Education Minister Desmond Lee: A Calibrated, Purposeful Approach to AI in Education

Caption language: en · Fetched: 2026-05-09

Dr. Charlene Chen. >> Question two, please. >> Mr. Speaker, sir, may I have your permission to address all questions two to five on today's order paper together? >> Please proceed. >> Thank you, sir. My response will also address related oral and written PQS scheduled for the sitting on and after the 7th of May. Sir, artificial intelligence or 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. Uh and we want to prepare our children well and equip them with the knowledge and skills uh to meet this new world.

MO'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 our teachers. This spiral approach as students progress through different levels in school prepares them to harness AI to benefit their learning, critically evaluate AI output, and guard against risks such as cognitive offloading. 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 our schools. So from primaries 1 to three, physical, tactile, hands-on learning is prioritized as students build foundational knowledge and develop cognitive and social skills. But students learn about the basics of AI. So AI literacy so that they are aware of its presence in the daily lives. But schools will not assign any work that requires them to use AI directly. But from primary 4, our students would have developed foundational literacy, numeracy and basic foundational knowledge of AI in their daily lives.

Research research also shows that 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. Students in primary four to six 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 in SLS, the Singapore student learning space which are specially designed to help our children and our students learn. These tools have in-built safety guard rails.

For example, primary four students in an English language class can use the AI learning assistant or LEA in the student learning space for composition writing in class. Using the prompts provided by the teacher, our students can get some 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 personalized feedback from the learning assistant. In this case, the learning assistant supports students to iteratively improve their writing with more engaging content and vivid language to strengthen their writing skills. The learning assistant 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 learning assistant will redirect students back on track if they veer off topic and ask irrelevant questions or if they want to be spoonfed with direct answers. So last year my colleagues and I tried it out uh and we were in a class there was a particular topic and we deliberately tried to go off course and say you know what's good in the canteen you know how can I use this topic uh for a party trick and they they will tell us to say no this is not relevant please you know let's get back on topic let's learn about this and that at the same time our teachers can reinforce our students AI literacy during lesson consolidation by guiding guiding them to form good learning habits when using AI. As students learn to use AI and learn with AI, they'll also learn more about what AI is.

They are taught about how it works, how to be discerning about AI output, and the importance of being responsible for the content that they create. 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 that they create. Prior to using the AI tools in the student learning space, students go through the basic module on AI and AI enabled features in SLS to teach them about the tools that they about to use in SLS and how to use them for their learning. From primary 4, students undergo the mandatory 10 hours code for fun program. It's code for fun, but it's mandatory.

is a program which includes coding, computational thinking and introduction to AI so that our students appreciate AI's benefits, risks and limitations and understand how AI uses data to learn. Under code for fun, primary schools can also opt for two additional AI for fun modules each 5 hours that del further into generative AI and computer vision respectively. Schools will also teach students when when they should not use AI so that they do not take shortcuts to get answers without actual learning. 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. 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 site the sources of information. This helps to prepare them for post-secary education where they will be expected to use AI far more heavily in anticipation of what their future workplace might look like. However, if students pass off AI generated content as their own, they will have to bear the consequences of academic dishonesty. National exams continue to be prompted and the 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 level of mastery expected during these exams. 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.

Educational tools made available bye have inbuilt safety guardrails to protect learners interests, privacy and well-being. Besides the educational guardrails to ensure good learning, data from students use of built uh AI tools is anonymized and not used to train external AI models that power these tools. When schools use commercial off-the-shelf AI tools, they're required to check that the input data does not contain personal information or personal identifiable information and is in compliance with data management guidelines. Our teachers play a central role in harnessing AI effectively for student learning and we've been equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.

For instance, we provide opportunities for our teachers to learn about AI, including the ethical and pedagogical considerations of its use and its associated risks and limitations. We also facilitate the sharing of good practices on AI use amongst our educators. These include workshops and network learning communities led by our master teachers as well as online sharing platforms. Ate, we seek to keep up to date with international reports on 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. And one example is the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study or SG Leads by AAR 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. 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 screen time on smartphones and devices at home. Through the parents gateway and social media platforms, we've been sharing with parents how schools use AI and how parents can support their children's use of AI in the education journey and some schools even meet parents um at the start of the year or different points in time to engage them.

The recent posts entitled we answer how your primary school child is learning with AI on 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. AI has been developing rapidly and is increasingly embedded into everyday systems around us. If we're not mindful, we may lose the consciousness in detecting the presence of and influence that AI has in our decision-m and ways of thinking simply because it works so seamlessly. So development of AI literacy is critical and must be timely. Education systems across the world are responding to this differently. Some systems like China, the UAE and the UK have introduced AI, AI literacy and AI use from primary one.

