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Changes to Primary Education in Singapore

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has accepted the recommendations of the PERI Committee. The proposed changes to primary education seek to ensure that our young are equipped not just with content knowledge, but also with the necessary skills and values to thrive in a fast-changing and globalised future. They build on the strengths of our current system, and seek to raise primary education to a new level.

MOE will implement the changes to primary education progressively over the next few years as many of the recommendations require systematic implementation over the longer term. In this endeavour, MOE and schools will require the strong support of various stakeholders, especially parents, so that our young can achieve the full benefits of a balanced and holistic primary education.

Here is a summary of the key changes:

Summary of PERI Committee’s Recommendations

Balancing Knowledge with Skills and Values

  1. Use engaging pedagogy to teach skills and values:
    1. Strengthen training of teachers in content mastery and in using a repertoire of generic and subject-specific teaching methods.
  2. Emphasise non-academic programmes within curriculum:
    1. Implement a Programme for Active Learning (PAL) for all Primary 1 and 2 pupils in Sports &Outdoor Education and Performing &Visual Arts, in tandem with the move to the single-session model.
    2. Encourage all Primary 3 to 6 pupils to continue with PAL and/or to opt for a main Co-Curricular Activity.
    3. Give schools autonomy, with guidelines and examples of good practices, in the implementation of PAL, which should complement existing Art, Music and Physical Education (PE) programmes.
    4. Enhance the quality of Art, Music and PE instruction through optimal deployment of qualified teachers.
    5. Provide schools with funds to engage trained coaches, instructors and service providers approved by MOE to conduct quality PAL activities, as well as to procure equipment for Art, Music, PE and other PAL activities.
    6. Work closely with the Singapore Sports Council, National Arts Council and other relevant agencies to build up the pool of instructors for PAL in the long run.
  3. More holistic assessment to support learning:
    1. Encourage schools to move away from an overly strong emphasis on examinations in Primary 1 and 2, and explore the use of bite-sized forms of assessment to help build pupils’ confidence and desire to learn.
    2. Place less importance on semestral examinations in Primary 1 so as to smoothen pupils’ transition from pre-school to primary school. Primary 2 pupils could be slowly eased into taking examinations.
    3. Equip teachers to use rubrics to assess and provide pupils with richer and more holistic feedback on their development and skills acquisition in academic and non-academic areas.
    4. Encourage primary schools to provide parents with a more comprehensive “Holistic Development Profile“ which captures a fuller picture of their child’s progress and learning throughout the year.
    5. Continue to provide clear guidelines on the learning outcomes for each subject at the end of every level, to facilitate teachers’ design of appropriate assessment tasks and ensure students’ continued mastery of foundational skills.
    6. Develop a system to assess the schools’ ability to develop their pupils in academic and non-academic areas and to provide a more holistic education.

Investing in a Quality Teaching Force

  1. Provide additional manpower:
    1. In line with bringing forward the recruitment of teachers and Allied Educators, recruit and train more Art, Music and PE teachers to raise the quality of instruction in these subjects.
    2. Engage individuals with strong oral communication skills as language facilitators in schools.
  2. Recruit committed, quality educators:
    1. Continue to carefully select aspiring educators with the right aptitude, passion and suitability for teaching.
    2. Focus efforts to recruit new teachers from the pool of university graduates, or those who qualify for an undergraduate education, by 2015, to maintain the calibre of the teaching service.
    3. Encourage eligible non-graduates to join the teaching service by enrolling in the National Institute of Education’s (NIE) degree programmes, or to work closely with teachers as Allied Educators (Teaching &Learning), with future opportunities to become full-fledged teachers.
    4. Provide current non-graduate teachers with avenues for professional development and/or academic upgrading.
  3. Equip teachers well through training and professional development:
    1. Strengthen pre- and in-service training to systematically equip all teachers with the basic teaching skills, sound content mastery and a variety of teaching and assessment methods.
    2. Encourage subject specialisation of teachers at the upper primary levels through in-service training, while continuing to provide schools with the autonomy to deploy their teachers according to their needs.
    3. Continue to provide schools and teachers with rich learning resources and packages, and to work closely with schools to help them build expertise in new teaching and assessment methods.

Enhancing Infrastructure

  1. Single-session primary schools:
    1. Facilitate the transition of all government schools to the single-session model by 2016.
    2. Work closely with government-aided schools to facilitate their transition to the single-session model at a pace that considers the needs and concerns of the schools and their respective communities.
    3. Ensure that every Singaporean child continues to have access to a primary school near his home.
    4. Maintain a sufficient number of places in the more popular primary schools so that pupils who have no affiliation to the school can still have access for admission to Primary 1.
    5. Give schools the flexibility to adjust their start and end times with careful consideration of their local conditions, including the profile of their pupils, their pupils’ transportation arrangements, the local traffic conditions and other schools in the vicinity.
    6. Ensure that the number of school hours is primarily determined by educational goals, and not social needs.
    7. Monitor the implementation of single-session primary schools so that the intended objectives are met.
    8. Continue to work closely with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on school bus transportation issues, and with LTA, the Traffic Police and other agencies such as the Housing &Development Board and local Town Councils to safeguard the safety of our pupils and to minimise the impact on traffic around schools.
  2. New generation primary school facilities:
    1. Provide additional infrastructural support for a more holistic education, including learning spaces for a new generation of primary schools that are better able to support broad-based and effective learning.
  3. Support for social services:
    1. Make provision for facilities within new schools and schools being upgraded for social service providers to provide student care services, especially for pupils from disadvantaged families.

More information:

What is ‘PERI’?

‘PERI’ refers to the Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee set up by the Ministry of Education in October 2008. This Committee was formed to look at ways to raise the quality of primary education.

Chaired by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of National Development, the PERI Committee is made up of a good mix of representatives from MOE, the Government Parliamentary Committee on Education, the Community and Parents in Support of Schools (COMPASS) and the private sector.

Since October 2008, the PERI Committee has sought the opinions and suggestions of educators, parents, students and the general public. Through a series of focus group discussions, emails and online forums, forum letters and editorials, more than 850 people have contributed their views on how to enhance primary education.