AI usage in schools

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr David Hoe, Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what does the introduction of AI from Primary 4 under “low exposure” and close teacher supervision entail, including whether it refers only to curated MOE- and GovTech-developed tools in the Student Learning Space; (b) why Primary 4 is chosen as the starting point; and (c) how the Ministry will assess readiness for any broader rollout of AI tools in schools.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Charlene Chen, Tampines GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry has implemented safeguards, including longitudinal studies, to monitor the impact of early AI use at the primary level on students’ development of foundational skills and higher-order thinking and to prevent over-reliance on AI tools; and (b) if so, what these entail.

To ask the Minister for Education in respect of the use of artificial intelligence in education (a) whether the Ministry has established safeguards to ensure (i) transparency to parents on data collected through AI-enabled learning tools and (ii) procedural fairness when students are penalised for inappropriate AI use; and (b) if so, what do these safeguards entail.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat, Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what prerequisite skills must primary school students demonstrate before AI is first introduced for usage; (b) what is the rationale for the Primary 4 entry point ; (c) what is the implementation roadmap for AI in primary curricula, including age cohorts and approved tools; and (d) what guidelines, training and workload support will teachers receive to distinguish productive AI use from shortcut substitution.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament

Questions

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what minimum data protection standards schools are required to apply when directing students to use AI tools not hosted on the Singapore Student Learning Space; (b) whether parental notification or consent is required before students use such tools for school-assigned work; and (c) how compliance with these standards is monitored.

To ask the Minister for Education regarding the introduction of AI tools for Primary 4 to 6 students (a) what are the specific AI use cases planned for this age group; (b) what age-appropriateness assessments have been conducted before extending AI tool access to this age range; and (c) what guidance is provided to parents on how their children will interact with AI tools in and beyond school.

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry has a dedicated formal channel through which teachers, students, and parents can provide feedback on the artificial intelligence (AI) in education strategy rollout; (b) if not, whether the Ministry intends to establish one; (c) what are the existing channels through which the Ministry has gathered such feedback; and (d) how many pieces of feedback have been received to date.

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the scope of the Ministry’s study on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on students’ learning, in terms of education levels covered and learning outcomes measured; (b) what is the expected timeline for findings to be published; and (c) how will the findings be used to inform or revise the AI in education strategy.

Combined Response

1. Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have your permission to address Oral Questions 2 to 5 on today's Order Paper together? My response will also address related oral and written PQs scheduled for the Sitting on and after 7 May.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly accessible, not just on the internet but also embedded in hardware and even toys. General purpose AI is also easily available online. It is therefore important for students, even younger ones, to develop overall awareness of AI in daily life, have guided discussions on its benefits and risks, and be ready to use AI. AI is going to cause disruption and create opportunity, and we want to prepare our children well and equip them with the knowledge and skills to meet this new world.

3. MOE's approach is simple, but deliberate – for every student to learn about AI, learn to use AI, learn with AI and most importantly, learn beyond AI. These are what we call the "Four Learns". Theoretical knowledge alone is not sufficient. Our students also need well-designed and supervised hands-on experiences, through the use of educational AI tools guided by teachers . This spiral approach, as students progress through school, prepares them to harness AI to benefit their learning, critically evaluate AI output, and guard against risks such as cognitive offloading.

4. We want to develop AI literacy in our students in a calibrated and purposeful way. Our approach is informed by research on how children learn and develop, and what is helpful at each stage of growth. Technology, including AI, is used only when it supports educational objectives and students' development. This has guided us when introducing AI in schools.

1. From primary 1 to 3, physical hands-on learning is prioritised as students build foundational knowledge and develop cognitive and social skills. Students learn about the basics of AI so that they are aware of its presence in their daily lives, but schools will not assign any work that requires them to use AI directly.
2. From primary 4, students would have developed foundational literacy, numeracy and basic knowledge of AI in their daily lives. Research also shows that at around this age, they would have developed some executive functioning skills like planning, task initiation, and ability to evaluate their own thinking, to begin to use simple digital tools to support their learning. We will therefore let them use educational AI tools under teacher supervision.

5. Students in primary 4 to 6 will only use AI tools in school that are specifically designed for education. And they will only do so under teacher supervision. This includes the AI-enabled tools that we have introduced into the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS) which are specially designed to help students learn. These tools have in-built safety guardrails.

1. For example, primary 4 students in an English Language class can use the AI Learning Assistant (LEA) in SLS for composition writing in class. Using the prompts provided by their teacher, students can get ideas on how to 'show not tell', a technique where students enhance their writing through details on actions and emotions to help readers better experience the narrative, and refine their drafts based on personalised feedback from the LEA.
2. In this case, the LEA supports students to iteratively improve their writing with more engaging content and vivid language, to strengthen their writing skills. The LEA gives every student an individual AI writing coach that responds to our students in real-time, based on their specific drafts. As a guardrail, the LEA will redirect students back on track if they veer off-topic and ask irrelevant questions, or if they want to be spoon-fed with direct answers. Last year, my colleagues and I tried it out. We were in a class, there was a particular topic, and we deliberately tried to go off course and say "What is good in the canteen?" or "How can I use this topic for a party trick?" And they will tell us to say "No, this is not relevant. Please let's get back on topic. Let's learn about" this and that. At the same time, our teachers can reinforce students' AI literacy during lesson consolidation by guiding them to form good learning habits when using AI.

