Address by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, at the MOE NE Forum for Principals 2006, on Thursday, 24 August 2006 at 8.30 am at the MOE Edutorium

ADDRESS BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION & SECOND MINISTER FOR FINANCE, AT THE MOE NE FORUM FOR PRINCIPALS 2006, ON THURSDAY, 24 AUGUST 2006 AT 8.30 AM AT THE MOE EDUTORIUM

RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew
Minister of State for Education

Mr Masagos Zulkifli
Senior Parliamentary Secretary

Mrs Tan Ching Yee,
Second Permanent Secretary,

Miss Seah Jiak Choo,
Director-General of Education

Principals,

Colleagues, Ladies & Gentlemen

1. When PM showed videos done by the girls from CHIJ St Joseph’s Convent last Sunday at the National Day Rally - ending with their etchings in the sand about how ‘every Singaporean counts’ - we were all moved. Singaporeans were moved because the message touched a chord in us. But it meant something extra to us that the message was coming from children in our schools. We felt the extra pride of knowing that children were growing up in our schools feeling deeply for Singapore, and expressing it in their own way, their own touchingly earnest way.

2. There are other stories and examples. Less than 10 years after we brought National Education (NE) into our schools, we know we are getting somewhere. We have made progress.

3. When then-DPM Lee Hsien Loong launched NE in 1997, he set out the objectives. NE was aimed at developing national cohesion, the instinct for survival and confidence in our future. These objectives remain as relevant today.

4. The world our students face today is different from what it was even 10 years ago. Globalisation and digitisation are rapidly eliminating borders - between countries and cultures, and even borders in education. But NE is not less relevant in a more globalised world. It is in fact even more important today that we get NE working out well in our schools than it was in 1997.

5. More Singaporeans are going abroad, to study or to work. As long as we educate our young well, they will find opportunities around the world. In our top JCs like Raffles Junior College, it is estimated that more than 40% of their ‘A’ Level cohort will go overseas for their studies. They should make use of their time abroad to broaden their horizons. But we hope they eventually return to Singapore, because here is home and family. One such student, Trevor Wong, currently studying music in UC Berkeley, came back recently for an internship at MOE and shared that he would want to come back to join the teaching service upon graduation. In his own words: “I’ve been away from home for just too long.”

6. We have to find every way to help our young know who they are, give them the skills and confidence to engage in a globalised world, and give them the sense that they are responsible for taking Singapore forward into the future. We must also continue to work at creating for them a positive and fulfilling school experience. Happy days spent in school together often create attachments that last long after.

7. NE has also been given added impetus by the advent of global terrorism, the new face of a globalising world. No country is immune to terrorism. Singapore is not immune. That is why the Community Engagement Programme was launched in February this year, to strengthen the understanding and bonds between our different races and religions, and help us weather any disruptions to our security. What happens in our schools, when our children are growing up, is critical to the success of this national effort. CEP therefore has to be a key part of NE in our schools.

8. So what have we done and achieved since 1997? Through Social Studies and by infusing NE in other areas of the formal curriculum, our students come to know the Singapore story, and understand the uniqueness of the country. Through Learning Journeys, they go on heritage tours and visit key public installations and institutions. They see their lessons come to life. Through CCAS, the Community Involvement Programme or CIP and adventure camps, our students become leaders, and develop a sense of responsibility for each other, and to the community. And through the commemoration of key events like Total Defence Day, Racial Harmony Day and National Day, they remind themselves of our unique challenges and opportunities as a people.

9. I would like to highlight in particular the positive results from our CIP programme. Since the implementation of the Community Involvement Programme in 1998, many schools have moved from a ready-made approach where CIP activities are planned en masse for the whole school. Now we have a lot more teacher-initiated and student-led CIP activities. This has become more evident since the Service-Learning approach was introduced in 2001 to allow for more student ownership of CIP. Now, we have about 55% of primary schools, 70% of secondary schools and 95% of JCs using the Service-Learning approach to carry out CIP.

10. We are not alone in wanting to do NE. Societies much older than ours have been implementing their own forms of NE or ‘citizenship education’ in their schools. They are in fact taking it even more seriously now.

11. In the US, every student has to complete Social Studies in order to graduate from high school. Schools place much emphasis on teaching American history, and on bringing up students to cherish American political and social values and ideals. But even so, they face challenges. According to National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC), there is a growing need to nurture students with the values and skills to participate as active citizens. A national survey in 2003 showed that the “DotNet generation”, young Americans between 15 and 26 years of age, were less likely than older generations to understand the ideals of citizenship and were more disengaged from the political process.

12. In England, an even older society, the Government found it necessary as recently as 2002 to introduce Citizenship as a new subject in the National Curriculum for all students aged 11 to 16. Now, in response to last year’s London bombings and the continuing threat of home-grown terrorism, the government is reviewing whether to introduce a core curriculum emphasising British values and the British identity.

