預算辯論 · 2015-03-06 · 屆國會 12

教育預算與就業匹配

AI 與就業 AI 與教育 AI 與公共部門 爭議度 3 · 實質辯論

質詢方關注新加坡大學畢業生就業匹配問題，借鑑韓國、中國畢業生高失業率案例，擔憂新加坡青年失業風險。強調教育應注重實用技能，呼籲政府通過SkillsFuture推動終身學習，提升就業競爭力。政府回應聚焦投資公民技能，支援未來就業準備。核心爭議在於教育與就業市場需求的匹配及青年失業風險防範。

關鍵要點

  • • 畢業生就業匹配問題
  • • 教育應注重實用技能
  • • 推動終身學習機制
政府立場

支援SkillsFuture促進技能提升

質詢立場

擔憂青年失業與教育脫節

政策訊號

強化技能培訓與終身學習

“Singaporeans cannot take full employment for granted.”

參與人員 (27)

完整譯文（中文）

Hansard 原始記錄 · 2026-05-02

普通教育政策

林標泉議員（蒙巴頓選區）：主席女士，我請求動議：“將估算表中K項的總撥款減少100元。”

《海峽時報》最近的一篇文章引起了我的注意。文章報道說，韓國有太多求職者爭奪太少的工作崗位。報道指出，大學入學率已從1990年代的30%上升到80%。據報道，韓國家長在課外輔導上的花費高達19萬億韓元，約合224億新元。但許多大學畢業生由於勞動力嚴重錯配，找不到工作。15至29歲人群的失業率為8%，韓國政府資料顯示，有超過三百萬畢業生處於“經濟非活躍”狀態。

另一篇BBC去年七月的文章報道，2014年中國將有驚人的726萬大學畢業生。事實上，文章標題為“如何處理數百萬額外畢業生？”這些新畢業生離校六個月後的失業率約為15%。

看到如此令人沮喪的訊息，我不禁想知道新加坡畢業生的情況。像韓國和中國一樣，新加坡人非常重視教育，許多學生渴望接受高等教育。這一點從最近一項家庭調查中可以看出，新加坡家庭在輔導上的花費高達11億新元。

我擔心越來越多的學生將獲得大學學位視為人生的終極目標，並認為畢業後必定有光明的未來。對我來說，追求進一步教育沒有錯。然而，我擔心那些花費大量時間和金錢獲得高等教育的新加坡人，畢業後卻找不到高薪工作。新加坡會不會出現像韓國、中國和歐洲許多地區那樣的高青年失業率？如果出現，我相信這些人會感到極大的挫敗和深深的不滿。

去年，我曾敦促政府確保所有來自工藝教育學院（ITE）、理工學院和大學的學生都能為各行業未來需求做好充分準備。我們必須確保學生在高等學府（IHL）學到的技能是實用且與行業相關的。因此，我很高興在預算宣告中聽到關於投資公民以備未來的重點。

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預算辯論中談到了許多關於SkillsFuture的內容。我同意我們必須幫助公民深化並掌握與其工作相關的技能，因為我們的人民是我們唯一的自然資源。在這個競爭激烈的世界裡，新加坡人不能把充分就業視為理所當然。請問部長，SkillsFuture將如何幫助新加坡人更好地理解終身學習的重要性，以在其專業或工作中獲得更深層次的技能，並保持職場競爭力？就在今天的《海峽時報》報道中，有報道稱越來越少的工人覺得培訓有用。教育部能否確保教育和培訓提供者教授的課程和技能是有用且相關的？部長能否詳細說明SkillsFuture學分，以及新加坡人如何利用SkillsFuture學分提升自己？

接下來，請允許我簡要談談輔導。雖然我知道許多學生嚴重依賴輔導，但我擔心輔導最終會成為他們的柺杖。他們中的一些人過度依賴輔導以取得高分，可能已經失去了自主學習的能力。這將使他們進入職場時處於劣勢，因為他們在學生時期可能沒有培養獨立解決問題的能力。他們總是依賴輔導老師作為安全網。

我們能否請學校鼓勵那些表現良好的學生重新考慮是否真的需要輔導？教師可以鼓勵學生勇敢自信，培養自主學習的能力，而不必總是依賴輔導老師陪伴和檢查作業。如果我們朝這個方向邁出一小步，就能逐漸減少學生對輔導的過度依賴。希望這能逐步減輕學生的壓力，因為學生應看到實際能力、應用技能和終身學習技能在進入職場後更為重要。

最後，我很高興聽到針對中年新加坡人的增強補貼。我認為，一旦新加坡人對自己的職業目標更清晰，我們可以鼓勵他們通過技能發展或進一步教育尋求更多發展機會。然而，我希望教育部考慮允許那些工作至少五年的新加坡人享受增強補貼，而不必等到40歲。

我認識許多年輕人，工作幾年後覺得是時候提升技能，這通常發生在他們還未面臨平衡工作、家庭和學習困難之前。部長，我懇請允許他們在準備好時抓住教育體系提供的機會，而不是等到40歲。

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[（程式文本）提案問題。（程式文本）]

SkillsFuture——晉升機會

宰尼丁·諾丁議員（碧山-大巴窯選區）：（馬來語）[請參閱母語發言。]主席女士，我們正在努力重組經濟，為全球挑戰做好準備。隨著這項努力，國家產業將迅速轉型。實施SkillsFuture及其他相關終身學習和技能提升計劃非常重要且必要。希望這能帶來新加坡工人和學生所需的心態轉變。這種心態轉變是SkillsFuture成功的關鍵。

雖然我們理解終身學習和技能提升計劃的長期益處，但這只是一個預測和潛力，不會產生快速成果。我相信許多人想更詳細地瞭解SkillsFuture計劃如何儘快為學生和工人，尤其是成熟工人，提供動力和積極影響。SkillsFuture能否持續幫助學生和工人在職業生涯中取得進步？

關於學校和高等學府（IHL）的SkillsFuture計劃，我們希望為學生實現哪些目標和成果？實習和“邊學邊賺”計劃能否決定一個良好且穩定的職業，還是僅僅用於教育和培訓？我們如何確保學生在SkillsFuture計劃中的匹配度良好，減少流失率和複雜情況，以實現更優的成果？

高等教育的期望

陳佩玲議員（海洋公園選區）：主席女士，我對政府推出ASPIRE和SkillsFuture感到鼓舞。我希望所有這些舉措綜合起來，長期內能培養一支始終與時俱進、善於做出職業選擇、就業能力強且無論世界或經濟如何變化都備受青睞的勞動力。更重要的是，培養一群熱衷終身學習、樂於尋找機會不斷挑戰自我的人。

下午1時15分

主席女士，我有兩個建議。首先是允許SkillsFuture學分涵蓋更廣泛的課程。這可以包括本地機構的研究生課程，如碩士專案。這無疑將幫助那些有志且有能力獲得更高學歷的新加坡人實現目標。

SkillsFuture學分旨在賦權，給予新加坡人對個人發展和職業進步的自主權和責任。因此，為什麼不讓新加坡人自己決定最適合他們發展和需求的課程呢？因為SkillsFuture學分可能只是碩士課程總費用的一小部分，但它代表了升級的願望。

因此，我的第二個建議是允許新加坡人動用自己的公積金部分資金來資助這些課程，並明確表示如果動用公積金，畢業後應予以償還。

支援中年學習

洪偉能議員（裕廊選區）：主席女士，中年定義各異。通常指工作10至15年，年齡大約在30多歲或40歲左右的人。在這個階段，可能會面臨以下幾種情況：

（a）感覺需要提升和深化工作技能，以便在職業上表現更好；

（b）尋求人生的終極目標和意義，考慮可能的職業轉變；

（c）最糟糕的情況，因技能過時或公司關閉搬遷而面臨裁員。

對於第一類需要提升技能以更好完成工作的人員，他們通常更有自我驅動力，能主動尋找合適課程，SkillsFuture學分對他們非常有用。

對於第二類，政府或許可以與行業合作，提供更多中年獎學金，促進職業轉變，鼓勵人們向成長行業傾斜。這並不意味著鼓勵頻繁換工作或轉行。多項關於中年危機的研究顯示，人們常常在從事一段時間的職業後感到不滿，這是一種現代病。

第三類最令人擔憂。許多30多歲和40多歲的人有重大財務負擔，如房貸、撫養年幼或在校子女及贍養年邁父母等，無法承受失業的打擊。這類人群最需要關注。

主席女士，隨著經濟重組加速，更多新加坡人將失業。一個人在同一領域辛苦工作多年後失業，痛苦尤甚。製造業工人是一個特殊群體。許多新加坡人在工廠關閉並遷往檳城、中國等地時被裁員。雖然創造了許多新崗位，但大多集中在服務業。製造業失業者難以適應並轉行。

我個人曾嘗試幫助一些被裁的新加坡人，提供服務業崗位，但效果不佳。我曾面試多位製造業中層管理人員，最終只有一人適合服務業管理崗位。即使如此，最終被錄用的也只有五分之一。

我希望人力部能幫助更多失業工人，組織課程，並與就業促進機構（e2i）合作，尋找新方法幫助他們。

終身學習

林娜議員（非選區議員）：終身學習是為個人或職業目的追求知識，促進社會包容、積極公民意識和個人發展，但更強調自我維持，而非競爭力和就業能力。

終身學習也可視為我們日常與他人及周圍世界互動中持續發生的過程。

隨著新加坡人壽命延長，他們可以利用更多時間做自己喜歡的事。若香港的同齡人能擁抱終身學習進入課堂，我們的長者若有興趣、精力和願望通過持續教育過更充實的生活，也應效仿。

對於因各種原因年輕時未能完成學業的長者，學習機會將備受歡迎，應向他們開放。也應為有需要的長者提供學習機會，以表彰他們為建設新加坡所作貢獻，經歷過艱難歲月，擁有豐富人生經驗。

課堂上的代際學習獨特且有益，年輕學生和長者通過互動相互學習，克服彼此的顧慮。

我們生活在全球化世界，科技不斷創新，一些長者甚至可以在家或辦公室線上學習高等課程。

我欣慰地注意到，新加坡正在研究香港長者重返課堂計劃的可行性，長者可在週末和晚上參加參與大學和學校的課程，學習高等教育或生活技能，如基礎電腦使用和手工藝。

香港該計劃獲得政府補貼。希望政府能為技能未來一億元計劃下的繼續教育專案提供某種形式的增強補貼。為長者提供高等教育無疑有助於保持其精神敏銳，提高自尊。

繼續教育之路並非一帆風順，但只要有耐心，收穫遠大於挫折。終身學習不僅是為了獲得更多職業資格，也豐富了我們的生活。

引用：“活得越久，學得越多；學得越多，越意識到自己知道得越少。”

實習

餘振忠議員（非選區議員）：主席女士，隨著我們向更注重技能的經濟轉型，實習將扮演越來越重要的角色。我之前談過這個話題。雖然我很高興實習崗位增多且據說會更有結構，但我仍擔心如何讓行業參與，確保實習有意義，同時增加實習名額。

過去15年我曾帶過實習生，也與其他帶實習生的人交流過。從公司的角度看，實習生供應有些不可預測。有些機構提前較長時間通知實習生到來，有些則只提前兩週。有時我們可以面試和挑選實習生，有時則不行。

如果供應不可預測，且實習生現有技能與公司需求不匹配，公司很難規劃有意義的專案。若能讓不同批次實習生之間保持專案連續性，比如實習期間開始的專案可作為畢業設計繼續，將更有意義和現實。

今年我們有新的“邊學邊賺”計劃，資金支援充足。我希望看到對每年接收一定數量實習生的公司提供實習資金支援，使他們能投入資源嚴謹管理實習，類似學徒制。

我也希望公司與學校導師密切協調，使專案對公司有用，同時實習經歷滿足學校學習要求。若可能，也可引入行業協會專業知識，協助規劃和驗證實習專案。

針對學生職業的目標行業

蔡啟成議員（提名議員）：主席女士，用中文發言。

（中文）[請參閱母語發言。]主席女士，議員們，下午好。2015年預算啟動了SkillsFuture“邊學邊賺”計劃，幫助理工學院和工藝教育學院畢業生與潛在僱主對接。今年起，政府將與零售、餐飲和物流行業合作，培養一批SkillsFuture導師，協助中小企業培訓人才。這是非常好的訊息。

教育的作用是滿足社會需求。我們的本地人才在嚴格結構化的框架下培養。這種模式的優勢是能夠整體提升勞動力質量。然而，如果在規劃階段忽視了某些行業，人才資源就會出現缺口。

一些傳統行業已經出現了缺口。在此，我呼籲所有行業和商會積極參與未來人力資源規劃。他們不僅要準確傳達各自行業的需求給教育部，還應全力支援實習計劃。通過實習，學生可以親身體驗工作環境，瞭解個人興趣和優勢是否在行業中有發展潛力，幫助規劃未來職業道路。另一方面，該計劃也幫助僱主識別最優秀的年輕人才並進行招聘。

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然而，我們也必須認識到，大型企業有能力提供實習機會並吸引人才。中小企業則往往缺乏完善的體系。但如果他們現在不參與人力資源規劃，未來的人才短缺問題將更加嚴重。

為了順應時代，傳統產業和中小企業也必須抓住機會提升整體形象。例如，大體上，年輕人並不熱衷於在蛋糕店做穿背心的工人。但如果老闆努力改善工作環境，提高工作的技能價值，那麼招聘的要求就會變成聘請穿著整潔制服的糕點師，這樣既能展現專業形象，也能讓員工感到滿足。

未來，專業教育和職業輔導員將被派駐到所有中學、工藝教育學院（ITE）、理工學院和大學。行業和貿易協會必須與這些輔導員緊密合作，確保他們具備充分且全面的行業知識，幫助他們改變學生對傳統產業的刻板印象。

我真誠希望更多的行業協會參與“技能未來學徒計劃”（SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme）。同時，我也想了解工藝教育學院和理工學院在選擇實習行業時採用的標準。只有充分了解所用的標準和考慮因素，傳統產業的業主才能更有目的性和系統性地與學校合作。

職業輔導

洪偉能議員（裕廊）：主席女士，我用普通話發言。

（普通話）：【請參閱方言發言。】有人說，男人最大的恐懼是選擇錯誤的職業，而女人最大的恐懼是嫁錯了人。在現代社會，性別平等意味著女性也工作，並且同樣擔心選擇錯誤的職業。

雖然我們在“技能未來”上投入巨大，我們也需要教育和職業輔導員為學生提供輔導，幫助他們瞭解自己的優勢和劣勢，

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以及興趣領域和各種選擇。中學生在選擇高等院校課程時可以做出明智的選擇，最終在職業選擇上做出明智的決定。

然而，教育部聘用的教育和職業輔導員首先必須在不同領域擁有實際工作經驗，並接受專業培訓，才能有效地為學生提供建議。否則，他們只會空談，誤導學生。

我們都知道每個家長都希望孩子成功。然而，並非每個人都能成為醫生或律師。因此，學校應與家長溝通，家長也應與學校合作，使每個學生根據自己的能力和興趣做出職業選擇，而不是僅僅選擇薪水最高的職業。畢竟，無論做什麼工作，都能成就偉業。

（英語）：用英語發言，女士。我在普通話發言中提到，當教育部輔導員為學生提供職業指導時，需要讓家長參與。在高等教育階段，學生在相關公司實習更為重要，以應用他們在教育機構獲得的技能。

副總理沙爾曼在預算陳述中提到，政府將在未來兩年內為三分之二的理工學院課程和一半的工藝教育學院課程推出“增強實習”計劃。這是一個雄心勃勃的目標。教育部能否與我們分享支援該目標所需的實習機會數量？政府如何激勵企業提供有意義的實習？歸根結底，這必須是企業和學生的雙贏局面。

每所學校都是好學校

潘麗萍議員（茂林-加冷）：女士，冰山水面上可見的10%之下，是其總質量重要的90%。正是這90%在水面之下，受到洋流的作用，導致冰山頂部的行為。我想用冰山的比喻來解釋為什麼新加坡人仍然很難相信每所學校都是好學校。

下午1時30分

首先，冰山頂部可見的現象。爭取進入被認為是更好的學校的動力依然強烈。儘管部長做了很多工作。小學離校考試（PSLE）高分不再公佈。十年系列試題對所有人開放。更多的品格教育獎項；ASPIRE計劃，甚至計劃用一個競爭性較低的系統取代PSLE的T分數系統。然而，人們仍然認為某些學校比其他學校更受歡迎或更好。

去年進入初級學院的分數線低至3分，如萊佛士書院和華僑中學。補習行業繼續繁榮，規模可能超過10億新元。甚至理工學院學生如今也參加補習。直接學校錄取（DSA）並不令人鼓舞。家長和學生很快發現，掌握某些課外活動（CCA）是通過DSA系統的最佳方式，這些活動能讓他們領先於其他候選人。熱門學校不僅吸引最聰明的學生，也吸引最強壯的學生。

回到冰山比喻。水面下有潛在的結構和強烈的信念與心態，持續滋養著這些不良行為。為了節省時間，我只列舉幾個。

許多新加坡人堅信一個心理模型：為了過上好生活，你需要好成績進入好學校，進而進入好大學，這是一張通往好工作、好薪水、好配偶、希望有好孩子的通行證，這個迴圈不斷重複。這個心理模型難以動搖。只有當人們看到足夠的證據和親身經歷，才能被說服去替代它。

