Preparing Students for a Global Future, Next Phase of National Education: Strengthening Heartware and Rootedness to Singapore

Home > Media Centre > Press Releases

Next Phase of National Education: Strengthening Heartware and Rootedness to Singapore

1. The next phase of National Education (NE) will place greater emphasis on cultivating heartware and rootedness to Singapore. To do this, NE will move beyond raising the level of awareness and appreciation of Singapore, which has been done well in the past ten years, to giving greater focus to engaging and empowering our students to make a positive difference to society.

2. These are the broad recommendations of the Committee on National Education, chaired by Minister of State for Education, RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew. The Committee conducted a 6-month review of current NE programmes in schools and post-secondary education institutions (PSEIs).

3. NE is and remains important in our education system as the means to nurture in our students national cohesion, instincts for survival as a nation and confidence in our nation’s future. In particular, given the greater opportunities for Singaporeans to live, work and study abroad, it becomes increasingly important for NE to also strengthen the heartware and sense of belonging among our young so that they will regard Singapore as their home even when they go overseas for work or study.

Framework for the Next Phase of National Education

4. The Committee has recommended a framework – “Head, Heart and Hands” – as a guide for the next phase of NE.

5. In engaging the “Head”, students should be actively involved in their own learning; beyond knowing, they should think through issues and arrive at a deeper understanding of the challenges facing Singapore and what it means to be Singaporean. In engaging the “Heart”, students should connect emotionally with the Singapore story; their love for the nation should be the outcome of their appreciating Singapore and having a deeper sense of belonging. In engaging the “Hands”, students should have opportunities to give back to society, and realise that everyone has a part to contribute to and create Singapore’s future, and, where possible, to lead in different fields of society.

6. “Head”, “Heart” and “Hands” will be the focus of engagement at all levels, but with varying emphases as appropriate to the age and maturity of the students[1]. The “Hands” concept also expands on the original “Lead Singapore” outcome for post-secondary students to emphasise the fact that all students have a role in contributing to and creating Singapore’s future.

7. The three principles in the second ring – Quality, Customisation and Ownership, are guiding principles that underline all of the Committee’s recommendations. In particular, going forward, more emphasis should be given to a customised approach. For example, as students progress from primary to secondary levels, they should gradually move from understanding basic facts about our nation’s past, to understanding how Singapore is evolving in the present. As they move into post-secondary levels, the engagement should deepen their grasp of the complex challenges facing Singapore, while they ponder the possible futures for our nation.

8. The outer-most ring represents three key groups of stakeholders that are involved in the delivery of NE – educators, students and the community. This reinforces the idea that NE is owned by everyone, and emphasizes the importance of community partners in the process of NE.

9. The Committee’s recommendations which have been accepted by the Ministry of Education can be grouped under three key thrusts, addressing the three groups of stakeholders -- educators, students and the community:

A.    Enabling and Equipping Educators;
B.    Engaging and Empowering Students; and
C.    Enhancing NE through Strengthening School-Community Linkages.

10. Our educators directly determine the quality of NE our students receive and strongly influence students’ values and attitudes. Therefore, emphasis must be given to deepening our educators’ convictions and sense of ownership for NE. They should also be equipped with the skills, knowledge and resources necessary to better engage students and strengthen their sense of belonging to Singapore.

11. MOE will enhance teachers’ knowledge and skills through professional development in areas such as storytelling to bring lessons to life and the art of facilitating discussions on current issues. MOE will work with the National Institute of Education (NIE) and other partners to organise training and professional development opportunities, starting from pre-service training.

12. MOE will also create a one-stop online repository of NE resources to develop and provide access to quality NE resources for educators. MOE would also identify significant happenings, at home and around the world, and develop timely resource packages for teachers. With these ready materials, it is hoped that teachers will spark discussions while these events are still unfolding. In so doing, they emphasise the relevance of NE to students’ lives and develop their interest in the world beyond the classroom.

13. The second thrust of the Committee’s recommendations aims to make NE come alive for our young. As encapsulated in the “Head, Heart and Hands” framework, a holistic approach will be adopted to engage and empower students, as well as to motivate them to contribute and shape the next chapter of the Singapore Story.

