The Direct Admission Exercises¹ promote holistic education by giving students the opportunity to demonstrate a more diverse range of talents and achievements. Schools and polytechnics are given the flexibility of admitting students based on their talents and achievements, using a transparent and meritocratic process.

DSA-Sec Exercise

This year, 121 schools will be participating in the 2013 DSA-Sec Exercise for admission to Secondary One in 2014. These include 80 niche schools, of which 30 will participate in the DSA-Sec Exercise for the first time. Another seven schools will offer a second niche. All participating schools and the schools’ niche areas are listed in Annex A and Annex B respectively.

Interested students should go to the relevant school’s website to obtain more information on the school’s application period (which will vary from school to school) and corresponding procedures. All students participating in the DSA-Sec Exercise are still required to take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Those who take up DSA Confirmed Offers are guaranteed a place in the school provided that their PSLE results meet the minimum requirement for a course [Express/ Normal (Academic)/ Normal (Technical)] offered by the school.

Students who accept a DSA Confirmed Offer and are successfully allocated to a school via the DSA-Sec Exercise will not be able to participate in the Secondary One Posting Exercise. They will also not be allowed to transfer to another school after the release of PSLE results as they are expected to honour their commitment to the DSA-Sec schools they are posted to, for the duration of the programme that they are admitted into². Details of the exercise are listed in Annex C.

DSA-JC and DPA Exercise

The institutions participating in the DSA-JC Exercise this year are listed in Annex D. This year, Singapore Sports School (SSP) will begin participating in the DSA-JC Exercise to take in Year 5 students in 2014.

The DPA Exercise allows students who are interested in and have the aptitude for applied learning to seek prior admission to the polytechnics. All five polytechnics are participating in the DPA Exercise and are listed in Annex E.

Successful applicants under the DSA-JC and DPA Exercise will be offered a place before taking their GCE ‘O’ Level examination. However, they must still meet the baseline GCE ‘O’ Level examination criteria for eventual admission to their specific school or polytechnic. Details of the DSA-JC and DPA Exercises can be found in Annex F.

Students who have been successfully allocated a place via the DSA-JC Exercise or DPA Exercise will not be able to participate in the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) or Joint Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise (JPSAE). They will also not be allowed to transfer to another school or another course after the release of the GCE ‘O’ Level examination results as they are expected to honour their commitment to the respective schools and polytechnic courses.

Further Information

Students interested in participating in the DSA-Sec, DSA-JC or DPA Exercises should visit the websites of the participating institutions for more details regarding their selection exercises. They are advised to do so before the start of the respective exercises.

Students can also visit the following MOE websites for information:

• DSA-Sec Exercise website
• DSA-JC Exercise website
• DPA Exercise website

Footnotes:

1. These include the Direct School Admission-Secondary (DSA-Sec) Exercise, Direct School Admission-Junior College (DSA-JC) Exercise and the Direct Polytechnic Admission (DPA) Exercise.↩
2. Students interested in applying for direct admission to Catholic High School, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School for the Integrated Programme (IP) may wish to note that they will spend their first four years in their respective secondary schools, before progressing to a new government JC to complete their six-year IP course. The JC will initially operate at an interim campus at the former ITE College Central (Bishan Campus). It will eventually be located along Sin Ming Avenue, near the junction of Marymount Road. The JC will also admit O-Level applicants from 2017.↩

The Fund’s sponsorship of these events will help to raise awareness among parents, educators, and members of the public on the importance of nurturing bilingualism at home, in schools, and in the community. The Fund had earlier sponsored 10 proposals to develop teaching and learning resources such as bilingual books, songs and teaching aids for use in pre-school centres and homes.

“We are happy to support these events that are directly relevant to the Fund’s objective to strengthen efforts in bilingual learning for our pre-school children. We look forward to more collaborations with the community on these efforts,” said Minister for Education, Mr Heng Swee Keat, who is also the Chairman of the Board of the Fund.

