Parliamentary Replies - 15 Feb 2007
Pre-school
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Lam Pin Min, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC (SengKang West)
Dr Lily Neo, MP for Jalan Besar GRC (Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng)
Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC (Toa Payoh East)
Questions
Dr Lam Pin Min:
(a) What is the proportion of Singaporean children who do not attend pre-school education?
(b) Whether there are any data or statistics to show the benefits of pre-school education or a direct correlation to future academic performance
(c) Whether there is a need to make pre-school education compulsory
Dr Lily Neo:
(d) Whether subsidies for pre-school education for children from lower income families will be considered so as to give these children the opportunity to level up
Mrs Josephine Teo:
(e) What is the number of pre-school education providers in Singapore?
(f) Whether MOE plans to issue guidelines on the fees charged by providers of pre-school education services
Response
1. Let me address the three questions on pre-school education, related to the pre-school education scene, benefits of pre-school education, and opportunities to level up.
2. The pre-school landscape in Singapore is diverse, with various community and private organisations providing a variety of pre-school education programmes to cater to different needs and expectations. As at 1 Jan 2007, there are 1,210 kindergartens[1] and childcare centres offering pre-school education. Of these, 492 (40.4%) are kindergartens and 725 (59.6%) are childcare centres. This diversity provides choice for parents to select the most appropriate pre-school in accordance to their needs and preferences.
3. Recent international research suggests that the early childhood years are a sensitive period in which a child's future development can be influenced. Our own data at MOE indicates that pre-school education is particularly helpful in allowing children from low income families and non-English speaking families to catch up with their peers.
4. Indeed, the vast majority of parents recognise the value of pre-school education. We estimate that roughly 95% of children have received formal pre-school education[2].
5. MOE is targeting its efforts at continuing to uplift the quality of pre-school education, particularly for children from lower income backgrounds. Several measures to improve quality have been introduced over the years by MOE, such as developing a curriculum framework, introducing training and qualification requirements for teachers, and accrediting teacher training courses.
6. MOE is also working with MCYS, the People’s Association, and the self-help groups in a coordinated effort to reach out to the small number of families who do not send their children to pre-school and to persuade them to do so. The success of these joint and targeted efforts will, we hope, have a significant impact on this group of children.
7. MOE and MCYS provide operators with guidelines on making fee revisions, but do not control their fees. For example, pre-schools intending to raise their fees are advised to provide adequate notice[3] to parents of their fee revision plans.
8. There are a variety of financial assistance schemes in place to help children from lower income families. MCYS provides a fee subsidy under its Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS). Families who cannot afford the initial costs related to sending their children to kindergarten may also be considered for a Start-up Grant (SUG) of up to $200 per child per year. For low-income families with children enrolled in childcare centres, there is also the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC) if mothers are also working. Low income families can receive up to $300 in childcare subsidies per month.
9. For those who need further help, community-based support is available through the grassroots organisations, self-help groups and PCF kindergartens, to supplement the government subsidies. For example, CDAC and MENDAKI provide additional financial assistance to needy families, under the Pre-School Assistance and Support Scheme (PASS) and Education Trust Fund (ETF) initiatives respectively. Advisers and grassroots leaders can also tap on the Citizens’ Consultative Committees’ (CCC) Welfare and Education Fund, and the ComCare Fund to assist their residents who need financial support to send their children to pre-school.
10. Our primary schools are doing good work to help children catch up and realise their potential, regardless of their initial starting point. From this year, the enhanced Learning Support Programme (LSP) will be rolled out to all Primary schools, starting with the Primary 1 children. The enhanced LSP provides a more customised support for children to improve their basic early reading skills. Similarly, additional support in Mathematics for P1 pupils has also been introduced in all schools this year. Many schools continue to provide customised support to children needing help in English and Mathematics beyond Primary 2. Hence, support for these children does extend beyond the pre-school years.
11. The rigorous primary curriculum, coupled with support programmes, builds strong foundations for our children to go on to secondary and post-secondary education.
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International schools
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Gautam Banerjee, Nominated Member of Parliament
Question 120
To ask the Minister for Education in light of the increase in the number of international schools in Singapore, whether there are programmes in place to promote the exchange of ideas and best practices between local and international schools
Question 121
To ask the Minister for Education whether the National Institute of Education, as part of its normal teachers' training programme, regularly places trainee teachers in international schools so that they get an opportunity to experience different teaching methods and practices.
Response
As part of the efforts to expose Singaporeans to a global environment, MOE encourages and facilitates efforts to collaborate with international schools. This includes providing opportunities both for our students and teachers.
In 2006, 31 of our schools were involved in 58 collaborations with foreign system schools. The collaborations range from joint efforts on projects, immersion programmes, sporting and cultural exchanges to sharing of good practices and ideas.
