Speeches
FY 2009 Committee of Supply Debate: 4th Reply by Senior Minister of State Ms Grace Fu on Values Education throughout the Education System, Learning Chinese Language with Hanyu Pinyi, Secondary One Posting, Integrated Programme and Learning Difficulties in Mainstream Schools
(I) Values Education throughout the Education System
Dr Lily Neo, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Ms Jessica Tan and Dr Ong Seh Hong asked about the teaching of values throughout the education system. While the family plays a primary role in imparting values to their children, MOE agrees that schools have a major role to play in reinforcing the right values and civic behaviour.
I would like to assure Members that MOE places great emphasis on the teaching of core values throughout all levels of education. Values are taught both formally to students, and imbued indirectly during the course of the daily school experience. As Dr Lily Neo earlier pointed out, teachers can make use of “teachable moments” during the school day, to inculcate values in their students.
Within the formal curriculum, Civics and Moral Education (CME) is a key subject at all levels of primary, secondary and pre-university schooling. CME aims to develop good individuals and responsible citizens, focusing on the six core values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Integrity, Care and Harmony.
At the younger ages, teachers engage students through stories and other activities, using historical, contemporary as well as daily-life examples, to facilitate active discussion and personal reflection. At the secondary and pre-university level, many students also actively take part in community work.
Apart from the formal curriculum, schools make use of non-academic platforms such as Co-Curricular Activities and the Community Involvement Programme to help students internalise core values. For example, the Community Involvement Programme emphasises service to the community and reinforces care and compassion for others and responsibility to the society.
Values like loyalty to our nation and patriotism are taught through Social Studies lessons as well as National Heritage Tours and Learning Journeys to reinforce and consolidate what students learn in the classroom.
This year, MOE developed resource materials on the Government’s Budget and Resilience Package to help our secondary and JC students understand the need for Singapore to remain resilient in the face of economic challenges, and highlight the role that the students can play in contributing to the nation.
The Institutes of Higher Learning also engage their students in thinking about the future of Singapore, our opportunities and challenges, through core modules that cover ethics, law, politics, culture and history.
I firmly agree with Dr Ong Seh Hong that while schools and teachers play a key role in values education, the learning of values cannot be the sole responsibility of the schools. Parents and the community play an important part and schools must continue to work in close partnership with them to inculcate the desired values in students.
To reinforce the right behaviors in their children, parents also need to support school efforts to maintain discipline and teach the right values. We urge parents not to undermine efforts by the school to discipline their children, when disciplinary measures are within school guidelines.
MOE believes that all stakeholders, - parents, schools and the community - must work together to inculcate strong values in our young people.
(II) Learning Chinese Language with Hanyu Pinyin
On the subject of teaching of the mother tongue, specifically the Chinese language, we would like to report that good progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations by the Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee. The approach is to customise learning to meet the varying needs of students, place greater emphasis on developing oracy skills, strengthen the training of teachers, and work more closely with community groups.
提到华文教学,我们在实施华文课程与教学法检讨委员会所提出的建议方面,取得了良好的进展。我们的小学课程设计能满足不同学生的学习需求。课程更着重培养学生的口语技能。此外,我们也加强了教师的培训,以及跟社区组织紧密配合来营造有利于学习华文的环境。
For instance, one key recommendation was to implement a modular curriculum, as students enter primary school with varying exposure to the Chinese Language. Results from the pilot implementation have been very positive. Students with little exposure to Chinese and who were placed in the “Bridging Group” had more opportunities to speak during Chinese lessons. This helped to spark a keener interest in learning Chinese. The interactive activities have also resulted in a higher level of engagement in the pilot schools. The new Chinese curriculum has been successfully implemented in all schools in 2007 for P1-2s and for P3-4s in 2008. This year, the new curriculum has been implemented in all schools for P5 students.
由于我们的小一新生来自不同家庭用语的背景,委员会提出的一个主要建议就是要针对学生不同的学习需求,从小一开始进行单元模式教学。我们的单元模式课程在试教阶段取得了很好的成效。由于教师能采用更有针对性的方法来帮助学生,来自英语背景的孩子在进入“导入班”后得到了更多说华语的机会。这有助于激发他们学习华语的兴趣。在试教学校,学生也通过更具互动性的学习活动, 更加积极投入华文的学习。我们的新小学华文课程在2007年已成功地在所有学校的小一和小二阶段推行。2008年我们推行了小三和小四课程。今年,新课程已推展到了小五阶段。
MOE has also been working closely with our Chinese Language teachers in primary schools, all of whom have undergone a structured training programme. We must continue to find new and innovative ways of teaching Chinese, and equip our Chinese Language teachers with effective and engaging pedagogies to do so. When the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language is established later this year, it will be another avenue to enhance the in-service training for our Chinese Language teachers.
教育部一直与小学华文教师紧密合作,很多教师也已经参加了系统的培训。我们要继续不断地尝试各种富有创意的教学策略,丰富华文教学,让我们的华文教师具备更有效、更能调动学生积极学习的教学方法。新加坡华文教研中心将在今年下半年成立。这个中心将进一步提升华文教师在职培训的质量。
We are encouraged to see increasing interest among our primary and secondary students towards learning Chinese. Notably, the percentage of Primary 6 students offering Higher Chinese has increased from 24% in 2004 to 30% in 2008 while the percentage of students offering ‘O’ level Higher Chinese has increased from 19% in 2004 to 27% in 2008.
