Speeches
Closing Address by Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs, at the COMPASS Convention on 24 October 2009 at 12.30pm, Temasek Convention Centre, Singapore
Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education
Miss Ho Peng, Director-General of Education
COMPASS members
Ladies and Gentlemen
I hope the plenary sessions today have provided all of you with some rich insights and key takeaways. The message of this Convention does not end here today. We hope that all of you will find opportunities to share what you have learnt with other school staff and parents.
Minister in her speech this morning spoke about the need for greater parent engagement. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the role of the Parent Support Groups (PSGs) in our schools.
Many of the PSGs in schools currently play a supporting role by organising some events and providing their services for school-run programmes. Parents are motivated to join the PSG because they want to be more deeply involved in their child’s school life and to set a good example by volunteering and helping other students.
This came from the findings of a study on PSG that was commissioned by COMPASS in 2008. More than 1000 parents, school leaders, teachers and students provided feedback through focus group discussions and an online survey. The study covered a total of 148 schools and its purpose was to study the impact of PSGs on the school.
Findings from PSG Study
The study found that PSG involvement in schools has grown more pervasive over the last few years especially in areas such as parent education, CCA coaching and resource development.
Through the PSG, parents were able to gain a better understanding of their child and school policies as well as build a good relationship with the school staff. Working with other parents enabled them to build a network of friends and made them feel a greater sense of belonging to the school.
Students felt that PSGs help to contribute to a better learning environment and a holistic school experience. They felt supported by both parents and school and students whose parents were in the PSG felt inspired to perform better in school because they felt proud that their parents have set a good example.
Some challenges surfaced by the PSGs and staff of the school were lack of support from other parents, lack of funding and lack of manpower to run the events. Most PSGs relied on a core group of parents and generally, they consist mainly of mothers. The PSGs felt that involving more fathers would benefit the PSGs as they bring with them a network of contacts, experience and work skills that can be shared with students. A number of parents who were not in the PSG felt that there was insufficient information about the work of the PSG.
Reconceptualising the Role of the Parent Support Group
As part of the parent engagement efforts, Parent Ambassadors from COMPASS will start their outreach to PSGs next year. Meanwhile, I would like schools and PSGs to think about reconceptualizing the role of the PSG to start their own outreach to other parents in the school. PSG should act as conduits of information and knowledge on school policies and programmes to other parents.
Thank you for your time here with us this morning. I wish you all a pleasant weekend ahead!