For example, Yumin Primary School has an ongoing collaboration with The Japanese School (Primary) since 2000. There are mutual visits by teachers to learn about the different school systems. They also organise an Immersion Programme every year for the P5 and P6 pupils, and a home-stay programme for the P5 pupils with their counterparts. Another example is the collaboration between Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ Secondary School and the Australian International School in the Arts Programmes. A few of our schools like St Andrew’s JC, St Andrew’s Secondary and CHIJ St Theresa’s play friendly rugby, hockey and soccer games with the United World College.
MOE is continuing with its efforts to encourage more schools to establish collaborations. We are also exploring other platforms for interactions between our schools and the foreign system schools in areas such as sports leagues, the Singapore Youth Festival for performing arts and an international friendship camp.
For the teachers, MOE values the importance of building a strong foundation in pedagogy as well as developing the teaching force through broadening of their experiences. The exposure gained by teachers will benefit them professionally and enable them to contribute more to the teaching service.
As the objective of the pre-service training is to lay the foundation for our trainees to teach in local schools, trainee teachers are therefore not sent for teaching assignments in international schools. However, when they become trained teachers, there are opportunities for them to be attached to overseas or local international schools such as Tanglin Trust School, Singapore American School, United World College and Overseas Family School as part of Teacher Work Attachments or overseas immersion programmes to broaden their outlook on Education. In the first half of 2006, more than 200 of our teachers participated in these attachments.
Apart from teaching attachments and immersion programmes, there are also secondment opportunities for interested teachers to different type of schools such as the Singapore International School in Hong Kong and the Bangkok-Pattana School, for them to experience different teaching practices and methods.
IAAP
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mdm Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education whether his Ministry will implement the recommendation of the International Academic Advisory Panel for the Government to put money aside in education accounts for Singaporeans so that they can use it for their education beyond secondary school level.
Response
1. As the economy becomes more complex and knowledge-based, Singaporeans will need to take full advantage of opportunities for post-secondary and university education. The Government will consider different approaches to support Singaporeans in doing so, in addition to providing substantial subsidies to our post-secondary educational institutions to keep fees affordable. These include the idea of setting up education accounts for Singaporeans to help them take up quality post-secondary programmes that will equip them with the knowledge and skills for the economy.
P1 & 2 class-sizes
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Alvin Yeo, MP for Hong Kah GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education what are the results and feedback received by his Ministry on the smaller class sizes introduced for Primary 1 and 2 students and whether there are plans to extend this to other students.
Response
1. MOE reduced class sizes for Primary 1 from 2005 and for Primary 2 from last year, from 40 to 30 students per class. The move to smaller classes has provided young children with a more welcoming start to formal schooling. To take full advantage of smaller classes, MOE also introduced the SEED[1] programme in 2005 to provide a more engaging learning experience for lower primary students.
2. Feedback about SEED has been very encouraging. Schools are using the flexibility they have been given to try out varied methods to engage their young learners. Teachers have more room to cater to different learning needs and are able to invest more time in inculcating useful values among their pupils.
3. In many of these schools, teachers customise activity-based lessons, to match the learning styles and abilities of their pupils. Concepts in Mathematics and English are taught by having pupils carry out hands-on activities in small groups of 6-10. As a result, teachers can spend more time with the weaker students, while students who learn at a quicker pace can learn to lead a group and help their peers. Overall, lessons become more interesting, and by working together, pupils learn important values like co-operation and tolerance.
4. Alternative forms of assessment have also been tried out under SEED. For example, Punggol Primary assesses pupils in role-play, presentations and story-telling to complement the traditional pen-and-paper assessment modes. The feedback from parents and teachers shows that these opportunities help the children develop their language skills and build self-confidence, and spark off a certain creative energy.
5. On the whole, our experience with smaller class sizes at Primary 1 and 2 has been a positive one so far, although it is too early to come to definitive conclusions. MOE will continue to monitor and study the results of this move.
6. Mr Yeo asked whether there are plans to extend smaller class sizes to other levels. Our approach to this issue beyond the early primary years is to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in schools, and let schools decide on how best to take advantage of the improved provisions. Schools may decide to reduce class size where there is benefit, or to use their additional teachers in other ways that can improve the quality of learning. This will vary from school to school, and by level, depending on the profile of students as well as the particular pedagogic skills of the teachers in the school.
7. Improving the pupil-teacher ratio however hinges on our ability to recruit more teachers, without compromising the quality of the teaching service. This is important to ensure that we continue to provide a high standard of education to our students.
8. Thus, MOE’s approach is to pro-actively recruit as many good teachers as possible. We are making good progress, and are on track to meeting our target of 30,000 teachers by 2010. MOE is also committed to providing the best possible support for our teachers, such as deploying more para-educators and administrative support staff to our schools, so that teachers can focus more time on helping their students learn better.
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[1] Strategies for Effective and Engaged Development
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