FY 2004 Committee of Supply Debate Reply by Minister on Schools A More Flexible and Broad-based Education System

FY 2004 Committee of Supply Debate
Reply by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Acting Minister for Education

1. I would like to thank members for their views and suggestions in the debate so far on the MOE budget. Given the number of cuts on Education, I hope members will understand that it may not be possible for my colleagues and I to respond to every point that will be raised. We will however endeavour to respond on the main themes raised in the debate, and to reply on specific queries where time permits.

2. We have a robust education system. At each level and in each course, our students aim high. They do well, by any international reckoning.

3. We have been repositioning the education system in recent years, to help our young meet the challenges of a very different future, and a much more competitive future. We have been moving from a focus on quantity, in other words on producing graduates of sufficient numbers in our various post-secondary institutions, to a focus on quality.

4. We have introduced improvements and innovations in curriculum, and in the use of technology. We are moving towards single session primary schools, and smaller classes in the first two years of primary education, as announced in last year's COS debate. And we have made substantial improvements in the teaching service and school management. We have a well-trained teaching force, and a service that provides teachers and principals with considerable opportunities to develop themselves professionally and to occasionally retool and re-gear.

5. More broadly, we have been moving towards a more flexible and broad-based education system. We are providing for more choice in schooling, and in the tertiary sector. We want to help students to develop themselves in diverse areas, in more varied intellectual pursuits as well as in the sports and arts. We want to nurture students with all-round strengths, while providing space for those with special talents in a single area to go as far as they can.

6. We are therefore moving towards a more flexible education system - new types of schools and programmes, alternative curricula, and more flexible or customised approaches to teaching students with different abilities. We are expanding university enrolment, providing the state-funded universities with greater autonomy, and opening up the sector to greater competition. We are also redoubling our efforts to provide students with a broad-based, holistic education, focused on more than examination performance. We have recently introduced more flexible criteria for admitting students to our universities, and will do the same for schools and JCs as I will elaborate on shortly. We will also revise the school ranking system to support and encourage schools in their efforts to provide an all-round education.

7. We are able to make these changes because our education system is strong. The fundamentals are strong. It is in fact this confidence in the system that allows us to keep looking ahead, review what we do, and make adjustments and changes in good time.

8. Members are familiar with the new educational pathways that we are putting in place. Integrated Programmes, spanning secondary and JC education have been introduced in selected schools from this year, and a few more are coming on-stream. Specialised independent schools are being established, in Sports from this year, in Maths and Science from next year, and as announced last week by Minister Lee Boon Yang, a school for the Arts from 2007. Alternative curricula and qualifications like the International Baccalaureate are now allowed in schools. We will soon also allow for a few privately funded secondary schools, which can provide their own models of education.

9. Mr Inderjit Singh asked if access to the JCs offering IP would be reduced. The implementation of IP will not reduce access for deserving students to the top JCs. Their overall enrolment will remain close to existing levels.

10. Mr Zainudin asked about the NUS High School. The school will provide a new type of programme to develop students with a special aptitude for maths or the sciences. It will have a different and enriched curriculum - special projects, research and programmes for their senior students that are linked to university modules offered by NUS. Students will have access to NUS facilities and interact with NUS academics. They may even sit in for some university classes Admission will be based on merit. The NUS High School will consider students on the basis of their academic performance, aptitude in science competitions and projects, and other special attributes.

11. The next important change we have to introduce, as part of a more flexible and broad-based education system, is in school admissions. Dr Amy Khor, Dr Lily Neo and Mdm Halimah spoke of the need for a more flexible admission system. MOE agrees with this.

12. We select students for secondary schools and JCs based on merit. However, the criteria for selection are quite narrowly defined. They focus on single measures of academic merit - PSLE T-score for placement in secondary schools and 'O' level aggregate score (L1R5) for JC admission. To achieve our objectives in this next phase of education, we will give schools greater flexibility in student admission, to allow them to recognise a more diverse range of intellectual achievements and other talents.

13. By giving schools greater flexibility in how they select students, we will be reinforcing the changes that we have recently allowed in the university admission system - with NUS and NTU being able to admit up to 10% of their students on the basis of their own, independent criteria. It will encourage students who wish to put effort into activities they have a special interest or talent in, to take them seriously and not give them up early because they do not count for admission.

