20 September 2003

PLEASE CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, ACTING MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AT THE MENDAKI AWARDS PRESENTATION CEREMONY ON SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2003 AT 2.45PM AT THE SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC CONVENTION CENTRE

Associate Professor Yaacob Ibrahim
Minister for Community Development and Sports and Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs

My Parliamentary colleagues

Mr Rozlan Giri
CEO of MENDAKI

Distinguished guests

Parents and students

Ladies and gentlemen

LEVELLING UP - STARTING WITH THE EARLY YEARS

1. Good afternoon and thank you for your very warm welcome. I am delighted to be here today at the annual Anugerah MENDAKI ceremony. Each year, this is a significant occasion. The event celebrates the achievements of some of Singapore's most promising young citizens.

2. Let me congratulate the 172 award winners on your accomplishments. Your good results reflect diligence, resolve and a determination to excel. I am sure they also attest to your teachers' tireless commitment, and to constant encouragement and support from your parents and family members. I am told that this year, the community is also celebrating a bumper crop of five First Class Honours graduates receiving awards in the university category. It is a milestone achievement, on the continuing journey towards excellence.

FOCUS ON EDUCATION

3. MENDAKI was the first of the major community self-help groups to be established in Singapore. SINDA and CDAC followed in its path. MENDAKI's focus on education has made it a key pillar in the Malay-Muslim community. Today MENDAKI operates 28 tuition centres and serves some 6,000 students, with a total of 106,000 students having benefited from the scheme over the years. It also has several other outreach programmes aimed at uplifting the community.

4. These efforts have contributed to real improvements in the performance of the Malay community in the area of education over the years. In 1992, 61% of a Malay P1 cohort completed secondary school compared to the national average of 82%. By 2002, 85% of the Malay cohort completed secondary school, compared to the national average of 92%. The gap between Malay performance and the national average has narrowed greatly, from 21% points in 1992 to 7% points in 2002. This is a strong record of achievement to work from.

5. The community is addressing key areas where gaps in achievement levels continue to persist. Within the school curriculum, the critical gap for Malay students is in Mathematics and Science. These are areas that matter to our young, not just because improved performance in Maths and Science will raise their 'O' and "N" level aggregate scores, but because these subjects are increasingly important as a foundation for further learning, in our universities, polytechnics and ITEs, and in life. Maths and Science provide key foundations in the knowledge-based economy.

6. In working towards its goals, MENDAKI's partnerships and collaborations with organisations outside the Malay/Muslim community are proving fruitful. The partnerships between the various self-help groups in particular are growing. These are valuable partnerships because they allow for sharing of experiences and resources, and for learning from one another. But more importantly, they are also valuable because they encourage interaction among students from different language and ethnic backgrounds. They allow each self-help group to focus its energies on the problems which require special intervention within its community, while reaching across ethnic lines wherever possible to help young Singaporeans to bond as one people.

ROLE MODELS

7. Each of the recipients here today is a role model for the Malay-Muslim community, and for all our young. You have shown what can be achieved by setting your sights high and persevering. Some among you have not just achieved distinction, but done it in different ways, cutting through new paths and showing that there are different routes to success. Let me cite three of these outstanding students.

8. Farhana bte Mohammed Anuar took up biomedical sciences as an undergraduate at a time when it was only just catching on among our young. She repeatedly made it to the Dean's list in her undergraduate years. She recently graduated with First Class Honours at the National University of Singapore and is currently engaged in post-graduate biomedical research as a recipient of an A*STAR graduate scholarship. Farhana is also a well-rounded achiever, with a record of excellence in co-curricular activities, both as a debater and in track-and-field.

9. 13-year-old Adam Iryadi is another good example of an academically talented pupil with strong motivation and clarity of purpose. Not only did he perform exceptionally well in the PSLE, I understand that he was very active in CCA while in South View Primary School. As a cadet scout, he achieved a Gold Arrow and was appointed Senior Sixer. He has also participated in competitions like the National Junior Robotics Challenge. I am told that Adam manages his time superbly and also volunteers as a peer tutor to his friends.

10. The third example, Siti Mardiana Musa, serves as inspiration that it is never too late to get back to studies. Siti entered the workforce after her 'O' levels but realised after working for a few years that she needed to continue with her studies in order to remain relevant to the workplace. She enrolled in a Diploma programme in Early Childhood Education and was an exemplary student, repeatedly winning Ngee Ann Polytechnic's "Best Performance" prize in various modules. She recently graduated with a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and is currently pursuing a degree in early childhood education.

