of teachers and funds. That is the approach that the Government is taking over this matter. As I say, I regret that the Member for Anson is not here. Anyway, I would like to say this for the record. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, we all know that the present greatest problem confronting our country at present is economic recession. Therefore, the most important duty and task is to solve our economic difficulties. But we must look far ahead and be determined to develop our society in culture and the arts. We should not neglect its development. If we slow down in our activities in this field, then it is wrong and passive on our part.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to catch your eye. I regret I was I unable to catch the Chairman's eye just now to reply to the Member for Anson. But, alas, the Member is missing from the Chamber now. When he sought the information, I wanted to give it to him but he was not prepared for it. The same thing happened last Friday when I wanted to reply to him but he left the Chamber before I had the chance to do so. Anyway, Sir, regarding the subject that he was speaking so emotionally about just now, the subject about providing for the education of disabled children, I think the Member is quite wrong in saying that Government "is doing nothing whatsoever" - those were his words. In fact, Government is doing as much as it can to provide for the education of the handicapped and the disabled. There are altogether 11 special schools run by various voluntary organizations who are doing an excellent job in providing these children with special education. Of these 11 schools, seven of the schools are, in fact, school buildings which have been provided by the Ministry of Education over the past few years. As for funding of these schools, the Government is providing a lot of funds to help in the running of these schools. For example, the Government provides teachers for these schools and, in addition to that, provides instructors as well as equipment and other financial aid. Altogether for every child in these special schools, we are spending something like 40% or 50% more per child compared with children in the normal education system. So it cannot be said at all, Sir, that the Government is not providing for these children. We are, in fact spending more for each child out of taxpayers' money than for children in the normal education system.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I just interrupt with some information for the Member who is making quite a long impassioned speech about providing for the disabled?”
“It is a completely flexible scheme. And this scheme, I am glad to say, now has the support of the Skills Development Fund. So there are now no financial obstacles for employers to offer this for their workers. I think, Sir, I will stop here. As the Member for Anson is not here, I shall not reply to his points. Mr Chiam See Tong rose -”
“It is not desirable that children at Secondary 1 should begin to be segregrated in the different moral education courses. So we believe that two years of Religious Knowledge at Secondary 3 and 4 should be sufficient for those who have already been through eight years of common moral education programme. The point by the Member for Bo Wen about disabled children and the teaching of disabled children. We have a commitment to provide teachers on an agreed basis with the Special Schools, and we will continue to do so. So far as I know, there is no difficulty at the moment because the numbers required are not large. Finally, Sir, on the point about continuing education and skills training. I think the Minister has mentioned this in his policy speech. This is the commitment on the part of the VITB as well as the two Polytechnics to enlarge opportunities for continuing education and training. The main areas that the VITB is concentrating on is, first, the BEST programme. This programme will be further publicized to get more workers into the scheme. Beyond BEST, VITB is looking into how workers can be helped to sit for their 'N' level examination through a shorter course than is presently available today. Presently, a person has to go from Secondary 1 to Secondary 4 by evening classes to prepare for the 'N' level, ie, four years at least. VITB is looking into the feasibility of a programme similar to BEST based on modules which can be completed in 2-2r years to prepare a person for the 'N' level examination. There is also the modular skills training scheme, a very flexible scheme which opens the door to many different types of skills courses on a modular basis. It can be used by employers as well as by workers who need only one or two modules to upgrade themselves.”
“So this is what the children are going to receive during this year before they sit for the PSLE. 5.00 pm The Member for Kaki Bukit mentioned about teacher-parent interaction. We encourage this. In fact, schools do do this on their own initiative. They have orientation at Primary One for the new students coming in and their parents; they have orientation at Secondary 1 for, again, the new students who are coming in to the secondary schools. Many teachers take it upon themselves to visit parents when children have problems. Or they call the parents to the school itself to discuss the problems of their children. This is something which we encourage and I am glad to say that many teachers are doing this on their own initiative. The Member for Pasir Panjang mentioned a point about the Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK). I want to assure him that first, the textbooks for this course are well prepared. They have been prepared by a CDIS team in consultation with the MUIS. The materials are now complete. Secondly, for the training of teachers and the selection of teachers, this is again something which the Ministry has done in conjunction with the MUIS. Quite a number of teachers are now trained to teach IRK and some are going to the next stage of advanced training as well. His point about bringing forward IRK to Secondary 1 and 2 is the same point that he made last year. I will give him the same reply that I gave last year, which is, that we believe that from Primary 1 to Secondary 2, eight years of schooling, it is highly desirable that the children go through a common moral education course where common values are learnt together. If we were to bring forward the IRK to Secondary 1 and 2, I think this will create some segregation at Secondary 1 and 2.”
