Opening Address by Minister for Education, Mr Desmond Lee, at the MOE Scholarship Ceremony

SMS David Neo

Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman of the Public Service Commission

Colleagues, Friends

Scholarship and Award Recipients and family members

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. A very good afternoon. Let me begin today's event by congratulating all our scholarship and award recipients and your invited guests.

2. This is the first MOE Scholarship Ceremony where we bring together recipients of the MOE Teaching Scholarships, the MOE Teaching Award and the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme (or START) Scholarships and Awards.

1. Each of you, our award recipients, have been selected through a rigorous process. You have shown your passion for nurturing young minds and lives. Not just in academic disciplines, but also in character, dispositions, as well as skills for life.
2. You have also demonstrated that you have the drive to excel, and your care for Singapore and the education system – what needs to improve and how.

3. Education empowers Singaporeans to lead, innovate, and drive both societal progress and economic growth. To realise this, we need to continue to nurture the unique abilities and the potential of individuals like you, to be designers, key implementors and leaders in our schools and universities.

4. Your role becomes even more critical when we think of the future world that our learners will grow up in. Let me briefly share three key differences:

1. First, our learners will be even more diverse: in skills, interests, backgrounds and life experiences. We need to broaden definitions of success in order to maximise their potential.
2. Second, as technology progresses and industries evolve, the demands that are placed on our learners – and how we can prepare them for this future – will change.
3. Third, the world is our school. Learning is no longer just in the purview of an educator. Indeed, to ensure real-world relevance, partners like employers and other stakeholders have a part to play too. So, bring them in as we teach the next generation.

5. The theme of this ceremony, "Beacons for Tomorrow", expresses our hope that you will bring your light to education. Allow me to offer three ideas how you can do this.

Be the Light – Three Metaphors

6. First, we would like to harness the diversity of learners, so be trailblazers in seeking out different experiences and developing diverse talents.

1. While we can draw inspiration from other education systems, Singapore needs to innovate from within as well, to find solutions that are suitable for our unique context and needs. Learn from abroad, but also develop from within.
   1. For example, we implemented Full-Subject Based Banding to give our students the flexibility to customise their learning for each subject, at their own pace. Instead of streaming children en masse, we now let them learn different subjects at different levels.
   2. To more fully recognise our students' aptitude and readiness for learning beyond academic grades, we introduced Aptitude-Based Admissions to the Autonomous Universities.
   3. And as a system, we are constantly developing ways for every learner to discover multiple pathways to success, at each stage of their career and life.
2. So, the question is what can you do now, to contribute to our future education innovations? Seek out paths that are less explored, talk to people very different from yourselves, and try things you may not naturally be inclined to. This will let you better understand our learners' diverse life experiences and starting points, and help realise their potential.

7. Second, be our searchlights, to find the way forward for Singapore's education system.

1. Our education system has to respond to successive waves of change. Each wave is getting faster and faster, and more unpredictable.
2. Take the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for example. To give our learners an edge, Singapore has responded quickly in developing our own thinking about AI. Today, our approach is for learners to use AI differently at developmentally appropriate junctures. Learners therefore learn about AI, learn to use AI, learn with the assistance of AI, and learn beyond AI.
3. As educators, you must constantly develop your professional capabilities too.
4. MOE will actively support and invest in you throughout your career.
   1. For our future educators in schools, during your undergraduate studies, you will learn about the education system's different components. When you are at NIE, you will receive robust training in foundational skills, including technology-enhanced learning, and participate in structured mentoring during school attachments. Even after you start teaching and go into the classrooms, this mentorship and support from senior educators will continue, and you can also participate in the Teacher Work Attachment Plus programme, or TWA+, to pick up real-world insights. While you spend time in and outside the classroom, you also take time away, visit industries, engage with professionals, and bring that learning back into the classroom, refreshed and energised.
   2. For our future academics in our universities, you will have opportunities to engage key public sector and academic figures on public policy issues, to better understand Singapore's challenges and opportunities. Your assigned academic mentors, who are senior faculty members, will point you to key resources, and support you in navigating the intricacies of research and building networks with the academic community – in Singapore and abroad.
5. As you pursue your studies, always think of ways to use what you have learnt to help you become a better and more prepared educator to benefit the people around you.

8. The third light metaphor is, seek out other lights.

1. We need skilled educators to prepare our learners to thrive. But you cannot do this on your own.
2. We often think of educators as the "sage on the stage". But there is also value in being "guides along the side", and bringing in other partners and professionals to enrich learning and education. They can present novel perspectives to our learners, expose them to the world outside the classroom, and even guide them to think about their future aspirations.
3. For our aspiring academics, collaboration, whether in co-authoring publications, working in research groups, or sharing your findings with a broader audience, can also advance Singapore's collective knowledge.
4. Take for example Associate Professor Kedar, a 2020 START alumnus from the Nanyang Technological University. Prof Kedar accelerated the discovery of new materials by establishing a framework which is now utilised globally in data-driven research. He also collaborates with an international community of scientists known as the Acceleration Consortium, to unlock new discoveries in molecules and materials, collectively expanding the horizon of scientific understanding.
5. In many ways, education is a collective endeavour. Start today and seek out other lights who share this common mission, so that we can shine brighter together.

Conclusion

9. On that note, I would like to thank you for contributing your light as Singapore's beacons for tomorrow. As our constellation of trailblazers and searchlights, I am confident that you will make a difference in the lives of every Singaporean, including future generations. I look forward to the journey ahead for each and every one of you. Thank you very much, and congratulations to all award winners.