14. Social Studies has been a useful addition to the curriculum as it allows students to explore differing perspectives on Singapore issues. MOE will provide further support to teachers to help them facilitate student discussions, with a view to encouraging students to come to their own reasoned conclusions. Additionally, MOE will review the Social Studies curriculum to look into how it can be improved and better assessed, as part of the regular syllabus review cycle.

15. Schools will provide opportunities for greater student action in community projects as well as in shaping school life. MOE will work with schools to make student-initiated Community Involvement Project (CIP) more pervasive at the secondary levels, as it is at the post-secondary levels. Activities such as teacher-facilitated reflection on the CIP activity will be emphasised to reinforce students’ learning and values.

16. In addition, a developmental framework articulating the desired NE outcomes and recommended activities for primary, secondary and post-secondary education levels will be drawn up by end 2007. This will guide the customisation of NE programmes in schools and PSEIs, and reduce unnecessary repetition in students’ NE experiences across the different levels.

17. The Committee also recognises that through interactions with people from different walks of life, backgrounds, nationalities and ages, students learn about life and themselves as Singaporeans. At the same time, these interactions will enable students to appreciate the uniqueness of our community, and build meaningful relationships with fellow Singaporeans that will bond them to Singapore. Community partners thus play an important role in the larger ecosystem of NE.

18. Schools and PSEIs will work towards strengthening links with families, alumni and the community, so as to bring in suitable people to add different perspectives to students’ learning about Singapore. As families play an important part in shaping the values and perceptions of the young, schools will also engage parents more in their NE efforts.

19. Schools and PSEIs will also use opportunities for cross-cultural exchanges and international exposure to spark students’ reflection about Singapore and its uniqueness. These could take the form of overseas study and community service trips, tie-ups with Foreign System Schools in Singapore, and sharing of perspectives by foreign students in the classroom.

20. The Committee on NE was formed in August 06 to undertake a comprehensive review of NE programmes in our schools and PSEIs. The objective of the review was to ensure that NE remained relevant to current students and the increasingly globalised world. The Committee was chaired by Minister of State, Ministry for Education, RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew. The composition of the Committee is at Annex A.

21. In drawing up the recommendations, the Committee consulted a wide cross-section of stakeholders including students from secondary schools and PSEIs, parents, educators, school leaders, managements of PSEIs, and representatives of non-governmental organisations. The consultations took place through 24 focus group discussions, a web-chat, a panel discussion with a student-initiated taskforce on NE, and two NE Symposia for secondary and post-secondary students, led by students from the taskforce. A total of 1,200 stakeholders were consulted.

22. Feedback from stakeholders in NE showed that NE had made good progress in the past ten years. Overall, the different groups of stakeholders agreed that NE remained important. There was also better awareness among students about the NE messages and the attributes that made Singapore unique. However, consultations also found that the delivery of NE varied across schools and PSEIs. Some had done well in adopting a holistic approach to NE, providing students with rich experiences that opened their minds and deepened their understanding of issues about Singapore. Others were less engaged in delivering their NE programmes.

23. In addition, the Committee also drew insights through a literature scan and international comparisons of civics and citizenship education in different countries. These countries included Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

24. NE was launched in 1997 to develop national cohesion, cultivate instincts for survival and instil confidence in our future.

25. NE is incorporated in both the formal and informal curriculum. In the formal curriculum, NE messages are infused in academic subjects such as History, Civics and Moral Education. Social Studies was also introduced to help students understand Singapore’s constraints and strategies, as well as provide opportunities for students to talk about national and global issues.

26. In the informal curriculum, schools commemorate four events, namely Total Defence Day, International Friendship Day, Racial Harmony Day and National Day. CIP, Learning Journeys and Co-Curricular Activities such as Uniformed Groups, also form an important part of students’ NE experiences.

27. Apart from schools, the PSEIs also have their own customised NE programmes. These range from academically-based programmes like formal courses, to more experiential, hands-on activities like community service projects.

[1] This framework expands upon the current desired NE outcomes of “Love, Know and Lead” Singapore; these have in practice often been implemented as the respective outcomes for primary, secondary and post-secondary education levels. The new framework emphasises that these outcomes should be understood as a continuum.