29 December 2000

ADDRESS BY RADM TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SECOND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE AT THE APPOINTMENT CEREMONY OF PRINCIPALS ON 29 DECEMBER 2000 AT 3.00 PM AT ORCHARD HOTEL BALLROOM

1. Good afternoon. I would like to congratulate the 73 principals being commissioned today, especially the 31 being appointed for the first time. An interesting fact is that the most senior amongst the newly appointed principals is 53 years old while the youngest is 35 years old. This is not surprising because we value a mix of experience and backgrounds amongst our Principals. There is no one mould from which we look for potential Principals. And no one type of Principal that we set out to look for. All officers who meet our stringent selection criteria and make the grade are appointed Principals. We cast our net wide and actively seek to identify and develop school leaders from the many able officers in our midst.

2. To be selected as a Principal is an achievement in itself. All of you have gone through a rigorous selection process that has taken you through several rounds. What are the qualities we look for in a principal?

3. First, you all possess solid track records and have proven management abilities in schools or in Headquarters. Second, you have shown not just management abilities, but a genuine empathy with students and a desire and commitment to help develop them to their full potential. Third, you have shown an ability to grasp the new challenges facing education and are able to help define and develop strategies to transform intention into effective programmes and practice.

4. As part of the selection and preparation process, you have gone through the Leadership Situational Exercise where you were assessed for your leadership competencies. You have been assessed by a panel of top MOE educational professionals and officials. Finally, you have gone through NIE’s Diploma in Educational Administration programme to prepare you for the demands of the Principal position. The selection process is comprehensive and necessary because we want to be sure that we are appointing the best people to head our schools.

5. Our schools are sizeable organisations. As a Principal, you are responsible for leading typically 80 or more staff. In a secondary school you run a range of programmes to suit the talents and abilities of 1,400 students. And in primary schools, you have active and impressionable young students - typically more than 1,800 of them, or up to 2,800 of them in the larger primary schools. You relate to even more parents - 3,000 to 5,000 parents; you work with industry and community partners and deal with various vendors and suppliers. You manage a total budget in cash and resources of $5 to 6 million for a primary or secondary school and double that for a junior college. The job scope is large and carries with it immense responsibilities.

6. Effective Principals know they cannot work alone. Education is a people enterprise. They need to harness the energies of the entire staff. They need to enthuse, motivate and inspire their staff to move in a focused direction.

7. How do you lead and manage your teachers so that they will be your greatest assets? It is about relationships, specifically the quality of the relationship between you and your staff. It is about you supporting and providing; and your teachers accepting the authority, responsibility and resources necessary to perform that most complex and critical of tasks - shaping and moulding the lives of the 30 or 40 young people under their charge.

8. Holding the apex job in a school does not mean that you take upon yourself to do everything. Instead, supportive leaders are sponsors who pave the way. They facilitate, encourage and celebrate every achievement. Effective school leaders give the latitude to their team to make operational decisions

9. Providing support also means active listening to staff and giving good advice and counsel. When things do not turn out right, supportive leaders work with and through the staff to make right the situation. Not only does this enable staff to learn from the experience, it also sends a clear signal of trust and respect.

10. The Ministry will give every support to Principals so that you can do your jobs well. In line with efforts to build a high quality teaching service for a world-class education system, I have 2 new initiatives to announce today.

11. I had mentioned 3 months ago during my speech at the MOE Work Plan Seminar that we would be increasing the administrative support given to schools. The Ministry had in 1996 provided each school with a School Administrator post. This was followed by the Operations Manager post in 1998. Schools have welcomed these two additions to their staff. This afternoon, I am pleased to announce that with effect from 1 Apr 2001, MOE will provide schools with one additional administrative support post.

12. This additional administrative post will give schools the resources to relieve some of the administrative work currently performed by Heads of Departments and teachers. Schools will be given the flexibility to manage this additional post according to their own needs. They can make use of this post to employ an additional person, such as engaging a second School Administrator or a second Operations Manager. Schools can also choose to convert the post to its monetary equivalent to buy personnel and administrative services to cater to specific administrative needs in the school. This move alone will incur a cost of $20 million a year in additional budget.

13. This is another step that the Ministry is taking to ensure that there is an appropriate balance of work in our schools. We are prepared to go further. When schools show that they are able to use this additional post effectively and if our resources allow, the Ministry will look at further strengthening administrative manpower resources at schools.

14. The other area of importance is the need to maintain and improve the high quality of our teaching service. We must continue to attract committed and talented individuals to teach. The MOE Teaching Scholarships and Teaching Awards have provided a source of good quality candidates into the teaching service throughout the past few years

15. Not all students at the point of entering university have made up their minds about a teaching career and thus, many have not applied for the teaching awards. Some only decide on a teaching career further on in their university education, and some after. From next year onwards, we will extend the scope of the MOE Teaching Awards to include two groups.

16. The first group are the Honours and Accelerated Masters Programme (AMP) students from selected faculties in NUS and NTU. These students are those currently in their Honours or AMP year and will be graduating middle next year, in mid 2001, ready to embark on a career. They can apply to join the Education Service under the MOE Teaching Awards scheme. They will receive an award of $6,000 as back-payment equivalent to 1 year's university tuition fees. The first $3,000 will be disbursed upon successful graduation from the Honours or AMP programme. The second $3,000 will be disbursed upon successful graduation from the NIE teacher training programme.

17. The second group will be final year students who are moving into the Honours programme in Academic Year 2001/2002. These students can also apply for the MOE Teaching Awards. In addition to the award of $6,000 as back-payment of 1 year’s tuition fees, we will also give them full sponsorship for their Honours year, ie tuition fees for the Honours year and an annual allowance of $4,000. Students moving onto the Accelerated Masters programme in Academic Year 2001 can also apply for the MOE Teaching Awards. They will receive the back-payment of $6,000. They are already sponsored by the university for the AMP tuition fees and allowances.

18. By extending the scope of the Teaching Awards to cover these two groups, we hope to encourage more Honours graduates from our local universities to take up teaching as a career. It is part of our objective to each year attract some of the best and the brightest to come into teaching.

19. These are exciting times for the Education Service. We have a strong education system, and a strong teaching service. Both are the envy of many countries that I have visited. This has been borne out in 1995 in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and again in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (99) where our strengths were confirmed. Our current system and the strength and experience of our teachers provide a strong foundation to take us forward to the next step. We are now reaping the fruits of decades of dedication and hard work. The future that was being moulded all these long years, is the nation that we have today. But as you harvest, you must also sow the seeds for the next generation. Not taking things for granted is what sets us apart from others. Likewise, the Principal of a school does not automatically ascend to leadership. The Principal has to take what he has, and make it better - every day, every month, every year. He has to exercise the responsibility of principalship and work to gain the respect of those he leads.

20. It is a challenging time for each of you, personally, and a wonderful opportunity that you have. For the new Principals, take the opportunity to learn from your fellow Principals and Superintendents, for they have the experience and insights to offer.

21. I would like to congratulate you again on your commissioning as Principals and wish you all the very best. I am sure that the years ahead will be satisfying as you give of your best for your teachers and your students. The work of moulding the future of the nation goes on.