“They could perhaps organize, on their own initiative, talks, lectures, even courses, or demonstrations, to which students from our secondary schools, from our junior colleges, can be invited so that they can be stimulated in their thinking, in their knowledge, by the staff of the University. I think this is a contribution that the University can make towards creativity. I hope she will follow up my suggestion. Before I come to my last point which is on continuing education and skills training, I would just like to touch on a few other points brought up by Members. The Member for Kampong Ubi brought up the subject of the National Anthem. I feel I owe him a reply because last year he brought this up and the guillotine came down before I had the chance to speak. I can assure him that every primary school child is not only taught how to sing the National Anthem but he is taught the meaning of the words of the National Anthem. This is something which is given priority in our schools. It is our National Anthem and every child should know the meaning of the words and know how to sing this Anthem. This is in the curriculum. The Member for Buona Vista mentioned about the need for gifted children and why is it that they have to do PSLE. We believe that the PSLE is a comprehensive examination which is taken by all school children. It is good that the children who are in the gifted programme also take the same examination because it is a measure of how or what they can do in that examination. As for preparation for the examination, I am sure the Member for Buona Vista who has children would agree with me that in all examinations, whether you are gifted or you are not gifted, we do set for them a certain amount of preparation and exercise, which is a good thing.”
“These are persons of no mean ability, many of whom have gone on to distinguish themselves in the top rate universities of the world. I think they have done themselves proud. They have done Singapore proud. They have made Singapore known in these centres of excellence, in the United States, in Britain and elsewhere. So our system has its merits. It has enabled hundreds, if not thousands, of young people who come from a wide variety of backgrounds to make their way up to the highest reaches of education. There is not a university in the world which has received Singapore students who have not said, "Your students are exceptional. They have done well. They have obtained honours." And I think we should be proud of what our students have achieved and of the educational system that has enabled them to go as far as that. I would like to return to what the Member for Changkat said because some of the points need to be taken up. She has mentioned that somehow we have to create an environment in the schools where the children can be stimulated to become more creative through perhaps field work, project work and so on. I can assure her that this is being done. Many teachers are taking the children to the Science Centre, to the National Museum, to many places where they are exposed to things outside the classroom. But here I would like to counter propose something to the Member for Changkat as she is from the National University of Singapore. I would like to suggest that perhaps she and other lecturers at the University could play a creative role.”
“So from this range of in-service courses that are being provided, it is quite clear that the Ministry is committed to continual upgrading and improvement of our teaching force. Another topic which was brought up by some Members, in particular by the Member for Changkat, is that of creativity. I think this topic deals not just with creativity per se but with the quality of education. What we are talking about is quality in education. How do we improve it? What steps can we take? In an indirect way, the Member for Potong Pasir was also referring to the quality of education. But, Sir, as I listened to the two Members speaking on this topic, I could not help contrasting the different approaches and coming to the conclusion that the Member for Changkat had very concrete suggestions to make which we would take note of. But rather disappointingly, the Member for Potong Pasir was using a lot of generalities and I could not find any concrete suggestions in what he had to say. I think there is one thing I must say to him, ie, that in matters of educational policy, it is not sufficient to make sweeping statements, to use words like "liberal democratic education" and just to stop there. Because these are just ideas. These are just words. What is more important is the substance of education, what goes into it, what concrete steps can be taken. So I am afraid the Member will have to try harder in future debates if he wants the Ministry to pay attention to the points he has to make. Notwithstanding that, Sir, I know he has criticized our system and said that it is autocratic. It is such a system that it does not encourage students to excel and to become creative. This is totally unfounded. Just for his information, over the past 20 years we have produced 150 President's scholars.”