13. In Australia, the Sydney riots last year has prompted a refocus on the teaching of Australian history, and the values and lessons it holds. Just last week, a summit of government and academic experts agreed to make Australian history a compulsory, standalone subject for all students in Years 9 and 10. PM John Howard also announced a new $100,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History (for a substantial written work or documentary or film) In New South Wales, the Department of Education and Training has developed several units on “Australian values” to be taught in State schools, and will also be issuing them with CD recordings of the national anthem to be played at school assemblies.

14. The Japanese have long used their schools to nurture good citizenship and to instil a common identity among their young. But they too face challenges now. They are looking at how to evolve a model of education that was suited for a monocultural society to one which addresses the increasing numbers of minorities in their schools. They are also being challenged to overcome the limits of a traditional model that restricts divergent thinking.

15. In China, the challenge is different. Educationists see a burgeoning middle class and the single child policy as giving rise to increasing individualism and materialism. Schools are having to work harder to develop moral character and social responsibility.

16. So Singapore is not unique in wanting to instil in our young a sense of common identity, and commitment to country. Others are doing the same through their schools, and are trying out new methods to make their schools more effective in developing good citizenry. There is no reason for us to be shy about National Education, or whatever we wish to call it.

17. We are doing well, by and large. But there is more we can do to root our young in Singapore, and give them the sense that they can shape Singapore’s future.

18. Some schools have devised NE programmes which work very well. We should draw from their experience. Spread the good examples around.

19. I will highlight four lessons that we have learnt from the experience of NE so far.

20. When we started out, NE was didactic. There was a lot of emphasis on disseminating information. It was perhaps not surprising. We had not taught earlier cohorts of students the history of Singapore’s post-independence years, and we wanted to remedy the situation quickly.

21. We should not give up on engaging our students in learning the basic facts of Singapore history, or the Singapore story. The story of how we got here - from being ruled by the British, through the deprivations of the Japanese Occupation, the upheavals of the post-war years, the fight against communalists in Malaysia and then finding ourselves an independent country; and how as an independent country, we survived and transformed ourselves year after year, moving from third world to first world. But it is also the story of pioneering leaders, of how Singaporeans worked together, and of the grit and determination that enabled us to overcome the odds, time and again.

22. We have to find new and lively ways to engage students in the facts of the Singapore story, so that they understand it well, and it stays with them after they leave school.

23. But NE is not just about learning the facts of the Singapore story, but about nurturing bonds amongst students and a sense of responsibility towards their fellow Singaporeans. As PM put it in his NDR, “It’s something you want people to feel, to develop, to feel and sense as a community.”

24. We see many successful examples of this in our schools - examples where students take ownership, get involved in designing their own programmes, and feel for what they are doing.

25. For our older students especially, we know that we need a different approach. A top-down approach to NE is a sure turn-off for older students. Many of our JCs have found that NE is at its best where students are instead given the opportunity to think through problems independently, work out their own solutions, and go out to do something to make them happen.

26. The students are keen to do so. This is why, when we lifted the mandatory requirement of 6 hours of CIP for the junior colleges, we were confident that CIP would remain an active part of JC life. For 2005 alone, more than 92% of JC students had participated in CIP and just under 40% initiated a CIP project.

27. At VJC for example, Jeremy Gan Zhi Lai, a first year student, and his classmates worked with National Environment Agency and a neighbourhood RC to identify dengue fever hot spots at the Cantonment area. They set up ovitraps and monitored the mosquito breeding in these areas.

28. I think we have made headway in developing the spirit of voluntarism amongst these students - students who had undergone 6 years of CIP since it was launched.

29. A second lesson from what we have seen so far is that the best way to build bonds between students is to put them through regular experiences together outside the classroom. This is going to be very important if we are to help along the friendships and loyalties between students of different races. The friendships come from experiencing things together, week after week, and over the years.

30. For CEP to succeed, school leaders will need to think about how we can maximise the potential of CCAs and the other informal activities of the school, as natural platforms for students of different races to interact and form friendships. We don’t want to contrive this or force a quota on every activity. But there has to be a quiet eye in the school, a way of looking out of possibilities for multi-racial participation, a way of nudging, of holding up a role model of a different ethnic group from the norm in a sport or dance. There has to be a quiet way of breaking the mould. We have to do more.
31. There will be many possible platforms. Goh Ek Piang, Principal of Hougang Primary, has been a passionate advocate of Outdoor Adventure Education for many years. He told me he’s been going at this for 40 years. As he put it to me, “When pupils go through mountain trekking trips, kayaking expeditions and camping adventures, they solve problems and challenges together, celebrate their achievements together and also suffer hardship together.”