About the Asian Festival of Children’s Content

The Asian Festival of Children’s Content, to be organised by the NBDCS, will feature children’s education and entertainment materials with Asian content. The festival aims to develop the writing and illustration of children’s stories, promote the publishing of Asian content, and provide participants with access to these materials. Themed “An Early Start for an Early Lead”, this year’s festival focuses on nurturing bilingualism in young children from birth to age eight. Over 1,000 writers, illustrators, publishers, teachers, and parents, as well as 5,000 to 8,000 members of the public are expected to participate in conferences, workshops and master classes organised as part of the festival. The festival will be held from 25 to 30 May 2013 at the National Library Building. More details may be found at http://www.afcc.com.sg.

About the 9th International Symposium on Bilingualism

The International Symposium on Bilingualism is held biennially for researchers in the field of bilingualism and multilingualism. The 2013 symposium in Singapore will be the first time that it will be held in Asia. Organised by the Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies at NTU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the ISB9 will take place from 10 to 13 June at NTU’s Yunnan campus, with the theme “Multilingualism” which reflects Singapore’s status as a thriving language hub. The linguistic landscape of Singapore has been fascinating to scholars owing to its historical and geographical position as a meeting point of many cultures, which makes it an excellent stage for the types of issues to be discussed at the symposium. Besides being a platform for scholarly exchange in the study of bilingualism and multilingualism, the conference this year will feature a workshop on Early Childhood Bilingualism for participants to discuss issues surrounding language acquisition and learning in the early years. Over 600 participants from all over the world are expected at the symposium. More details may be found at http://linguistics.hss.ntu.edu.sg/ISB9/Main.html.

About The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism

The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism aims to promote bilingual education and supplement efforts by MOE in the teaching and learning of English and the Mother Tongue Languages. For a start, the Fund is focusing on initiatives targeted at pre-school children in the community, homes and pre-school centres.

The Fund welcomes proposals on an on-going basis. The proposals should promote language learning in the context of Singapore, and could take the form of teaching and learning resources, programmes and events. The proposals will be evaluated based on its relevance, impact, scalability, sustainability and standing/potential of applicant. Interested applicants may obtain more information from the Fund Application Guidelines and Application Form available on www.bilingualism.sg.

The Community and Youth Leadership schools under the MCCY-MOE partnership follows the announcement of the new $100 million National Youth Fund (NYF) to support ground-up youth initiatives which champion community and social causes. Drawing on the NYF, the NYC will connect participating schools with Youth Sector Organisations (YSOs) and community organisations, and work with stakeholders, including curriculum planners, school leaders, teachers, parents and students, to imbue in students a culture of volunteerism, good character and leadership qualities. The partnership aims to create a supportive environment to sustain youth volunteerism and continued engagement with the community beyond the school years.

NYC will use the NYF to support YSOs and connect them with interested schools to co-develop programmes which engage students in the community. Such programmes could link Co-Curricular Activities in school with the arts and sports groups in the community. The YSOs could also provide mentoring and training to educators to facilitate more impactful delivery of Values In Action (VIA) programmes. Examples of such programmes can be found at Annex A.

The VIA programme, as part of the Character and Citizenship Education in schools, provides learning experiences that support students’ development as socially responsible citizens who contribute meaningfully to the community, through the learning and application of values, knowledge and skills.

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education, said, “The VIA programme serves as a springboard for students’ active participation in society. Through the collaborative efforts, we hope to nurture students’ active citizenship and see more students sustain their community activities beyond their time in schools.”

Mr Lawrence Wong, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Chairman of NYC, said, “I see this MCCY-MOE partnership as an important way forward to build a strong culture of youth volunteerism. It’s good that our schools are doing more in character and values education. We want these efforts to be translated into actual action in the community, so that our youths can see the meaning and impact of what they are doing. Through this partnership, I hope we can nurture a new generation of active, caring and connected youths and youth leaders, who will serve as change agents and role models in our society even after they leave school,” said Mr Wong.

The partnership was announced by Mr Wong at the 2nd National Secondary School Student Leaders Conference (NS3LC) this morning. Co-organised by MOE and NYC, the NS3 LC saw 614 student leaders from 154 schools share and present their ideas for community and nation building.

The name “Spectra” represents the school’s philosophy of recognising the different spectrum of talents and strengths of the students. The school aims to nurture and develop these strengths and instil self-confidence in their students.