“In the course of our recruitment and if we are successful in getting enough people in, I think that situation should resolve itself. We should not have to depend on relief teachers to fill vacancies which should be filled by trained full-time teachers. But there will still be the need for relief teachers for exigencies of service, to cover the duties of teachers who have to be away on courses or who are in the family way, expecting babies and so on. I think that we have to expect that this number cannot be reduced. But I would agree that we want to reduce the dependency on relief teachers as much as we can. Related to this subject of teachers and the upgrading of teachers, it is not only necessary to recruit the best people into the service, but we believe that we should also provide in-service training (a subject which was mentioned by the Member for Pasir Panjang) and continually give opportunities for our teachers to improve and upgrade themselves. In this respect, comprehensive courses have been planned by the IE, CDIS, the Language Proficency Centre and the Ministry itself. For example, during this first half of 1986, there are 26 such courses for in-service training for teachers. In addition to that, the CDIS, the IE, the Ministry, have also planned 37 school-based workshops. These are workshops that will be taken to schools or to groups of schools to provide school - based training for the teachers. For those who aspire to become principals or heads of departments or vice-principals - these are key positions in schools - the IE has already been running courses in Diploma in Educational Administration, the Further Professional Diploma in Education and a Masters in Education in specialized areas.”
“Those who come in as graduates become graduate teachers. They are in Division I and they enjoy the service conditions as engineers and other professionals in other branches of the civil service. Those who come in as non-graduate teachers with the Certificate of Education after their 'A' levels, in my view, have probably the best terms of employment for anyone with an 'A' level. So I think we have established very good conditions to attract people into the education service. Over the years, it has not been easy to do so because in a competitive market with economic boom conditions, we had to compete with so many other sectors for people. But recession is upon us and, as it has been said, if there is one industry which is recession-proof, it is education. I think in times of recession, education has the advantage that it will be able to attract into its service people who would otherwise find so many other sectors drawing them. So I believe that in the next year or two, we should be able to draw into the education service many able people who can make a contribution. In fact, I would say that we are going to increase the intake into the Institute of Education (IE) as much as we can, bearing in mind the shortage of teachers that we have presently as well as our projected needs. This year, the intake into IE will be in the region of 1,000 persons. This is the highest for many years. On the subject of relief teachers, this is of course related to our ability to recruit teachers into the permanent service. I just want to point out to Members that there are two kinds of relief teachers. There are those relief teachers who today are filling vacancies which could not be filled because of the shortage of teachers.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, my Minister has set out the policy, comprehensively in his speech, giving the direction and the major areas in which the Ministry's attention will be directed in the next two or three years. In a word, the policy is aimed at improving quality and the excellence of education that we can offer to our children in Singapore. Many Members have raised various points which have been touched upon by my Minister. But I would like in the few minutes available to me to deal with some of them in greater depth. One topic which was touched upon by several Members, including the Members for Moulmein, Paya Lebar and Bo Wen, was the question of staffing, the question of shortage of teachers and, in particular, the need to depend on relief teachers. This point is well taken. We are very conscious of the importance of teachers and principals. They are the heart of the matter in any education system. They determine what happens in the schools day after day, and they determine the quality of education that is provided. So I can assure Members that this is very high on the priority of the Ministry in its agenda. The position is improving and we have a 5-year rolling plan in which we are projecting the needs for the future. We are aware of the retirements that are coming on as well as the loss of some teachers through resignations. So I can assure Members that there is a plan which is brought forward each year with targets, hopefully, which can be met by the recruitment. The point made by the Member for Moulmein was that in order to attract people into the education service, one of the key points must be good service conditions. I think it is no exaggeration to say that the service conditions in the education service today are good.”
