Written Answer · 2026-09-10 · Parliament 15
Offering Computing in Secondary Schools and Providing Institutional Support and Dedicated Curriculum and Pedagogical Resources
Workers' Party MP Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Minister for Education whether Computing can be a core secondary school subject, how many schools teach it in-house versus through the centre-based programme, what share of the cohort takes it, whether it can get its own Curriculum Planning and Development Division post and Master Teacher portfolio, and whether it will be offered before upper secondary. Minister Mr Desmond Lee replied that MOE builds foundational digital and AI literacy for all students through existing subjects and programmes such as Code for Fun, while letting interested students study Computing in depth. Lower secondary students learn computational thinking through mathematics. From the 2026 Secondary 3 cohort, G1, G2 and G3 Computing are electives, and MOE has no plans to introduce Computing as a standalone subject before upper secondary. Students from over 110 schools take Computing, including students from over 40 schools taking G3 at four centres, together about 13% of the Secondary 3 cohort. MOE has dedicated Computing curriculum officers, a senior specialist, and Senior and Lead Teachers for Computing.
Why it matters
Students in over 110 secondary schools take Computing, yet they are only about 13% of the Secondary 3 cohort, and MOE has no plans to introduce it before upper secondary.
Key Points
- • MOE builds foundational digital and AI literacy for all students through existing subjects and programmes such as Code for Fun, while letting interested students study Computing in depth
- • Lower secondary students learn computational thinking through mathematics, and international benchmarking studies find them strong in it
- • From the 2026 Secondary 3 cohort, upper secondary students can take G1, G2 or G3 Computing as an elective; MOE has no plans to introduce Computing as a standalone subject before upper secondary
- • Students from over 110 secondary schools take Computing, including students from over 40 schools taking G3 at four centres, together about 13% of the Secondary 3 cohort
- • MOE has dedicated Computing curriculum officers and a senior specialist, as well as Senior Teachers and Lead Teachers for Computing
The Government keeps its approach of building digital and AI literacy through existing subjects, with Computing as an upper secondary elective, and has no plans for a standalone Computing subject before upper secondary. The Minister did not take up the proposals to make Computing a core subject or create a dedicated division post and Master Teacher portfolio, listing only existing officers and teachers, and gave approximate rather than exact school counts.
Questioner Mr Kenneth Tiong of the Workers' Party wants Computing taught earlier and more widely, as a core subject with dedicated institutional support in the Curriculum Planning and Development Division and the Master Teacher system.
MOE frames AI literacy as broad exposure for all and depth for a few: the broad layer runs through existing subjects, while Computing stays an elective for about 13% of students, with no move to lower secondary or new dedicated institutional posts in sight.
"MOE has no plans to introduce Computing as a standalone subject before upper secondary level."
Participants (2)
Original Text (English)
SPRS Hansard · Fetched: 2026-09-26
34 Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Minister for Education (a) whether Computing can be offered as a core subject in secondary schools; (b) how many secondary schools teach Computing in-house and how many via the centre-based programme; (c) what proportion of the cohort takes Computing; (d) whether Computing can be given its own Curriculum Planning and Development Division post and Master Teacher portfolio; and (e) whether Computing will become a subject before upper secondary.
Mr Desmond Lee : The Ministry of Education (MOE) recognises the importance of developing digital and artificial intelligence (AI) literacies in students. Our approach is to equip all students with foundational digital and AI literacy through existing subjects and programmes, such as "Code for Fun", while providing opportunities for interested students to study Computing in greater depth.
At the lower secondary level, our students pick up computational thinking skills through the learning of mathematics. International benchmarking studies have found our students to be strong in computational thinking.
From the 2026 Secondary 3 cohort, upper secondary students can offer G1, G2 and G3 Computing as an elective subject based on their strengths and interests. MOE has no plans to introduce Computing as a standalone subject before upper secondary level.
Students from over 110 secondary schools offer G1, G2 or G3 Computing. These include students from over 40 schools who offer G3 Computing at four centres. Collectively, they make up about 13% of the Secondary 3 cohort.
There are dedicated Computing curriculum officers and a senior specialist in MOE, as well as Senior Teachers and Lead Teachers for Computing.