Located at Woodlands Drive 64, Spectra Secondary School will have a Secondary 1 intake of up to 200 students. In subsequent years, places will be set aside for mainstream schools students who wish to transfer mid-stream to Spectra Secondary School.

Board of Directors

A Board of Directors has been appointed to oversee and guide the development of the school. Board members will serve a three-year term. They will bring to the school their collective wealth of experience and expertise from the private and public sectors. This will help the school in facilitating stronger industry and community partnerships.

The Board comprises the following members:

• Mr Andrew Kwan, Managing Director of Commonwealth Group (Chairman)
• Mr Tai Lee Siang, Group Managing Director, Ong & Ong Pte Ltd (Deputy Chairman)
• Ms Aidaroyani Adam, Assistant Director, Education Department, Yayasan MENDAKI
• Dr Ang Kiam Wee, Principal, College Central, Institute of Technical Education
• Mrs Chua Yen Ching, Director, Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education
• Mrs Kwan Lui, Founder Director, At-Sunrice Global Chef Academy
• Mr Allen Law, Director, Park Hotel Group
• Mr Low Cheong Kee, Managing Director, Home Fix Pte Ltd
• Ms Rosan Basha, Director (Project Teach/Content & Resource), Education Division, SINDA
• Mr Tham Tuck Seng, Partner, Head (Capital Market Group), PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Mr Wong Lup Wai, Managing Director, TP Vision Singapore
• Ms Dawn Yip, Operations Director, Jean Yip Group

Enhanced Curriculum

Spectra Secondary School will offer N(T) English, Mathematics and Mother Tongue as part of a four-year N(T) secondary school education. Greater focus will be given to building strong foundations in literacy and numeracy through a variety of ways based on a whole-school approach.

The school will also focus on Citizenship and Character Education through programmes in Personal and Social Learning, Physical Education and Aesthetics as well as Co-curricular Activities to enhance the students’ holistic development. These programmes will address their socio-emotional needs, personal development and enhance the learning of life skills.

Spectra Secondary School will also customise its teaching approach to suit the learning styles of its students. The pedagogy adopted will emphasise skills-based activities and practical learning in the real-world context or workplace setting. In order to facilitate its skills-based pedagogy and programmes, Spectra Secondary School will have a class size of about 20.

A tie-up with ITE will allow students to take ITE taster modules at lower secondary, before specialising in an ITE Skills Certification (ISC) at upper secondary in one of four areas - Facility Services, Mechanical Servicing, Retail Services or Hospitality Services. These ISC courses are aligned with NITEC courses or industries that students can join after graduation. Spectra Secondary School will work in close partnership with ITE and industry partners to provide opportunities for attachments and internships for its upper secondary students.

The purpose-built school campus will house specialised facilities such as a retail outlet training room, a bistro, food and beverage training rooms, a housekeeping training room, as well as mechanical and electrical servicing laboratories.

School Staff

Mr Krishnan Aravinthan, the former principal of Bedok South Secondary, has been appointed as the principal of Spectra Secondary School. He is an experienced principal who cares deeply about student learning and staff well-being, and strives to provide both students and staff a supportive environment to achieve their goals and aspirations.

Spectra Secondary School has started recruiting teachers. As part of their professional development, these teachers will attend in-service training courses to deliver the new customised programmes, curriculum, and pedagogy, and there will be continual training in areas like classroom management, counselling, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. ITE will also second its lecturers with relevant industry experience to the school.

Qualifications

Spectra School students will graduate with GCE N(T)-level qualification¹. They will also graduate with ISC qualifications and receive a School Graduation Certificate (SGC) as a holistic record of their achievements². With the GCE N(T)-level and ISC qualifications, graduates of Spectra Secondary School can progress to further education opportunities at ITE, employment or apprenticeship opportunities at trade-based institutes.