32. Even in culturally-defined CCAs, we can do better in allowing for inter-racial mixing. Some schools are doing so. Naval Base Secondary School, for example, has an interesting group of students in its Chinese Dance group - 14 Chinese members, 12 Malay and 1 Indian student. And it’s quite a good troupe.
33. Channel 8 has been running It's Showtime, a variety programme shown every Tuesday night. It is a competition in creativity. In a recent episode, an ITE Bishan team emerged as the winner with their performance 'Vegetable Run'. The 16-member team was made up of students from different races - 4 Chinese students, 12 were Indian and Malay. But they had all learnt to cheer in Mandarin. It was wonderful to see the strong camaraderie amongst the students and how they had worked together to put up one of the most innovative and fun performances in that episode, punctuated with their cheers.

34. Our SAP schools are also doing more. They are linking up with schools with a multi-racial mix of students, so that SAP school students can interact with their peers from other schools of different races. They preserve the ethos of the SAP school, but build bridges for their students to cross. Pei Chun Public School for example has a partnership with First Toa Payoh Primary School. They started with collaboration between the scouts of both schools. Pei Chun and First Toa Payoh now plan to carry out ‘clinics’ for sports such as volleyball, table-tennis and basketball to allow pupils from the two schools more interaction opportunities.

35. The third observation from our experience to date is about the effectiveness of linkages between the school and the community. Over the years, several of our schools have successfully collaborated with the community to enhance students’ NE experiences.

36. Since 2004, as part of Project Work, Montfort Secondary School’s Secondary One students have organised mini exhibitions at local shopping malls, to inform the public about the history of the Upper Serangoon district and places of interest which they had researched on. Bedok South Secondary students from class 3A initiated a set of community-oriented projects, including activities such as mooncake-making classes for the residents in their immediate neighbourhood.

37. At the same time, we can do more to bring the community and leaders of society into our schools. Currently, we invite senior civil servants to have dialogue sessions with JC students as part of NE. These are useful sessions, giving our JC students a sense of the opportunities we face, as well as the constraints and trade-offs we face in making policy. We should take this further, by bringing leaders in every field, including business and politics, the arts and the media, and the community sector, into our JCs and Post Secondary Education Institutes. Some schools are already taking the initiative to do this, for eg by getting their alumni to give NE-related talks.

38. The fourth lesson has been about the benefits of giving our students an international exposure. We had not planned this to be part of NE. By giving opportunities for them to go overseas for community projects or exchange programmes, we want to cultivate a global outlook in our students and nurture a better understanding of their counterparts in countries that are often very different from Singapore. But schools have also found that the overseas exposure heightens students’ awareness of their identity as Singaporeans, and their sense of Singapore’s uniqueness. It has turned out to be a powerful form of NE.

39. We have to push ahead with our school twinning programmes, in Malaysia and the region; in China and India, and elsewhere. Another approach taken up by our schools is collaboration with Foreign System Schools (FSS) in Singapore. This year alone, 31 Singaporean schools have established collaborations with 16 Foreign System Schools. (22 out of the 31 schools are government schools catering to a wide range of pupil backgrounds.)

40. St Andrew’s Junior College and United World College of SEA have rugby and soccer friendly matches. Shuqun Primary is planning an online forum discussion between their pupils and those from Bhavan’s Indian International School under a programme called Knowledge Community.

41. The most general lesson that we have gained from our experience with NE over the last 10 years is that NE works best when it is not an add-on, or separate programme of its own in schools. It is most effective when principals and teachers take ownership of their own NE programmes, and make it part of everyday school life.

42. We have done well in the first 10 years. But we can improve NE. We can derive many lessons from how schools have devised and implemented their programmes, and get ideas from both students and teachers on how we can best move forward with NE.
43. I have asked MOS Lui Tuck Yew to chair a Committee to look at how we can enhance NE in our schools and PSEIs. The Committee will study how we can better engage our young, and encourage them to shape the character and life of our society. This does not mean we do more NE or more of the same thing. Our objective is not to do more NE but to make it felt more.

44. The Committee on National Education will include SPS Masagos Zulkifli, MPs, leaders in education and other stakeholders. With their diverse backgrounds and experiences, I am confident they will contribute to an insightful review.

45. Most of all, they will need your views. The Committee will take a consultative approach. They will be talking to you, your teachers and parents to tap on your ideas and experiences. Just as important, MOS Lui and his Committee members will be speaking to students to understand their needs, concerns and aspirations for the future. So, if you receive an email inviting you or your teachers, or students and parents to the discussions, please come and give us your ideas and suggestions.

46. Our task in NE is to keep the Singapore Story going. It is a live story, written by each new generation of Singaporeans, not a collection of past facts. To keep it going, our schools must help our young to understand how we got here, but also to want to play their part in writing the Singapore story of the future.

47. It will happen if our young feel emotionally committed to their fellow Singaporeans of all races and backgrounds, and feel they are responsible for shaping Singapore’s future. It will happen if they feel, quite instinctively, that ‘every grain of sand matters, just as every Singaporean matters’.