PARENTS MATTER

11. Farhana, Adam and Siti, like the other high achievers here today, credit their parents for a large part of their success. Some of you may also recall a recent Berita Harian report where NTU graduate Mohd Fairusyiddin Che Oom attributed his attainment of a First Class Honours in Engineering not only to his own hard work but to his parents' continuous support and encouragement. We will I believe be hearing his valedictorian speech shortly,

12. What these outstanding achievers tell us about the role of their parents reflects a fundamental reality in education, in Singapore and across the world. If there is one consistent and categorical finding in studies of educational achievement, it is that the engagement of parents matters, regardless of race or socioeconomic background. Children are better motivated at their studies, and eventually do better, when parents continually monitor their children's work, encourage them on, and give them the love and care they need when young.

13. A recent MENDAKI study confirms this. It found that a supportive home environment plays a critical role in shaping positive values and mindsets towards educational achievement and excellence. MENDAKI's study of the profile of past Anugerah winners from 1990 to 2002 showed that a sizeable percentage - 57% - came from families with incomes of less than $2,500 a month; for 70% of the students, the fathers were the sole breadwinners. Most of the parents were ordinary folk. But what made these children different was that their parents placed overwhelming importance on their education.

14. A case in point is Taufik, a past Anugerah winner who is currently studying medicine at NUS. The eldest in the family, he has a younger brother and sister. His mother is the sole breadwinner, as his father passed away when he was 15. I am told that Taufik juggles schoolwork with household duties, volunteers with MENDAKI on a regular basis and also supervises his younger siblings. They, too, have shown good performance in their studies and one of them aspires to be a doctor like his brother. What keeps Taufik going is his mother, who keeps telling him to study hard so that he can have a better job and life than hers. Taufik has turned adversity into a powerful motivation to do better in life.

LEVELLING UP - STARTING EARLY

15. Cases like Taufik are not uncommon. Social mobility is still one of Singapore's strengths. And education is still the main path to success in life, and the key source of mobility for those from the lower income groups.

16. There is a second fact that emerges consistently from studies across the world. Good parenting is not just important, but has to begin early in a child's life. It is in the early years, in the primary school years and well before children get to school, that learning habits and aptitudes are shaped. We must endeavour to help every parent take responsibility for this. Every child should be stimulated and encouraged to develop his abilities as they unfold, to question what he does not know, and to find answers to his questions.

17. If we are to ensure continued social mobility, and continued levelling up in Singapore, we have to do more to enrich the early years of the child's life. It is a big challenge, and we cannot expect quick results. Reaching out to parents - especially those who are most in need of help, most lacking in the skills of good parenting - is vastly more difficult than reaching out to children in our schools. We need careful and sensitively designed strategies, and a good dose of endurance, to address the problems which are entrenched within the low-achieving end of each of our communities. But we cannot avoid addressing the early experiences in the home, and the improvements made there will have lasting impact on our children's life chances. They provide the biggest headstart, which institutions outside the home cannot replicate.

18. MENDAKI and the other self-help groups are working on this important task. Examples include MENDAKI's Read-With-Me Parent Training Programme and the recently introduced Tiga M, which develop parents' confidence in engaging their children and helping them improve their language and numeracy skills.

CHALLENGES OF THE NEW LANDSCAPE

19. It is an exciting time to be a student. Singapore is remaking itself to meet the demands of a new and rapidly changing environment. We are making changes to the education system, to promote diversity, creativity and flexibility. We have to provide more diverse paths, so that we can nurture Singaporeans who are not all of the same mould. We need more diverse talents and skills and diverse ways of thinking. We want to groom students who stand out from the crowd, and are willing to run with their passions.

20. The Malay/Muslim community is preparing itself to ride these changes confidently. It is embracing excellence as a value in itself, and perseverance as a virtue. And it will no doubt take advantage of the comnmunity's natural flair in diverse areas.

21. I understand that Malay/Muslim community leaders from the various sectors are in the midst of mapping out a strategic framework to pursue the vision of excellence that has been set out by Minister Yaacob. The key remains the home. Across our communities, the home is where the most important values are passed down, and where the child's enthusiasm for discovery is either fanned and set alight, or snuffed out. If we build strong families, there will be many more Farhanas, Sitis and Taufiks that the Malay-Muslim community, and Singapore, will be proud of.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

22. In closing, let me once again congratulate all the award winners on their achievements. Each and everyone one of you receiving the awards today represents the potential and the possibilities in the community. I hope you will be inspired to scale greater heights and continue your pursuit of excellence. My heartiest congratulations to the parents also, for having brought up children they can be proud of.