Footnotes

1. If there are students who enrol in Spectra Secondary, but are found suitable to offer the N(A) course subsequently, Spectra Secondary will facilitate their transfer to a secondary school with the N(A) course. Spectra Secondary will also be able to support students who are found suitable to offer one or two subjects at the N(A) level.↩
2. The SGC consolidates a student’s achievements in the academic and non-academic domains, and includes an assessment of the student’s personal qualities.↩

Registration is not on a first-come-first-served basis. The registration for admission to MOE Kindergarten @ Dazhong and MOE Kindergarten @ Punggol View will be between 8 -12 April. The registration for MOE Kindergarten @ Blangah Rise, MOE Kindergarten @ Farrer Park and MOE Kindergarten @ Tampines will be held between 15-19 April. The registration for MOE Kindergarten @ Tampines will be held at Dunman Secondary School. Registration is open from 1-5pm.

Please refer to Annex A for the registration details. For more information, parents can visit www.moekindergarten.edu.sg, or call MOE Customer Service Centre at 6872 2220 (Mondays to Fridays: 8.00am to 6.00pm, Saturdays: 8.00am to 1.00pm) or email MOE at contact@moe.gov.sg.

Parents may also approach the Pre-school Education Branch booth at MOE’s ExCEL Fest on 6 April 2013, 10.00am to 6.00pm, for more information. The ExCEL Fest will be held at ITE College Central (2 Ang Mo Kio Drive, Singapore 567720). Admission is free. Shuttle bus service to ExCEL Fest is available from Yio Chu Kang MRT station.

The SYF Celebrations will see a five-day youth festival for the Arts. The theme for SYF 2013 is “in•fusion”. The theme signifies the spirit of SYF which seeks to break new ground by weaving and infusing the diverse arts talents from our schools. It gives recognition to the unique abilities, talents, aspirations and dreams of our youth.

Held from 2 to 6 July 2013, SYF Celebrations’ main venue will be at the Esplanade belt, with satellite events held at Ngee Ann City, Suntec City Mall and three libraries - Woodlands, Bedok and Jurong, thereby extending SYF’s community outreach. SYF Celebrations will include non-conventional arts genres such as street dance and a cappella singing) and a more informal celebration where students, parents and members of the public can get closer to the performers.

The SYF underscores the importance of a holistic education for our students and is organised annually to showcase the myriad of talents of our students. Since its inception in 1966, the SYF has played an important role in providing a platform for students to hone their skills. Through participation in the various SYF activities, students develop social skills and form friendships with teammates of different social and ethnic backgrounds.

ECDA will oversee the regulation and development of kindergarten and child/ infant care programmes for children below the age of 6. It will be established as an autonomous agency jointly overseen by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), and administratively hosted by MSF. This will allow ECDA to develop children holistically, nurture positive attitudes towards learning, facilitate the transition of pre-schoolers to formal education, as well as increase efforts to support and strengthen Singaporean families.

ECDA will integrate the capabilities of the existing MOE Pre-school Education Branch and MSF Child Care Division, to take a comprehensive overview and drive improvements for the early childhood sector more effectively. Parents, operators, and early childhood professionals can look forward to dealing with ECDA as a single point of interface for their queries and feedback.

ECDA’s scope of responsibilities will cover the following: * Oversee measures to enforce and incentivise quality, including regulation, quality assurance certification, and the provision of early childhood development resources; * Facilitate the training and professional development of sufficient numbers of good quality early childhood educators; * Master-plan for pre-school infrastructure and manpower resources; * Provide subsidies and grants to keep pre-school programmes affordable, especially for low and middle income families; * Conduct public education and outreach to raise parents’ awareness and support for their children’s early development.

ECDA will commence its operations on 1st April 2013. It will be helmed by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lee Tung Jean, who will be moving over from her current appointment in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. (Please see Annex A for her curriculum vitae).

Further information on ECDA will be available from 1st April 2013 at www.ecda.gov.sg. Queries on pre-school matters can continue to be directed to existing points of contact in MOE and MSF.

Parents can submit the registration form between 8 and 19 April 2013² for Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident children born between 2 January 2009 and 1 January 2010 (both dates inclusive), to apply for admission to K1 classes in the pilot kindergartens in 2014.

Admission is not on a first-come-first-served basis. Should the number of applications exceed the number of vacancies; priority will be accorded based on citizenship, household income and proximity of home address to the pilot kindergartens. Please refer to Annex A for the registration details.

