Speech by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, at the 2007 Teaching Scholarships Presentation Ceremony on Monday, 6 August 2007 at 3.00 pm at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre

SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SECOND MINISTER FOR FINANCE, AT THE 2007 TEACHING SCHOLARSHIPS PRESENTATION CEREMONY ON MONDAY, 6 AUGUST 2007 AT 3.00 PM AT SUNTEC SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE

Mr Gan Kim Yong,
Minister of State, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Manpower

Mr Masagos Zulkifli,
Senior Parliamentary Secretary,

Mrs Tan Ching Yee,
Permanent Secretary,

Ms Seah Jiak Choo,
Director-General of Education

Colleagues, Teaching Scholars, Ladies and Gentlemen

1 I am delighted to be here with you at our annual Teaching Scholarships Presentation Ceremony. I congratulate each and every one of our scholars and award recipients on your achievements. I am glad that your parents and loved ones, as well as your principals and teachers, are here to witness this memorable occasion with you.

2 I am pleased that we are giving out a total of 356 teaching scholarships and awards this year. This is higher than in the previous two years (327 last year and 301 in 2005), and indicates that many strong young candidates who have other options continue to be interested in a career in teaching.

Preparing our students for the globalised future
3 We face the challenge of preparing our students for an ever-changing world. Investing in a solid foundation based on academic knowledge will continue to be important in our education system. But we also need to equip our pupils with a broader set of intellectual and social life-skills. We must prepare our young to think for themselves, so that they develop the habit of kick-starting new ideas, and respond confidently to problems as they come up, including problems that they haven’t encountered before. We also want to instill in them a curiosity about the wider world, and the desire to help and care for others around them.

4 We know these skills and habits will be critical, and more so in the future than in the past. This is why we have redoubled our emphasis on a broad, all-round education of our young. Our schools are striving to nurture greater intellectual breadth, and provide their students with more exposure to CCAs, community service, adventure camps and overseas immersion experiences. We are also expanding the diversity within the school system. More pathways including those with special talents, more niches of excellence dotted all around the island, more schools offering their own electives and variations in curriculum.

5 What is most encouraging about these growing niches and variations is how they have been developed. They have been driven by teachers and school leaders themselves, and owned by schools. We are seeing growing ripples of creative energy on the ground, that are adding verve to our schools.

Diversity of scholars
6 The same drive for diversity applies to our selection of scholars. They come from a range of backgrounds. And they each carry their own passions. Some are venturing onto less traveled paths. I am happy that we have 9 scholars who will pursue their studies in less traditional destinations like China, Japan, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

7 We want to find ways to encourage more scholars to take the ‘alternative’ route in future. The overseas scholars who choose to study outside the UK and US bring something different into our system. They also often find their experience very rewarding in broadening their minds and getting a sense of alternative intellectual cultures.

8 Take for example Ian Wong Jun Yuan, who obtained an OMS (Teaching) scholarship in 2005 to do Chemistry in Tsinghua. Each of the times I have met him in Beijing, he impresses on me how valuable the experience has been for him. As he himself has put it, the experience of studying chemistry in Tsinghua has given him an opportunity to interact with the best students in China, of whom many will eventually be top politicians, business people and academics. Quite naturally, he also says that it has made him more comfortable with the Chinese language - he can now do translation off-hand more confidently. We need more future educationists like Ian Wong, who bring with them a keen sense of an emerging global power in China. They will also be a breed of teachers who have learnt to operate in unfamiliar environments. The ‘informal’ learning that they would have obtained from their university experience will be as valuable as the formal studies that they undertake.

9 I understand too that one of our scholars this year, Miss Wong Gaik Choon, will pursue the Bachelor of Science (Education) programme at the National Institute of Education (NIE). In choosing to delve into both the academic discipline of Science and professional aspects of education in the course of her undergraduate degree, I am sure Gaik Choon will have a fruitful and meaningful experience. She will also be forging close bonds with future colleagues in education.

10 The 2007 cohort of scholars also comes from diverse backgrounds. 9[1] teaching scholarships are being given this year to outstanding candidates who did not come through the JC. One of them, Miss Georgiana Phua was clear about her interest to pursue a career in the Arts. After completing a diploma in La Salle-SIA College of Arts, she explored various career opportunities in art through short stints in a local art gallery, as a private art instructor, volunteering stints at a children’s home in Cambodia, and as a relief teacher in Mayflower Secondary School. During her 6-month relief teaching stint, Georgiana took the initiative and effort to infuse new and interesting strategies in her teaching so as to cultivate critical thinking amongst her students. She felt excited to be able to impact younger students and stimulate their early interest in art. So she decided to pursue a teaching career. Georgiana will be commencing her course in Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, United States later this month.

