Ministry of Education Singapore: Media Centre

Parliamentary Replies - 18 Feb 2005

School Drop Out

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mdm Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is his Ministry’s policy with regards to students who dropped out of school but subsequently wish to return; and (b) what programmes are in place to counsel, assist and encourage such students to return to school.

Response

1. The number of pupils who dropped out of the school system up to the secondary level is small. Nevertheless, much effort is put in to ensure that pupils stay in school. These efforts include both proactive and intervention measures. The proactive measures that schools adopt include the pastoral care, life-skills and career guidance programmes which are aimed at helping pupils build up confidence in school and develop purposefulness in life, and to take responsibility for their actions.

2. The intervention measures that schools adopt include counselling of potential dropouts. Besides teachers, schools engage the services of professional counsellors in these efforts. Schools work closely with parents to enable them to play an active role in the education of their children and to provide the necessary home support to sustain the pupils’ interest in school. Home visits are often made by the schools.

3. Schools have also put in place arrangements with external agencies such as the self-help groups and family service centres and other agencies like SANA, which has a programme to prevent students from dropping out and being involved in drug abuse.

4. However, if the pupils insist on leaving schools despite all the measures taken, schools will encourage them to continue their education in other institutions such as the Institutes of Technical Education or the Vocational Training Centres. Schools also engage the external agencies to work with these premature school leavers to counsel, assist and hopefully encourage them to return to schools. Some examples of such programmes are YMCA’s Project Bridge and Fei Yue Community Services’ Project 180.

5. If a pupil wants to return to school, MOE has procedures in place to assist these pupils. It looks into all referrals for re-admission from parents, MPs, welfare organisations and the community. The pupils may also approach the schools directly to seek re-admission. MOE will make every effort to assist pupils who are seeking re-admission to find places in suitable schools. Generally, pupils who have dropped out are able to be re-admitted to our schools. No child is deprived of a place in our schools if the child shows interest and is willing to put in the effort to learn and complete schooling to the best of his/her ability. Once the pupils are back in the school system, schools will render the necessary support to help them adjust and continue their schooling.

Students Data

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Prof Ivan Png Paak Liang, Nominated Member of Parliament

Mr Wee Siew Kim, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education if his Ministry will publish from now on all general examination results, including Primary Six, GCE "N", "O" and "A" level, analyzed by family income or, if by family income is not possible, by type of housing as well as by race.

To ask the Minister for Education (a) how many households with school-going children have a per capita income of $300 or less; (b) how many households with young school-going children have retired parents; (c) what are the current assistance schemes available to them; and (d) has there been any studies to show the performance in school of such needy students compared to the performance of the Singapore students in general.

Response

Since 1988, MOE has been releasing data on educational performance of students of the various ethnic groups annually. This is in response to the requests from the various self-help groups that conduct targeted education programmes for students from the respective communities. It also provides a useful gauge for the different communities on how their children have performed in the national examinations.

2 Professor Png has asked for MOE to publish examination results according to the family income group of students, or, as a proxy, by housing type. The Ministry does not collect data on the family income of students. We do have data on the housing types of students. As is to be expected, there is some correlation between academic performance of students and housing type, taken on average.

3 This is not surprising because housing type tends to be related to parents' education levels, particularly amongst our younger families. In fact, parents' education correlates more strongly with academic performance than housing type does.

4 MOE does not plan to publicly release the annual exam results according to housing type or other social economic indicators on an annual basis. However, MOE releases information on the educational performance of students based on various social economic indicators to the self-help groups where they find it useful in planning their programmes and determining the kind of support they should give to targeted groups such as underperforming students and potential drop-outs.

5 Studies and evaluations by MOE and schools suggest that many factors affect the academic performance of a pupil, including the support he receives from the family. Most important of all, however, is his aptitude and his attitudes or desire to achieve. This is consistent with findings in studies in many other countries.

6 Mr Wee Siew Kim had also asked about young students with retired parents. MOE survey data indicates that less than 0.1% or 50 primary 1 students have a retired parent^[1]

7 We will continue to help every child, through our schools, self-help groups, CDCs and VWOs, regardless of his family background. The MOE Financial Assistance Scheme grants students from low-income homes waiver of school fees and exemption from miscellaneous fees. Students under this scheme also receive free textbooks. Needy students can also receive additional financial support from the School Advisory/Management Committee (SAC/SMC), the Community Development Councils (CDC) and Family Service Centres. Many SACs/SMCs provide needy students with pocket money, bus stamps, free meals, stationery and uniforms.

Reduction in Chinese Language Syllabus

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan, Mayor (South West District)

Question

To ask the Minister for Education
(a) with the recent cutback in the Chinese language syllabus by up to 61% for primary 6 pupils whether there is a need to have Higher Chinese and Normal Chinese at the primary level, and if there is,
(b) what will be the key differences between these two tracks.

Response

          Let me first clarify that the recent reduction in the number of passages in Chinese Language textbooks does not represent a cut in the Chinese Language (CL) curriculum. There is no change in the language skills and learning outcomes that are expected in the CL curriculum for 2005, nor any cut in CL curriculum time. These outcomes are defined in terms of students’ ability to use the language fluently and confidently, not by the number of passages or characters that a student has learnt.
          In primary schools, the number of passages has been reduced by an average of 15%. This implies a reduction of about 10% in the number of characters that students have to learn by the end of P6. (The cuts in number of passages are from P1-6, with the largest being a 60% reduction in the number of passages in P6 textbooks, from 28 passages to 11. Unlike P1 to P5 textbooks, the current P6 textbooks are based on the old, pre-2002 syllabus, which have been recognised to be heavy on content and which give teachers little time to help students understand and apply language skills.)
          The reduction in CL passages will free up time and space for teachers to conduct activities that best suit the needs of their students, to consolidate what they have already learnt and to engage them in applying their language skills in new and interesting ways. Teachers may use the cut passages as supplementary or enrichment lessons, or devise their own reading programmes.
          These moves to give teachers more flexibility are part of the transitional changes we are introducing in our schools, as announced in Parliament last November during the debate on the White Paper on CL learning, before the full implementation of the new CL curriculum over the medium term.
          These recent changes do not alter our current system of having both the Higher Chinese Language (HCL) and Chinese Language (CL) syllabuses in schools. The objectives of the CL syllabus are two-fold, namely, to develop the linguistic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing; and for students to absorb Chinese values and develop an appreciation for Chinese culture. The transmission of culture and values remains important. However, as recommended by the Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee, it has to be achieved in a flexible and natural way, via classroom lessons, supplementary reading and other activities that students find interesting and relevant.
          The HCL syllabus shares the same dual objectives as for CL, but aims to take the students to a higher level in terms of both language competence and cultural appreciation. The HCL syllabus has additional components which are richer in Chinese literary and cultural content.

^[1] MOE does not have data on age of parents.