For the first year, the pilot kindergartens located in the primary schools will start with an enrolment of 120 children each, while the pilot kindergarten located in the community will start with an enrolment of 80 children. Please refer to Annex B for the locations of the five pilot kindergartens.

The monthly fee for the pilot kindergartens is $150 for Singapore Citizens and $300 for Singapore Permanent Residents. Financial assistance will be available to families of Singaporean children with gross household income not exceeding $3,500 (or per capita gross household income not exceeding $875). Please refer to Annex C for details on the financial assistance provided and resulting monthly fee.

Interested parents will be able to find out more information about the pilot kindergartens at the road shows, which will be held between 1 and 5 April 2013. Please refer to Annex B for details of the road shows.

Catalysing improvements to uplift pre-school education

Curriculum

The curriculum in the pilot kindergartens will be guided by the principles spelt out in the refreshed Kindergarten Curriculum Framework (KCF), which aims to nurture children holistically. The teachers will use the teaching and learning resources developed by MOE. In line with the KCF, children in the pilot kindergartens will be engaged in learning through purposeful play to build their self-confidence, nurture their positive attitudes towards learning as well as develop their social, literacy and numeracy skills. All these will lay a strong foundation for their future learning.

The curriculum will have a distinctive Singapore content, using local themes, stories and songs that draw on things and experiences familiar to children. This will help them make meaningful connections across different learning areas. There will be ample opportunities for teachers to use local songs and dances to design music and movement activities to strengthen children’s social and emotional, physical, language and cognitive development.

The curriculum will also include resources for Language and Literacy development - in both English and the three official Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs), namely Chinese, Malay and Tamil. However, the model of MTL provision may vary across centres, depending on the actual enrolment of children who take each of these MTLs at each kindergarten. There will be a strong emphasis on language learning, in particular, for children to develop listening and speaking skills which will facilitate their language learning in later years.

MOE will share the teaching and learning resources developed in the process with other pre-school operators. The Ministry will also work with pre-school centres that offer good programmes, to study various approaches and identify best practices to enhance the learning of pre-schoolers. Best practices that are found to be scalable, sustainable and suitable for the Singapore context will be shared with all pre-school operators. These efforts will help to catalyse quality improvements in pre-school education across Singapore. MOE and the Ministry of Social and Family Development will also continue to work with the operators of pre-school centres, through the newly-formed Early Childhood Development Agency to raise the standards of pre-school education.

Training for kindergarten teachers

As the quality of teachers is critical to the quality of education, there will be a strong emphasis on ongoing professional development for the teachers in the pilot kindergartens, so that they continually sharpen their pedagogical skills, and participate actively in refining the curriculum and teaching and learning resources used in the pilot kindergartens.

Partnership with Parents

Partnership with parents is key to enriching the child’s learning experience. Teachers will help parents understand developmentally-appropriate approaches for the holistic development of their child, provide regular feedback about their child’s learning and development, and share learning resources and kits to enable learning to continue at home.

MOE will gather the views of the industry, public and parents as we pilot the different approaches and collaborate with the pre-school sector to raise the quality of pre-school education in Singapore.

Footnote

1. The morning session will run from 8am to 12pm, while the afternoon session will run from 1pm to 5pm.↩
2. The registration period for MOE Kindergarten @ Dazhong and MOE Kindergarten @ Punggol View is from 8 to 12 April 2013. The registration period for MOE Kindergarten @ Blangah Rise, MOE Kindergarten @ Farrer Park and MOE Kindergarten @ Tampines is from 15 to 19 April 2013.↩

MOE ExCEL Fest 2013 will be held on 5 and 6 April at ITE College Central, from 10am to 6pm. There will be 55 exhibitions put up by primary schools, secondary schools and post-secondary educational institutions to showcase their initiatives and programmes. The first day of the event is for MOE staff and the second day is open to parents and members of the public. Admission is free.

The event will also feature 95 sharing sessions by teachers and 25 seminar talks by senior educators and invited speakers. Parents could pick up tips to prepare their child for the challenges in a fast-changing and globalised world, approaches to support their child’s learning, and the importance of values and character education.