“The average number of visitors to the pasar malam is estimated at 1,200 per day during weekends and around 400 on weekdays. Tourists account for between 20-25% of visitors. Secondly, many visitors, especially tourists, have expressed satisfaction with the pasar malam as they find it a unique style of shopping. They seem to enjoy the bargaining and haggling. Finally, the stall holders themselves have indicated their satisfaction with the pasar malam. In fact, they have requested the STPB to extend the pasar malam activities to other tourist spots. The STPB is now actively working with the Ministry of the Environment to identify other suitable locations for pasar malam activities. This will provide a wider variety of attractions for tourists as well as more business opportunities for our smaller businessmen.”
“Sir, I will look into this particular school. As a rule, schools which have pre-primary classes have an intake which will go on to Primary 1. But the Primary 1 classes in these schools will have vacancies for those who are coming in on direct intake into Primary 1 as well. Maj Fong Sip Chee: I thank the Minister for his confession of ignorance on the subject. PASAR MALAM 6. Mr Heng Chiang Meng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Education whether he is satisfied that the "pasar malam" at the Singapore Handicraft Centre is a success and, if so, whether he will consider a scheme to designate more "pasar malam" areas so as to provide a wider variety of interest for tourists as well as more opportunities for our small businessmen. The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Dr Wong Kwei Cheong) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Education): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am answering this question on behalf of my Minister. The pasar malam at the Singapore Handicraft Centre was introduced by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board in April this year. It operates every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 4 pm to 10 pm and also on Wednesdays from 6 pm to 10 pm. A total of 81 stallholders and demonstrators of vanishing trades operate at the pasar malam. Items sold include works of art, handicrafts and souvenirs. In addition, on-the-spot art demonstrations and handicraft making demonstrations are also featured. To complement the pasar malam activities and create a festive atmosphere, cultural and contemporary entertainment are also regularly featured. In our assessment, the pasar malam at the Singapore Handicraft Centre has been a success. Firstly, it is a good crowd drawer.”
“Sir, it is not true that a school which has pre-primary intake will not have places at Primary 1 for pupils who are coming to join the school not through the pre-primary intake. All the schools that have pre-primary classes also have places at Primary 1 level for direct intake at Primary 1. I believe that the Red Swastika School will be one of these schools. Maj Fong Sip Chee: Sir, does the Minister realize that his answer betrays knowledge on the subject? The Red Swastika School happens to be a school that would take in directly Primary 1 cohorts from the pre-primary school. And if there is no Malay language as a subject in the pre-primary classes, then there would not be any Malay students in that school in the future.”
“Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir. Maj Fong Sip Chee (Kampong Chai Chee): Sir, does the Minister realize that in the Red Swastika School there is no provision for the Malay language subject in the pre-primary class? Which means that when the pre-primary students were to be registered for Primary 1 the following year, no non-Chinese student can be admitted under the scheme in that school, so that the school will forever be a school without any Malay student.”
“Sir, the mass media are free to decide what items they want to carry. They obviously give priority to certain items and less priority to other items, depending on the time. They also carry information not only of Singapore but of other parts of the world. So this whole matter is really left to the mass media to make their choices from day to day. FOREIGNERS WITH INFANTS FOR ADOPTION (Particulars) 12. Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Law if he will give the number of foreigners who have arrived at Immigration checkpoints for the whole of 1984 with infants for adoption in Singapore.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am not aware that the mass media are short of space in their columns or pages or the SBC is short of air time for the dissemination of information which is put out by the Government. I think this is being carried out in a fairly satisfactory manner.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the standards of the various national examinations (such as the Primary School Leaving Examinations, the General Certificate of Education at 'N', 'O' and 'A' levels) have been maintained. Examinations are not over-emphasized in the present school system. The Ministry strives to give pupils an all-round educa- tion by encouraging them to take part in extra-curricular activities such as art and music programmes in addition to spending time on their lessons. Sir, examinations are necessary to assess the academic progress of students. The Ministry will continue to use examinations to determine a student's ability and level of proficiency. MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1985 TO 31ST MARCH, 1986 11.09 am Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply (9th Allotted Day). [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head V (cont) - Resumption of Debate on Question [28th March, 1985], "That the sum to be allocated for Head V be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead VA-01 Object Group 1100 of the Main Estimates." - (Dr Augustine H.H. Tan). Question again proposed.”
