Speeches
Keynote Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education, at the Association of Muslim Professionals' (AMP) Community In Review Seminar on Saturday, 26 January 2008 at Holiday Inn Parkview Hotel at 10.00 am
It gives me great pleasure to be here today to talk about the education landscape. I would also like to take the opportunity to share some thoughts on what these developments could mean for the Malay/Muslim community in particular.
Before I describe the education landscape, however, let me touch briefly on the key driving force that has shaped how education must be delivered today - the requirements of the future workforce, and the skills that our students will need. In an increasingly globalised economy, the pace of change will be rapid, and the competition, keener. For Singaporeans to be able to compete effectively in this environment, they would need to have a good foundation for lifelong learning, a cosmopolitan mindset, confidence and good communication skills, and perseverance.
The Education Landscape - Catering to Excellence
The education landscape has evolved over the years, in response to the changing needs of the country and the economy. We started out in 1959, after attaining self-government, with a focus on quickly ramping up the number of places in our schools and amalgamating the different types of schools to create a national education system. This phase, which lasted until 1978, is what we call the survival-driven phase. Once we had achieved education for all, in 1979 we moved towards our second phase, the efficiency-driven model of education with ability-based streaming to allow students to proceed at a pace that they were comfortable with.
In response to the needs of the workforce, we have moved to the third phase since 1997, of an ability-driven, aspirations-based model of education, building on and fine-tuning from our earlier models. In this phase, we seek to cater to and build on the strengths of our students, so that all Singaporeans are set on a path towards excellence from young. I would like to highlight three ways in which we do so.
Every Singaporean has Access to a Foundation for Excellence
All Singaporeans receive a basic level of education that is world-class. This ensures that every Singaporean has the opportunity to develop the critical skills needed for the future workforce from an early age, and lays the foundation for excellence in all our people.
We do this by ensuring that our public schools deliver a high quality of education across the board. Singaporeans studying in one of our publicly funded institutions can be confident of receiving a first-rate education. At the primary level, for instance, almost all of our primary schools produced a student that was in the top 5% of the PSLE cohort. This attests to the evenly high quality of education that all Singaporeans enjoy. We do not take this for granted. In many other education systems around the world, there is often a disparity between public and private schools, in terms of facilities, quality, programmes and outcomes. These disparities in the education system often set the stage for widening gaps between those from privileged and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In Singapore, we want education to be the levelling ground to bring children of all backgrounds to a high average. Not surprisingly then, Singaporean students - all Singaporean students - emerge among the best in the world when their learning outcomes are measured. Singaporean students are ranked first in the world for their achievements in Maths and Science, as indicated by the Trends in International Mathematics and Sciences Study. Singaporean students are also ranked among the best in the world for their reading literacy, as indicated by their fourth place ranking in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study.
At the post-secondary level, our universities, polytechnics and ITE are rightly regarded by many as world-class institutions. As many of you may be aware, ITE was recently awarded the prestigious global IBM Innovations Award by Harvard University, for its transformative efforts in providing a top quality education to equip its students for the workforce. From the school level to the post-secondary level, our institutions are focused on bringing our students to the forefront of excellence.
When I talk about laying the foundation for excellence, however, I do not refer only to the most basic of skills. We also want to provide all Singaporeans with that extra edge to be able to compete on the world stage.In this regard, we have embarked on an ambitious plan for 1/3 of students in secondary schools, polytechnics and JCs, and half of university students, to have at least one overseas trip in the course of their studies. This could come in the form of visits to foreign schools, study trips or overseas community projects. We do this because we know it counts. Overseas exposure will give Singaporeans the comfort to venture overseas later in life to seek out new opportunities if they want to do so. It will give them the confidence and the knowhow to interact with peoples of different cultures and backgrounds, both here and overseas.
Similarly, we have established FutureSchools so that young Singaporeans will have the opportunity to be exposed to the use of ICT in cutting edge and innovative ways, and experience the most up to date technologies. Up to 15 of our schools will provide these enhanced ICT environments by 2015.
This is by no means the end of the journey for us. We are continually evaluating how we can ensure that the average standard of education here is high enough so that all our students can confidently compete on the world stage. And we are always looking for opportunities to provide that extra something to our students, be it in terms of a global mindset or a savvy knowhow of ICT. But we are making good progress.
We Cater to All Strengths
Second, the education system seeks to identify and develop the different strengths in each of our students. It is an important strategy to help all students to discover and realise their talents, as this will better enable them to fully reap the rewards of the future economy.