另一個心理模型，由包括公共服務在內的僱主持有，認為頂尖學校的畢業生更受歡迎，他們的學術成績是能力和潛力的關鍵決定因素。他們的招聘系統也反映了這一點。

教育環境本身也由一個主要通過學術成績推動學生升學的系統塑造，學生主要根據高風險考試的成績被分配到學校。

許多根深蒂固的心態源於良好的初衷。畢竟，教育是最明顯且賦權的社會流動方式。但除非解決這些潛在結構和心態，否則試圖讓大家接受“每所學校都是好學校”是徒勞的。學校教育將繼續成為壓力鍋。

我想提出幾種方法，消除冰山頂端這些不健康的症狀。

第一，取消不必要的高風險學術考試，如小學離校考試。小學階段花太多時間準備這項考試。

第二，試點一所十年一貫制學校，同時不降低學術和品格培養的嚴謹性。

第三，開發基於解決方案的學校和教育專案組織方式。為所有學校提供紮實優質的課程模組，無論是學術還是非學術，從基礎到典型再到高階水平。

第四，逐步退出天才學校或特別輔助計劃（SAP）學校。不要將同一能力的學生集中在一個地理位置，而是將不同能力的學生安排在同一屋簷下，由教師或生活導師帶領。學生可以屬於同一個基礎班，但按照個人教育計劃學習；在一天中，根據自己的能力和節奏，與其他有相似學習需求的學生一起上課。這部分已經在理工學院和大學中有所體現。

第五，更積極地利用科技，使最佳教育實踐和資源可供教師、學生甚至照顧者使用，提升他們的競爭力。

最後，必須做更多工作，提供證據和體驗，證明通往美好生活有多條路徑。包括公共服務在內的僱主必須帶頭，尋找更進步的招聘、晉升和認可員工的方式，超越傳統學術標準。走少有人走的路取得成功的家長應分享他們的經驗。

讓每所學校成為好學校的願景是進步的。然而，除非我們所有人都與教育部合作，否則這將只是夢想。

印德吉特·辛格議員（宏茂橋）：女士，今天許多家長認為，孩子必須進入所謂的“頂尖”學校，基於學術成績，才能在人生中取得成功。讓學業優異的學生長期集中在一些熱門學校，助長了這些學校比其他學校更好的觀念。

這也導致了自我實現的預言，因為這些學校的學生本來學業就強，後來確實表現優異，隨著教育層次的提升表現更好。這種稀缺心態使家長希望孩子學業優異，以便進入這些“頂尖學校”。隨著更多學業優異的學生湧向這些“頂尖學校”，這些學校的錄取分數線提高，正如潘麗萍女士之前提到的，使它們看起來更像“頂尖學校”，因為家長不知道如何衡量學校質量。

這導致家長花費大量金錢為孩子補習，以幫助他們取得更好成績，從而進入這些“頂尖學校”。這種心態造成了“補習”競賽，擔心如果不給孩子補習，他們會輸給已經補習的孩子。因此，這對低收入新加坡人是不利的。

教育部設定了目標，希望孩子們能夠自主學習、自我導向學習。補習心態違背了這一目標。是否可以在每所學校設定學業優異學生的配額，幫助將這些學生分散到更多學校，避免形成惡性迴圈？

這也能讓家長不再過分關注學校的錄取分數線，因為所有學校都會有學業優異和較弱的學生。教育上，這意味著學校必須能夠照顧不同學業表現的學生。另一個好處是，所有孩子都能瞭解社會多樣性，不同才能和能力的學生互動，長期來看將建設更強大的社會。如今，許多相似型別的學生被集中在同一學校。

我建議的這種方法還可以讓家長超越錄取分數線，關注中學推出的許多特色課程，特別是針對孩子不同優勢和興趣的課程，涵蓋廣泛領域——這些課程能激發孩子的學習興趣，讓他們看到學習的相關性，使他們更投入、更自主地學習。

最終，我們希望每個孩子都能全面發展，發現興趣，發揮優勢，點燃終身學習的熱情，並從與不同背景的人互動中受益，進而建設更強大的社會和新加坡。因此，我想問部長，他是否認為自己正在成功改變新加坡人的心態，讓大家相信每所學校確實都是好學校。

綜合學校

餘振忠議員：女士，這是我第四年就小學至中學一貫制學校的話題發言。如果我顯得堅持不懈，是因為我真心相信，在一個適當多元的教育環境中，新加坡人應該有機會選擇這種公費教育選項。

這種一貫制學校不需要學生參加小學離校考試（PSLE）。它允許學校與學生長期共同發展全面教育，有時間培養品格和價值觀，以及考試之外的其他方面。從其他國家和提供此類一貫制系統的私立學校的成績來看，學業成就不必受到影響。

我之前提出了大致想法，建議在新加坡分佈設立八所此類學校，且排除所有頂尖學校參與試點。我呼籲逐步實施並以試點方式進行，因為大多數新加坡人可能尚未理解沒有PSLE的教育系統如何運作。

不過，我相信有相當一部分人願意讓孩子在同一所學校接受十年教育，即使這意味著孩子難以進入現有的頂尖學校。我呼籲教育部認真研究這一選項，進行公眾調查，瞭解家長對試點學校的支援程度，並公佈結果，以便我們就這一教育選項展開有意義的討論。

補習文化

方榮發議員（後港）：女士，教育部高階國務部長曾在本議院表示，“我們的教育系統是建立在不需要補習的基礎上的。”我相信許多家長願意這樣想，但現實情況卻大相徑庭。

2013年9月24日《海峽時報》一篇題為《補習普遍，無法忽視》的評論文章引用了零星但驚人的資料。報道稱，私人補習行業規模達10億新元，各種調查顯示有50%至90%的家庭為孩子補習。這是大量家庭和資金投入，而教育部認為補習是不必要的。

作為立法者，我們是否也相信在我們的教育系統下補習是不必要的？在座有多少人曾為孩子安排補習或正在安排？2013年10月30日另一篇文章更強烈地指出，補習流行是因為我們教育系統存在問題。

我敦促教育部進行全國性的補習文化調查。此類調查可以通過網路輕鬆完成，或讓每個學生帶一份簡單的表格回家由家長填寫。

女士，教育部難道不想研究為什麼家長在擁有世界一流教育系統的情況下，仍然送孩子去補習嗎？我有信心，這樣的調查結果將幫助教育部破解我們補習文化的謎團，也許還能幫助制定更有效的政策，不僅惠及學生，也惠及教師。

“少教多學”運動始於2006年，旨在培養學生全面發展，而非僅為考試做準備。我不確定學校現在是否真的減少了教學量，但現實感知是學生從補習中學得更多。

多元路徑與可及性

蔡慶文議員（碧山-大巴窯）：女士，教育部和高等院校將在促進新加坡人終身學習方面發揮越來越重要的作用。我們必須繼續擴大新加坡教育的路徑和可及性。政府推出的學分計劃無疑會激發在職成人持續學習新技能的興趣。通過持續自我提升，即使在工作生涯中，他們也能掌握所從事工作的技能。我相信這將使他們具備轉行或從事新行業的能力，正如林瑞生先生所說，使他們能夠在競爭激烈、快速變化的全球經濟中茁壯成長。

我希望我們的高等院校和培訓中心能夠滿足新加坡人求知的渴望。但我們需要確保有足夠的名額供學生和工人使用，並確保教育系統各級學生都能獲得這些機會。我想了解教育部如何監管這些課程的質量，確保學生和工人所投入的時間、精力和資金能夠轉化為良好的就業匹配和職業發展？

第54頁

天才教育

餘振忠議員：女士，距我們啟動天才教育計劃（GEP）已有31年。每年約有1%的學生通過全國性的英語、數學和科學能力測試，在小學三年級結束時被選入GEP。

我曾呼籲教育部審查集中式GEP，轉而支援更多學校發展高能力學生，使他們無需在小學四年級遷往九所GEP學校之一。

天賦有多種形式，不僅僅體現在語言、科學和數學方面。有些人在藝術或體育方面有天賦。當前對天賦教育計劃（GEP）的定義較為狹窄。我們可以鼓勵所有學校開展各種形式的深入、專業化的拓展和參與。當我們需要技能時，可以利用學校群組系統，或通過現有在科學、藝術或體育方面具有強大專業知識的機構來實現。對於極少數極具天賦的學生，他們甚至會覺得現有的GEP缺乏吸引力，我們可以藉助我們的大學資源。

一些非GEP學校已經開設了自己的天賦班，鼓勵他們的優秀學生留在本校，而不是轉到GEP學校。我們不必陷入這種競爭。我們可以將為GEP開發的專案推廣到更多學校，同時擴大我們對天賦的定義。

下午1時45分

最後，經過31年，教育部是否做過縱向研究，追蹤GEP畢業生的職業發展情況？這些研究能否公開？我希望公眾能獲得更多關於GEP成果的資料，以審視其持續的相關性。

語言能力

許樂（碧山-大巴窯）：女士，去年我在我的Facebook上發帖，論述儘管我們的教育體系良好，新加坡人在一個方面仍然不足，那就是英語口語。一些人回應表示同意，也有人說我的帖子沒有認可我們的其他優點。但沒有人說我們的英語水平足夠好。當然，我們培養出了一些優秀的作家和演講者，但在溝通技能方面，僅有少數人表現良好是不夠的。

這是因為溝通能力是任何工作、任何職業中至關重要的技能；因此，人人達到合格水平非常重要。真正的問題是，我們應該問，一個通過並畢業於新加坡體系的人應具備什麼品質，而我們今天是否看到了這些品質？

在溝通能力方面，我認為答案是否定的。這是我與許多僱主交談時共同感受到的抱怨。新加坡人有良好的實質內容，但形式不足。雖然他們可能知識豐富或有很多貢獻，但缺乏清晰自信表達自己的能力。這使新加坡人在國際職場中處於嚴重劣勢。

是什麼導致我們的教學方式培養出數學和科學成績優異的學生，卻在語言方面表現不佳？這不僅僅是語法、詞彙和拼寫的問題，還包括措辭、表達、演講以及最終的說服力。因為我們生活中很多事情都涉及說服他人。

如果我們同意教育體系的重要目標之一是培養口齒清晰、自信的年輕人，那麼我們需要問自己：為什麼現行政策未能實現這一目標？例如，我們是否足夠重視學前階段的語言技能，因為那是我們首次有機會培養孩子，防止他們養成不良語言習慣？

我們的一些語言政策可能適得其反。讓我舉幾個例子。

如果學生在GCE“O”水準的高階母語考試中獲得C6至A1的成績，他可以從L1R5分數中扣除兩分。事實上，即使他用高階母語代替英語計算語言分數，也可以扣除這兩分獎勵分。因此，學習英語的動力減少了。

口試在小六離校考試（PSLE）中權重僅為15%，在GCE“O”水準中為20%，而GCE“A”水準則沒有相應的口試權重。因此，提升溝通技能的動力很小。我們的評分政策導致英語文學課程的衰落或消亡，正如郭曉瑩女士幾天前指出的。

即使是高階母語，我們的政策也可能適得其反。如果學生通過了GCE“O”水準的高階母語考試，他就不必繼續學習該科目。因此，學習高階母語的動力是學到GCE“O”水準後可以放棄，從而減少一門科目。許多學生就是這樣做的——他們獲得兩分獎勵後就放棄了該科目。因此，選擇學習高階母語更多是戰術性的，而非教育性的。結果是，許多學生在16歲時停止了正式的語言學習，甚至停止使用該語言。

我們知道人們總是為了自身利益行事。因此，如果我們認真想提升溝通能力，就應重新設計體系，鼓勵正確的行為和學習習慣。這樣，我們的年輕人將掌握一項真正寶貴的技能，終生受益。

全人教育——品格與價值觀

黃碧芳女士（淡濱尼）：女士，在今年的教育儲蓄品格獎頒獎活動中，我走訪了一些學生，問他們為何認為自己獲獎。常見回答是：“我不知道”或“我不確定”。

我知道教育儲蓄品格獎自2012年設立時初衷良好，但此時回顧該獎項的實用性是有益的。它真的有助於我們年輕人的道德發展嗎？學校在選拔獲獎者時到底獎勵了哪些價值觀和品質？這些資訊如何傳達？更根本的是，我們是否應完全取消品格獎的現金部分？

我敦促教育部對該計劃進行仔細審查，探索更好的方式來彰顯教育部對品格和價值觀的重視。

多項研究表明，在品格教育中，外在動機不僅與內在動機不同，實際上還會侵蝕內在動機。那些因做好事而獲得獎勵的人，反而不太可能認為自己是關心他人的人，更傾向於將行為歸因於獎勵。因此，研究人員發現，經常獲得獎勵的兒童比其他兒童更不可能持續做這些事情。簡言之，用現金獎勵來激勵兒童表現良好品格可能適得其反。

更糟的是，當每所學校獲獎人數被人為限制在2%時，這就形成了競爭。我想知道這是否導致獲獎者被視為他人想效仿的榜樣，還是被看作只是幸運被老師發現的學生。

女士，“教育”一詞源自拉丁語，意為“引匯出來”。為了支援學生的社會和道德成長，學習過程需要給予他們機會去理解公平、勇氣和韌性等概念。他們必須被邀請反思複雜問題，自己和彼此探討——一個人應成為什麼樣的人，為什麼值得為此努力，以及當週圍環境惡劣時如何堅持下去。沒有任何品格獎能幫助他們做到這一點。通過學習過程，他們學會自我激勵、自我引導，並堅信自己能掌控想成為什麼樣的人。

我與年輕人交談時發現，有些人傾向於不加批判地從社交媒體獲取新聞，重複問題並尋求解決方案。有時我覺得他們期待我給出標準答案，就像考試題目一樣。我常反問他們：“你怎麼看？你能做什麼？我們來討論。”這可能不會給他們滿意的標準答案，對於不習慣這種方式的人來說，可能會感到不安。

但如果我們想幫助年輕人成為有道德的人，而不是盲目服從或本能反抗所聽到的指令，這種批判性思維和自我意識非常重要。這就是為什麼我認為我們的教育體系應更注重培養批判判斷力，促進個性發展，以及激發對社群、國家和國際問題的興趣。

學校應更好地利用文學、歷史和體育課程，討論人性，從不同角度看問題，並在壓力情境下慎重思考後再行動。

身處關懷的學校社群有助於學生髮展自我意識和公民意識。學校本身必須有品格，學生必須感受到歸屬感。如果我們繼續頻繁更名學校和更換校長，就有可能培養出匿名學校和匿名校長的局面，這是我們無法承受的。

在這方面，我歡迎每所學校獲得的2萬元撥款，用於支援他們確定的事業。我敦促學校明智使用這筆資金，建設自身的學校品格，同時引導學生參與有價值的事業，培養他們對周圍更廣泛社群的個人責任感。如果他們對學校和社群有真正的責任感，行為上應有所改變：例如，他們更不可能亂扔垃圾，更少責怪他人，更願意成為解決方案的一部分。

我也擔心補習心態對年輕人品格發展的影響。即使是成績優異的學生也覺得需要補習。我擔心這會培養他們依賴的心態，削弱他們對自身能力的自信，覺得必須參加更多課程才能成功，而他們本應對自己能力充滿信心，敢於追求卓越。我也擔心過度補習——

主席：黃女士，請結束髮言，時間到了。

黃碧芳：家長在品格培養中也扮演關鍵角色。我想問部長，如何讓家長參與品格培養？

人文與社會科學研究

陳泰勇教授（提名議員）：女士，新加坡過去50年取得了驚人的成就。我們在一代人內從第三世界躍升為第一世界。隨著新加坡慶祝50歲生日，人們對我們的興趣不僅限於經濟成就。現在更深層的好奇是，我們來自哪裡，作為一個國家我們代表什麼，我們經歷了什麼，發展帶來的社會影響，我們在過程中形成了哪些價值觀，以及我們將如何迎接未來。

新加坡也很獨特且引人入勝，因為在發展歷程中，我們經歷了高速發展。我們的增長呈現指數級。這意味著每一代在新加坡生活和成長的人經歷截然不同。

新加坡的代溝非常明顯，可能比世界上任何地方都明顯。社會結構、教育體系、工作、生活經歷，甚至周圍建築和思維方式都代代不同；甚至我們的主要交流語言可能與父母不同。

本預算案著眼於建設未來，我很高興政府已制定計劃，加強新加坡的競爭力。副總理兼財政部長已確定新加坡將重點發展五大增長叢集，即應用健康科學、智慧與可持續城市解決方案、物流與航空航天，以及亞洲和全球金融服務。

科學與技術研究確實是我們在這些領域發展競爭優勢的必要條件。在這方面，國家研究基金會（NRF）發揮著關鍵作用。它於2006年作為總理辦公室（PMO）下屬部門成立，多年來獲得大量資金，用於制定研究、創新與企業（RIE）的政策、計劃和戰略。事實上，新加坡政府已承諾在2011至2015年間投入160億新元用於研發，納入RIE2015計劃。

雖然我們在建設深厚的技術能力上投入巨大，但現在也是投資人文與社會科學研究能力的適當時機。沒有任何科學發明或進步是孤立存在的，重要的是它對人們生活的影響。史蒂夫·喬布斯曾著名地說：“蘋果的DNA中，單靠技術是不夠的——技術與人文藝術結合，才產生讓我們心動的成果。”

