Reply to Adjournment Motion 233, Strengthening the Mental Resilience of Our Young, by SPS Syed Harun

1. Mr Speaker, I thank Dr Charlene Chen for her call to strengthen the mental resilience of our young and her proposal to do so by way of establishing a School Mental Well-being Charter.

Building Mental Resilience Through CCE

2. She mentioned three broad points in relation to strengthening practice and experiential learning. Secondly, enhancing measurement to share best practises and sensing mechanisms, as well as building a supportive and inclusive culture. Building our students' mental resilience is a key priority for MOE, just as learning is for us; and the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum is a key enabler. The CCE curriculum is guided by developmental milestones, which indicate the requisite knowledge, habits and skills students will need at pertinent junctures in their respective educational journeys. And as our students progress from primary to tertiary levels, they will cumulatively build up their social and emotional capacity as well as their resilience.

3. Within the CCE curriculum, Mental Health Education lessons address topics such as the identifying and countering of automatic negative thoughts, emotional regulation, differentiating normal stress from distress and encouraging help-seeking habits. These equip our students with the knowledge and skills to cope with stressors and maintain mental well-being. Older students explore relevant topics such as stigmatisation, social comparisons, as well as the awareness of potentially negative impact of digital lifestyles, such as poor sleep and overly sedentary habits.

4. The CCE curriculum also covers cyber wellness topics that can affect the mental health of our students, including excessive screen use, unhealthy or inappropriate media content, cyberbullying, as well as the fear of missing out (FOMO). Students are taught skills to recognise risks in the digital space, identify and discern negative influences, and adopt a more balanced use of social media.

5. Beyond classroom lessons, students are encouraged to practise what they have learnt during student development experiences such as Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs), sports and games, visual and performing arts, outdoor education activities, school camps and Values-in-Action (VIA) projects. Teachers and coaches provide guidance to help students apply relevant knowledge and skills in these real-world contexts for better internalisation and reinforcement of the lessons learnt. To help schools better facilitate students' learning beyond the classroom, MOE has provided guidance on how schools can structure their student development experiences to promote social and emotional learning, including the reinforcement of resilient mindsets and skills.

6. Further to this, the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) then build on the CCE efforts in the earlier years and avail a range of mental well-being programmes and activities to their students, including modules and workshops on topics like positive psychology, to teach students how to manage their setbacks better.

7. Even as MOE HQ provides the broad guidance and baseline curriculum provisions and guidelines, I would like to reassure Dr Chen that there is no lack of initiatives from schools and even students themselves. For example, schools have designed their own programmes to promote the 'Growth Mindset' in their students and supported student-led activities such as Mental Wellness Day.

8. Centrally, MOE provides platforms for schools to share their best practices. This is similar to the Charter that the Member has raised. Just last week, CCE key personnel from all secondary schools gathered to hear about the latest developments in CCE and to discuss their school initiatives with others. For example, Pasir Ris Secondary shared about their efforts to build students' everyday resilience not only through CCE lessons but also their peer support networks, camps and even after-school programmes. Recognising that programmes alone are insufficient, the school leadership built this emphasis into their staff culture, school's strategic plans, as well as in the everyday language of communication in school. MOE will continue to tap on the passion, ideas and efforts from the ground to complement our efforts.

Ecosystem of Support

9. In our schools and IHLs, educators are at the frontline where students' well-being is concerned. They help their students feel understood, supported and cared for. Through their daily interactions with students, educators are often the first ones to detect an unhappy student and to offer their first words of support.

10. There are ongoing efforts to empower educators to provide first-line support to students, including raising their awareness and sensitivity to the growing and evolving mental health needs of students, and equipping them with basic counselling skills and the ability to detect students in distress. We will continue to strengthen the mental health literacy of our educators through resources and professional development, including basic counselling skills and the ability to recognise students in distress.

11. Our educators certainly do not work alone but are part of a larger support system. Students who require more support are referred to the school counsellors or community mental health resources, such as the REACH (Response Early intervention and Assessment in Community mental Health) teams in our hospitals such as the National University Hospital, IMH and KK Women's and Children's Hospital. The IHLs similarly collaborate with Social Service Agencies to expand their range of outreach programmes and promote holistic wellbeing.

12. Peers are integral to every school's ecosystem of support. Peer support leaders have been identified in every school and are trained to provide a listening ear to their friends and to encourage help-seeking. All students are also taught about peer support in CCE where they learn to look out for and show care to one another. Among the IHLs, some have institution-wide peer supporter programmes while others have dedicated ones housed within their schools/faculties.

13. Dr Chen has reminded us that resilience cannot flourish without the right culture. Through empowering our educators, building student peer support networks and strengthening schools' referral system, we seek to foster a stronger supportive culture as highlighted by the Member.

Monitoring and Improving Our Efforts

14. Dr Chen has also spoken about the importance of gathering data on student wellbeing. We closely monitor the state of youth mental health through various data sources and research studies, including the recent Youth Epidemiology and Resilience Study by NUS and the National Youth Mental Health Study by IMH. Beside relying on data, MOE also engages relevant experts, professionals and community partners to receive inputs regarding the mental health needs and challenges of youths.

15. I also want to assure the Member that MOE regularly reviews and refreshes our curriculum and strategies to keep up with students' evolving needs. Our CCE and mental resilience building efforts, including the curation of topics and pedagogical approaches, are evidence-informed and age-appropriate. We also have internal mechanisms to monitor the implementation effectiveness of our CCE curriculum and programmes, and regularly obtain feedback from stakeholders ensure that our efforts have the intended and positive desired impact for our students.

16. Another key approach that MOE has introduced is the student well-being check-in surveys conducted termly. These surveys enable teachers to detect students who might be struggling and provide timely support. IHLs similarly deploy a range of sensing mechanisms, such as well-being surveys, campus walkabouts, and town hall sessions.

17. All our tracking and review efforts, at MOE and school levels, are part of our culture-building endeavour to strengthen awareness of and commitment to student well-being. Whilst we do not have a Charter-based approach suggested by the Member, we have instituted systemic processes to achieve very similar outcomes, as she has highlighted.

Working Closely with Parents

18. Finally, the Member's call for a strong culture of resilience-building resonates with us; the family plays a critical role, and the best support for our children happens when schools and parents work in close partnership. In this respect, MOE also supports parents with resources, supporting their child's strengths and interests, and regulating emotions. These are shared through platforms like Parents Gateway and Parent Support Groups.

Conclusion: Whole-Of-Society Effort Needed

19. In closing, I want to thank the Member for the very rich ideas proposed in her call for a School Mental Well-being Charter. We will study this carefully and explore its feasibility.

20. In education, we believe that our role is not to remove stressors entirely from the lives of our young nor to rescue them from all their difficulties. Rather, we seek to build up their skills, strengthen confidence in their knowledge base and develop the ability to form strong relationships so that they can view any difficult or challenging life circumstances through the lens of support, a weighted and healthy perspective as well as hope and optimism. This is only possible with the whole of society onboard – parents, community and educators.

21. Thank you.