We cater for the development of a wide range of talents, and in so doing, have extended far beyond the development of academic talents. We have established new specialised schools in the Arts, Sports, and Maths and Science, so as to bring students’ talents in these areas as far ahead as possible. Beyond the specialised schools, all our primary schools and secondary schools are encouraged to develop niches in a diverse array of areas, so that students have avenues and platforms through which to pursue their interests and talents. We have also introduced a new Talent Development Framework to identify and provide development opportunities for students with talent in sports, to further assist our children in their pursuit of excellence.
As a system, our recognition and development of talent is entrenched through our more flexible school admission process, where schools, polytechnics and universities can admit up to as many as 50% of their students using talent-oriented criteria, rather than examination results.
But we want to go beyond merely the development of already identified talents. Many students have hidden strengths and abilities that just require that spark to be ignited. Hence, we provide a wide platform of opportunities to trigger the interests, curiosity, and imagination of our students. Normal (Technical) students have the opportunity to take different Elective Modules, covering a wide range of subjects from digital animation and basic electronics to motorcycle maintenance and hairdressing.
New possibilities have also been opened up for students who may have an interest in applied, practice-oriented areas. Our schools are working with polytechnics to develop Advanced Elective Modules, in practical areas such as Business, Engineering, Information Technology, Media & Design, and Chemical & Life Sciences. Some schools will further develop new Applied Subjects with the polytechnics, which will be equivalent to ‘O’ level subjects.
It is also critical that we help students at all ends of the spectrum to find their unique strengths, wherever these might lie. Every Singaporean is an asset, and we want to make sure that all potential is harnessed. Starting from this year’s Primary 5 cohort, we have replaced the EM3 stream with subject-based banding. This means that students can offer a mix of subjects at the Standard or Foundational levels depending on their proficiency and aptitude in each subject. For instance, a student may offer Maths and Science at the Foundational level, but also offer English Language and Mother Tongue at the Standard level because of his strengths in these two subjects. This change was well-received by educators, students and parents when it was announced in 2006.
At the secondary level, in the Normal course, starting from 2009, Normal (Academic) students will be allowed to offer various ‘O’ level subjects based on their aptitudes and ability to cope. Schools are also encouraged to adopt a more customised approach to learning, such as allowing students to offer the subjects they are strong in at the Express level starting from Secondary 1.
Many students have found the flourishing of their different talents and strengths within this new education landscape. Eman Raharno Jeman, formerly an EM3 student, saw his interests in design piqued by his Design and Technology class in Secondary 3 at Hai Sing Catholic School. He subsequently took up Interactive Media Design at Temasek Polytechnic, and is today an accomplished graffiti muralist who has won numerous graffiti and mural competitions. We have many such stories of students who have found avenues for the development of their talents and strengths within the new landscape.
There are Multiple Pathways to Success
Third, we have injected fluidity into the education system so that every child has multiple pathways to success. There is always another chance, another shot, in the pursuit of excellence. It is a strength of our education system that the door never closes on the child.
Some of you may be familiar with the good work that NorthLight School has done for its students since its inception in 2007. We created NorthLight School to provide another pathway to success for students who are not well-suited for a conventional academic education, and who found difficulty in assessing the PSLE curriculum. The school uses creative and unconventional teaching methods to stimulate its students, and focuses its efforts on building their confidence. One student who has found success in this new environment is Hamka bin Mohd Jaafar. Hamka is today a squad leader with the National Civil Defence Unit, passed all his subjects last year and was named as NorthLight’s Student of the Year.
We have also made it easier for schools to promote or transfer Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students who do well, to the Express or Normal (Academic) courses respectively. Every year now, about 400 Normal (Academic) students are promoted and transferred to the Express course. A similar number of Normal (Technical) students are promoted or transferred to the Normal (Academic) course. Despite catching up late, most of these students did well.
Impact on Malay / Muslim Community
What does this mean for the Malay/Muslim community in particular? Overall, our students have done well within the new education landscape.
Across the board, our students have benefited from the strong foundation provided and the multiple avenues for talent development. The percentage of Malay students who progress to post-secondary educational institutions or other forms of post-secondary education has increased from 70% in 2000 to 83% in 2006. In 2007, the top pupil in the PSLE exams was Natasha Nabila Muhammad Nasir with an aggregate of 294.
While the vast majority of Malay/Muslim students have seized the opportunities presented by the education system and are moving confidently ahead, the flipside of the coin is that the demands of the future workforce will leave those without the right skills, the right foundation, the right preparation, with a challenging time ahead. The gap between those who take advantage of the opportunities in the education system, and those who choose not to do so, will therefore be increasingly wide.
It is critical that all Malay/Muslim students get to the starting line in the pursuit of excellence and stay in the race. They should get a good headstart and participate in pre-school education, especially with the Government’s efforts to reach out to those who are not attending pre-school. They should work towards progressing to post-secondary education and making full use of our world-class institutions. We want all Malay/Muslim students to benefit from the new education landscape.
Thank you.