此外，今天世界的問題複雜多面，單靠物理科學研究無法解決。

每項政策背後都有經濟、社會和政治後果。因此，我們需要在人文與社會科學領域建立更深的能力，以補充我們在科學與技術方面的傳統優勢，增強我們作為思想領袖的相關性。

對人類經驗的研究豐富了我們對所處世界的認識，賦予我們想象未來的工具。人文與社會科學研究為我們理解歷史、人民、價值觀、國家、社會環境、經濟以及全球環境對我國影響增添了維度。這些知識和理解有助於我們塑造未來。反之，缺乏紮實的學術研究，我們對過去或現行政策的認知不過是觀點、意見，甚至是猜測。

正值新加坡致力於建設知識之都之際，這是果斷投資人文與社會科學的好時機。設立國家人文與社會科學研究理事會，支援人文與社會科學研究，類似NRF支援科學與技術研究，將完善新加坡的研究生態。

我瞭解到教育部已通過其設立的學術研究基金支援大學進行此類研究。但設立專門的國家理事會，支援超越大學範圍的國家研究能力，將有助於在新加坡建立更大、更具多樣性的研究基礎。大學之外有許多團體在人民與社會領域做重要工作，能從此類支援中受益。

在人文與社會科學上的小額投資——我們知道其成本不高——可能對我們作為社會和國家的發展產生巨大影響。

最後，我引用已故亞瑟·葉的詩句：

“懷舊沒有未來。

過去的未來當然沒有懷舊。

現在，街角的賣煙者已不在，或許已故。

不，肯定已故，否則他不會消失。

他被郵票機取代，

老廚師被高壓鍋取代，

老三輪車伕的備用是消防栓，

洗衣婦被甩幹機取代。

變化持續，

各種變奏和排列。

懷舊沒有未來。”

我必須補充，懷舊沒有未來，除非我們從歷史和懷舊中構建未來，從對人類行為和動機的理解中獲得社會認知，以及我們各種各樣的變奏和排列。

培養良好價值觀

馬炎慶先生（淡濱尼）：女士，父母對孩子價值觀的培養負有主要責任。然而，他們需要社群的支援，學校是社群的重要組成部分。學校是孩子們大部分清醒時間所在，也能提供比家庭環境更系統的框架。

我想提出一個建議，說明學校如何幫助學生培養良好價值觀。但請放心，這不需要課程開發、家庭作業、考試或額外上課時間。每天只需10分鐘。

下午2時

我在小學和中學時，我們有值日表，負責掃地、倒垃圾、擦窗戶和擦黑板。議員們應該記得我們還用粉筆黑板的日子。要徹底擦乾淨黑板，我們必須用溼布，因此要從家裡帶抹布；還要提水桶，擦完後掛起抹布晾乾。我不確定當年值日表是否是標準做法，但根據我隨機詢問自己三個孩子所在的三所不同學校，今天這種做法並不普遍。

新加坡人習慣了“被清潔”的城市，而非成為一個乾淨的城市。隨著越來越多孩子在有傭人的家庭長大，以及我們日益嚴重的亂扔垃圾問題，我建議我們效仿日本和臺灣學校的每日清潔制度。所有小學和中學學生都應有義務負責自己教室的清潔。應制定值日表，安排不同任務，並在上課前安排時間進行清潔。每天僅需10分鐘，不僅能教會學生實用生活技能，培養團隊合作精神，還能讓他們尊重和珍惜體力勞動。

女士，今天我們不再用黑板書寫，但我們可以制定值日表。雖然不再用粉筆擦子，但我們可以充分利用清潔值日表。

通過課外活動和“行動中的價值觀”（VIA）促進社會創新

郭曉吟女士（被提名議員）：我宣告本人是思想集體的社會創新者。行動中的價值觀（VIA）是好的，讓我們談談如何讓它變得更好。阻礙VIA產生更大社會影響的原因是，雖然它向孩子們傳授價值觀的內容，但未能讓孩子們瞭解這些價值觀所能幫助解決的問題的背景。如果教孩子對窮人慷慨，卻沒有讓他理解並洞察並非所有社會解決方案或情況都是平等的，他可能最終變得憤世嫉俗，或者，可能只是幫不上忙。

學校在創造更有影響力的VIA專案時面臨的問題不是缺乏良好的意圖，而是缺乏戰略性的支援網路。教師們確實想做得更好，但他們需要外部專業知識。因此，學校需要來自民間社會部門的可信賴合作伙伴，與他們共同創造和協商。

學校的核心業務是對孩子的全面教育，而不是如何產生巨大社會影響的全面理解。這是民間社會的核心業務，他們是缺失的環節，可以提供幫助。這些人對社會問題了如指掌，關心這些問題，並且他們的整個職業生涯都在思考解決方案。因此，邀請學者、創新者、思想領袖，他們對社會部門解決方案持有強烈的未來願景，但沒有渠道與您接觸，分享最大影響力的可能性。關於如何在學校培養社會驅動的創新，我有兩個建議。

首先，讓我們重新構想一個令人振奮的以社會為導向的課外活動（CCA）新願景。CCA仍應主要是孩子們發展非學術興趣的有趣途徑，但讓我們為它們增加一個社會目標。與體育和戲劇CCA不同，許多學生社團如圖書館、園藝甚至學生會沒有大型全國性比賽可供學生爭奪。因此，這個提議對他們尤其有利，因為它為他們提供了一個全國級別的挑戰。利用CCA幫助孩子們將個人興趣的探索與“我的個人興趣如何真正幫助解決社群問題？”這一更廣闊的視角結合起來。

第二，組建一個由民間社會領袖和具有前瞻性的公務員組成的聯盟，戰略性地確定學生可以真正產生影響的國家重大社會問題。將其轉化為每所學校都能通過CCA執行的專案。讓我們教孩子們將個人興趣匯聚於服務國家需求。孩子們希望成為大局的一部分。如果我們要給他們2萬元，讓我們向他們展示這個大局有多大，並幫助他們產生真正明顯的影響，而不是想象中的“感覺良好”的影響。

推廣戶外活動

陳伯尼醫生（被提名議員）：多年前，我曾參與一個社會公民使命，前往印度尼西亞的農村地區。同行的是一群十幾歲的新加坡人，其中一人指著一隻過馬路的動物說：“誒，那是什麼貓？好大！”我看了看所謂的“貓”，驚呆了。那其實是一隻山羊！你看，這個年輕人以前從未見過山羊，只熟悉家養的貓和狗。

女士，我建議戶外教育在我們的學校課程中佔據更重要的位置。我宣告我是新加坡帆船聯合會主席。

過去，強調大多數學生在學校生活中至少參加一次戶外訓練學校（OBS）。因此，我們許多人都有徒步、定向、露營、皮划艇和帆船的經歷，這些經歷對生活在城市的新加坡普通孩子來說並不容易獲得。

隨著新加坡日益城市化，年輕人花更多時間面對電腦，戶外教育比以往任何時候都更重要。戶外教育培養對自然的欣賞和尊重，塑造品格、獨立性、韌性和領導力。當然，基本軍事訓練不應是青年首次接觸叢林並學會自我生存的時刻。

當教育部（MOE）首次推動戶外教育時，許多學校確保每個年級組在學校生活中至少參加一次OBS課程。多年來，我的印象是，越來越少的學校堅持這一點，OBS只為少數學生保留，如迎新或領導力培訓。此外，戶外教育可能變得過於溫和，有些學校將搭帳篷算作戶外教育。

令我欣慰的是，今年年初，OBS已成為國家青年理事會（NYC）的一部分，並將領導NYC作為國家青年發展者的工作。據我瞭解，未來幾年OBS的年度容量將大幅增加，以擴大其對青年的覆蓋和參與。這是令人興奮的前景，所有新加坡青年都將再次有機會體驗OBS熱情教練帶來的冒險式學習。我知道許多教練歡迎對青年的重新關注。

但每年約有4萬名學生，我希望教育部不僅充分利用OBS，還能利用教育部冒險學習中心和其他供應商，讓每一位青年都能接受優質的戶外教育專案。

我希望教育部能向議會更新每個年級組中接受過正規戶外教育體驗的學生比例，以及是否有意提高這一比例。

拓寬學校的藝術與手工課程

蘇秀蘭女士（被提名議員）：女士，在我對2015年預算關於發展人力資本方面的回應中，我贊同教育部（MOE）培養每個孩子的自信和學習慾望的使命，從學前到小學階段。

重要的是要早期開始，在這些形成期，每個孩子都接觸廣泛的活動，以發現其成長中的才能和興趣。每個孩子都能獲得在21世紀茁壯成長所需的知識、技能和價值觀。這些核心價值觀，如教育部指導方針所述，特別涉及尊重、責任、韌性、誠信、關懷、和諧，甚至社會和情感能力，如自我意識、自我管理、社會意識、關係管理、負責任的決策，以及新興能力，如批判性和創新性思維、溝通技能、協作和資訊技能，這些都是教育部確定的整體課程不可或缺的一部分。

我之前強調，我們在培養高能力和高資質人才方面表現出色。然而，我相信要達到下一個成長水平，我們需要真正熱愛並渴望掌握其技藝的個人！我們需要對所學內容充滿熱情，並在過程中投入情感，尤其是在設計是關鍵能力、頭腦、心靈和雙手必須協同工作的領域。必須鼓勵孩子們以連貫的方式使用他們的手、心和頭腦。

我也表達了一些擔憂，既作為企業主，也作為行業代表。過去十多年，我們許多人注意到需要動手技能的能力逐漸下降。特別是在我的建築領域，這結合了科學知識和藝術技能，僱主和行業專業人士都沮喪地注意到，畢業生的工藝水平穩步下降。電腦的使用和對移動裝置的依賴進一步削弱了他們在視覺化、感官和觸覺方面的專注和訓練。因此，我決定關注小學藝術課程中的一些具體重點領域。

當我檢視教育部小學和初中低年級的藝術課程大綱時，我喜歡其中的內容。女士，請允許我朗讀介紹部分。

“藝術在我們日常生活中扮演重要角色。藝術美化環境，捕捉記憶，傳達思想，傳遞價值觀，激發情感。藝術以不同形式存在於我們周圍，如自然中的色彩和圖案，到雜誌、產品和媒體上的日常影像和設計。

在歷史和各國文化中，藝術反映文化和信仰。學習藝術為學生提供了理解自己和他人歷史文化的額外途徑。通過創作藝術，學生學會反思並表達獨特性，通過影像和物品傳達思想和情感。藝術在學生成長和發展中的作用不可低估。通過積極的藝術學習體驗，學生髮展視覺素養，增強觀察和感知世界的意識和審美敏感度。創作藝術還鼓勵創造力的發展，同時培養自我價值感。這使學生更好地理解和參與他們所生活的世界。”

為了實現這些目標，課程在“觀察、表達和欣賞”的框架下進行，考慮認知、情感和心理運動維度。雖然學生有機會觀察環境、產生想法、創作藝術品、討論藝術及其對社會的價值影響，但我仍覺得以下方面可以進一步改進。

總體而言，關於給予學生的廣泛藝術媒介，我覺得我們常把藝術課程當作一次“探險”，學生更多時間是在看而非做。因此，在藝術技巧方面，如繪畫、塑形、渲染和數字媒體的使用，指導方針仍然非常籠統。我快速瀏覽了12所小學的網站，瞭解它們提供的藝術課程。這絕非詳細研究，但我的觀察如下。

許多藝術模組本質上是課外活動（CCA），即課外時間進行且非強制性的。約半數學生專注於藝術與手工，使用各種媒介。許多學校在小學四、五、六年級教授數字藝術。藝術、音樂和體育常被合併為一個課程包，學校之間的教學方法差異很大。

我不禁回想起自己上學時接觸過許多不同型別的藝術媒介——土豆印刷、用塑形泥製作模型、粘土、編籃子——這些都可以繼續。即使在中學，我們也有木工、金工等技術工藝課，許多人愛上了這些手工課，為後來的專業學習奠定了基礎。

動手且綜合的藝術與手工學習方法對學生有益，即使大多數學生將來從事非藝術相關職業。因此，我有三個問題：第一，小學後期對數字藝術的關注——這真的是增加接觸面，還是我們應該先為學生打好基礎，然後再教他們使用Photoshop？

主席：蘇女士，請您總結髮言。

蘇秀蘭女士：第二個問題是，我們能否將藝術欣賞與後續學習的學科結合起來？即使是簡單的積木也能教授機械結構的知識。最後，藝術課程似乎是可選的，我們能否將其納入主課程？

教育作為社會平衡器

蔡慶林先生：女士，教育常被稱為普遍的社會平衡器，這是有道理的。自建國初期以來，我們見證了許多來自謙卑和多樣背景的人，通過接受學術或技能教育取得成功。新加坡確實幸運，擁有一個不僅認識到教育重要性，而且努力讓所有人都能接受教育的政府。

然而，主席女士，隨著我們發展，資料顯示來自高收入和中等收入家庭的學生在學校表現仍然更好。在這方面，部長如何確保給予低收入家庭學生足夠支援，使他們能從優質教育體系中受益？

下午2時15分

我認為政府在經濟上已做了不少幫助，但低收入家庭的問題可能超出金錢範疇。低收入家庭面臨的各種社會問題可能破壞孩子的情感和學業發展能力。如何幫助這些孩子的教育之路？

此外，女士，我們如何裝備和培訓教育者，使他們對教學充滿熱情，激勵他們幫助學生更好學習，無論學生背景如何？同時，我們如何裝備教師，確保他們能儘早識別孩子面臨的問題，並以更有熱情和全面的方式幫助低收入家庭的孩子？

支援所有新加坡學生

謝納爾·薩帕裡先生（巴西立-榜鵝）：女士，孩子是我們的未來。我讚賞政府對教育的投資支援。隨著國家努力成為包容性社會，這也必須體現在教育政策中。我相信政府應促進更大包容性和對所有新加坡學生的支援。

將個人教育儲蓄賬戶（Edusave）擴充套件至所有新加坡學生是進步，但僅限主流學校學生免除考試費的決定，使我們在包容性方面有所不足。

我呼籲政府重新審視對馬德拉薩（伊斯蘭教學校）作為私立學校的立場，而應將其視為教育體系的一部分。支援馬德拉薩學生很重要，他們將在多種族、多宗教國家背景下定義穆斯林社會的價值觀和原則。

我呼籲政府免除所有新加坡學生的國家考試費用，只要是他們首次參加國家考試，包括國際文憑考試。這應適用於私立教育機構學生或選擇在家教育的學生。

輔助教育者與課後照顧

莫哈達·因坦·阿祖拉醫生（宏茂橋）：女士，輔助教育者（AED）計劃推出已有約五年。2009年約有600名AED，如今增至約2400名。每所小學和中學約有七名AED。我們必須認識到AED在課堂上協助教師、確保不同學習風格和能力的學生不被落下的重要作用。

雖然我欣慰教育部在早前的議會質詢中表示已滿足每所小學和中學的AED人員需求，但我仍覺得學校可能需要更多AED，原因有二。

第一，社會及家庭發展部（MSF）推出的發展支援計劃將幫助約2000名新加坡學齡前兒童更早被診斷出輕度發展需求。這是好事，有助於在學前及小學階段給予適當干預。這無形中意味著需要更多AED，以確保學生學年間持續獲得適當干預和幫助。

第二，教育部最近宣佈2016年起所有小學實施基於學校的閱讀障礙補救計劃，也意味著需要更多AED或學習支援教育者進入課堂，確保對閱讀障礙學生的持續和適當干預。

教育部面臨聘用足夠受過培訓、合格且熱情投入AED的挑戰。提高薪資是吸引更多人進入該職業的方式之一，但可能不足以留住他們。

教育部是否考慮為AED設立更全面的專業發展路徑，一是幫助他們獲得更多認可並看到明確的職業發展路徑；二是允許他們積累課堂經驗和內容熟練度後轉軌成為普通教育官員或課堂教師？此外，教育部是否考慮實施技能未來（SkillsFuture）和邊學邊賺計劃（Earn-and-Learn Programme），讓家庭主婦、中年轉業者或退休人員加入AED行列？這可能是培訓和部署更多AED到學校的途徑。

關於課後照顧，許多人希望未來幾年每所小學都能在校內提供課後照顧。這對許多有學齡兒童的工作父母來說很必要，因為校內課後照顧帶來安全感和保障。

然而，提供物理空間是容易的部分。挑戰在於擁有足夠的看護人員來管理這些課後託管中心。我建議教育部考慮試點一個專案，讓我們理工學院和大學的高等教育學生報名成為青年志願者，作為社群或“行動中的價值觀”（VIA）專案的一部分，協助運營課後託管中心。教育部可能需要為基礎設施提供資金，而這些青年志願者可以從外部渠道或通過眾籌為這些課後託管中心的專案或運營費用籌集額外資金。

小學學生託管中心

李德源先生（義順）：主席女士，隨著所有小學實行單一上課時間，我知道許多有小學生的在職父母在孩子放學後的照顧安排上遇到困難。尤其是那些選擇不請家傭或家中沒有看護人員的家庭，或者有兩個或以上孩子的家庭。

我們已經成立了早期兒童發展局（ECDA）來監管托兒行業，但我敦促設立一個類似機構，由單一部委全面負責，專注於加強新加坡學生託管中心的數量和質量。一個方法是為大多數小學配備課後學生託管設施。這些小學的學生託管中心將極大地幫助在職父母或有兩個及以上孩子的父母。

孩子們可以利用下午到傍晚的時間休息，花時間學習新技能，與朋友互動，參加學習之旅，或在校內通過遊戲或體育活動娛樂。或許，自助團體、志願福利組織（VWO）或合作社可以在新加坡的小學提供這項服務。

