Greetings and Introduction
1. Good morning, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Mr Yoshiki Takeuchi, distinguished panelists, and colleagues from the education community joining us both here in Singapore and virtually from around the world.
2. I would first like to thank the OECD for choosing Singapore as the venue for your Global Launch of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 Report. We are happy and delighted to play a small part in supporting this important international endeavour.
3. This is an occasion not just for the unveiling of crucial research findings that can inform our educational policies and systems to become better. It is also an opportunity for us to learn from one another and to exchange valuable experiences, as well as perspectives. This is because Singapore and all the participating countries share the same commitment to build and sustain a strong and vibrant teaching profession.
Importance of Teachers in Society
4. Our teachers are the foundation of our education system. They play many roles and wear many hats: imparting knowledge, growing minds, and shaping character. That is why the mission of the Education System here in Singapore is to mould the future of the nation. Why? Because our teachers mould our people from a young age, who in turn will determine the future of our nation. They inspire our students, regardless of starting point in life, to develop to their fullest potential and to contribute to our society.
5. Our teachers, therefore, need our unwavering support. And we need to know how to do so effectively as our societies develop and as the world rapidly changes.
Value of TALIS and International Collaboration
6. Large-scale benchmarking studies like TALIS provide useful insights on teachers' perspectives and challenges, as well as the teaching practice. We can tap on these insights to build stronger support systems for our teachers.
- For example, TALIS is extremely useful as a data source for Singapore. It provides useful insights on aspects which we have done well in, and what we need to do better in.
- And, with internationally comparable data, we can all learn from the diverse perspectives and experiences in other parts of the world. Solutions that are discovered in one classroom can inspire innovations around the world.
Strengthening and Empowering the Teaching Profession
7. We live in extraordinary times. The world is in flux. Artificial intelligence is fast reshaping entire industries, and technology is transforming how we work, how we learn, and how we connect with one another.
- The question is: what does this mean for our students? What does this mean for future citizens? They need to develop important 'soft' skills to set themselves up for success, such as inventive and adaptive thinking skills, critical thinking skills, cross cultural literacies, collaboration, empathy and resilience. These have always been important, but they are becoming even more crucial. Our students need to deepen these key human competencies, that are not so easily replaceable by AI and other technologies.
- But even amidst these changes in what our students must learn, teachers remain fundamental to education. Technology cannot replace the human touch and care that our teachers bring.
8. At the same time, the tools that teachers can use, and the competencies that they need to possess to train their students up, are changing in tandem with the wider technological and economic shifts that we see. So our teachers have to keep upskilling, in order to educate our students effectively and take advantage of new technological capabilities.
9. All stakeholders – governments, parents and families, and society – must support our teachers in this journey. Beyond providing for their continual professional development, we must value their expertise and contributions, and support their well-being.
10. Let me share some steps that we have taken here, in our city-state, Singapore.
- The Singapore Ministry of Education works closely with our schools to support our teachers to focus on their core work of nurturing and developing our students.
- For example, we developed the Student Learning Space (SLS) in order to better support our teachers in effectively adopting digital tools for teaching and learning. The SLS provides our teachers with tools that they can use to augment their pedagogical practices, for instance, through facilitating greater customisation to cater to individual students' learning needs. It also enables our teachers to share and collaborate with one another, for example on lessons.
- Beyond the classroom, we also take care of our teachers' wellbeing by establishing clear boundaries around communication with parents and families, to help to avoid an "always-on" culture.
- We are also streamlining administrative tasks through digital solutions. For example, we are improving Parents Gateway, our digital platform for parent-school communication, to allow parents to electronically submit documents, for instance, for their child's absence from class. This seeks to reduce our teachers' workload in tracking student absences, and is available for all parents by the start of 2026 next year.
11. We are committed to ensuring that the teaching profession remains attractive and rewarding for experienced educators who are seeking growth, as well as new graduates, and mid-careerists. Growing and sustaining a high-quality teaching force underpins the quality education that all our students deserve and need.
Affirming Teachers
12. Many teachers around the world are already going the extra mile to transform the way they teach and reshape the way our students learn, as they embrace challenges and adapt to changes. They brainstorm and develop effective lessons, tapping on technology and other tools.
13. Let me share one example from Singapore. Ms Candice Lee, a Senior Art teacher from Manjusri Secondary School, empowers her students to shape their own creative learning journeys using AI image generators. She guides them to craft thoughtful prompts, generate AI-assisted artwork, engage in peer critique of each other's pieces, and help them to refine their creations through multiple iterations. So, this is not just teaching them to use AI, but teaching them how to learn with AI, and teaching them to learn beyond AI by interacting with one another and adding value to what technology can do, so that they remain on top of technological advancements. This helps build her students' critical thinking skills and creative confidence.
Conclusion
14. I hope that all of us here in the broader education fraternity – teachers, policymakers, and more – will find ways to tap the findings from this very important TALIS report to keep improving our education systems, not just at the policy level, but on the ground, in the classrooms, and outside the classrooms. These very useful perspectives on both local and worldwide teaching and learning will complement our ongoing collective efforts to better understand and continuously improve our education systems.
15. I hope you will return to your classrooms and systems with new insights and new ideas, refreshed with perspectives from all over the world. Let's tap on these to produce tomorrow's breakthroughs, that support teachers and help to forge a brighter future for all our children.
16. Thank you.