Enhanced Educational Linkages Between Singapore and Malaysia

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1. Singapore and Malaysia will forge stronger links in education through collaborations from the school to university levels via a Government-to-Government Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on education cooperation between the two countries. This is the first Government-to-Government MOU on education cooperation between the two countries.

2. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, Singapore, and Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Minister of Education, Malaysia, signed the MOU on 4 December 2007, at the Malaysia-Singapore Business Forum held at the Sheraton Towers Singapore during the Malaysian Education Minister’s visit to Singapore from 3 to 7 December 2007.

3. On 5 December 2007, the two Ministers will visit the 3rd Singapore-Malaysia Student Leaders’ Camp to witness the camp activities involving more than 200 teachers and secondary school students from Malaysia and Singapore.

4. The MOU formalises recent and ongoing collaborations in education between the two countries. The primary aim is to deepen professional collaboration in areas such as curriculum development, and to create regular opportunities for students from the two countries to interact and go through intense experiences together.

5 Through the MOU, education collaboration between the two countries will be strengthened in areas such as sciences and mathematics, information and communication technology, sports, culture and music. There will also be efforts to promote the exchange of education-related materials and to jointly organise workshops, exhibitions, conferences, seminars, study visits and competitions. School twinning programmes will also be stepped up. Through exchange programmes. the MOU also aims to enable school leaders to learn more about the issues and challenges facing school leadership in the two countries.

6. A joint working group, to be co-chaired by officials from the Singapore and Malaysia education ministries, will be set up to review and monitor the progress of the collaborations under the MOU.

7. While in Singapore, the Malaysian Education Minister will meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo, besides Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam. He will also visit ITE College East and the Singapore Sports School.