學生託管

李麗蓮女士（榜鵝東）：女士，眾所周知，托兒服務的強烈需求遲早會轉化為學生託管的需求。

我在去年的總統致辭辯論中談過這個問題。像盛港和榜鵝這樣的新興住宅區居住著年輕家庭。因此，校本學生託管中心（SCC）在這些地區受到歡迎。這些中心為雙職工家庭提供了急需的便利，讓家長安心，不必擔心孩子放學後去哪裡，或是否安全獨自回家。這些中心還提供輔導課程和作業監督。這種安排減少了家庭對家傭的需求，尤其對缺乏家庭支援的孩子非常有用。

在去年的供應委員會辯論中，部長宣佈公眾可以期待再增加40個學生託管中心。雖然這是受歡迎的，我相信教育部可以做得更多，推動至少每所學校設立一個學生託管中心。我呼籲教育部對此給予更大重視。

（用普通話）：[請參閱方言發言。] 去年在總統致辭辯論中，我提到年輕家庭需要學生託管服務。今天對托兒中心的需求將轉變為明天對學生託管服務的需求。學生託管服務將幫助監督學生的行為和作業。家長不必擔心放學後孩子去哪裡，或孩子獨自回家是否安全。這種安排將減少家庭對家傭的依賴。我希望教育部能更多關注這個問題。

課前和課後託管

洪偉能先生：女士，我感謝教育部努力並承諾到2015年將校本學生託管中心數量增加到120個。我也要祝賀部長該計劃的成功。許多校本學生託管中心一開辦就滿員，且有長長的等待名單。

靠近租賃組屋的校本學生託管中心的空位短缺更為嚴重，因為需求很高。我希望部長能與我們分享提供更多校本學生託管中心名額的限制，是學校空間和基礎設施的限制，還是運營者面臨的人力限制。

如果是人力限制，教育部是否考慮為志願福利組織（VWO）提供類似的補貼和資助，以擴大這些中心的名額或在學校附近設立額外的學生託管中心？例如，我有一個VWO準備在裕廊這樣做，我希望部長能認真考慮。

教育部長（王瑞傑先生）：女士，獲准的話，我可以在LED螢幕上展示一些幻燈片嗎？

主席：可以，請。

王瑞傑先生：女士，感謝許多議員提出深思熟慮且廣泛的意見。

今年，我們慶祝國家五十週年。我們慶祝教育如何使一代代新加坡人建立更好的生活，並幫助我們建設國家。我們感謝先驅教育者及其家長。

回顧1965年，教育意味著讀書。我們的先驅們有未來的目標，知道自己身處何地，並努力彌補差距。當時的主要差距是基本的讀寫和算術技能——因此“讀書”很有意義，因為他們學習三項基本技能——閱讀、寫作、算術。許多人變得有文化和有計算能力。

隨後，我們逐年完善教育體系。在關鍵時刻，我們做出重要選擇以適應和改變。教育者、家長和學生以精神響應，每一波變革都讓我們有目的地取得進一步進展。通過這些變化，我們建立了良好的教育體系，發展了人才，促進了經濟增長。

但也有無意的負面影響。在我們心中，“讀書”越來越等同於考試、成績和資格。過度關注學業成績可能成為弱點，因為我們幾乎沒有時間培養成功和滿足所需的其他素質。學生告訴我他們因被寄予厚望而面臨的壓力。

對更好成績的追求催生了補習產業。它造成了資格的垂直堆疊，以及家長心中基於學業成績的學校分層——成績等級的層次。

我們並非獨特。使其他三個亞洲四小龍——韓國、香港、臺灣——取得巨大進步的“讀書”文化，也在他們社會中產生了同樣甚至更大的壓力。

像我們的先驅一樣，我們必須重新問自己：未來我們想去哪裡？我們今天在哪裡？如何實現飛躍？

兩年前的新加坡對話中，許多新加坡人表達了對充滿精神和信任的和諧家庭的期望。一個我們都有機會追求夢想的家園。一個當我們遇到困難時都能得到照顧的家園。一個我們活出有意義生活的家園。所以，這不僅是我們做什麼，更是我們作為一個民族的身份。

但許多人也認識到，隨著全球經濟和政治秩序以不可預測的方式變化，未來將更加不確定和動盪。其他地方的政治和宗教發展可能加強或削弱我們的社會凝聚力。人口老齡化將帶來我們無法完全預見的挑戰。數字互聯的年輕一代可能更加團結，也可能更加分裂。

工作的性質也將改變。首先，許多現有工作將消失。智慧機器和其他地方的低成本勞動力將取代這些工作。因此，我們必須換工作，可能一生中多次換工作。但需要獨特人類品質的工作無法被機器取代，反而會更有價值。

即使是同一份工作也會不同。因此，創造力、發明力、適應力、社交和情感技能以及文化和全球意識等特質將使新加坡人更具優勢。

將創造新的、有趣且多樣化的工作崗位。我們中的一些人將成為自僱人士，一些人將作為企業家為他人創造工作崗位。如果我們的經濟發展良好，將創造更多工作崗位。

因此，所有這些都為成功提供了新的多條路徑。面對這些挑戰和機遇，我們處於十字路口。我們有兩個選擇。我們可以繼續走“讀書”路線，狹隘地關注成績和考試，陷入無休止的追分和補習產業擴張，正如許多議員所警告的那樣。僱主不投資員工，完全依賴學術資格決定誰獲得工作。教育者鑽研和測試，認為職責是幫助學生取得最佳考試成績。家長痴迷於成績，花費越來越多資源讓孩子在其他孩子中脫穎而出。學生追逐下一分，花大部分時間參加補習和狹隘領域的提升課程。社會壓力上升，系統培養出考試優異但無法勝任未來工作或找到滿足感的學生。失業或就業不足普遍存在。每個人都變得更糟。

這是一條嚴峻的道路，但遺憾的是其他社會已經走過。林標泉先生在開場發言中舉了生動的例子說明其他地方的情況。潘淑英女士警告我們，如果不改變，海底的暗流將使我們漂流，漂向錯誤方向。這是一種可能的結果。

或者我們可以有另一種結果。我們可以大膽果斷地採取另一條前進道路，進行重大轉型。我們需要僱主、教師、家長、學生和整個社會的集體意志和行動：僱主在招聘和晉升時超越學術資格，選拔最合適的人；老闆支援員工技能提升；教育者專注於全人教育，建立堅實的價值觀和學習能力；高等學府在加強學習與工作及終身學習的聯絡中發揮領導作用；家長認識到每個孩子的獨特優勢，盡力培養孩子品格；學生通過多樣的學術和課外活動（CCA）茁壯成長，走不同成功路徑，成長為全面發展的人；經濟保持韌性和靈活性，擁有高就業率和眾多機會——高技能、高生產力和高薪資；我們的社會和人民繼續關愛、和諧、謙遜和團結，我們不將教育視為孩子之間的競賽。

這是一條尚無社會完全開闢的新路——我一直在研究世界各地的教育體系。開闢這片新領域需要我們再次成為先驅。

在新加坡，基於過去教育體系的諸多變革，我們繼續做出進一步改變，朝這個方向邁進。正如潘淑英女士提醒的，我們關注價值觀和品格，加強全人教育，取消學校排名，增強對弱勢和特殊需要學生的支援。我們在學校發展新的學習方式，使每所學校成為好學校，擴大高等教育的應用路徑，並在本預算中提出一系列基於ASPIRE建議的SkillsFuture計劃。

所有這些變化為轉型奠定了基礎，創造一個以深厚技能和強烈價值觀為支撐的新加坡美好未來。

但這個未來只有在我們作為一個民族轉變教育觀念時才屬於我們。這不僅僅是“讀書”或學習書本，而是關於在各領域隨時隨地為有目的、有意義、充實的生活而學習。換句話說，我們需要踐行先驅精神；超越為成績而學，轉向為精通而學；超越在校學習，轉向終身學習；超越為工作而學，轉向為生活而學。

餘振忠先生提到了綜合學校計劃。潘淑英女士提出了對學校變革的良好建議，並再次提到貫通式綜合計劃。事實上，潘女士幾個月前還提出了休會動議。我想說，我們應超越學校所做的事情，走得更遠。這不僅是彭榮發先生提到的補習問題，而是更根本的變革。請允許我談談這些根本變化。

第一個重大轉變是超越為成績而學，轉向為精通而學。我們如何培養領域精通？我們沒有所有答案。但讓我分享一個故事。

三十多年前我在警察學院時，我的一位先驅教官是張約翰先生。他學術資格不高，但在我心中是最好的教官之一。他懂法律，知道如何處理緊張局面，也懂教學。他告訴我，每處理完一個案件，他都會反思如何做得更好。他會在腦海中想象情景——如果遇到更暴力的罪犯，或他們持有槍械，或受害者不配合，他該如何反應。他自學，參加課程，向同事和上司請教。能問的人他都問。

約翰是少數從警員做起，歷經多次晉升，最終退休時是助理警司的人。你們看到他晉升時的照片，在當時是相當了不起的成就。

作為一名年輕警官，我從約翰那裡學到了很多關於成為有效學習者和如何達到精通的意義。他是自我導向的。沒人告訴他如何學習，但他自己學。他善於反思，從經驗中學習，無論成功還是失敗。他分階段學習，按需取用。他心態開放，隨時隨地向所有人學習。他有紀律，學習融入日常生活。他充滿熱情，深切關心所做的事。這一切都發生在我們談SkillsFuture之前。

現在在教育工作中，我很幸運遇到許多像約翰一樣致力於精通各領域的人。

讓我舉一個例子——國立大學醫院（NUH）高階顧問鍾業成副教授。他是醫生出身，領導一項全國性的出生佇列研究，研究孕期母親的飲食和生活方式如何影響嬰兒出生後的成長。這項研究對預防和管理糖尿病、肥胖等疾病具有重大國家影響。像他這樣深諳專業知識的人，不畏創新應用知識和技能，推動新領域，探索未知，發明新事物。

我們應致力成為一個新加坡人在各領域都能達到精通的國家，成為足智多謀、富有創造力、開拓創新的新加坡人。這需要學校、高等學府和產業的共同努力。

讓我概述教育部的貢獻。在十年基礎教育中，我們的目標是，首先，無論學生起點如何，都為每位學生打下堅實的讀寫、算術和思維技能基礎。Hri Kumar先生提到表達能力和自信的重要性，我完全同意並感謝他的寶貴建議。事實上，我們現在從學前和小學階段就開始推行新的閱讀和口語專案。

讀寫和算術技能至關重要，因為它們使學生能夠持續學習和進步。我們將通過適當的評估保持嚴格性，作為檢查點幫助學生跟蹤進展，並做出最佳學習路徑的決策。必要時，學生可以參加提升基礎的課程。

第二，我們將讓每位學生廣泛接觸各種學科和課外活動（CCA），激發他們對體育、藝術、戶外探險等領域的興趣。我贊同陳文德博士對戶外和探險學習的熱情，感謝他的建議。我也感謝蘇麗塔女士對藝術教育的建議及改進意見。

第三，持續改進教學，激發好奇心，讓每位學生將知識付諸行動。這包括使用資訊通訊技術教學，正如潘淑英女士強調的。事實上，我很高興分享，我們正在開發學生學習空間，希望能提供高質量內容和多種高質量使用方式。

第四，在每位學生身上培養深厚的品格。這對生活重要，對實現精通也重要，因為精通需要在職業和事業中付出努力和堅持。

學習以精通為目標的一個重要方面是將學生的優勢和興趣與學校和高等院校、職業和企業中的機會相匹配。易仁忠先生提到了天才教育計劃（GEP），但我想更進一步。我希望激發所有孩子的學習好奇心，為所有學生、所有學校提供豐富且有意義的學習機會。

我們學校最近的一項創新是幾乎所有中學都設有應用學習計劃（ALPs），這是“每校皆優”運動的一部分。通過有趣且富有創意的方式，學生將各領域知識應用於解決他們感興趣領域的複雜現實問題。

讓我分享兩個例子。首先是喜樂中學。喜樂中學有一個飛行與航空航天的應用學習計劃。學生學習基礎的航空航天理論，並通過建造和駕駛自己的模型飛機，將數學、科學以及設計與技術應用其中。學生們還會參加航空航天高階選修模組，在那裡他們學習飛機如何在飛行模擬器中克服重力！

Rayner Lee非常喜歡在喜樂中學的學習，事實上，他現在在南洋理工學院學習航空航天技術，並說：“我選擇喜樂是因為青年飛行俱樂部課外活動。我想成為一名飛行員。我的父母和學校老師鼓勵我考取私人飛行員執照（PPL）。現在我有了執照，希望加入新加坡空軍成為飛行員。”我希望Rayner能夠飛得更高。

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另一個例子是大邁中學的健康科學與技術應用學習計劃。學生們應用化學和生物學的概念來構建生物醫學裝置。他們製造了鹽度感測器，可以分析尿樣以判斷人體健康狀況。大邁的學生在考慮使用者時也培養了同理心。通過與高等院校和社群的合作，學生們受到醫療保健和醫療技術行業職業可能性的啟發。正如大邁三位兒子的母親Fiona Han女士所說：“這是一次極好的經歷，讓他們拓寬未來的職業選擇。”

不同的應用學習計劃為學生提供了將知識付諸實踐、使學習生動的不同可能性。學習對每個學生、每所學校都變得相關且引人入勝。我們並不是讓學生過早專攻某一領域。事實上，在一個領域獲得的深厚技能可以轉移到另一個領域。

例如義安理工學院利用製造無人機（UAV）的技術知識，製造無人水下航行器（UUV）來清潔船體——實現了從空中到海上的技能轉移。

下午2時45分

理工學院（ITE）的一支團隊與新加坡動物園的應用醫療技術合作，設計了一種孵化器，使爬行動物蛋的孵化率從25%提高到75%。所以，如果你看到動物園裡有更多的鱷魚，你就知道原因了。這非常有效！

我們很幸運，充滿活力的經濟創造了各種優質工作崗位。選擇更多，我們需要良好的教育與職業指導（ECG）。學生可以探索並發展多領域的深厚技能——無論是設計、商業、藝術、音樂還是體育。通過讓學生接觸各種可能性，我們賦予他們做出更好選擇、選擇合適路徑的能力。

因此，我們將加強各級的教育與職業指導。學校、理工學院和高等院校的ECG課程將得到提升，到2017年，我們將擁有專業的ECG輔導員團隊和一個展示眾多激動人心機會的線上ECG入口網站——這些都將由我們的技能未來（SkillsFuture）計劃豐富。

Rita Soh女士早前談到如何整合藝術與科學，以及如何整合頭腦、心靈與雙手的學習。事實上，我們的高等院校也在發生許多有意義且令人興奮的事情。

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如果你要搭建一個讓總理在農曆新年慶典上站立的精彩舞臺，你會怎麼做？新加坡科技設計大學（SUTD）的學生運用他們的工程、設計、藝術和文化意識知識，打造了今年牛車水的農曆新年燈飾。

他們設計了共計338個羊燈籠，其中28個是電動的。三個特別的羊燈，每個約重400公斤，安置在一座山上，形成了10米高的中心裝飾。這不僅是美麗的景象，更生動地迎來了羊年。我們都知道總理非常高興地出席了這個舞臺。螢幕上可以看到總理與團隊的合影。

這是SUTD學生第四年參與設計農曆新年燈飾，每年隨著生肖的更替，他們都從前一年學習，推動自己以不同的思維方式，將所有技能和知識融入新的傑作。

他們用頭腦、心靈和雙手共同創造。事實上，我們理工學院的座右銘是“動手、動腦、動心”。無論是理工學院還是SUTD，這都是重要的學習方式。這正是超越為成績而學，邁向為精通而學的意義所在。

我們作為一個民族需要共同實現的第二個重大轉變是超越學校學習，邁向終身學習。讓我與各位議員分享另一個故事。

我最近訪問了實裡達航空園。五十年前，實裡達以豬場的氣味聞名。五十年後，我來到實裡達，見證了我們首臺在新加坡製造、為新加坡公司Scoot生產的勞斯萊斯TRENT 1000噴氣發動機的交付。天壤之別！

我遇到了三位在那工作的新加坡人——Ravinder、Cheria和Siti Mariani。Ravinder是一名擁有24年航空航天經驗的團隊領導。你可能以為他無所不知，但他說，我引用他的原話：“對我來說，每一天都是學習的過程。”這位先生說這話時非常認真。事實證明，他的兒子也對航空航天工程感興趣，因此他決定自己“最好回學校學習新技能和更多技能”，以便指導兒子並將技能傳給下一代。

於是，他報名參加了淡馬錫理工學院的航空航天工程文憑課程，目前已學習六個月。與此同時，他在勞斯萊斯努力工作，指導年輕同事，如Cheria和Siti。

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Cheria在淡馬錫理工學院也是Ravinder的“校友”，她也在攻讀航空航天工程文憑，但她只有他的三分之一年齡。作為實習生，她在工作場所學習，而Ravinder則在理工學院學習。Siti是理工學院航空航天技術的學生，也是團隊成員之一。她曾在樟宜機場的一家書店工作時，看著飛機起飛，激發了她的興趣，開始思考飛機如何飛行。

如今，她是勞斯萊斯理工學院獎學金獲得者，興奮地參與制造一臺由約3萬個零件組成的複雜發動機！並且作為實習生學習所有這些。因此，你看，這不僅僅是學習技術技能。她說，我引用她的話：“勞斯萊斯教會我多才多藝和自信，以跟上航空航天行業的變化。”