Diverse Learning Opportunities
11 I urge all of you to make full use of your time to enrich your undergraduate experience. Learning opportunities are plentiful, with MOE’s support. There are overseas exchange programmes, double degree programmes, twinning and immersion activities, or even the social networks built up by spending a year in the university hostel programme. Our scholars are indeed making the most of these various avenues to gain a well-rounded tertiary educational experience. For example, Miss Song Xiuhua Shafiqah Nadiah Binte Ismail, a Year 1 MOE Local Teaching Scholar, will be using MOE’s support for Student Exchange Programmes, or SEP, to take part in the Joint Degree programme between NUS and University of North Carolina (UNC).

12 Notably, over the last 4 years, more than 200 scholars and award holders have also benefited from MOE’s Student Exchange Sponsorship to spend 6 months to a year during their undergraduate studies, in overseas countries such as UK, USA, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Australia. Some scholars chose to participate in overseas exchanges in the non-traditional countries such as France, Korea, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Canada for greater diversity of experiences and learning.

13 Besides going on student exchange programmes, the Ministry has also encouraged our scholars to go on overseas attachments and internships. To date, a total of 15 scholars have participated in Overseas Attachment Programmes to China, Australia, USA and UK. This year, under this attachment programme, Mr Tan Weixiong, a Year 3 Overseas Merit Teaching Scholar will spend 1 month in New Delhi, India, where he will get the chance to attend schools, conduct co-curricular activities, do home visits, as well as interact with the key personnel in the school to find out more about the policy and social issues they face.

14 In addition to the undergraduate teaching scholarships and awards awarded, MOE also provides Masters’ sponsorship for our selected scholars. This year, 9 scholars and award holders have been awarded the MOE Master’s Sponsorship, while 16 were granted bond suspension to continue with their further studies either locally or overseas. For example, Miss Grace Leong Jia Hui, a recipient of the Teaching Scholarship (Overseas) in 2004, will pursue her Masters in Chemistry at Zurich in Switzerland.

15 We hope to see the diversity of experiences, insights and perspectives gained from these various avenues take root in our schools and multiply.

Scholars Take the Lead in Service
16 Besides academic and co-curricular pursuits, many of our teaching scholars have also taken the initiative to help the less advantaged in various volunteer programmes. One such group of government scholars led by Miss Tan Hui Xin, an 2005 Overseas Merit Teaching Scholar and Miss Lim Ming Jing, an 2005 President’s cum PSC Overseas Merit Open Scholar, is currently working with Northlight School to initiate a mentoring programme. While it started as a short summer vacation CIP project for the scholars, they have proposed and are now working with the school to sustain the mentoring scheme over a year. The scholars will act as mentors and friends to the students. When they are back for holidays, they will initiate social activities like outings with the mentees, and when they are away for their studies, they will communicate with their mentees through email or MSN. They will provide encouragement and support to their mentees. The benefit is mutual as the scholars also shared that there is much to be learned about life from their mentees.

17 Our overseas scholars also make it a point to set aside time to contribute back to the local community during their university studies. For instance, Miss Sharon Khoo, an MOE Teaching Overseas scholar, signed up for the UK Student Associates Scheme where she will give 15 hours of tuition, be involved in pupil management and lessons planning in high schools in the UK. Miss Chng Yi-Na, an Overseas Merit Scholar is volunteering at Hospitality House Youth Directions, a local non-profit organization that is involved in after-school programmes for young children.

Responsibilities as teaching scholars
18 You have accepted our offer of a teaching scholarship to realise your desire to be teachers, to touch and influence lives. We entrust to you the privilege and responsibility of nurturing the next generation of Singaporeans. Receiving a teaching scholarship does not merely accord personal prestige or financial support. It also carries an important responsibility. As role models for our young, teachers are expected to demonstrate exemplary conduct and be models of commitment to continual learning. As teaching scholars and award holders, much more will be expected of you. No matter whether you are studying in Singapore or abroad, remember that you not just represent yourself or your family, but also Singapore and the Singapore Education Service.

Conclusion
19 Let me once again extend my warmest congratulations to you and your parents. I wish you all the best in your studies and look forward to your return to the Education Service. Thank you

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[1] 8 from Polytechnics, 1 from La Salle