In addition, COMPASS (COMmunity and PArents in Support of Schools) will introduce three initiatives to share insights and resources with parents. The inaugural COMPASS Speakers’ Series will be launched at the Fest. Comprising talks, seminars and sharing sessions, the Series offer parents the opportunities to share knowledge, skills and good practices on successful parenting. The Series will be helmed by qualified speakers with a focus on effective home-school collaboration and parenting skills. Parents can look forward to more from the COMPASS Speakers Series after the Fest.

Parents can also participate at the first Forum Theatre organised by COMPASS. This drama-based audience interaction platform will be used to play out various parent-child scenarios to help parents explore parenting issues and practical strategies to manage and resolve problems. As Parent Support Groups (PSGs) are an important pillar in supporting home-school collaboration, another COMPASS initiative will involve strengthening the PSG network and helping them to grow and sustain their efforts through exhibits and sharing sessions.

The list of exhibition booths, sharing sessions and seminars is available at the ExCEL Fest website. Sign up for the sharing sessions and seminars online. Registration is required as seats are limited.

Mr Ong Swee Teck, Chairperson, ExCEL Fest 2013 Organising Committee, said, “ExCEL Fest is meant for both educators and parents. For educators, we want them to be inspired by the innovations and the best practices in teaching and learning. For parents, this event will help them to understand the education landscape today and take away useful tips on partnering schools to help their children.”

Join us at this annual event. Free shuttle bus services from Yio Chu Kang MRT station are available on both days. For details, please visit ExCEL Fest website.

The SEAMEO Council Conference is a biennial meeting of the Education Ministers from the 11 SEAMEO Member Countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam, to discuss educational cooperation in the Southeast Asia region.

Mr Heng will meet his counterparts at the sidelines of the Conference. He will be accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry of Education.

MOE will also pilot a new Extended Nitec¹ Foundation Programme that will help selected Normal (Technical) students acquire the literacy and numeracy foundation needed to successfully complete a Nitec course.

These measures will help ensure that all students benefit from the best opportunities in education regardless of their background and pace of development.

Programmes for Levelling Up Students

Expansion of English Language Literacy Assistance to More Pre-school Centres

Equipping our children with English Language skills from young is important. Over the next few years, MOE will aim to increase our existing literacy assistance efforts at the kindergarten level², to about 100 more pre-school centres, up from 250 today. This will allow us to cater to a larger number of children from lower income families, especially those from a non-English-speaking home environment.

Stronger Support for English Language Literacy in Schools

Currently, students with limited English Language literacy skills are provided with additional learning support through the Learning Support Programme in Primary 1 and Primary 2.

MOE has successfully piloted a range of additional learning programmes to help students in the primary and secondary school levels to raise their basic literacy skills. These programmes include a combination of flexible teaching approaches and small group instruction within and outside curriculum hours that allow students to learn and thereby level up their English Language literacy at their own pace.

Over the next two years, MOE will roll out these additional learning programmes to all the primary and secondary schools. Students who have fallen behind will be supported not just up to Primary 2, but all the way till the end of their secondary school education. These programmes together with the existing Learning Support Programme (LSP) for Primary 1 and 2 pupils with limited literacy will help all our students level up.

Stronger Support for Mother Tongue Language (MTL) Literacy in Schools

For MTL, we are using a customised and modular approach with differentiated instruction to cater to varying linguistic abilities and home language environments of students. This will ensure that students who enter school with little exposure to MTL are given additional support in the early primary years to help them catch up.

MOE has also developed online interactive platforms to strengthen students’ MTL skills through the use of their MTL in everyday settings. It is used both for teaching in class and for after-class reinforcement at the primary and secondary levels, so that students learn at a pace suitable to their learning needs and abilities.

Stronger Support for Numeracy in Schools

MOE will develop additional resources and step up the training of primary and secondary teachers to equip them with the teaching strategies to help students acquire numeracy skills. These teaching strategies could be used in class or in small group instruction, both within and outside curriculum hours. They allow students to learn at their own pace and strengthen their numeracy skills.

Over the next two years, MOE will roll out these resources and training to all the primary and secondary schools. Students who lack the necessary numeracy skills will be given support at all levels in the primary and secondary schools. This goes beyond the current Learning Support Programme for Mathematics which is extended only to Primary 1 students.