Ravinder、Cheria和Siti處於人生不同階段，但都積極學習，力求更好，在工作和生活中取得成功。

但我理解許多新加坡人告訴我，“一旦開始工作或有家庭責任，就很難抽時間學習。”確實，我們必須解決實際限制，賦能終身學習。

我們的高等院校將在賦能新加坡人隨時隨地終身學習方面發揮主導作用。我們的高等院校將與熱衷於打造良好學習環境的企業合作。我們將提供更多優質實習機會，讓像Siti和Cheria這樣的年輕人能夠學習、解決現實問題並獲得軟技能。我感謝易仁忠先生和李麗蓮女士對實習及如何與不同參與者合作的建議。

我們的高等院校將建立技能未來“邊學邊賺”計劃，使Siti、Cheria及其他人能夠在工作中獲得導師指導並掌握技能。參加“邊學邊賺”的學生實際上享受了一年或更長時間的高度補貼教育。但他們不僅在高等院校學習，還在工作中接受結構化指導。他們通過此途徑獲得更高的行業認可資格。

我們還將推出基於技能的模組化課程。到今年年底，我們的理工學院和大學將提供超過300門模組化課程。這些課程涵蓋專業領域，如新加坡理工學院的數字取證與調查、南洋理工大學的船舶建築與海洋工程、新加坡管理大學的功能基因組學，以及共和理工學院的教練與輔導技能。正如你所見，範圍非常廣泛！

我們將更慷慨地補貼所有新加坡人的兼職、專業及高階文憑課程，即使這不是你第一次獲得此類文憑，併為40歲及以上的新加坡人提供更慷慨的技能未來中年增強補貼。我同意譚麗娜女士的觀點，我們必須鼓勵所有人學習，包括老年人。

我們的高等院校將在特定行業發揮主導作用。首先，我們將為17個戰略行業任命行業協調員。這些行業被確定為未來增長行業或滿足社會關鍵需求的行業。除了工程和製造業，我們還將涵蓋早期兒童教育（高階國務部長Indranee稍後將詳細介紹）、醫療保健等多個領域。

讓我解釋一下運作方式。例如，共和理工學院（RP）是物流行業的協調員。他們將確保學校學習與物流行業工作學習之間的緊密聯絡。我想表揚共和理工學院的員工，他們積極與行業參與者接觸，聯合了包括YCH集團、DHL快遞和楊記物流等12家公司，共同設計了為期12個月的“邊學邊賺”計劃。

這些公司將採用共和理工學院的工作場所培訓藍圖，使工作學習與學校學習相結合，達到最大效果。完成該計劃的學生將獲得共和理工學院供應鏈管理專業文憑中的技能認證，但他們是在工作中獲得認可並獲得報酬，無需支付學費！他們將學習如何應對全球貨物流動中的複雜性和規模，資料分析，管理供應鏈和庫存，並制定最佳化運輸的計劃。正如你所見，這些都是高技能領域。他們還將學習解決問題、人際交往及多種軟技能。當他們展示已掌握並能應用新技能時，將承擔更大責任並獲得加薪。早前顏忠寧先生提到如何確保所學技能帶來更好職業發展，這就是方法，我希望更多行業參與者加入。

共和理工學院將為導師提供專業培訓，幫助企業建立像Ravinder那樣的行業導師網路。這將倍增我們的效能，傳播行業專業知識。我將為每個行業系統地推進此舉。我們將研究不同的在職學習模式，探索更多線上學習的使用，並尋求創新方法。這就是我們幫助所有新加坡人實現從學校學習到終身學習的路徑。

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當我們決心為精通而學、終身學習時，我們需要重新思考一些關於學習及其變革意義的問題。讓我分享一些觀察。經濟合作與發展組織（OECD）最近進行了一項成人技能調查。日本工人在技能方面排名靠前，但在工作中技能的利用率卻排名較低。相反，美國工人在技能方面排名較低，但在工作中技能利用率卻名列前茅——無論他們擁有什麼技能，都能充分利用。

我們預算辯論的許多內容集中在課程質量控制及工人是否能參加課程上。這些技能學習課程很重要。但OECD的研究生動地說明，更重要的是工人是否能使用所學技能。我們不能僅僅爭論哪些課程能獲得學分，也不能用技能未來積分去追求另一種資格認證或爭論哪些課程能獲得資格。培訓課程只是手段。我們的關注點必須是目標——獲得、精通並使用深厚技能。

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因此，如果工人或公司參加課程只是為了完成配額或因為有激勵措施，參加課程的效果將非常有限。但如果公司充分利用工人的高技能，便會帶來更高生產力和更高利潤；反過來，他們可以支付更高工資。高技能、高生產力、高工資。這是我們必須實現的良性迴圈。

要實現這一良性迴圈，公司發揮關鍵作用。因此，我很高興YCH集團董事長兼執行長、新加坡全國僱主聯合會主席葉國榮先生非常支援公司與共和理工學院的合作。我希望更多僱主將員工技能發展和利用納入其生產力和創新戰略。我也感謝蔡文雄先生呼籲行業協會與教育部密切合作，並呼籲中小企業通過行業協會與我們緊密合作。我們隨時準備與他們合作。

另一個觀察涉及我們如何引導自己的學習或自主學習。

通過技能未來，各種專業和高階文憑及專業化、模組化的短課程獲得更高補貼。實際上，課程選擇更為豐富。學習機會遍佈我們的高等院校——理工學院、理工學院或大學畢業生可以選修相關模組，或參加勞動力發展局認證課程，或在工作場所學習。

有了這些課程，尤其是模組化課程，系統更加開放靈活。除了高等院校的多條路徑，你現在可以建立自己的學習路徑——即時、按需、量身定製，按自己的節奏構建技能組合。你可以疊加模組以獲得資格，也可以只選擇相關模組。這賦予我們每個人掌控自己學習、構建獨特技能地圖的能力。它使我們能夠充分利用技能未來積分和其他學習機會。

洪偉能先生強調了中年失業工人的困境。這也是為什麼我們為40歲以上人士提供更高補貼的原因。

但這種自主、獨立學習必須從年輕時開始。我們的教師不能填鴨式教學，給學生標準答案。生活中沒有標準答案。

我曾收到一位家長的來信，要求為其孩子的學期考試加分。與其在考試中爭取額外分數，不如培養孩子在社會上留下自己的印記。

我們必須鼓勵孩子成為獨立、自主的學習者，善於找到自己的道路。陳泰勇教授提出了一個重要觀點，我們不能過度保護孩子，這樣他們才能培養適應性韌性，學會應對生活中的不確定性。但如果我們在孩子未獲得額外分數時介入，他或她如何培養這種韌性？林標泉先生提醒我們過度依賴他人學習可能導致依賴心理。印德吉特·辛格先生也強調了自主學習的重要性，並提出瞭如何在學校中創造更多多樣性的建議，我們將予以研究。

所以，讓我們從學校開始，讓孩子成為自主、獨立的學習者。讓我們集體停下來，反思我們在學校或家庭中培養孩子的方式，是否幫助他們發展獨立性、自主學習能力、機智和主動性，還是在填鴨式教學，使他們失去這種能力，一旦失去依賴，就無法創造、發明和建設新事物。

我關於為精通而學的下一個觀察是將學習視為一種思維習慣。結構化課程非常有用，這也是我們的高等院校正在推進的方向，勞動力發展局（WDA）也在做大量工作。

但無論我們在技能未來下有多少專案，都無法涵蓋所有學習可能性。這不可能。為什麼？因為學習可以採取正式和非正式的方式——在課堂上或工作場所，通過自我反思、團隊學習或線上學習，與朋友或小組一起。終身學習是一種思維習慣，而不僅僅是參加課程的行為。

因此，即使我們討論技能未來認證和課程質量等問題，也不能忘記，學習不僅僅是參加課程。我們需要抓住任何地方、任何人、終身甚至獨自的學習機會，就像多年前張約翰先生在警察學院所做的那樣。

最後，精通學習不僅僅是學習已知的知識。我們很多學習是關於學習別人是如何做的，以及我們如何從中學習基礎知識。但它也關乎探索未知，通過創造性地運用我們所有的知識，發明新的可能性，就像鍾教授正在做的，幫助父母擁有更健康的寶寶。

所以，讓我們培養更多在其領域中不懈追求精通、富有創造力和機智、能夠為新加坡取得突破的人。我對精通學習和終身學習做了幾項觀察：它不僅僅是學習已知的知識；不僅僅是參加課程；不僅僅是依賴他人，而是要成為自主、獨立的學習者。

現在讓我談談第三個重大轉變。我們需要共同實現的第三個重大轉變是超越為工作而學習，轉向為生活而學習。培養深厚的技能以在工作中取得成功固然重要，但生活不僅僅是工作。對周圍世界、自然與文化、體育與冒險充滿興趣，對生活充滿熱情並關心他人，這些才使生活有意義且充實。早些時候，郭曉吟女士、陳伯樂醫生和蘇麗塔女士都提到了這一點。

讓我分享另一個鼓舞人心的故事，這次是關於謝偉達。謝偉達是一位31歲的企業家，18歲時創辦了自己的企業。他的Timbre餐廳集團以優質餐飲和現場音樂聞名。Timbre餐廳有社會使命，將美食與音樂結合，支援新加坡音樂人併為他們提供平臺。他的員工會為表演樂隊鼓掌，並鼓勵顧客也這樣做。謝偉達分享說，我引用：“我們所做的一切都與支援新加坡音樂場景的社會使命息息相關。在一個非常簡單的層面上，我有一個想法，我想做，這個想法對社會有益，我只是想把它實現。”他通過親力親為，做所有要求員工做的事情，贏得了團隊的尊重，許多員工比他年長。他洗廁所、打掃辦公室、經營酒吧、幫忙廚房。所以，我同意馬貝炎先生的觀點，孩子們學習這些技能非常重要。你看這在生活中有多重要。謝偉達承認那些早年並不容易，但通過與團隊合作，他也從他們身上學到了東西。

如今，他將所學回饋社會。他的企業為有抱負的廚師提供平臺，最近還與新加坡初創公司Infinium Robotics合作，開發能夠繞過餐桌送餐的無人機。如果這聽起來像《星球大戰》中的場景，那確實如此。有八架無人機送餐，但這仍是一個實驗，而且令人興奮。這意味著服務員可以更高效地工作，做機器無法完成的事情。

對我來說，謝偉達體現了為生活而學習的精神，他在自己的領域充滿熱情和創新。他回饋社群，為他人創造新機會。他對音樂有深厚興趣，想為新加坡人才提供平臺。所以，他經營著有使命的企業。從音樂人到現在幫助有抱負的廚師。我希望未來我們會有更活躍的場景。

在“我們的新加坡對話”中，我與許多新加坡人交談。許多人表達了過有意義、有精神生活的願望。他們希望建設一個成功且團結的社會，一個新加坡人各自以自己的方式過充實生活的社會。

許多人也支援以學生為中心、以價值觀為導向的教育。他們相信我們可以充分發展每個人，培養我們的社群意識，以及個人和集體責任感。

因此，我很高興我們的學生能體驗藝術、音樂、體育、戶外活動和海外旅行。事實上，我還要補充，世界上幾乎沒有學校系統——至少我所知沒有——會讓三分之一的學生參加海外旅行以拓寬視野。我們有很多值得感恩的地方。他們與世界各地的同齡人互動。順便說一句，這些不僅是頂尖學校的學生，而是每所學校的學生。他們領導並參與各種課外活動。這些經歷拓寬了他們的世界觀，使他們成為堅韌的個體，身體健康，欣賞生活中的美好事物。

像謝偉達一樣，我們希望他們也能培養強烈的目標感和互助回饋社會的願望。

早些時候，黃愛玲女士談到了教育儲蓄品格獎。我要強調的是，對我來說，這標誌著我們教育的一個重要轉變，即必須重視品格和價值觀。這是變革的催化劑。但出於同樣的原因，我們不應過度強調，因此獲獎人數保持很少。但我們會研究她的建議，看看如何使其更有意義。我很高興許多家長和學生也與我交流，校長們也注意到自從引入該獎項以來的進展。實際上，我們正在超越這些獎項。獎項只是一個小部分，真正的變化在於學校的課程——經過改進的品格與公民教育課程，以及最近的生活學習課程，強化這些生活技能。

在東景中學，學生與社群夥伴合作開展食物捐贈活動，並向鄰里居民推廣健康和資訊科技技能。一名學生說：“看到人們臉上的喜悅激勵我做更多事情。”

在梅花中學，一個名為“慷慨精神”的專案讓學生為朋友、家人和社群做出5萬次善舉，以慶祝新加坡50週年生日。這使學校與周邊社群通過奉獻精神緊密聯絡。師生們都喜歡這讓學校成為更有愛心的社群。確實，給予中我們獲得的往往同樣多，甚至更多。

在我們所有學校，當學生將價值觀付諸行動時，品格與公民教育就活了起來。

這些努力都值得稱讚。我們希望鼓勵學校、理工學院和工藝教育學院的學生做更多。SG50捐贈將提供資金，支援學生參與社群有意義的事業。

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感謝郭曉吟女士提出的建議，如何與志願福利組織合作，使該專案更具影響力。學生將確定他們希望合作並捐款的公共機構（IPC），並與這些機構合作，在社群中做出真正的改變，無論多小。

全面教育涵蓋道德、認知、身體、社會和審美維度。因此，我希望我們的學生成長為欣賞並貢獻於生活豐富多維面的個體，精神和目標更加充實。

這就是我們如何建設一個充滿活力、富有創造力和關懷的社會。這就是超越為工作而學習，轉向為生活而學習——為了豐富、有意義和有目標的生活。

女士，請允許我用中文總結剛才所說的話。

（中文）：[請參閱方言演講。]開國先驅一代教育者為新加坡教育體系和國家繁榮奠定了基礎。他們有勇氣開闢新領域，不畏困難，善於培養新加坡年輕一代。

教育的最終目標不僅是學會讀寫，獲得好成績和文憑。更重要的是學會如何與他人相處，建立有意義的人際關係。

教育有更深更廣的含義。教育是培養個體，涵蓋道德、認知、身體、社會和審美維度。在傳授知識之前，必須先教育個體；在教育個體之前，必須培養心靈。我們需要先培養正確的精神，再培養心靈。

隨著經濟和社會的快速發展，我們必須與時俱進，靈活應變，不斷提升自己。我們必須追求精通，處處學習，終身學習，為生活而學。我們必須建立在開國先驅一代奠定的基礎上，繼續努力，發揚他們的開拓精神。

在任何領域、任何時間、任何地點，我們都必須努力學習，過充實的生活。讓我們轉變思維，延續開拓精神，共創美好未來。

首先，我們應超越為成績而學，轉向為精通而學。其次，應超越在校學習，轉向終身學習。第三，應超越為工作而學，轉向為生活而學。

（英文）：我剛才概述的三大轉變——精通學習、終身學習、為生活而學——對每個新加坡人都很重要。我們希望每個新加坡人都能獲得學習機會，無論起點如何，正如早前顏永明先生所說，社會流動性的重要性。

許多家長告訴我，他們欣賞學生課後照顧中心提供的結構化支援環境。事實上，這也是我多年來不斷擴大學校學生照顧中心的原因，李麗蓮女士和洪偉能先生也提到了這一點。我很高興這受到歡迎。教育部將繼續與社會及家庭發展部合作，提高質量和可及性。今年年初，我們已有100個校內學生照顧中心。我很高興宣佈，今年將再設立20個，明年再設20個。我也感謝英丹醫生提出的建議，如何通過讓年長學生協助，克服高質量人力的限制。我們主要的限制確實是員工的質量和數量。

我們通過從幼兒園到中學的全面提升計劃，幫助需要額外支援的學生打好讀寫和算術基礎。受過專業培訓的教育者在小組中激勵並更好地教導這些學生，效果令人鼓舞。讓我分享兩個故事。

去年，啟華小學六年級學生Siti患有閱讀障礙，且經常缺課。但她的老師、輔助教育者和輔導員齊心協力，提供堅定不懈的全方位支援，她從逃學到發現對數學的新興趣，最終成為啟華基礎科目的最高分學生！受老師啟發，她現在立志成為教師，幫助他人像老師幫助她一樣。

喬舒亞入學大橋小學一年級時幾乎不會說英語。一年內，他完成了學習支援計劃，獲得了自信。喬舒亞的母親林女士與學校合作，使用學校準備的單詞卡在家與喬舒亞一起練習。

學校的專業專案如Crest、Spectra、NorthLight和Assumption Pathway讓學生保持參與，幫助他們建立自信。

Hairi小學時開始吸菸、喝酒，甚至加入幫派。他不喜歡學校，但熱愛足球。Crest中學的老師發現這一點，通過足球與他互動。用Hairi的話說，這是“改變遊戲規則”的經歷。於是，Hairi開始喜歡學校，成為同伴領袖，戒菸。他的父母看到他的變化，也讓他的弟弟Hilmi入讀Crest。

對於特殊教育學校的學生，正如沙默倫副總理提到的，過去幾年我們在實際投入上增加了50%。我們的校本閱讀障礙矯正計劃取得成功。英丹醫生早些時候提到AEDs。正如沈燕玲國務部長早前分享的，今年我們將該計劃擴充套件到另外60所小學。現在三分之二的小學提供該計劃，而去年僅為三分之一。到2016年，所有小學都將提供閱讀障礙矯正，確保閱讀障礙學生在小學早期獲得幫助。沈燕玲國務部長稍後將介紹支援特殊教育需求學生的其他措施。