14. MOE has for some years now allowed Independent Schools (IS) and Autonomous Schools (AS) to look at wider criteria when they admit a proportion of their students - up to 10% of intake in the case of the IS, and up to 5% for the AS. This was introduced under tightly controlled conditions, to see whether the schools could manage the process, and to enable the public to understand that admission into these top schools is still based on merit, but using wider criteria. The system has worked well, and can now be expanded.

15. MOE has studied this carefully and sought the views of a large number of parents, teachers and ex-students on this - over 1200 people in all. Based on a survey conducted earlier this year, over 90% of each of these groups felt that we should send stronger signals to students on the importance of all-round development. The vast majority supported broadening schools' admission criteria to recognise special skills and talents aside from academic scores.

16. There are several ways in which broader and more flexible school admissions can work. A secondary school may want to select students with intellectual abilities that are not reflected in their PSLE aggregate - for example, a student with a special ability in mathematics or higher mother tongue (HMTL). Or it may want to attract students with other, non-academic talents that it wishes to develop. Likewise, a JC may want to select a student who has done consistently well in his school assessments, or has done outstanding community service. There will be other examples of students who may not meet the school's usual cut-off scores for admission, but whom the school feels have special talents and will strengthen the school community.

17. This is also how the best schools abroad, in countries like the US and UK, select their students. These are mainly private schools, which are free to set their own entry requirements. Many have rigorous entry procedures, but are usually not focused on results in a single examination. The measures we will take in Singapore, to introduce broader and more flexible criteria for admission to certain schools, will have some similarities with these best practices abroad. But what sets us apart is that we are doing this in a publicly-funded school system, with admission open to all rather than based on the ability to pay.

18. Our approach is to introduce greater flexibility, choice and diversity in education by providing our publicly-funded schools with greater autonomy, rather than by opening up a large private school sector that is based principally on ability to pay. That's the fundamental choice that we have made. Even as we allow a few private secondary schools from next year, the publicly-funded sector will remain dominant, and will very likely remain at the pinnacle of the education system. And there is no reason why our top schools cannot be amongst the best in the world.

19. Some of the top Chinese schools, which operate within a state-funded and meritocratic national system like ours, are moving in the same direction. For example, Beijing University's Affiliated Middle School admits 30% of students on the basis of achievement in sports and arts. When I visited them last year I was told by the Principal that they did this so as to achieve a more diverse school environment. The diversity benefited all students and produced more rounded students in general.

20. Starting this year, we have allowed the new Integrated Programme (IP) schools and Specialised Schools to have full discretion on admissions. [National Junior College selected Secondary 2 students for admission this year on the basis of a General Ability Test, PSLE scores, school-based assessments, personal essays, references, CCA achievements and interviews with all shortlisted students. The NUS High School for Maths and Science, which takes in students from 2005, is adopting a similar framework.]

21. The next steps concern the Independent Schools (IS) and Autonomous Schools (AS). As I have mentioned, these schools are currently able to admit their own students, outside of the central posting system, up to a cap of 10% and 5% of their respective Sec 1 enrolments. This discretion that we provide the IS and AS is however subject to certain strict conditions.

22. We will phase in greater autonomy for the IS and AS, in two steps. First, for admission into Sec 1 in 2005 (i.e. at the end of this year), we will lift the existing MOE conditions on how the IS and AS admit their own students, while retaining the existing 10% and 5% caps. They will be free to consider students on their own admission criteria, whether on intellectual or other attributes. Second, for admission from 2006 onwards, we will double the level of discretionary places available to the IS and AS, to 20% and 10% of their Sec 1 enrolment respectively.

23. MOE will also provide some measure of autonomy to other, mainstream secondary schools that want to develop niche programmes of their own. Schools that receive MOE approval will be allowed to admit 5% of their intake based on their own criteria. We will allow for this from 2006 as well. This broadening of autonomy, to more schools, will allow for more and different peaks of excellence in the school landscape, for example in the arts or sports, besides the new specialised schools and the IS and AS. It should be a richer landscape.

24. We will also extend autonomy at the JC level. The JCs that are part of the new Integrated Programmes will, like the secondary schools in these programmes, have full discretion to admit students based on their own criteria. The top 5 JCs will be offering Integrated Programmes by 2005. The remaining 12 JCs will be given discretion to admit 10% of their declared capacity, outside the central posting system, from 2006. This is similar to the discretion that we will grant the AS at the secondary level.

25. The changes we are taking in school admission procedures are significant, and will have to be implemented carefully. Schools will put in place processes to ensure that selection continues to be based on merit. The schools have their reputations to protect. However, MOE will, as Dr Khor has suggested, audit the admission practices of the schools. We will not undermine the meritocratic nature of the Singapore education system.