Enhancing Professional Capacity for Teachers Working with Low-Progress Students

At the heart of our efforts to level up low-progress students are our teachers, who play a critical role in helping our students achieve their learning goals.

MOE will equip our teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to carry out a range of intervention strategies, guided by a clear set of research-based principles. Teachers involved in these programmes will also be mentored by and learn from specialists and experienced teachers. Building on professional development programmes spearheaded by the Academy of Singapore Teachers, MOE will continue to enhance the capacity of teachers working with low-progress students through more sharing sessions and courses that help teachers understand the psychological needs of these learners and the social issues affecting them.

Pilot of Extended Nitec Foundation Programme at ITE

As these programmes for leveling up students will not reach students who are about to graduate from our secondary schools, MOE will also pilot the Extended Nitec Foundation Programme (e-NFP) in 2014, to help seed students from the Normal (Technical) [N(T)] course build the necessary literacy and numeracy foundations that will enable them to successfully complete their Nitec courses.

Those undergoing the e-NFP will spend a total of three years at ITE for their Nitec programme, instead of the usual two. Instead of foundation training in Year 1 followed by the career core curriculum in Year 2 for a typical Nitec course, students enrolled in the e-NFP will undergo two years of foundation training before progressing on to career core curriculum in the third year.

Besides the practical hands-on approach, the e-NFP will also address socio-emotional needs of the students, to improve their self-confidence and motivation. This will prepare them not only for the Nitec programme itself, but also for lifelong learning. For an overview of the e-NFP, please refer to the Diagram A.

For the 2014 pilot, ITE will admit 180 N(T) students with 0 or 1 N-Level subject pass into the e-NFP. The e-NFP would also be open to eligible candidates from NorthLight School and Assumption Pathway School who are currently unable to enrol into the default two-year Nitec programme because they have not acquired the necessary literacy or numeracy foundation needed for their Nitec courses.

Through these new initiatives, we seek to provide every student, regardless of his or her background, the opportunity to learn and develop to his or her fullest potential, imbued with the attitudes, values and skills to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s world.

Footnote:

1. Nitec: National Institute of Technical Education Certificate↩
2. Focused Language Assistance in Reading (FLAiR) is an intervention programme that provides focused language support for identified K2 children who have difficulties in learning English, and is currently available in 250 pre-school centres that cater to lower-income families.↩

More students to benefit from school-based Dyslexia Remediation

MOE has expanded the school-based dyslexia remediation to 22 more primary schools in 2013.

First introduced in 20 primary schools in 2012, MOE’s school-based dyslexia remediation programme is a two-year intervention programme for Primary 3 and 4 students. These students are identified for support through a systematic screening process for dyslexia conducted at the end of Primary 2.

The programme is conducted in small groups by trained school personnel¹ using a remediation curriculum designed by MOE Reading Specialists. The curriculum has been designed taking into consideration the students’ learning profile and the contents of the mainstream English language curriculum. The school personnel conducting the programme also worked with the subject teachers and parents to closely monitor the students’ attendance and learning progress.

The preliminary findings from the pilot in 2012 showed that students who had participated in the remediation programme have improved in their reading and spelling skills.

About 120 Primary 3 students² have benefited from the remediation programme introduced last year. Another 340 Primary 3 students from the 42 schools are expected to benefit from the extension of the programme. Please refer to Annex A (66kb .pdf)

Helping parents navigate special education pathways

• Implementing post-diagnosis educational guidance in all primary schools by end of 2013

Following a pilot of post-diagnosis educational guidance (PDEG) services in 14 primary schools last November, MOE will extend the service to all primary schools in phases by the end of 2013.

The PDEG services, provided in partnership with voluntary welfare organisations, are targeted at parents whose children have been diagnosed with special educational needs and require placement in a SPED school. The counsellors provide emotional support to parents and guidance on the available educational options for their child and the application process to SPED schools.

Parents who had used the pilot guidance services provided feedback that they were able to better understand the educational programmes available in SPED schools. Through the guidance services, the parents were able to see how SPED programmes were more suitable options, as the programmes would better develop their child’s abilities, and help to prepare him for independent living in later adult life. They appreciated the counsellors’ help in facilitating visits to the SPED schools, which allow parents to see the environment for themselves and make a more informed decision.