讓我談談經濟支援。教育已得到大量補貼，但我們將提供更多支援。我重申，這不是因為貧困學生增多，而是政府提供了更大支援。我將總結沙默倫副總理宣佈的一些措施，並提供更多細節。

我們將為7至20歲的新加坡公民學生補充教育儲蓄賬戶或高等教育賬戶，覆蓋超過50萬新加坡人。我們將免除今年起政府資助學校新加坡公民學生的PSLE、GCE“普通”級、“O”級和“A”級考試費用。我們將免除政府資助特殊教育學校和專門學校新加坡公民學生的職業考試費用，包括ITE技能證書和WSQ模組。我們將為參加國際文憑（IB）文憑考試的政府資助學校新加坡公民學生提供與當前GCE“A”級考試費用相當的補貼。我們將免除2015學年起全日制就讀於工藝教育學院和理工學院的新加坡公民學生的考試費用。我們重點關注國家主流學校，因為它們提供重要的聯結體驗。相關私立學校則由相關機構處理。

教育部的經濟援助計劃（FAS）多年來不斷完善。2012年，我們提高了收入上限，並引入了人均收入標準，使更多學生受益。今年4月1日起，我們將在FAS下提供交通補貼，為低收入家庭提供更多支援。乘坐公共交通的學生每年將獲得120元交通補貼。乘坐校車的小學生，FAS將承擔校車常規費用的50%。此外，我們將把校本經濟援助的年度撥款從500萬元增加到1100萬元，持續三年，為學校提供更多資源，針對弱勢學生提供幫助。我們還將把教育儲蓄優異獎學金的收入標準從5000元提高到6000元，惠及更多學生。

無論起點如何，沒有孩子應被落下。我們正在加大對起點較弱學生的支援，無論是學習需求、特殊需求還是經濟需求。過去五年，相關領域的支出從2億元增加到5億元，涵蓋所有層級——從學校到高等教育機構。

但要提升學生，不僅是學業成績，還包括社會情感成長，我們需要資源和“心力”。我贊同陳振聲先生的觀點，我們必須關注“心力”。“心力”來自支援的家長、堅持不懈的學生、敬業的教育者和支援的社群。高階議員何華姿將進一步講述如何動員家長和社群，發揮孩子們的最大潛力，包括品格培養。

我非常感謝許多教育者和志願者在學校、自助團體和其他志願福利組織中堅持不懈地工作。他們默默無聞、無私奉獻，投入大量時間和心血。我對他們深表敬意。

我感到非常鼓舞的是，接受幫助的學生在年紀輕輕時就開始回饋社會。例如，德輝中學的賈奇曾獲得FAS支援，通過德輝的數學強化課程和個人激勵工作坊發現並發展了對數學的熱情。賈奇熱情地通過學校的同伴輔導計劃輔導朋友數學，並從朋友的進步中獲得極大滿足。

烏邁拉獲得獨立學校助學金，得以就讀萊佛士女子學校。她感激這次機會，今年通過舉辦小學馬來語和文化競賽，傳播多元背景學生歡迎來到萊佛士女子學校的資訊。

我們不能迴避卓越，但必須確保無論在哪方面卓越的人都有回饋社會的心。

現在讓我做一些總結髮言。

我一開始談到開國先驅一代在國家建設關鍵時刻做出的艱難選擇。他們面臨許多十字路口——每一個正確的決定都推動我們前進。

今天，我們面臨新的十字路口——是狹隘地關注成績和考試，還是關注真正重要的事情，通過一生培養強烈的價值觀和深厚的技能？是執著於狹隘的價值衡量，還是成為有價值觀、有價值的人？

女士，對我來說，路很清晰。那就是盡一切努力成為擁有深厚技能和強烈價值觀的人。

我們走開拓創新的道路，培養具有創造力、韌性和關懷精神的新加坡人。我們對這條開拓之路的品質已有一定了解。它將包括在職學習、及時學習、在合適的時間和地點學習、無界限學習——不受機構牆壁、年齡、地點或時間的限制。

我很高興聽到許多議員支援這種精神，因為我們必須作為一個整體社會共同走這條開拓之路。我們並非唯一處於十字路口的人。其他人也在問——教育的未來是什麼？我一直在閱讀他們的預測，但當我細讀他們的文字時，我意識到他們設想的未來中，許多事情我們現在已經在做。

我們的使命特別之處在於，我們不僅僅考慮某一所學校或某一所大學的教育未來，而是考慮整個國家的教育未來。

我們正在開闢一條將塑造整個社會的道路，這條道路需要社會每個人的共同努力。數以百萬計的新加坡人的個人行動和選擇將推動我們的國家走向更加光明的未來。

下午3時30分

我們今天學校裡的學生年齡在五歲到二十五歲之間。五十年後，他們將是五十五歲到七十五歲，將成為SG100的先驅一代。我們會停留在帶領我們走過前五十年的“死記硬背”文化中嗎？還是我們和這年輕一代將再次發揚開拓精神，改變我們的工作和學習方式？

我相信我們能夠成功，因為我們中間已經有許多新的開拓者。我在演講中提到的每一個例子都是開拓者。但我們需要更多的開拓者，遍佈每一所學校、每一個領域、每一份工作。

那些終身學習、主動承擔學習責任的新加坡人，比如約翰、鍾教授、拉文德、謝莉婭和西蒂——他們充滿熱情和創新精神，改變了他人的生活，比如愛德華、烏邁拉和嘉琪。

專注於全面教育、為學生打下堅實基礎並使學習真實且相關的教師和學校，比如希爾格羅夫和達邁中學、新加坡科技設計大學、理工學院、工藝教育學院、共和理工學院等。超越學術，發掘每個孩子優勢和興趣的家長，比如菲奧娜和拉文德。真正重視員工並幫助員工獲得相關技能的僱主，比如裕昌物流和勞斯萊斯。尊重每一份工作，

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鼓勵每個人以自己的方式在各自領域達到精通的社會。

這些是根本性的變革，需要時間。但我們必須現在邁出第一步，並共同邁出這一步。轉型之旅不會輕鬆，但每一個決定、每一個行動、每一個人都至關重要。

為精通而學。終身學習。為生活而學。這必須成為我們前進的指南針。

女士們，在這個SG50年，讓我們珍惜併發揚先驅者寶貴的遺產。讓我們反思今天所處的位置和未來的目標。讓我們激勵所有新加坡人共同走這條開拓之路，發揚開拓精神，共創更加美好的未來五十年。[掌聲]

教育及法律高階國務部長（英德拉妮·拉賈女士）：主席女士，部長已經概述了教育的未來以及教育部（MOE）正在做的工作。我將談兩個具體領域：學前教育和高等教育。

黃慧玲女士和宰尼丁·諾丁先生提到了我們年輕人的社會和情感資源以及支援低收入學生。我們的目標是讓孩子們有一個良好的起點。研究顯示，接受良好早期教育的孩子以後往往表現更好。因此，早期良好的教育基礎極為重要。

我們通過兩種方式實現這一目標。首先，推動整個領域內容和教學標準的一致性。其次，通過教育部幼兒園（MOE Kindergartens，簡稱MK）。迄今為止，我們已有10所MK，為新加坡人提供負擔得起的優質學前教育。明年還將開設五所。MK旨在試點教學和學習資源，並建立良好實踐以供學前教育領域共享。

讓每個孩子有一個良好的開端，並不意味著學前兒童必須在學前階段就能掌握小學一年級的課程！仍然存在一種誤解，認為孩子只有做超出其水平的事情才算表現良好。但在學前階段不應如此，孩子應以適合其年齡和發展階段的方式學習。重要的是他們學什麼，即內容；以及如何學習，即教學法。

在內容方面，教育部制定了“培養早期學習者課程”，這是一套幼兒園課程資源工具包。它包含全面學前教育的指導方針，包括學習領域，如數字能力、運動技能發展、語言

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和識字能力以及社會和情感發展。

在學習方式方面，教育部有兩大核心教學法：首先通過有目的的遊戲吸引兒童學習，其次是教師與兒童之間的高質量互動。

今天的MK已非我們記憶中的幼兒園。孩子們不再通過拼寫表和死記硬背學習。如今，我們鼓勵孩子們通過遊戲學習、探索並提出關於他們世界的問題。教師們設計有趣且愉快的學習活動，幫助孩子們全面實現預期的學習成果。

許瑞庫瑪爾先生談到了溝通技能。我們通過雙語教育幫助孩子們打下堅實基礎。研究越來越顯示早期學習語言的重要性。從小接觸兩種語言的孩子，比起晚些開始學習的同齡人，更有可能以更高水平掌握兩種語言。

研究人員比較了一組較早學習第二語言並使用時間較長的兒童與另一組較晚學習第二語言的兒童，發現早期雙語者比同齡人更流利、更熟練。早期雙語者還具備更強的自我調節能力和專注於特定任務的能力。

我們已將雙語教育作為MK的核心特色，使孩子們能流利使用英語和母語，併為他們日後語言能力的提升奠定堅實基礎。

我們的MK設有“奇妙周”（Weeks of Wonder，簡稱WoW）。這是促進語言學習的學期專案。每年，孩子們完成四個WoW專案，其中兩個用英語，兩個用母語，他們與同伴和教師一起探討母語中的感興趣話題。主席女士，若獲允許，我可在螢幕上展示一些幻燈片嗎？

主席：可以，請展示。[幻燈片向尊敬的議員們展示。]

英德拉妮·拉賈女士：這裡，您看到MK的孩子們參觀一家花店。這些孩子學習泰米爾語，採訪印度店主，瞭解玫瑰在印度文化中的用途。他們還採訪了其他人，並查閱了書籍和網際網路。店主帶他們參觀店鋪，演示如何用香蕉繩製作玫瑰花環，並解釋玫瑰在印度文化中不同場合的用途。

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孩子們興奮不已，決定開設自己的花店！這需要他們相互合作，練習泰米爾語併發揮創造力。孩子們還學到了教導他人的價值，回家後與家人一起用回收材料製作玫瑰花束，作為他們花店的產品。

這個WoW專案體現了通過遊戲學習的教學法以及語言學習的創新技巧。

但要提供優質學前教育，我們還必須擁有優秀的學前教師。教育部正與早期兒童發展局（ECDA）緊密合作培訓學前教師。我們制定了“培養早期學習者框架”，指導幼兒園為4至6歲兒童設計和實施優質課程。

我們還推出了《教育者指南》，幫助教師將框架轉化為優質的學習體驗。預計到2014年底，將有約6,000名學前教育工作者接受培訓。

我們需要更多早期兒童專業人才以滿足服務需求增長。如果您有興趣教學，喜歡孩子並熱衷於幫助他們建立品格和堅實的生活基礎，請考慮投身早期兒童護理與教育事業。我也鼓勵包括離職後希望重返職場的女性在內的人士考慮這一職業。

成為早期兒童專業人員有多條途徑，涵蓋各級入職和培訓。工藝教育學院、理工學院和大學均設有早期兒童課程，結合工作經驗，為下一階段提供跳板。

對於預備培訓生，ECDA提供培訓獎學金，涵蓋全日制工藝教育學院和理工學院的早期兒童護理與教育文憑課程。工藝教育學院培訓獎學金去年推出，反響良好，迄今約有20名工藝教育學院學生獲獎。

洪偉能先生和宰尼丁·諾丁先生詢問了對中年轉業學習者的支援。對於希望進入該領域的中年專業人士，也有相應途徑。李嫻曾在會計師事務所做審計員四年，想換工作以獲得更好工作與生活平衡。受姐姐（一名早期兒童專業人士）的啟發，她參加了新加坡理工學院的早期兒童教育轉換文憑課程，並於去年九月完成一年制課程。她對職業轉變感到滿意，稱“每天都享受孩子們無價的擁抱和滿足感！”

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還有為無法全職學習者開設的兼職課程。職場人士可從今年十月起在理工學院參加兼職早期兒童護理與教育文憑課程。這些課程認可先前學習和通過工作經驗獲得的能力，從而縮短整體課程時長。ECDA也正與人力發展局（WDA）緊密合作，開發結構化的基於能力路徑。

“技能未來”是本預算的突出特色，教育部積極參與實施“技能未來”的各個方面。首先，強化教育和職業指導將成為我們教育體系的組成部分。

在此，我分享丹尼爾的故事。丹尼爾是工藝教育學院學生，去年我首次見到他時，他正在完成機械工程高階國家工業證書課程。像許多年輕人一樣，他不確定下一步該做什麼。他選擇了機械工程，但這並非他的首選。他不確定是否想繼續從事工程。我問他可能喜歡做什麼，他說可能是烹飪藝術或運動科學，但仍不確定。我提出為他安排實習，讓他更好地做決定。他選擇嘗試烹飪藝術。

我聯絡了我選區內經營的PS Cafe，詢問是否能接納他實習。他們欣然同意。丹尼爾順利完成了實習，且非常喜歡。但結果很有趣，這也是丹尼爾做出決定的過程。

他與其他廚師交談，聽取他們的經驗和建議。他還與工藝教育學院機械工程系的主管交流。他知道自己確實喜歡當廚師，在廚房裡很開心。但他也考慮到放棄兩年所學的成本。經過深思熟慮，他決定繼續從事工程，不放棄所學。烹飪仍是他的熱情所在，但他希望有一份建立在工程背景上的職業。如果以後烹飪熱情依舊強烈，他可能會迴歸烹飪。我想他可以使用“技能未來”積分。

他已申請理工學院工程相關課程，包括工程與產品設計。這些課程提供有趣、實用且穩定的工作前景，允許他利用機械工程基礎技能，同時探索新領域。然而，他在PS Cafe的實習為他提供了寶貴經驗，未來若想，他仍可選擇迴歸烹飪。

但這個故事最重要的部分是，建議、指導和實習使丹尼爾能夠做出明智且自主的選擇。這個故事體現了教育和職業指導（ECG）的重要性。ECG可以通過結構化專案、短期實習或工業參觀來實施。

洪偉能先生指出ECG輔導員需要接受適當培訓。我們同意。教育部將協調確保ECG專案對從小學到中專的學生都相關。教育部內設立中央ECG單位，負責規劃和實施ECG。

我們將試點為中二和中三學生設計的強化參與專案，提升他們對行業和領域的認識，以及理工學院的應用學習環境。今年，中二學生專案將在50所學校試點，中三學生專案將在24所學校試點。理工學院和工藝教育學院將通過統一的ECG成果和學習目標，推行更系統的ECG。

教育部密切參與實施“技能未來”的另一方面是實習和工業實習。實習的好處顯而易見。它們提供真實的學習環境，使學生獲得實際知識和動手經驗。

易仁忠先生談到了工業實習的管理。有些公司做得很好，有些則不盡如人意。我們同意實習還有改進空間。必須逐行業推進。政府和高等院校將提供支援，但僱主必須盡責。

下午3時45分

在早期兒童領域，ECDA向接納全日制早期兒童護理與教育課程學生的中心提供能力資助。該資助幫助僱主分擔開發和執行實習專案的費用，例如培訓、導師部署、實習津貼及教學資源費用。ECDA還與高等院校合作，開發特定時長的結構化實習專案，幫助企業更好規劃實習。

我們需要更多企業支援強化實習，提供有意義的工作任務和經驗豐富專業人士的指導。我們還需要企業為“技能未來”邊學邊賺計劃提供在職培訓崗位。成功完成該技能培訓計劃的理工學院和工藝教育學院畢業生將獲得行業認可的資格證書，如高階文憑、專業文憑或證書。

議員們談及人力需求。邊學邊賺計劃實際上是本地企業、跨國公司和中小企業強有力的人才招聘平臺和人才管道。我鼓勵企業積極參與。

終身學習是“技能未來”的另一個重要方面。讓我講講約翰尼的故事。

我遇見了NKH建築服務公司的董事總經理約翰尼·黃，該公司從事泵的服務和維護。約翰尼1977年完成普通教育證書“O”水準，隨後直接服兵役。兵役後他找工作困難，意識到需要提升自己，參加了當時的新加坡職業學院（SVI）和後來的工藝教育學院的兼職課程。1988年至1992年，他學習電氣專業，當時他與兄弟一起安裝和維護控制面板。

1993年至1994年，他獲得了電工執照。隨著業務擴充套件，他意識到需要其他技能，於1992年至1995年在中華總商會參加管理課程。與此同時，電子行業興起，他看到了機會，但缺乏技能，於1995年至1999年在工藝教育學院學習電子課程。

1998年金融危機重創許多企業，包括約翰尼的企業。他不氣餒，調整商業計劃以度過危機。他將業務重點從安裝泵轉向泵的維護，這是一種更抗衝擊的商業模式。為適應新方向，他於1999年至2002年學習管道課程，2002年至2005年學習空調課程。2003年至2004年，他取得了管道工執照。在電子、空調和泵業務之間，他還注意到了坐在他後面的漂亮女孩，並與她結婚。

憑藉工藝教育學院和SVI的繼續教育和培訓，約翰尼在15年間實現了從普通教育證書“O”水準畢業生到如今擁有百萬美元企業主的轉變。他的公司仍在成長，他也未停止學習，繼續參加其他課程。他非常感激工藝教育學院，不僅因為他的事業成功，也因為他的妻子！