Others like India or states in Australia and the US start at similar ages to Singapore or slightly later. MOE has chosen to take a calibrated approach informed by the 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 calibrate and adjust our approach to the use of AI in education. Even as we prepare our students to be future ready, I want to assure parents and fellow Singaporeans that the use of AI in education seeks to be balanced and age appropriate and applied purposefully to support students learning and development. Dr. Chen. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the minister for his replies. I have a few questions.

Um, number one, how do we ensure that our students still learn to think independently uh even with the use of AI? Uh, number two, will the AI curriculum account for the needs of vulnerable students such as those with special needs and mental health challenges? And number three, will the ministry also consider studying the impact of AI on those of uh vulner on vulnerable children and those from at risk families as well? Thank you, >> Mr. Lee. >> Indeed, the member is right. Uh we want to make sure that even as our children uh start to use AI tools for learning or use AI tools for their school work as they grow older that it uh scaffolds and enhances uh cognitive development and metacognitive development and not hobble it.

Uh so independent learning, independent uh uh uh ability is an important part uh of uh AI and education and our approach is one that I just want I brought this for everybody to take a look. This is our approach to AI and education and we have as a guiding principle number one students at the center keeping student learning as the goal and maintaining student agency. And principle number two is pedagogy first which means good teaching and learning must come first enabled by skillful use of AI. Now these are two broad concepts the heristics that guide us and beneath that there are guidelines and principles and quick guides that enable us to um to adjust and adapt the use of AI uh in the classroom as well as on SLS. With regards to uh students with special needs or education needs, send mental health.

As I said uh yesterday and I said previously that we have uh send officers in school. Uh we have uh student school counselors. Uh we have teachers who are given basic foundational uh uh knowledge on how to support students with education needs. uh and in the classroom as well as uh under teacher supervision, the use uh of AI enabled tools in SLS uh will continue to be under teacher supervision and for children with send needs uh they will keep an an eye out for them. Uh likewise for children coming from more vulnerable families, right? We need to, you know, AI in in education, AI in SLS, AI in uh MO schools is not used for effective or social emotional uh uh issues or social emotional learning. We don't uh use our chat bots or AI tools uh to check on students well-being or to help them build up social emotional skills.

That is uh the sole domain of our educators, right, and our our staff. uh but we use it on the cognitive front uh to help our children and when it comes to children from more vulnerable families if there are specific issues that may impact their use of AI in learning uh then our schools will specifically uh support them and scaffold for them >> Mr. Gen. >> Thank you, speaker. Uh, three SQS. First, many parents I've spoken to are worried about cognitive offloading. The phenomenon where children offload their thinking to AI. Uh, metacognition, the ability to notice when you're wrong, is built through struggle and not through receiving correct answers. And the evidence is that pe students who encounter difficulty before resolving it, develop stronger self-correction capacity.

So how does intend for our learners to encounter productive struggle to build these metacognitive skills? Second, the Sweden's Karolinska Institute uh advised the Swedish government and I quote uh there is clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning. End quote. Uh that conclusion drew on multiple peer-reviewed studies covering reading comprehension, distraction, executive function development, and equity outcomes. And the Swedish government acted on this, reversing its digitalization strategy in 2023 and investing over €200 million euros to reintroduce physical textbooks and removing mandatory digital tools for young children. I'm sure the min minister is aware of this. So what are his points of uh disagreement with the Swedish example?

And number three, some parents have also asked if they will have the option of opting out their children from specific aspects of AI tool usage in classrooms. Minister Lee, >> I think on the first point we are at IDIOM. Uh we want to make sure uh that uh in using AI tools, our children do not cognitively offload and that is shortand for saying that they uh rely on the AI as a crutch to deliver the answer uh but not learn uh deeply so they don't develop cognitively. Uh and that is why in my earlier reply I mentioned that uh the MOE tools that are used uh in SLS uh are teacher supervised uh and they do not uh they are they are the the tools are structured in a way that they do not allow children uh to ask for spoonfed answers. All right. So for example the u learning feedback assistant mathematics. All right.

you you you you try the SLS u Matt's question guided by LFA mathematics uh it will not spoon fee you the answer whereas uh general purpose AI tools will but these are not used in the MOE space in SLS and it will then remind you to say no this approach is wrong it'll prompt you some say it's a Socratic style okay but it it prompts you so that it causes you to go back and revisit the principle you've learned and it will not spoon fit you. So that's the key. Of course, our concern for parents is that the the children may use uh uh tools outside SLS at home uh use general purpose tools to to take shortcuts and that is why the uh homeschool partnership is so important.

the partnership between uh parents and uh uh school so that we both parents and teachers are our educators of our children uh can help guide our children uh in the use of AI for their homework. Of course in school we will guide we will have AI literacy will teach our students uh what when to use AI and when not to use AI. uh in our uh teaching approaches through SLS, we have used the AI tools for an educative purpose but we need to guard against children uh using general purpose AI tools uh outside the teaching environment which may cause them to cognitive offload. So that is a a struggle that we all have to address uh as a whole of society approach not just here in Singapore but across the world.

