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EDUN N25-02-004
03803
11 Jul 2003
UPDATES ON THE COMMUNITY AND PARENTS IN SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS (COMPASS)
1. COMPASS is the national advisory council established in December 1998 to advise the Ministry of Education on ways in which home-school-community collaborations could be strengthened and promoted to help children learn better. It is the forum for surfacing the best practices on collaborative efforts of school, home and community. COMPASS aims to develop a common understanding among the students, the parents, the schools and the community about the part that each group should play in a concerted effort to achieve the Desired Outcomes of Education.
THIRD TERM OF OFFICE
2. Beginning Jan 03, a new COMPASS council had begun its third term of office (Jan 2003 - Dec 2004). Chaired by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Acting Minister for Manpower and Minister of State for Education, the council comprises stakeholders representing the parents, self-help groups, alumni and business community as members. The new members are Mdm Cynthia Phua, Mr Arthur Fong, Mr Chandra Mohan, Mr Bernard Goh, Mr Syed Ahmad, Mr Warren Jude Fernandez, Ms Goh Sin Hwee, Mr Ibrahim Hassan, Mr Tan Peng Heng, Mrs Ho Woon Ho, Mrs Tan Wai Lan and Mdm Moliah bte Hashim. The list of COMPASS members is at Annex A.
3. The members of COMPASS will be visiting Pioneer Secondary School on Friday, 11 Jul 2003 at 1000 hours. This is the second of the school visits by the council. The members had visited Greenwood Primary School earlier this year and as part of their school visits, will also be visiting Gongshang Primary School later this year in October.
4. The visit to Pioneer Secondary School has the theme "Beyond Parental Involvement", focusing on the collaborative practices that the 11 secondary schools of West 3 & 41 Clusters have with the wider community, including partnerships with the industry and other institutes of learning.
OTHER UPDATES
5. COMPASS is pleased to note the increasing trend in Parent Support Groups (PSG) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) being set up in schools in recent years (Ref Annex B). Prior to the formation of COMPASS in December 1998, there were 60 PSGs and PTAs in about 17 per cent of our schools. An update in April 2003 showed that there are currently 255 PSGs and 17 PTAs established in our schools. A comparison of figures before 1999 and in 2003 reveals a four-fold increase in the number of PSGs and PTAs, from 17 per cent to 76 per cent during the period.
6. COMPASS will also be organising a half-day National Convention, Connecting FACES (Family, Alumni, Community, Enterprise, Schools), Strengthening Ties, on 13 Sep 2003 to promote greater partnerships between the home, industry, community and the school. (Ref. Annex C for details.)
1The 11 secondary schools are Pioneer, Bukit View, Hong Kah, Jurong West, Juying, Yuan Ching, Hua Yi, Boon Lay, Jurongville, Methodist Girls' and Westwood.
COMPASS Members
Chaired by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Acting Minister for Manpower and Minister of State for Education, the council comprises of stakeholders representing the parents, self-help groups, alumni and business community as members. The list of COMPASS members for the third term of office (Jan 2003 - Dec 2004) is as follows:
*New members (from Jan 2003)
Parent Support Groups in Schools
1999 and Before
Number of PSGs/PTAs set up before 1999 [prior to formation of COMPASS] was 60 (about 17% of schools).
2001
Number of PSGs/PTAs by Apr 2001 was 156, i.e. about 40% of our schools then had a formalised parent involvement programme.
2002
An update in Apr 2002 showed that there was a total of 220 PSGs/PTAs. This represented about 66% of schools, which had parent groups.
2003
As of April this year, the number of PSGs/PTAs stands at 272 (including 255 PSGs and 17 PTAs). About 76%, or about 3 out of 4 schools have established a PSG/PTA. A comparison of figures before 1999 and in 2003 shows a four-fold increase in the number of PSGs/PTAs, from 17% to 76%.
COMPASS National Convention 2003
1. To promote greater partnerships between the home, industry, community and the school, COMPASS (COMmunity and PArents in Support of Schools) will be organising a half-day National Convention entitled Connecting FACES (Family, Alumni, Community, Enterprise, Schools), Strengthening Ties on 13 Sep 03. Participants will include school leaders, senior officials from the Ministry of Education, business and industry leaders, representatives from school parent support groups and self-help groups, social service agencies, tertiary institutions, and representatives of other stakeholders. The expected number of participants is about 1,200.
2. The seminar will provide a platform for different stakeholders in education to share their perspectives on the imperatives of home, school and community partnerships, which will help in the total education of our pupils.
3. At the Convention, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry & Education, will deliver the opening address, which will provide an overview of the current status of partnerships in schools. The keynote speaker is Dr Karen Mapp, President, Institute of Responsive Education, Boston, USA. Dr Mapp is renowned for her extensive work in developing home-school-community partnership programmes across schools and the communities in USA. The Convention will also include a plenary session that will focus on partnership programmes between the schools and the community, industry and the school advisory boards.
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