教育部資助的理工學院和工藝教育學院繼續教育培訓課程以及人力發展局資助的WSQ課程將幫助人們像約翰尼一樣在人生道路上不斷進步。還有短期

理工學院和工藝教育學院（ITE）在廣泛興趣領域提供的課程。

我們的高等教育機構（IHLs）也是創新中心。現在讓我講述Derek的故事。

Derek於2008年畢業於共和理工學院（Republic Polytechnic，簡稱RP）。他的夢想是創辦一家制作魚肉肉乾（bak kwa）的企業。服完國民服役後，他於2011年在RP和新加坡SPRING的幫助下創辦了一家公司。但他的第一次創業失敗了。然而，他沒有放棄，繼續尋求投資機會，並與RP企業與傳播中心的導師合作，改進他的商業計劃。

最初的產品在展示和製作工藝上都不夠理想。Derek利用他在RP最後一年專案中學到的防止細菌引入的工藝知識，採用真空包裝魚肉肉乾，以延長保質期且不新增防腐劑。Derek於2013年重新推出Ocean King品牌，並於2014年10月獲得首筆資金。產品有三種口味——帝王三文魚、大眼金槍魚和藍槍魚。如今，Ocean King致力於打造世界上最優質的魚肉肉乾，賦予這一傳統美食新的詮釋，讓人們無負擔地享受肉乾的美味。

Derek的理工教育為他成為企業家打下了堅實基礎。他的故事也展示了理工學院創新中心如何助力產業發展。

這就是教育的新面貌——學習與合作不必在學校結束時停止。教育與產業相輔相成，良好結合時能激發創業精神，支援創新與生產力，促進經濟活動，幫助夢想成真。主席女士，若允許，我現在用馬來語說幾句話。

（馬來語）：[請參閱方言發言。] Zainudin先生詢問了就業前計劃和終身學習的預期成果。

有了SkillsFuture，我們的學生將有更多機會在人生中取得成功。無法保證每個人都有就業崗位等待，但SkillsFuture能大幅提升他們的就業前景和職業發展機會。

職業生涯指導（ECG）將幫助學生認識自身優勢，發掘多個行業的良好就業機會。實習也能讓學生獲得實際技能，更好了解行業。如果實習表現優異，僱主會願意聘用他們。

第97頁

“邊學邊賺”計劃讓學生一邊工作拿薪水，一邊學習獲得額外資格。繼續教育與培訓（CET）或終身學習計劃讓他們終身提升技能，從而獲得更好加薪和晉升機會，甚至進入管理層或擁有企業。我之前分享的Johnny Ng先生的故事就是例證。

我鼓勵學生抓住SkillsFuture提供的機會。只要努力和堅定，每個人都能成功，無論起點如何。

（英語）：女士，我現在繼續用英語。

Tan Tai Yong教授談到支援人文與社會科學（HSS）研究的必要性。HSS有助於更好理解社會，補充科學與技術研究。投資HSS研究對新加坡發展至關重要，需要集中力量深化基於新加坡語境的研究。

目前，教育部通過學術研究基金支援社會科學研究。許多政府機構委託進行與公共政策相關的HSS研究。政府正考慮加大HSS研究力度，重點服務新加坡需求，並將進一步與學術界溝通。

主席：秩序，我建議現在休息。

[(程式文本)於是議長女士離開委員會主席席，回到議會主席席。 (程式文本)]

議長女士：秩序。我宣佈休會，下午4點15分再開會。

會議於下午3點54分休會，至下午4點15分。

會議於下午4點15分恢復。

[議長女士主持]

第98頁

撥款委員會辯論繼續。

[議長女士主持]

K項（續）——

有落後風險的學生

Denise Phua Lay Peng女士：主席女士，我想提醒教育部關注三類可能有落後風險的兒童。

第一類是來自低收入家庭的兒童。我很高興看到已有經濟援助和課後照顧等計劃為這些孩子提供支援。

美國研究表明，學生在長假後表現會下降，尤其是低收入家庭的學生。作為中央區市長，我觀察到許多低收入家庭的孩子在假期幾乎沒有學習或豐富活動。由於父母工作繁忙且缺乏照顧者，他們缺少成人監督。這與較富裕家庭的孩子形成對比，後者能負擔額外的學習體驗，如課外輔導和家庭旅遊。

我和社群發展理事會（CDC）團隊組織了假期營，幫助這些孩子縮小與富裕同齡人的差距。我們教他們寫電子書、演奏樂器、玩新遊戲，甚至製作和剪輯電影。

然而，我擔心這些基層努力不夠系統和常規，難以產生持續影響。我敦促教育部與相關夥伴合作，確保假期缺乏成人監督的學生能繼續學習，不被更富裕的同齡人遠遠甩在後面。

接下來，主席女士，談談主流學校和高等教育機構（IHLs）中有特殊需要的學生。

輔助教育員（AED）計劃。2009年引入AED計劃，是支援主流小學和中學有特殊需要學生的重要舉措。AED人數從2009年的600人增至2014年的2400多人。他們的工作尤其在教學、學習和行為管理支援方面具有挑戰性。我想了解教育部對AED計劃的最新情況、取得的成就和麵臨的挑戰，以及如何進一步與主要殘疾夥伴合作支援和裝備這些專業人員。

殘疾支援辦公室（DSO）。2013年，IHL中有特殊教育需要的學生得到好訊息：每所公立大學、理工學院、工藝教育學院和藝術院校都將設立殘疾支援辦公室。這是重大變革，將為這些學生提供優質支援，因為此前支援不一，很大程度上依賴各IHL的善意。我想了解這些DSO的設立進展。

特殊教育需要基金（SEN基金）。同年，教育部宣佈設立SEN基金，幫助身體、聽力或視覺障礙學生。該基金目前不包括三種最常見的學習障礙：誦讀障礙（dyslexia）、注意力缺陷多動障礙（ADHD）和自閉症。我希望教育部考慮將這些學生納入SEN基金的資助物件。

特殊教育學校（SPED）中的特殊需要學生。感謝國務部長沈燕女士和部長的熱情支援，特殊教育學校持續獲得大量支援。但我想提出一些需要關注的空白。

首先，核心生活技能教學材料入口網站。經過大量時間和資源開發課程框架，現在是教育部開始填充框架內容的時候了。

目前，各志願福利組織（VWO）及其所屬特殊教育學校各自開發資源。為提高效率，我建議教育部分配資源開發一個入口網站——核心主題如日常生活技能、讀寫算能力的材料庫。教育部不僅應要求教育者填充框架，還應投資本地和國外內容，使學校和家庭能快速獲得更多資源。

第二，提供主流課程的特殊教育學校。雖然已有努力，但仍存在脫節。例如，教授小六會考（PSLE）課程的特殊教育教師未獲準參與閱卷員團隊，缺乏更好鍛鍊和發展機會。

第三，資訊通訊技術（ICT）。最近為主流學校資訊俱樂部規劃和預算的ICT學習路線圖非常有用，但僅針對主流學校。希望報名的特殊教育學校被建議自行聯絡供應商。

第四，納入優質國家計劃。所有學生，無論是否參加主流學術課程，都應納入其他優質國家計劃，如學校基礎的誦讀障礙矯正計劃、應用學習計劃，甚至SkillsFuture總體規劃。

主席：Phua女士，請總結。時間已到。

Denise Phua Lay Peng女士：感謝並祝賀教育部團隊的勤勉工作，我想告訴你們，你們已經帶來了改變。

母語豁免

Yee Jenn Jong先生：主席女士，我認同雙語是我們教育體系的基石。現在所有小學和中學學生都必須學習母語。

在最近的國會答覆中，教育部表示每年約有3.5%的學生在小六會考時獲得母語豁免。我接受有合理豁免理由，如中途加入教育體系且未學過母語，或因醫療原因影響學習能力。

另一答覆中，教育部提到過去五年平均每年在母語豁免最多的五所學校中，共有178人獲得豁免，平均每校35.6人，佔該校小六會考學生約15%至17%。

這一比例遠高於全國3.5%的平均水平。教育部是否調查過各校母語豁免率差異大的原因？教育部或高豁免率學校校長是否面談申請者，深入瞭解豁免原因？基於醫療理由申請豁免成本高昂。母語豁免與家長社會經濟地位是否存在強相關？

我希望學生不會因覺得母語難學或家長擔心影響小六會考總分而尋求豁免。

第101頁

私立特殊學校監管

Denise Phua Lay Peng女士：主席女士，2009年9月通過了《私立教育法》，旨在加強和提升私立教育部門水平。由此成立了私立教育理事會（CPE），通過有效監管、行業發展和消費者教育提升行業標準。新加坡存在各種私立教育機構。

我想提醒教育部關注私立特殊教育學校。新加坡湧現出許多私立特殊學校，有本地和外資經營。來自本地和外籍家庭的特殊需要兒童就讀這些學校。

由於該教育服務針對極為脆弱的兒童和家庭群體，我認為教育部必須承擔更強的道德責任，更積極監管這些學校或中心。

CPE的戰略重點包括確保質量保證和有效消費者教育等。這些私立特殊學校在市場上被稱為教育部註冊，家長很可能誤以為其教育專案、設施甚至收費獲得教育部認可。

我敦促教育部在註冊這些學校前進行適當盡職調查和背景核查，履行確保質量保證和有效消費者教育的職責。保護消費者——即兒童——在遭受虐待或傷害後才採取措施，有時為時已晚。

教育質量保證不僅是硬體或行政管理問題，更是教育事業。我希望瞭解教育部如何保護這些兒童的利益，其中一些甚至無法表達自己。

殘疾支援辦公室

Chia Yong Yong女士（提名議員）：主席女士，謝謝。我也感謝教育部以開明態度將殘疾人士納入主流教育。正如Denise Phua女士所指出，去年設立殘疾支援辦公室（DSO）是該領域的好訊息。同樣，特殊教育需要基金的啟動也令人欣慰。我們也希望教育部考慮將基金擴充套件至其他殘疾兒童。

除了資金、技能和裝置，我還想具體詢問DSO工作人員的能力發展和培訓預算是多少？此外，關於IHL更廣泛和更高層次的文化建設。DSO不能孤立運作，它們是輔助機構，而非承擔全部工作。教育部如何設想從上至下在IHL教職員工中建立包容文化？

跨國青年互動

Benedict Tan博士：主席女士，我鼓勵通過體育促進多國青年互動。我們可以通過組織本地教育部學校和國際學校學生的體育交流和比賽來實現。

新加坡本質上是多元文化、多民族、多語言的國家。自獨立以來，特別重視融合和新加坡身份的培養。近年來，越來越多國際學校在新加坡設立和擴充套件，本地學校也設立姐妹國際學校。這可能造成分隔，但也帶來機遇。

新加坡居住、工作和學習的國籍眾多。為利用這種文化多樣性，拓寬新加坡學生視野，實現包容，我認為我們的校際比賽，即國家學校運動會，應納入國際學校。

目前，教育部體系和非教育部體系學校之間互動有限，缺乏自然的交流平臺。體育提供了橋樑。

誠然，存在學期時間、假期、比賽安排、人力和費用分攤等運營挑戰。但我相信，擁有充滿活力和包容性的學校體育生態系統，將為年輕人帶來諸多有形和無形益處，助力他們應對日益全球化的未來。

體育課外活動

Yee Jenn Jong先生：主席女士，包括我在內的多位議員此前談及增加學生體育參與度和學校體育專案數量。年輕時積極參與體育，有助培養未來的體育文化。

我建議如何補充學校提供更多體育活動的努力。第一：在校內舉辦更多有趣的體育比賽，分層次進行，讓技能較低的學生隨著技能提升逐步晉級。

第二：引入次要課外活動（minor CCA）概念，允許學生作為第二或第三課外活動定期接觸多種體育專案。時間投入不如常規課外活動密集，但能讓學生嘗試更多體育專案。課外活動積分相應較少。

第三：認可並獎勵學生在校外與外部培訓機構定期和競技性參與體育專案的成就，即使學校未將該體育專案列為課外活動。這可鼓勵學生認真追求感興趣的體育專案，彌補學校資源不足。

最後，允許國際學校參加本地校際比賽，提升競爭水平，這一點也由提名議員Benedict Tan剛才提出。

學校運動會改革

Benedict Tan博士：主席女士，繼今年1月19日在國會發表演講，指出新加坡體育參與的10個令人擔憂的趨勢後，許多家長、學生和議員私下聯絡我，提供更多證據。特別是他們認為學校過於注重贏得獎牌，缺乏通過學校系統學習體育的機會。他們對小學階段被校隊拒絕感到不滿。且當他們在校外自行參與體育時，學校不予認可。

這種全有或全無的情形，即你要麼足夠優秀進入校隊，要麼完全被排除在外，在運動會期間也存在。如果你不夠好，不能代表你的組別參賽，那麼你就不能參加運動會的比賽。相反，你會被“指派”作為觀眾參加。而且這些並不是你在巴西體育場看到的那種熱情的粉絲——學生和老師都告訴我，他們大多是勉強參與的。經歷瞭如此消極的體驗，難怪我們的許多年輕人會

第104頁

對體育和體育活動產生厭惡？

與其讓只有少部分學生在運動會期間參加田徑比賽，而大多數學生坐著觀看，不如通過將運動會轉變為體育節來讓全體學生參與其中。在體育節期間，我們可以給學生機會嘗試各種體育運動和遊戲。如果孩子在這樣的嘗試中喜歡上某項運動，學校可以與外部機構如ActiveSG和各社群中心團體合作，深化他或她對該運動的興趣。即使是在休閒層面，如前一位議員所建議，這種校外活動也應被認可為課外活動（CCA）。

下午4時30分

是的，教育部已經解釋過體育課程會讓學生輪換體驗各種運動。但我們知道，鑑於體育課時間有限，加上準備NAPFA所需的時間，這種接觸過於表面，難以讓學生養成終身積極生活的習慣。讓我們給年輕人，尤其是小學階段的學生，帶來積極的體育體驗和良好的開端，審視他們運動會的形式。

女士，讓我最後讚揚教育部長及其團隊在教育體系轉型方面的洞察力和開創性工作。

教育國務部長（沈穎潔女士）：女士，恆部長談到了我們需要超越單純關注成績和考試，強調深層技能、全面教育、堅實價值觀和終身學習。我們希望擁有一個有韌性和靈活性的經濟體，以及一個關懷、和諧和凝聚的社會。

我現在將談談教育部如何在雙語教育和支援有特殊教育需要學生方面實現我們的願景。

早些時候，恆部長和高階國務部長印德拉妮·拉賈承認了許瑞庫馬爾先生關於語言和溝通技能的觀點。因為語言和溝通是我們為學生實現目標的核心，我認為他的觀點值得教育部第三位發言人認可。

英語，作為我們的工作語言，為所有種族和背景的新加坡人提供了一個共同的平臺，促進相互交流和理解。口語英語也是全球經濟中的關鍵能力。教育部致力於提高學生的英語水平。我們通過2010年實施的英語語言學習與閱讀策略（STELLAR）專案，為小學生創造了更多在課堂上說話、提問和互動的機會。2013年，我們增加了GCE“普通”及“普通水準”英語考試中聽說部分的比重。我們的預科學生必須參加強調小組討論並要求學生進行口頭陳述的專案作業，作為評估的一部分。

我們的母語是我們亞洲文化和傳統價值觀的根基，為學生獲得跨文化能力提供基礎。議員的發言凸顯了學習母語中外在動機與內在動機之間的關鍵矛盾。外在動機如加分可以發揮作用，鼓勵學生堅持和挑戰自我，也表明我們對母語的重視。然而，過度依賴這些激勵可能帶來弊端，例如學生一旦激勵消失就停止努力。

另一方面，內在動機培養自我導向的學習者，使他們終身保持良好的母語溝通能力。因此，雖然存在外在激勵如加分，我們的核心目標是培養內在動機。

我們旨在以有趣且吸引人的方式教授母語，激發學生興趣。例如，我們所有學校每年都會舉辦母語文化周，旨在為學生提供在真實情境中學習和使用母語的機會。

此外，我們認識到利用孩子們對科技的天生感知，更有可能持續激發他們對母語的興趣。為此，我們推出了2011年的Oracy eLand和2013年的iMTL入口網站。這兩個線上平臺旨在通過多媒體、遊戲和互動任務教學生如何用母語交流。主席女士，我現在想用普通話說幾句話。

（普通話）：[請參閱方言發言。]今年，教育部採用了2015年小學母語課程。該課程強調學生的口頭和書面互動技能，以及通過日常生活中的真實活動學習。例如，老師會引導學生討論食堂出售的食品，然後教他們如何使用相關短語和句子。為了鞏固學生所學，老師會佈置任務，讓學生使用新學的短語和句子完成。

家長和老師對該課程給予了非常積極的反饋。他們認為課程的真實性和應用性吸引了學生的注意力。盧佩翠女士的孩子今年一月剛入小學。盧女士說，這個課程為孩子們提供了許多參與互動對話的機會，有助於培養孩子們的口語交流能力。

雖然她的孩子才上小學一年級兩個月，但他已經開始比入學前更多地說普通話，並且經常用普通話與父母分享在學校學到的內容。

（英語）：為了鞏固課堂所教內容，我們希望學生在課外也能運用母語溝通技能。教育部與社群合作伙伴合作，提供機會讓學生這樣做，這些活動每年吸引超過10萬參與者。

我們的教師與馬來語學習與推廣委員會合作，編寫並出版低年級故事書專案的書籍，以培養兒童的閱讀興趣。新民中學與中國語言學習推廣委員會及逗號（zbCOMMA）合作，舉辦中學“創作你自己的報紙”比賽。