The members uh second question is about uh the Swedish uh reversal to go back to uh what do you call um um to to to reverse their digital stance and to take away uh all these devices that they've given to children. I believe at age of five a couple of years ago they gave it age of five and they're reversing that. Going back to analog some people say it's going back to analog. Our approach is blended. As I said, we continue to have physical textbooks. We continue to have uh dactic teaching. We have uh classroom phenomenon based learning, experential learning, learning journeys. Very teacher centric, very teacher centric. And AI as I said just now and I showed you that uh document uh AI is a is a tool to enable learning.

And so for us uh we are mindful that if we don't draw the distinction between general AI tools versus specifically designed learning tools or educational AI then it might cause us to take a wrong policy approach in Singapore uh and not use AI at all. I think that would be a mistake because of the changes that are happening in the world. We should make use of AI to help our students learn because they're going to use it anyway. Whether you supervise them or not, they will use it. It's available uh on the internet in your search engines. They they're there. You can't switch it off. All right? in some instances in your general uh search tools. And it's far better to start AI literacy young and start getting our kids to use AI for learning in a highly scaffolded teacher supervised and of course parent supervised way.

uh and then as they grow older when they start using these tools independently uh that they have the principles and foundation to be able to build on it because it ultimately in higher learning and in the workplace uh these tools will become ubiquitous and so we we need to prepare our children well uh and not uh uh take an approach that is non that is uh that lacks discrimination so that's key and third on opting out uh it depends if it's an SLS enabled tool and is used in classroom learning. It's part of teaching and learning. It's part of teachers blended approach and I think that will enable our teachers to be able to uh help our children learn the cognitive aspects the foundational knowledge more deeply.

If there are specific tools that are externally brought in uh where there is a a parental consent element that we will bring to the parents then we will not allow the children to use those AI tools. But in so far as the use of uh AI in general teaching blended approaches it's like saying I don't want my children to have a whiteboard I want a blackboard you know I I want print but I don't want OP in the past or PowerPoint to be used. I think we must enable our teachers to be able to perform their role. Uh and this of course is subject to uh MOE guidance uh and good uh teaching or Singapore teaching practice. >> Mr. David Ho. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the minister for his response. I have three clusters of um SQS.

Um the first is about a recent straight stamps article reported that a primary five student uh was asked by the teacher to use chat GBT for his homework. I would like to clarify whether teachers can in um ask primary school students to use publicly available AI tools to assist them in their homework and if so also could also share what is an appropriate age where students are then able to use publicly available AI tools to assist them in their learning. My second question is since platforms such as OpenAI chat GBT requires users below 18 to obtain parental consent um does then also expect teachers to reach out to parents to get their consent to use such tools in classroom for their learning?

If so, what support will be given to teachers because sometimes chasing parents to submit a form is significantly harder than getting a students to submit homework. Lastly, during a recent PAP um women's swing listen listening port event a parent asked whether could parents have the opportunity to try um AI learning um tools themselves because this would help them to better experience the gut rails and also understand how to support their child in their learning. Hence, I would like to ask whether would be open to having such engagement to let parents try how this AIO AI's learning tool. If so, uh would also be willing to um do one in Clemente and I'll be more than happy to run one parent engagement for my uh parents in living in Clemente. >> Mr. Lee, >> I thank the member on his first point.

He raised an example in SD article uh and uh we will do better to make sure that uh uh in close partnership with our educators uh we apply these uh AI usage uh principles and guidelines uh more effectively and consistently because some of these general purpose tools are not appropriate for children at particular age. there's a terms of usage for the tool itself not to mention our own requirements on the use of AI to scaffold learning rather than uh uh impacted negatively that's one uh second I think the member mentioned that uh some AI tools have age restrictions and if u teacher wants to use the tool in classroom but the child is below age we need parental consent if the tool has an age restriction then we will not use it for children below that age. Simple as that. Yeah.

Uh second, the third one is uh to let parents try out MOE's AI tools like the learning feedback assistant and and uh and so on. Uh let us take it back to see how we can do it in a meaningful way uh and scalable manner. Thank you >> Mr. Lin Chong. >> Thank you speaker. Uh thank you minister. I actually have a SQ that's related to equ to the equity paradox in AI use. Uh I appreciate minister's point about the difference between AI literacy and and AI usage and you know the importance of adult supervision as our children engage with AI tools from a young age.

So I would like to know if uh minister could elaborate on Moe's perspective on how students from more disadvantaged backgrounds especially those with you know lesser access to parental guidance or adult supervision right may end up leaning more on AI and not less and how such dependency might actually erode the very uh cognitive development that that it is meant to supplement and that these children who are most at risk are precisely the ones that we need to uplift instead of having the AI use uh deepen the education inequality. Thank you. Minister Lee. >> No, that is an argument that is uh or that is a point that's evergreen. It's not just about AI.

