03702

22 August 2002

THE SPECIAL ACADEMIC AWARDS 2002

1        64 awards will be presented at the 2002 Special Academic Awards presentation ceremony on 22 Aug. These awards include the Prime Minister's Book Prize, the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science and the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship To Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP award). Further information on the awards is given in Annex A.

The Prime Minister's Book Prize

2        The Prime Minister's Book Prize is an annual award for bilingualism given at the primary, secondary and pre-university levels. This year, of the 29 students who are awarded the Prime Minister's Book Prize, there are 11 in the Primary section, 13 in the Secondary section and 5 in the Pre-University section. The names of the awardees are given in Annexes B1-2.

3        One winner is receiving the award for the second time. Liang Yinwei received the Prime Minister's Book Prize in the PSLE category in 1998 and he will be awarded the Prime Minister's Book Prize in the GCE 'O' level category for 2002.

4        Goh Weiqiang Joel, who is receiving the Prime Minister's Book Prize in the 'A' level category, will also be awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science in the 'A' level category this year.

5        Yeo Wenshan, who is receiving the Prime Minister's Book Prize in the 'A' level category, has also been awarded a President's Scholarship (2002).

The Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science

6        The Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science is an annual award for excellence in the two subjects and is given under the three categories of Secondary, Pre-University and Polytechnic. This year, there are 23 recipients - 7 in the Secondary category, 8 in the Pre-University category and 8 in the Polytechnic category. The names of the awardees are given in Annexes C1-2.

7        Tan Jian Long, a winner in the 'A' level category, has also been awarded a Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship.

8        Ng Priscilla, a winner in the 'A' level category, was awarded the Prime Minister's Book Prize for the 'O' level category in 2000.

The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP Award)

9        The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP Award) is an annual award for polytechnic students from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to encourage upgrading and life-long learning. This year, 8 LKY-STEP awards will be presented to outstanding Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduates pursuing full-time studies at our polytechnics and 4 LKY-STEP awards will be presented to outstanding polytechnic graduates pursuing full-time undergraduate studies at our universities. The names of the awardees are given in Annex D.

10      Chew Yiwen, who is receiving the LKY-STEP Award for the Polytechnic category, was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science (Polytechnic category) in 2001.

Annex A

Additional Information on the Awards

The Prime Minister's Book Prize

1        The Prime Minister's Book Prize is an annual award for bilingualism given at the primary, secondary and pre-university levels. The first awards of the Prime Minister's Book Prize were made in 1974. The institution of this award was made possible by the then Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In 1973, he gave to the Ministry of Education the sum total of the lecture fees he received on an overseas tour, with the wish that the interest earned from the donation be used to promote effective bilingualism in our schools.

2        Since its inception, 934 awards have been made to outstanding bilingual pupils from the primary and secondary schools and junior colleges on the basis of the Primary School Leaving Examination and the GCE 'O' Level and 'A' Level Examination results. The students' overall performance in the other subjects is also taken into consideration in the selection of prize winners.

The Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science

3        The Lee Kuan Yew Award for excellence in Mathematics and Science was instituted in 1992. This award was made possible by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the Senior Minister, who donated to the Ministry of Education the honorarium he received from one of his overseas speaking engagements, with the wish that the interest earned from the donation be used to promote academic excellence in Mathematics and Science. In November 1998, Senior Minister Lee donated for this award an additional sum from the funds raised from a special edition of his memoirs published by the Singapore Press Holdings.

4        School winners are selected on the basis of their excellent performance in Mathematics and Science. Their overall performance in the other subjects is also taken into consideration. Polytechnic winners are selected from among the top Technology and Computer Science graduates in each of the four polytechnics. For all these winners, their contributions and participation in co-curricular activities related to Science and Mathematics are also considered.

The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP Award)

5       The Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Encourage Upgrading (LKY-STEP Award) was presented for the first time in 2001. The LKY-STEP awards were made possible by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew in October 2000 when he donated part of the proceeds from the sale of special editions of volume two of his memoirs to MOE to set up scholarships to encourage upgrading and life-long learning. Recipients of the LKY-STEP award are selected on the basis of their excellent overall performance in their ITE and polytechnic courses respectively.

Annex B1

RECIPIENTS OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S BOOK PRIZE FOR 2002

                                           Annex B2

Annex C1

RECIPIENTS OF THE LEE KUAN YEW AWARD FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE FOR 2002

Annex C2

Annex D

RECIPIENTS OF THE LEE KUAN YEW SCHOLARSHIP TO ENCOURAGE
UPGRADING (LKY-STEP) FOR 2002