“Sir, it is on the question that he has raised. Was the Government responsible for the withdrawal made by the Business Times? The answer is emphatically no.”
“They know the economic sensitivities. They know the regional sensitivities in which we are placed. I believe, Sir, that as responsible people, they make their judgments. They decide what it is they should write, what it is they should give priority to. So to say in a very wide sweeping statement that they are all lackeys of the Government, that they are all working under the thumb of the Government, I think the Member is totally unfounded in his allegations.”
“The Member may not believe this. But before he makes allegations on the basis of something which he has just come across, he should be fair to the editors and to the journalists who run our newspapers. Sir, our journalists and our editors are people who know what are the interests of Singapore. They know the constraints under which Singapore as a society has to work. They know that we are a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual society.”
“As I said, Sir, the editors of our newspapers are independent people, responsible people, who are quite free to write what they want. And I have given him an example of another editorial which is critical of a Government proposed policy. We know, Sir, from reading the newspapers day after day that there are all kinds of reports which come out in the newspapers, in editorials, in letters to the press, some of which are favourable to policies of the Government and some of which are very critical. Sir, we do have a press in Singapore which is free, which reflects public opinion. If the Member were to say that it is not so, then I think he is, in a very wide sweeping statement, condemning all the people who write letters to the press, all the journalists who find out what is going on and report in the press. Sir, I maintain that our press in Singapore is accurate, is informative and is credible.”
“But the Member will agree that, before he moves on to another subject, let us clear this matter up. Sir, this has come to me as a surprise. I do not read the Business Times. I do not know what they have published.”
“I would like to clear this subject before the Member moves on to another subject. Because he has raised it, and it is not even within the Head of expenditure which he is cutting.”
“The point is this, Sir. First of all, I think the Member should read all editorials if he wants to imply that the Government is "in total control of the press". Those were his words, "The Government is in total control of the press". And if he had read that Straits Times editorial of the 23rd March, he would have seen that it was a very critical editorial expressing the views of the Straits Times on that policy. The Business Times may have a different view of it. They might have decided that they wanted to change the editorial. This is entirely a matter of editorial freedom and editorial choice. Sir, the Member, in coming out here to say that the Government is in total control of the press, and not even realizing that there are different editorials on the very same subject with very different and critical views, is, l. think, just making another one of his wild allegations.”
“Sir, before the Member moves on to the other amendment, may I interject at this point on the clarification so that we do not lose track of the subject he is trying to discuss? Can I ask the Member whether he has read another editorial, ie, the editorial in the Straits Times dated 23rd of March entitled "Reconsider the Priority Scheme" which was an editorial very critical of the proposals made by the Minister for National Development?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I interject at this point?”
“Sir, I am just following on with the points that were being raised by the Member for Kampong Kembangan. On population shifts, schools which have a falling enrolment, there are such schools. We have really tried to do two things. One is that we have amalgamated some of these schools to form larger units where it is possible to do so. Secondly, some of these schools themselves are in a very poor physical condition, and we have closed them down and moved the children to the nearest school for them. I think this process will go on gradually as our population shifts to the new towns. On the Member's last point on the school watchmen, Sir, we have difficulty in recruiting people to be school watchmen. In fact, we have decided that we will not try to recruit school watchmen and we do not have such a scheme for schools. But if the Member will let us know of the problems in the schools in his constituency, Sir, I think we can help perhaps in improving the physical security of the school in some way. Mr Sia Khoon Seong rose -”
“Sir, in Secondary 1 and 2, the pupils in school do eight subjects. There is a choice, to do either Home Economics or technical studies. It is not possible and there is no time, in fact, for pupils to do both. Given the value and the importance of Home Economics which I have explained to the Member, it is not unreasonable to ask as many, if not all, of our students to take this subject. He also wants to know the position of the standard of teaching of English. This is a subject which is well known. It is being reported upon in the Schools Council, in the press, very often. The programme of the Ministry is also well publicized. In the primary schools, we have introduced listening comprehension, phonics, new materials and now with reading programme to help the lower primary school students to overcome that hurdle of reading inability. For secondary schools, again we have new textbooks, new materials, which will help the teaching of the language. So as far as the programmes are concerned, we do have them. The problem still comes back to one of insufficient number of teachers and teacher training. I have touched upon this problem yesterday. We are fully aware of the problem and we are doing everything within our power to rectify these problems.”
