Speech by RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State, Ministry of Education, at the Opening Ceremony of the International Conference on "Character Development Through Service and Experiential Learning", at Lecture Theatre 1, National Institute of Education on Monday, 12 March 2007, 10.30 am

SPEECH BY RADM (NS) LUI TUCK YEW, MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SERVICE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING”, AT LECTURE THEATRE 1, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION ON MONDAY, 12 MARCH 2007, 10.30AM

1 It is my pleasure to be here this morning at the opening of the International Conference on “Character Development though Service and Experiential Learning.” This is indeed a good platform for the sharing of experiences and achievements. It also provides an opportunity for us to learn from effective models that have been adopted abroad and to share our own best practices. For those who are our guests from abroad, let me bid you an especially warm welcome.

2. The success of our education system is judged not only by the academic achievements of our students, their performance in international competitions or standing in comparisons of science and mathematics prowess. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once said that the success of our system needs to also be judged by “the quality of the people the education system produces - their integrity, character, and intelligence; their attitude towards work, their ability to be team-players, and their sense of responsibility and commitment to society.”

3. Indeed, the character, attitudes and values of our young are essential aspects we have to mould and nurture. While it is important that our students perform well at important national examinations and win accolades in international competitions, of equal importance is their holistic development. We aim to ensure that the whole personality is balanced so that our students’ development takes into account the moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic aspects.

4. Character building and fostering of values must start from young. Parents play a primary and critical role in this process as the first few years of a child’s life are often spent largely with his family. The family and home is where a child’s character first takes shape. Parents, as well as other members of the family, can give the child a good start in character development by spending quality time with the child, being positive role models and by instilling in them the right attitudes and values.

5. As a child grows and attends kindergarten, and later, primary and secondary school, the school takes on its share of this responsibility. The considerable amount of time children and youth spend in school makes the school a significant partner in the endeavour to nurture the character of our children.

6. Character development is an important objective in our education system and we need to approach it systematically. For such programmes to be successful, a total approach, where opportunities for character development permeate different aspects of the school curriculum and environment, is needed. Every experience a child goes through, be it classroom lessons, the various relationships, the disciplinary measures, co-curricular activities, will each have an impact on the development of a child’s character, values and disposition.

7. In line with this holistic approach, we have put in place a wide range of initiatives to nurture students’ character, both in the formal curriculum as well as the co-curricular areas. In the formal curriculum, there is Civics and Moral Education taught through the mother tongue classes. The lessons learnt are also reinforced in Social Studies, Literature and other subjects. In the co-curricular areas, co-curricular activities such as sports, the performing arts, uniformed groups and outdoor education have long been the vehicles through which values such as team work, resilience and perseverance are developed.

8. Another example of co-curricular programmes put in place to nurture our students’ character is the Community Involvement Programme, commonly known as CIP. As part of the community, and having benefited from the community in one way or another, it is important that our students stay connected with the community, understand what its needs are and respond to those needs. The size of their contribution is less important than the desire and effort to do so.

9. The lessons in the classroom are reinforced by their experiences and encounters in the broader community and we need to create enough opportunities so they are exposed to a spectrum of the issues and needs that society has to grapple with. This is an important aspect of education that enables students to appreciate what is taking place in society and how they can make a difference.

10. The opportunities provided by CIP for students to engage the community also nurture a sense of shared purpose among our young citizens and develop a stronger sense of rootedness and commitment to Singapore and fellow Singaporeans. Reflection reinforces activity and action. It is an important part of CIP though not always given the prominence it deserves. It brings a quality and depth to the experience that may otherwise be missing if one concentrates only on the physical endeavour.

11. Since its inception in 1997, CIP has provided students with experiential learning opportunities to put the knowledge, values and attitudes learnt in the classroom into practice. The results have been encouraging. Students meet the mandatory requirement of 6 hours of CIP per year but many do more. Projects initiated by students based on their interests and assessment of needs, that gives them a greater sense of ownership are especially promising. For example, in a project entitled “CARE”, a team of 8 students from Nanyang Primary School researched into the difficulties faced by foreign students in their school, and came up with a CARE buddy database that captured the profiles of foreign students. This enabled them to better match a local student or a foreign student who had already been in Singapore for some time with the new foreign students. The team also subsequently formed a Nanyang Tourism Club supported by the Singapore Tourism Board in order to play a larger role in hosting foreign visitors who visit their school.

12. Over the years, CIP has evolved to provide increasingly meaningful experiences for our students through more student-initiated and student-led CIP activities. For example, the Service-Learning pedagogy, which was introduced in 2001, starts with the identification of genuine community needs by students. They then proceed to devise plans to meet these needs. Today, about 75 per cent of primary and secondary schools and all our Junior Colleges and the Centralised Institute employ the Service-Learning approach to varying extents in their CIP.

13. Another change in the CIP was made in 2005, when the 6-hour CIP requirement for JC students was removed. This was done to encourage students to focus on the quality of their community involvement and to want to do so out of a genuine desire to contribute. I am heartened that the level of participation of the older students is still very high. Over 99 per cent of JC students are still actively participating in CIP even though there is no longer a mandatory requirement.

14. Teachers determine the educational experience of each child. They play a pivotal role in building the character of the students. They are not only important role models. They can also open the door to a world of discovery and learning through engaging and meaningful discussions and thoughtful reflection following a child’s experience. Such experiences should lead to positive learning, but may sometimes have negative outcomes. They can also be forgotten. Thus, the teacher plays a critical role to shape and reinforce the proper learning outcomes.

15. In training our teachers, it is not sufficient to provide them only with competencies in subject knowledge or pedagogical skills. They must also be equipped with the skills to shape values and socio-emotional competencies in our students. This could be done by exposing them to the activities that they will be asked to facilitate as teachers, such as the CIP, and to what is required to ensure proper preparation prior to and follow-up after the completion of an activity.

16. I am glad to note that at the National Institute of Education (NIE), values underpin the framework of all initial Teacher Preparation Programmes and that the mission of NIE is to “Develop Education Professionals: Leaders in the Service of Learners.” In achieving this objective, NIE has implemented a mandatory Group Endeavours in Service Learning, or GESL programme, since 2005. In groups of 20 and facilitated by academic staff, student teachers plan, execute, evaluate and reflect on their GESL projects with the community. Each year, more than 2000 student teachers engage in such projects. This programme is significant in that it is aligned to the needs and the ethos of what MOE is trying to create in our schools.

17. This conference on “Character Development through Service and Experiential Learning” is timely and is aligned to MOE’s strong emphasis on character development. The conference offers a wide array of presentations on Experiential and Serving Learning, ranging from keynote lectures, paper presentations and workshops, to the sharing sessions by 30 schools called “Youth Voice in Service Learning.” I am also happy to note that there are many who have come from overseas to share their experiences and also to learn.

18. Let me wish you all a professionally enriching and personally fulfilling conference. I hope that you will have meaningful conversations and be excited by what you will see and hear over the next 2 days and be energised to bring fresh ideas and new possibilities back with you to your respective institutions that would truly make a difference in character development and service to the community.