26. Dr Amy Khor, Mr Chew Heng Ching, Dr Lily Neo spoke on the need to refine school ranking. MOE has studied this and consulted widely amongst schools and parents. We will broaden and loosen the school ranking system. By changing the way we measure the performance of schools publicly, we hope to support schools in their efforts to deliver a holistic education to their students.

27. MOE does not intend to do away with school ranking. It continues to serve as a useful benchmarking tool for schools to assess their performance, and allows parents and students to make informed choices. However, the ranking system in its present form may have led to an over-emphasis on examination performance, at the expense of other important things we want to do in education. It also has the risk of entrenching conventional teaching approaches, and inhibiting schools from exploring approaches which may help develop their students - for example in innovation and creative thinking - but which have no assurance of producing superior examination results.

28. We will therefore revise the school ranking system to provide more room for schools to experiment and to offer their students a broad range of learning experiences.

29. The new rankings cannot be too precise an exercise. There is broad consensus that there is little advantage in comparing schools on the basis of small differences in performance. We cannot measure the things that matter in education with precision.

30. The new 'school achievement tables' that MOE will release later this year will therefore band schools instead of ranking them on their exact academic scores. Instead of showing the top 50 secondary schools ranked individually based on the average 'O' level performances of their students, they will be divided into 12 or so bands.¹

31. The second change will be to provide a broader picture of schools' performance in various academic and non-academic domains. There is again strong consensus amongst parents and teachers in favour of this. Over 90% of parents favoured us doing so. The new school achievement tables will seek to provide this broader picture in a simple, digestible form. The tables will reflect schools' achievements under the existing Masterplan of Awards, which we have refined for the purpose. This will show schools that have received awards for academic value-added, sports and other areas of physical health, and in the aesthetics. They will also reflect the schools with best practices in the internal processes they have put in place to achieve those outcomes.

32. Character development will be a new area under which schools' efforts will be recognised. We will give recognition to schools that have adopted an integrated approach to developing students in Enterprise, Citizenship and Personal & Social Lifeskills. We will however give emphasis to schools' processes and programmes, rather than short term outcomes, as it is difficult to measure outcomes in character development.

33. In recognising schools for their achievements in physical health, we will place renewed emphasis on the participation of students in sports and games, besides outstanding performance in national competitions. Mdm Cynthia Phua spoke about this during the debate on MCDS yesterday. The revised criteria for excellence in physical health will recognise schools that allow a broad base of students to take a sports CCA for recreation even if they are not of exceptional ability and are unable to represent the school. This will dovetail with the efforts of MOH and MCDS to promote an active, sporting lifestyle amongst Singaporeans as a passport to good health.

34. To help parents make the most practical use of the information, MOE will provide a web-based interactive system to allow them to generate comparative lists of schools based on the features they consider important - for example, schools in a certain vicinity, within a certain academic band or with a strength in say rugby. We will also continue to provide detailed individual school profiles for each and every school.

35. The proposed changes to the public presentation of school achievements are targeted for implementation from Sep 2004. Some of the new and revised awards, such as for Excellence in Physical Health and Character Development, will be introduced progressively from 2005.

36. The initiatives that the Ministry has embarked on in recent years will enable us to bring out the best in every child. Taken as a whole, the greater flexibility and diversity that we are introducing in education will help us groom young Singaporeans with diverse talents, and open to diverse ways of thinking and approaching problems. We need this diversity, both amongst Singaporeans and through an infusion of people from around the world, if we are to develop the innovative capabilities that Singapore needs, and make it as a leading world city. The changes will also help us develop strength of character, and the desire to serve others and improve society, in each new generation. I agree with Dr Wang Kai Yuen, Mdm Halimah and others who spoke of the importance of leadership development and character development. We want to develop a mental toughness in our young, the ability to withstand shocks, come out of difficulty and thrive. These are attributes that will help young Singaporeans do well in the future, and help Singapore do well.

37. I note that several members have spoken on the subject of streaming, and some others are scheduled to speak on the subject of the Normal Course. We will address these issues later in the debate, after having the benefit of more views and suggestions from members.

¹Under the current school ranking system, schools are ranked according to the first decimal place of their O-level aggregate. The bands will continue to be based on schools' average 'O' level 'L1B5' scores, but with differences of one integer between each band.