“I could not agree with him more that we should do this. In fact, we have tried to do this with the various channels that are available to us. One of the more effective channels is the Schools Council. Every month, as you know, Sir, the Schools Council meets and many manners of direct concern to schools, to students, to teachers, are discussed at the Schools Council. And these reports are covered in the newspapers, We will take his point into consideration. Where there is a specific need, we will look into how we can best publicize or communicate this information to the public. Sir, I will leave my Senior Parliamentary Secretary to deal with the points brought up by the Member for Punggol.”
“Next, is the question about cost of uniforms and whether we are providing enough financial support for these groups. The Member has rightly pointed out that we are now giving all uniformed groups, with the exception of the NCC and NPCC who are separately catered for, $6 per head per year. This does not seem to be a large sum of money. But from what was received by them last year, they received $113,000 in total, we know that only one-quarter of that sum of money was spent by them on uniforms or to help the needy students with uniforms. So there is enough money from what we have given them to help their own members with respect to uniforms. I will now turn to the remarks made by the Member for Bo Wen, specifically to his point about the special schools and the vocational training centres that some of them have for training of the disabled in vocational skills. I feel that it is perfectly possible for VITB to work with these special schools, the vocational training centres, to help them in the upgrading of courses that they are providing, or even to help them to change some of the courses which may have become out of date. This is a manner which I will ask the VITB to take up directly with the associations concerned. As for the request for more teachers for these special schools, basing on their enrolment or their waiting list, they can approach the Ministry. We have already an agreed formula of one in 25 for these schools and I would suggest that they approach the Ministry and we will look into the matter with them. Finally, Sir, the Member for Kaki Bukit said that we should try to communicate more with our people on the policies of education, the achievements in our education system, the programmes that we are setting out in our schools, and so on.”
“In these schools, the programme has become well established and we can expect to see this move forward year after year as we have more physical education teachers. The College itself is establishing its courses very well. It has received help from the Loughborough University in the UK which is the premier university with a department of physical education, Experts have come over from Loughborough University to help our PE College. A new complex of buildings and facilities are being planned for the Physical Education College to be located at the IE campus at Bukit Timah. This new complex should be ready in about two years' time. Meanwhile, the College uses the IE premises to run not only its full-time course for PE trainees but also in-service courses for our schoolteachers. Last year, about 88 school teachers went in for these in-service courses run by the PE College. The Member for Fengshan talked about uniformed groups. I am glad that he is fully in support of our policy to encourage as many of our students as possible to join uniformed groups. We believe that uniformed groups are a very effective way of developing our children in leadership qualities in their character and I would venture to say that, even within this House, many hon. Members when they were in school were active members of uniformed groups. The target that we have set for our secondary schools is to have one in three children in the uniformed groups. Overall, we have achieved this target. But we are not satisfied because not all schools have achieved the target of one in three. There are some schools which still have less than one in three in the uniformed groups. We know which schools these are and we are working with them to raise the number in the uniformed groups.”
“They are not even a requirement for entry to any of the vocational or tertiary institutions. So I do not see any loss in those who wish to undertake technical courses but who have not taken technical studies in Secondary 1 and 2. Sir, two Members spoke about physical education, and I agree wholeheartedly with them about the importance of physical education. I agree with them that we have tended to play down the importance of physical education, perhaps even to neglect it. In the 1970s when our preoccupations were with other matters in education, issues over language and basic courses in education, I think we had no choice but to pay more attention to these and to pay less attention to physical education. But we have recognized the importance of physical education and we have taken steps to make sure that it is properly taught within the school curriculum. 12.30 pm For a start, we recognize that physical education should be taught by specialist teachers, teachers who have undergone a course in physical education and who will spend the greater part of their time in school teaching physical education, It should not be regarded as a part-time chore for teachers of other subjects who happen to be lumbered with the task of teaching physical education as well. So with this approach of specialist teachers for physical education, I believe that the programme will begin to move foward in the schools that have such teachers. To train specialist teachers, we have started the Physical Education College. The first intake was 46. We have every intention to increase the intake. In fact, in July this year, we are aiming to take in 100 students into this course. Presently, we already have more than 30 secondary schools which have a full complement of trained physical education teachers.”