It's about uh uh um children in uh less privileged backgrounds not having the same amount of scaffolding and support at home and outside school uh on a whole range of issues and uh we have uh different approaches to handling that. the opportunity fund. Uh we have com link, we have gift of family, we have many other schemes that involve deep partnership with the community.

uh and so I mentioned in school how we have supervision or supervised teacher supervised usage of AI tools and that applies to all the students particularly younger ones uh as they leave school and go home and start using some of these tools because SLS can only be used in the classroom when it comes to AI tools uh then the risks of them using other tools that are free for use on the internet and how do we ensure that outside uh the classroom there is supervision and support. So the AI literacy that uh we build in uh all through a student's learning journey uh guides them and helps to build in them that uh consciousness about appropriate AI usage.

We hope of course that I mean that is the best defense that the child embibes it, understands it regardless of their social economic status they learn about it and then outside the school environment and all through life they're mindful of its appropriate usage. But then for younger ones in the community and at home, of course, partnership with parents is important regardless of background. But we endeavor to work closely with the community. And so we have uh homework support in different community groups. Uh we have uh self-help groups that come in to provide support for children over and beyond what's available in school. Uh and many other groups that come in uh to support our children. So that is a partnership we must tap on and community continue to build particularly when it comes to supporting them on appropriate AI use.

Miss Cassandra Lee. >> Thank you uh Mr. Speaker. Last weekend the PAP Women's Wing in the Southwest held a dialogue with more than 100 parents and residents on the use of AI in our children's education. and we were glad a few members were able to join us. One sentiment that was uh surfaced echoes what minister has said that before our children use AI they need to understand what it is uh its limitation as well as the maturity have the maturity and judgment to handle it responsibly. One of the most popular question uh on that dialogue was what would be the best age for parents to talk about AI to their child. Uh given's position that AI exposure in schools currently begins from primary 4 under low exposure and closed teacher supervision.

Uh my question to the minister is whether has been consulted or will consider providing recommendations to MDDDI as it studies the AI nutrition label and online safeguards particularly whether AI tools especially standalone AI tools should have age-based guidelines safeguards or default pro protections that apply differently for younger children. Thank you >> Minister Lee. I think MDDI MO um had given uh some recommendations and guidelines in 2025 on digital usage and use of technology uh at home and with children and uh some of that will be useful uh reference for all of us as parents and as a community.

uh but indeed uh having that conversation early with your child about what AI is because it can be embedded in your toys uh online it's available if the children have access to it at home in the community uh so that that conversation has to start uh early um in fact while we start using AI for learning and allow our children to use AI tools in SLS under supervision uh from primary 4 but AI literacy From MO's perspective, we start from primary one. Um I just came back from China last week and uh and previously I went to Estonia to see the AI leap in action.

Um and uh in China for instance um they start at age six AI literacy as well as basic awareness of its uh growing uh pervasiveness throughout you know like in toys and other things so that there's literacy and understanding and it's done in an age appropriate way and I think uh as parents I know it's a lot on our plate uh but we want to be able to uh do our best for our children and guide them uh as they interact with all these things at home and in in their in their toys and so on. Uh so I think that's a conversation that's best started as young as possible. >> Miss Lisa Chen, >> thank you speaker and thank you minister also for sharing the very interesting example of how AI is used to teach creative writing in schools.

I wanted to follow up by asking whether the ministry has established clear guidelines on the responsible use of artificial intelligence tools by students to avoid infringement of third-party intellectual property rights. What measures are in place to discourage the use of AI tools to generate content that imitates or or reproduces the work of artists and creators without consent and attribution and whether the ministry will consider strengthening AI literacy programs to place greater emphas emphasis on ethical use including respect for creators rights and originality. Minister Lee >> certainly at primary school level and lower secondary uh the use of AI tools are MOE developed and used in the context of SLS.

Of course we uh have in on through icon for upper secondary school students notebook LM which is available to upper secondary school students and which we are monitoring its usage but through the MOE developed tools we are mindful of uh uh its safety its uh quality of output its uh fitness for pedagogical uh use and of course uh in making sure that we uh avoid infringements uh of IP and other other intellectual property rights. uh but ultimately uh because some of the more general purpose tools or for that matter educational AI tools that are outside uh the uh SLS um are trained on a wider universe of uh of knowledge and information.

uh that the AI literacy that is taught in our children all the way till when they are uh you know young adults all the way through uh IHL uh this element of uh prompting prompt engineering or usage of the tool in a way that respects intellectual property rights that does not uh cause offense uh that does not uh uh um infringe the law. Now all these are things that we need to build in uh as part of AI literacy ultral life.