• Streamlining the application and enrolment process into SPED schools

Besides providing parents with emotional support and advice on SPED school placement, MOE also set up the Multi-Agency Advisory Panel (MAAP) in October 2012 to streamline the application and enrolment process into SPED schools. The MAAP comprises representatives from MOE, the Ministry of Health, the National Council of Social Services and the SPED schools. Since November 2012, the MAAP has put in place a common application form for use by all the SPED schools. This form is transferable across all the 20 SPED schools funded by MOE and NCSS.

The SPED schools involved in the MAAP pilot have found the new application form helpful in deciding on the children’s suitability for their programmes. The schools also found that the inputs from multiple professionals in the MAAP have helped them to gain a more comprehensive view of the child’s complex needs. MOE will continue to seek feedback from various stakeholders and refine the admissions and applications processes to SPED schools so that children with special needs are provided with an appropriate education in a timely manner.

More resources to strengthen parent engagement and help needy students

MOE will facilitate SPED schools forming their own Parent Support Groups (PSGs) so as to enhance the level of parent engagement with the schools. In support of this effort, each SPED school is eligible to receive a $2,500 PSG seed funding - similar to mainstream schools. The PSG seed funding will enable the formation of PSGs in SPED schools and enrich the activities that SPED schools can organise together with their PSGs.

To ensure students from low-income families start the day well, the School Breakfast Programme has been made available to students on the SPED Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) - similar to mainstream primary schools. SPED schools can apply for funding to implement the School Breakfast Programme, based on the number of students on the FAS.

More support for Special Needs Students in ITE and Polytechnics

To enhance support for students with special needs at the post-secondary level, MOE has started a pilot to share relevant information, such as the diagnosis and support details of the student, with ITE, with the consent of the students and their parents, when the students move from secondary schools to ITE. Students from 64 secondary schools were involved in this pilot.

This year, the pilot will be expanded to include the polytechnics. The transfer of such information makes it easier for our institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to reach out to students who need greater learning support and provide suitable support measures sooner and more effectively.

MOE will also work with special education experts and Volunteer Welfare Organisations to run a training programme to build staff capability at our IHLs. The programme will better equip staff to provide an integrated support system and render practical help for our students with special education needs.

Footnotes

1. i.e. Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support) [AEDs(LBS)] or mainstream teachers who have been specially trained. Since 2005, MOE has increased schools’ capacity to identify and support ↩
2. The 120 Primary 3 students from the pilot remediation programme in 2012 will continue the remediation sessions in Primary 4 this year.↩

Co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film and Media Studies, the awards affirm the creative efforts of students from 208 schools from the primary, secondary and pre-university levels. SDMA 2013 attracted 537 entries. A record total of 78 awards (3 Platinum Awards, 13 Gold Awards, 21 Silver Awards and 41 Merit Awards) to more than 300 students were given out at the award presentation ceremony graced by Mr Kenneth Tan, Assistant Chief Executive (Assessment) at the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

Students were invited to express their creativity through different themes such as “Social Responsibility”, “Overcoming Challenges”, “Hear Me Out!”, “Do You Know…?”, “Use Good English, Please!” and “School Days”. Introduced for the first time this year, “School Days” attracted 180 entries from students who shared interesting stories of their school lives.

The entries were judged on their content, creativity, engagement and technical quality.

The winning entries can be viewed on the SDMA website and the list of winners can be found in the Annex.

Related Resources:

• Annex: SDMA 2013 Winners

The results of the 2012 GCE ‘A’ Level Examination for school candidates are as follows:

School candidates have been issued with their result slips by their respective schools from 2:30 pm today. Private candidates will receive their results by post. Private candidates may also access their results through the SEAB website at http://www.seab.gov.sg from 2:30 pm today.

School candidates can collect their result slips from their respective schools from 2.30 pm on 1 March 2013.

Private candidates will receive their results by post. Private candidates can also access their results through the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board website (http://www.seab.gov.sg) from 2.30 pm on 1 March 2013.