“Sir, I think the Member will agree with me that with the family structure that has evolved in Singapore, more and more of our families are small families, insular families, comprising parents with two or perhaps three children living in a housing board flat. And the situation is also evolving in which families have to manage the care of their children and domestic affairs very much of their own. Notwithstanding the question about foreign maids and so on, the vast majority of Singaporean families do not have maids and have to manage the home by themselves. They have to bring up the children themselves. So we feel that, with this family pattern that is emerging in our society, there is every purpose and every need to ensure that young people leaving school should have some knowledge about child care and child development as well as about home management. We have asked that girls, in particular, should acquaint themselves with Home Economics knowledge, and when we have enough resources, namely, teachers, we would like to extend this even to the boys. I personally feel that this knowledge of home management, child development, child care is so basic to family life that we should extend this knowledge as widely as possible, not just to girls but also to the boys. I am sure the hon. Member would not disagree with me on this point. As for technical studies, it is an option available to the boys but it is not an option that makes very much difference, even in the past, to those who want to go on for skills training, technical studies, to become technicians at the polytechnics or at the University. The metal work and woodwork that they learn in technical studies are not critical to progress on to these technical courses after school.”
“I want to assure them that this course spans quite a wide range of our history, starting from 1819 and comes up to 1965. So it does touch upon events from the foundation of modern Singapore. In fact, in some of its parts, it goes even beyond 1965 and touch upon developments in the 1970s and early 1980s. So I assure them that we have not lost sight of this course and its purpose is to inform all our children of the history of Singapore up to very recent times. I would like now, Sir, to deal with service conditions for principals. The Member for Nee Soon has quite rightly pointed out that there must be adequate service conditions to attract people to become principals, apart from other service factors. I would like to inform him that the Ministry is actively working to raise the salary endpoints for the Senior Education Service for both graduates and non-graduates. And the Senior Education Service is a service which caters for principals. So we feel that, with this raising of the salary end-points of the salary scales, this should help to attract more people to become principals. He mentioned also a gap which seems to exist amongst the principals by different age, length of service. The reason for that gap, the middle gap so to speak, is because of the expansion of schools in the last five or more years. We have undergone a very rapid expansion in the last five years which has created this gap whereby new principals had to be appointed with relatively short span of service. There is no other explanation that I can give to him for this apparent gap in the distribution of principals by length of service. Sir, the Member for Anson asked the question about Home Economics and Technical Studies for Secondary 1 and 2.”
“Sir, before I reply to the points brought up by various hon. Members, I feel I should touch on two points raised by Members yesterday, which were not dealt with. First is the point raised by the Member for Pasir Panjang regarding Islamic Religious Knowledge. He has suggested on previous occasions that the Ministry should consider bringing forward the teaching of Islamic Religious Knowledge from Secondary 3 and 4 down to Secondary 1 and 2. 1 know his reason for this. He feels that the children who go through this programme will also benefit from moral education. But, Sir, we feel that there is great merit and advantage in allowing children to take part in a common moral education programme that runs from Primary 1 to Secondary 2. This common programme allows children of all races and background to take part in the same curriculum and, therefore, helps in the mixing and integration of our different racial groups. I think there is enough time in Secondary 3 and 4 for the children who will then go on to choose the respective religious knowledge or courses they wish to take and to spend two years in doing so. So in reply to his point, I feel we should retain the present situation of a common moral education programme for all our students up to Secondary 2. Two other Members, the Member for Serangoon Gardens and the Member for Kampong Ubi, touched upon the History course that is now being run in our secondary schools, Secondary 1 and 2. They commended the Ministry for putting on this course which has something to do with the social and economic history of Singapore. They also asked if the course could bring to the students the momentous events which had led to the formation of our nation and to the development of our nation.”