6. As students learn to use AI and learn with AI, they will also learn about AI. They are taught how it works, how to be discerning about AI output, and the importance of being responsible for the content they create.

1. During Cyber Wellness lessons, students are taught to be discerning about AI output as it may contain errors or false information, and the importance of being responsible for the content they create.
2. Prior to using AI tools in SLS, students go through the "Basic module on AI and AI-enabled Features in SLS" to teach them about the tools in SLS and how to use them for learning.
3. From primary 4, students undergo the mandatory 10 hours 'Code for Fun' (CFF) programme – it is coding for fun, but it is mandatory programme which includes coding, computational thinking and introduction to AI, so students appreciate AI's benefits, risks, and limitations, and understand how AI uses data to learn.
4. Under CFF, primary schools can also opt for two additional 'AI for Fun' modules, each 5 hours, that delve further into generative AI and computer vision respectively.

7. Schools will also teach students when they should not use AI, so that they do not take short cuts to get answers without actual learning.

8. We want to provide our students with a school environment where they can develop good learning habits and understand the importance of upholding academic integrity.

1. For example, some secondary schools may design tasks which allow students to use AI. In these situations, students must state where they have used AI and cite the sources of information. This helps to prepare them for post-secondary education where they will be expected to use AI far more heavily, in anticipation of what their future workplace might look like.
2. However, if students pass off AI-generated content as their own, they will have to bear the consequences of academic dishonesty.
3. National exams continue to be proctored, and use of AI is prohibited. If students use AI as a shortcut for their daily work instead of learning deeply, they will not be able to demonstrate the levels of mastery expected during the exams.
   1. In cases where the use of AI is permitted in national exams, such as for coursework, Teacher Supervisors monitor students' work such that AI use meets the objectives of the assessment.

9. Educational AI tools made available by MOE have in-built safety guardrails to protect learners' interest, privacy, and well-being. Besides the educational guardrails to ensure good learning,

1. Data from students' use of MOE-built AI tools is anonymised and not used to train external AI models that power these tools.
2. When schools use commercial-off-the-shelf AI tools, they are required to check that the input data does not contain personal identifiable information and is in compliance with data management guidelines.

10. Our teachers play a central role in harnessing AI effectively for student learning, and we have been equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.

1. For instance, we provide opportunities for our teachers to learn about AI, including the ethical and pedagogical considerations on its use, and its associated risks and limitations.
2. We also facilitate the sharing of good practices on AI use amongst our teachers. These include workshops and networked learning communities led by Master Teachers as well as online sharing platforms.

11. At MOE, we seek to keep up-to-date with international reports and how other systems are approaching the use of AI in education. We also fund projects that study how AI affects children's development and learning. One example is the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG-LEADS) by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), which will start to collect data in 2027. This research seeks to understand Singapore children's AI usage patterns and how their AI usage affects their learning and well-being outcomes. But given how quickly AI is developing, we are also working with our schools to conduct short-term research to inform classroom practices in a timely manner.

12. We know that some parents have misgivings about exposing their children at an early age to AI. Many are already struggling with their children's excessive screentime on smart phones and devices at home. Through the Parents Gateway and MOE's social media platforms, we have been sharing with parents how schools use AI, and how parents can support their children's use of AI in their education journey. The recent post titled "We answer: How your primary school child is learning with AI" on MOE social media is one example. Schools also share with parents how AI tools may be used in teaching and learning at the school level, and provide avenues for parents to share their views on the use of AI tools.

13. AI has been developing rapidly, and is increasingly embedded into everyday systems around us. If we are not mindful, we may lose the consciousness in detecting the presence of, and influence that AI has in our decision making and ways of thinking, simply because it works so seamlessly – development of AI literacy is critical and must be timely.

14. Education systems across the world are responding to this differently. Some systems like China, UAE, and United Kingdom have introduced AI from primary 1. Others like India or states in Australia and United States, start at similar ages to Singapore, or slightly later. MOE has chosen to take a calibrated approach informed by learning sciences, emerging research and studies conducted by practitioners and academics, and ongoing exchanges with various countries. Our approach is therefore a dynamic one: As AI develops and more research is done, we will continue to adjust our approach to the use of AI in schools.

15. Even as we prepare our students to be future ready, I want to assure parents and fellow Singaporeans that the use of AI in schools is balanced and age-appropriate, and applied purposefully to support students' learning and development.