有越来越多中小学生对学习华文表现出更大的兴趣。对于这一点,我们感到非常欣喜。数据显示,修读高级华文的小六学生比重从2004年的百分之二十四上升到2008年的百分之三十。与此同时,修读“O”水准高级华文的学生比重也从2004年的百分之十九提高到2008年的百分之二十七。
Mr Low Thia Kiang asked about the use of Hanyu Pinyin and its impact on the reading and writing of Chinese characters.
刘程强先生的提问是有关汉语拼音的使用及其对汉字读写能力的影响。
At P1, Hanyu Pinyin is taught for the first 12-14 weeks. During this stage, students learn Pinyin as a pronunciation tool, in tandem with mastering the recognition of basic characters frequently used by pupils in oral communication.
我们在一年级最初的12到14周教导学生认识和使用汉语拼音。学生在这个阶段学习掌握汉语拼音和学习正确发音,也同时认读会话时经常使用的基本汉字。
This approach allows characters to be introduced to P1 students gradually. After the first phase of Hanyu Pinyin learning, students learn to recognise more Chinese characters by reading short passages. In order to prevent an over-reliance on Hanyu Pinyin, the annotations are progressively removed year by year. Pupils also practise character writing and sentence-making in P1 and P2, after which they move on to writing paragraphs and short essays at upper primary.
这个方法能让学生逐步学习识读生字。在学生掌握汉语拼音的使用功能之后,学生将通过阅读课文篇章来学习识读更多的汉字。为了巩固学习,也为了避免学生过分依赖拼音,随着学生升上较高的年级,教材里的汉语拼音逐年递减。此外,一年级和二年级的学生仍然练习书写汉字,也学写简单的句子。到了高年级,他们将学习书写段落和短文。
It is important that students learn all four skills well - listening, speaking, reading, writing. By teaching Hanyu Pinyin from Primary One, we equip our students with a foundational tool, to help them learn proper pronunciation in Mandarin. We would like to assure Mr Low that our pupils learn CL through a combination of reading Chinese characters, pronunciation through Hanyu Pinyin, and the writing of Chinese characters. Learning Hanyu Pinyin paves the way for our students to learn all four skills well. Hanyu Pinyin plays an increasingly important role as a tool for keying in Chinese in the world of computers, electronic dictionaries and the internet. Our education system must keep pace and make suitable adjustments.
帮助学生掌握语言四技,也就是听、说、读、写的能力,是非常重要的。通过教导学生使用汉语拼音,我们让学生掌握一个基本工具,以帮助他们学习正确的华语发音。我们希望向刘先生说明,学校除了利用汉语拼音帮助学生识字,也通过朗读和习字的训练,全面培养学生的读写能力。学生学习汉语拼音,将为他进一步掌握语言四技打下坚实的基础。在电脑、电子词典和互联网盛行的科技时代里，汉语拼音作为中文输入的一种方式，扮演着重要的角色。
(III) Secondary One Posting
Mr Liang Eng Hwa suggested that the secondary school posting system take into account proximity and sibling ties. Unlike the P1 admission framework, the secondary school posting system is based on merit and choice. A key strength of our education system is meritocracy. It is a sensible system and one we should preserve. However, I agree that secondary school admission need not be based purely on the PSLE. MOE has widened the gates with Direct School Admission, so that students with talents beyond academic excellence can also apply to schools of their choice.
(IV) Integrated Programme
Dr Ong Seh Hong asked about the Integrated Programme and whether we have plans to extend this to more schools. Two cohorts of IP students have graduated since the programme started in 2004. Students say that the IP has honed their creative and critical thinking skills, and allowed them to stretch their intellectual potential. Teachers too, observe that IP students interact more and are highly independent learners. In terms of academic outcomes, the first cohort has done well, comparable to their non-IP peers in the same schools, in the 2007 ‘A’ Levels. [The second cohort of IP students will receive their results next month.] Overall, we believe the IP has met its objective of providing a more holistic education to students.
MOE is carefully studying if more students could benefit from the IP. We need to study this carefully, as skipping the O-levels may not be suitable for everyone. The ‘O’ level still provides a useful benchmark for our students.
(V) Learning Difficulties in Mainstream Schools
Ms Denise Phua mentioned the Education Village in Darlington as a good example of integration between pupils with special learning needs and their mainstream peers. MOE is working with selected mainstream and SPED schools to pilot and evaluate satellite partnerships, which incorporate the same principle of purposeful and appropriate integration between mainstream and special schools (SPED). Two SPED schools, namely Pathlight School and Canossian School, are involved in satellite partnerships with schools such as Chong Boon Secondary and MacPherson Primary, where students learn in the same classroom, or take part in joint CCAs or social activities. Through these planned and purposeful interactions, greater mutual understanding between the two groups of pupils is fostered. This year, Townsville Primary will also form a satellite partnership with Pathlight. Findings from the pilot, expected to be available at the end of this year, will be used to guide refinements of the satellite model. Currently, nine SPED schools are co-located with mainstream schools. Where possible, we will continue to co-locate SPED schools with mainstream schools to optimise opportunities for more interaction.
In response to Ms Denise Phua’s comment on the use of IT to share best practices, MOE has an online repository, edumall 2.0, that provides teachers with MOE and commercially produced digital resources, as well as for schools to share their good ICT classroom practices. In addition, school clusters have their own resource repository, iSHARE, for school-created teaching and learning resources. This is for teachers to upload and share their resources within and across school clusters. Since Dec 2008, more than 80,000 resources have been uploaded in iSHARE.