去年，我參加了由泰米爾語學習與推廣委員會和泰米爾語言文化協會舉辦的Avvaiyar Vizha活動，以紀念一位有影響力的女性泰米爾詩人。我為學校與社群合作伙伴共同促進泰米爾文學認知和提升學生口語泰米爾能力感到欣慰。

針對花姐關於私立特殊教育（SPED）學校的問題，我先介紹教育部支援有特殊教育需要（SEN）學生的整體情況。教育部的總體策略是支援學生在最適合其需求的教育環境中學習。具備認知能力和適應能力，能在主流學校學習的學生，在主流學校接受教育。需要密集專業協助以最佳化學習和獨立生活潛力的學生，在教育部資助、志願福利組織運營的20所特殊教育學校接受教育。絕大多數SEN學生在這兩類環境中得到照顧。

少數私立教育機構（PEI）提供全日制特殊教育課程。這些學校的大多數學生是非新加坡公民。這些學校也為部分新加坡家長提供了額外選擇。

我們會認真考慮議員的建議，但這些學校目前受教育部下屬法定機構私立教育理事會根據《私立教育法》監管。理事會不對PEI提供的課程學術質量進行認證，但其監管框架旨在保障學生和家長利益，幫助他們做出更明智的選擇。理事會確保企業和學術治理的最低標準，加強學生費用保護措施，並要求PEI披露課程和教師的關鍵資訊。

每當私立SPED學校出現問題，理事會都會認真調查。理事會也採取適當措施解決這些學校的問題。我想向花姐保證，我們不容忍任何私立教育機構，包括私立SPED學校中的虐待或刑事不當行為。如發現相關證據，將移交警方處理。

我們也理解議員對可能被“落下”的學生的關切，我想強調教育部致力於確保所有學生都有機會發揮潛能。恆部長已提及多項措施，包括加強經濟援助。

關於潛在的數字鴻溝，我想分享我們的學校可以向低收入家庭學生借出計算裝置。關於國際視野，我們的國際體驗旅行（TIE）計劃為所有學生提供海外學習機會。學校、理工學院和工藝教育學院（ITE）也獲得機會基金，可用於補貼計算機購買、海外訪問、學生交流和為弱勢學生提供的學校豐富課程。

關於議員提出的在主流學校支援SEN的建議，我們持續歡迎志願福利組織、社群及其他利益相關者的反饋，以加強支援模式。這些反饋過去非常有用，我們將繼續徵求意見並完善現有做法。

在SEN方面，教育部致力於提升支援水平，每所主流學校10%至20%的教師接受更深入的培訓，以支援有特殊需要的學生。他們與學習與行為支援助教（AEDs (LBS)）合作，後者已派駐所有小學和69所中學。

我要感謝幾位議員——謝永容女士、花姐和英丹·阿祖拉博士——對我們AEDs (LBS)的濃厚興趣。我想分享，教育部致力於吸引、留住並系統培訓AEDs (LBS)。我們已將AEDs (LBS)人數從2010年的300人增加到現在約400人。此外，所有新招募人員在部署前，均需在國立教育學院（NIE）完成為期一年的全日制特殊教育文憑課程。我們還通過資助人員參加高階特殊教育文憑課程，提供在職專業發展，並將持續審視AEDs (LBS)的人員配置，確保對SEN學生的支援充足。我完全同意議員們的看法，招聘時必須謹慎，因為重要的是招募具備正確心態、對SEN學生有愛心且有潛力出色完成工作的人員。

我們也加大投入幫助閱讀障礙學生，恆部長剛才已分享相關情況。我們於2012年推出了校本閱讀障礙矯正（SDR）專案，並一直儘快擴大規模。過程中，我們不斷完善教學方法，培訓更多教師。今年，SDR專案將擴充套件到另外60所學校，2016年將覆蓋所有小學。

對有特殊教育需要的兒童的支援還包括為部分學生參加國家考試提供特殊安排，例如葉振忠先生提到的小學離校考試（PSLE）母語豁免。

我們為一小部分在母語學習上有困難的學生提供特殊豁免。這些學生中，有些可能是中途入學或重新入學，之前未學過母語；還有些是經認證的醫療狀況或SEN學生，如閱讀障礙、自閉症譜系障礙（ASD）或注意力缺陷多動障礙（ADHD）。

每個基於醫療或SEN理由的豁免申請，均由教育部專家小組仔細審查，考慮提交的醫療報告、學校報告、考試成績和作業樣本。我想強調，豁免絕非輕易給予。如果孩子確實患有申請中提及的狀況，將考慮豁免。如議員知悉不實情況，可提供詳細資訊，我們必定調查。

我現在感謝謝永容女士詢問高等教育機構（IHL）中的SEN支援辦公室（SSO）或殘障支援辦公室（DSO）以及能力建設和人力培訓，以提升其支援SEN學生的效能。這些是支援IHL中SEN學生的關鍵舉措。每所工藝教育學院、理工學院和公立大學均設有SSO，作為第一線幫助點。SSO還管理SEN基金，幫助工藝教育學院和理工學院中有身體或感官障礙的學生購買輔助技術裝置或支援服務。

下午4時45分

已有超過500名學生向這些辦公室尋求幫助。為提升能力建設，理工學院和工藝教育學院的SSO每三個月召開一次會議，分享最佳實踐。本月，新加坡理工學院將主辦由布蘭德曼大學殘障服務辦公室舉辦的無障礙教育研討會，面向所有IHL的SSO。

自2013年以來，我們的IHL積極開展員工基礎SEN意識和校園支援培訓。培訓向IHL員工介紹各種SEN，並教授課堂支援策略。

在理工學院和工藝教育學院，已有1500名員工接受培訓，約佔學術人員的五分之一。未來五年，理工學院和工藝教育學院將努力培訓所有學術人員掌握基礎SEN意識和支援。我們的大學也為與SEN學生互動的員工提供培訓機會。因此，我認為IHL的SSO工作進展顯著，感謝謝女士和花姐對此倡議的支援。

讓我舉一個受益於該倡議的學生例子。他是18歲的李昂內爾·陳，工藝教育學院中央學院商業服務專業學生，視力有障礙。收到資訊通訊技術（ICT）Nitec課程錄取通知後，工藝教育學院學習無障礙辦公室與李昂內爾溝通，瞭解其需求。通過包括ICT實驗室參觀的會談，李昂內爾意識到該課程可能不適合他。學習無障礙辦公室隨後協助他發現其他興趣，並幫助他報名適合其優勢和需求的課程。辦公室還提供了相應支援。安排了李昂內爾的講師與其前任教師（阿末易卜拉欣中學）討論。辦公室還利用SEN基金購買了文本轉語音軟體和記筆記裝置。講師們也與辦公室合作，為他提供無障礙學習材料。

感謝花姐建議允許其他型別SEN學生使用SEN基金。SEN基金應置於支援SEN學生的更廣泛框架中考慮。我們旨在根據學生具體需求量身定製支援措施，如為閱讀障礙學生提供考試安排，為自閉症譜系障礙學生提供培訓設施導向，為注意力缺陷多動障礙學生提供課堂學習額外幫助。教育部及IHL將持續審視並加強支援範圍。

副總理兼恆部長已談及過去五年我們對SPED學校的支出增長了50%。請允許我詳細說明這如何轉化為新的更好專案，提升SPED的可負擔性、可及性和質量。主席女士，若獲允許，我想在螢幕上展示一張資訊圖。

主席：好的，請。 [幻燈片向尊敬的議員展示。]

沈淑賢女士：關於負擔能力，我們知道有特殊教育需要（SEN）兒童的家長更可能面臨額外的經濟支出，因此幫助他們解決負擔能力問題非常重要。教育部（MOE）因此提供了大量的財政支援。多年來，我們已將多項計劃擴充套件至我們的特殊教育（SPED）學校，包括教育儲蓄計劃（Edusave Scheme）、特殊教育財政援助計劃（SPED Financial Assistance Scheme，簡稱FAS）以及學校早餐計劃。

我們將繼續提供財政支援，幫助我們的特殊教育學生實現他們的願望。今年，我們將提升基於學校的財政援助，未來三年平均每所學校的援助額度將從15,000新元提高至25,000新元。我們還將增強特殊教育財政援助計劃，納入公共交通補貼。

同時，我們將全額補貼新加坡籍特殊教育學校學生參加國家考試及通往國家職業認證考試的考試費用。

為了讓大家瞭解這意味著什麼，我舉一個例子：Shaherah bte Daud是Metta學校的一名16歲學生。Shaherah立志成為一名廚師，將參加ITE烘焙實踐技能證書考試。在未來兩年內，Shaherah無需支付ISC第一類和第三類模組的評估費用。如果她希望提升烘焙技能，隨後也無需支付第二類和第四類模組的評估費用。從現在起直到她21歲，Shaherah都可以參加這些評估，努力獲得認證。

在便利性方面，教育部致力於讓需要特殊教育的兒童更容易被安置到合適的學校。為此，我們定期升級學校基礎設施，並擴大部分特殊教育學校的容量，以滿足日益增長的入學需求。目前，15所特殊教育學校是專門建造的，另外5所已完成翻新。

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我們還希望幫助家長做出將孩子安置到合適學校的重要決定。為此，我們推出了診斷後教育指導（Post-Diagnosis Educational Guidance），為被建議安置到特殊教育學校的兒童家長提供準確的資訊和建議，以及情感支援。

我們提升特殊教育質量的關鍵舉措是2012年實施的特殊教育課程框架（SPED Curriculum Framework）。該框架指導特殊教育學校提供優質且全面的教育，幫助特殊教育學生實現生活、學習和工作目標。我感謝Denise Phua女士與我們不懈合作改進課程，並感謝她提出的新建議，我們將認真研究。

我們還向特殊教育學校投入額外資源，如教學與學習基金、課程提升基金、高需求補助金（用於支援需要更多幫助的學生的人力資源）、教育部-托特董事會資訊通訊技術基金（MOE-Tote Board ICT Fund，用於購買教學輔助資訊通訊技術裝置）以及家長支援小組基金（Parent Support Group Fund，用於建立和維持家校合作關係）。

除了資金支援，教育部認識到特殊教育學校擁有技術嫻熟且敬業的教師和員工至關重要。我們支援特殊教育教師提升技能，開發了里程碑式專案，如特殊教育文憑課程，並向有資質的教師頒發研究生獎學金。我們還慷慨資助特殊教育學校舉辦培訓研討會，並派遣教師參加會議和學習考察。

一項重要舉措是面向有經驗教師的高階特殊教育文憑課程。我們收到了非常積極的反饋，教育工作者認為該課程意義深遠且內容豐富，欣賞課程採用的從研究到實踐的方法。

鑑於特殊教育的背景，我們知道家長和特殊教育教師非常關心孩子或學生離校後的去向。為解決這一關切，我們一直努力幫助特殊教育學生為未來做好準備。

我們於2010年推出了職業教育框架，針對具備更高工作能力的學生。我們還在特殊教育學校推動優質職業教育專案，服務輕度智障學生，提供部分行業領域的國家認證，這使得四分之一的特殊教育畢業生成功就業。

對於能夠工作但可能無法從職業認證中受益的學生，我們與社會及家庭發展部（MSF）、SG Enable及特殊教育學校合作，自2014年起在五所特殊教育學校試點“學校到工作”計劃。我們計劃從2016年起分階段向更多特殊教育學校推廣該計劃。

（頁碼：112）

這些措施為我們的學生提供了不同路徑，幫助他們建立堅實的技能基礎，為職場做好準備。在這方面，我認為我們的特殊教育領域可以被視為技能未來（SkillsFuture）精神的早期踐行者。

女士們，政府一直在加大力度，確保我們繼續成為一個給予所有人希望和保障的社會。教育部將繼續與社會及家庭發展部、全國社會服務理事會（NCSS）、SG Enable及其他合作伙伴攜手，將有特殊需要的新加坡人視為新加坡社會的完整且不可分割的成員。

但政府無法單獨完成這項工作。我感謝志願福利組織（VWOs）、支援的僱主和企業、我們的教育工作者以及所有為建設包容性社會而努力的人。

教育部長高階議員秘書（Hawazi Daipi先生）：主席女士，我認為我無法在12分30秒內完成發言。請問我能否申請延長約五分鐘的發言時間？

主席：可以，五分鐘沒問題。

Hawazi Daipi先生：主席女士，學校、家長和社群是共同努力的關鍵夥伴，致力於打造一個我們的人民因其本質而被重視，而不僅僅是憑藉他們所擁有的資歷的未來。為了全面發展我們的孩子，併為他們打下堅實的價值觀基礎，教育部加強了學校的藝術、音樂、體育和戶外活動以及國際化工作。

在體育領域，我們贊同Benedict Tan博士和Yee Jenn Jong先生的觀點，所有學生參與競技和非競技水平的體育及課外活動（CCA）都有益於他們的全面發展。

我很高興通知各位議員，隨著體育課程的修訂，所有學生都學習基本運動技能和概念，並廣泛接觸至少六種體育專案，以及舞蹈、體操、田徑、游泳和戶外教育。Benedict Tan博士建議所有學生在運動會上參與體育運動。運動會是學生參與的眾多機會之一。除了運動會，學校全年為所有學生提供豐富的體育體驗，如班級間和組別間比賽、越野賽、體育嘉年華和體育教育計劃。

（頁碼：113）

課外活動計劃補充了這些體驗，我們學校提供60多種體育課外活動。約三分之一的學生參與體育課外活動，其中60%不是校隊成員。每所學校提供的課外活動種類取決於學生興趣及設施、財務和人力資源的可用性。每種體育體驗都有不同目的，允許卓越表現和大眾參與共存。

Tan博士可能會高興地知道，通過課程中的戶外教育，所有小學和中學學生都學習簡單的導航和戶外生活技能，如烹飪和搭建庇護所。所有學生在小學六年級結束前至少參加過一次戶外探險營，中學四年級結束前至少參加過兩次營會，其中一次為戶外探險營。通過體育、課外活動和戶外教育，學生體驗團隊合作，培養韌性和堅韌，並發現課堂上可能無法發現的自我特質。

這些課堂外的體驗還通過學校提供的多種跨文化體驗實現，如交流專案、海外學習考察和與新加坡境內外國社群的合作。這些國際化努力更好地為學生準備全球化環境，培養21世紀能力中的全球意識和跨文化技能。

我們同意Benedict Tan博士的觀點，體育是促進本國青年與其他國籍青年互動的有效平臺。這已通過體育賽事實現，如年度東盟學校運動會、全國學校運動會以及本地與國際學校間的校際合作。例如，裕廊中學和北景中學每年與新加坡美國學校進行籃球友誼賽；皇后道中學過去兩年組織了與澳大利亞國際學校的足球和籃球友誼賽。

然而，全面發展不僅是學校的責任。家長和社群必須發揮作用，提供這些機會。社群俱樂部、新加坡體育理事會、國家體育協會和人民協會（PA）提供許多此類專案和活動，學生和家長應參與其中，進一步發展他們在各領域的興趣和優勢。

現在讓我談談技能未來（SkillsFuture）。部長和高階國務部長Indranee已談及技能未來及幫助孩子發現獨特優勢和興趣的重要性，使他們能夠充分發揮不同路徑的潛力。

所有學校都通過教育與職業指導（ECG）工作實現這一目標。針對Ang Wei Neng先生關於家長在職業輔導中角色的提問，我想回應：家長應認識到，今天工作所需的能力和技能可能與他們的孩子未來所需不同。

家長可以與學校合作開展ECG工作。利用教育部電子職業門戶（MOE e-careers portal）和家長教育網站（Parents-in-Education website）等資源，家長可以支援年輕人探索各種教育路徑，並根據興趣、優勢和工作價值觀做出明智選擇。

在宏茂橋的長老會中學，學生參加“慶祝生命！”研討會，幫助他們根據興趣、優勢和志向識別不同路徑。學校通過向家長介紹電子職業門戶，鼓勵他們利用工具指導孩子設定和實現人生目標，從而讓家長參與其中。家長還通過訪問後中學教育機構和高等學府的學習考察，更加了解各種路徑。

在巴西立的綠景中學，家長參與名為“與家長一起實習”的專案。中二和中三學生的家長在六月份假期的三天內志願帶孩子去工作場所，向他們展示各種職業，如溼巴剎、監獄、航空和兒科腫瘤科。學生們反映，通過目睹父母的辛勤工作和職場現實，他們更加理解父母。這些真實體驗非常寶貴，為學生適應職場期望做好準備。

通過參與ECG工作，家長可能發現孩子想走更非傳統的路徑。GCE“O”水準考試後，Ariel De Silva符合理工學院入學資格，但她感興趣的課程均未合格。她的母親Sarie De Silva女士認識到她在創造力、語言技能和講故事方面的優勢，鼓勵她報讀ITE的幼兒教育課程。Ariel追隨熱情，在ITE表現優異，後來進入淡馬錫理工學院。她現在是一名合格的學前教師。

作為家長，我們必須相信，當孩子追求自己擅長且熱愛的事物時，他們會找到成功和滿足感。

家長還可以通過家長支援小組（PSG）網路支援學校的ECG工作，向學生展示超出自己職業範圍的職業選擇。

在裕廊東小學，高年級學生在ECG課程中使用電子職業門戶瞭解不同職業。通過工作影子計劃，PSG成員在工作場所接待六年級學生，給予他們真實的職場體驗。自2012年實施以來，該計劃已惠及120名學生，越來越多的PSG家長主動支援該計劃。

盛港的培華中學在結構化的ECG專案中，邀請PSG、校友、學校諮詢委員會（SAC）和行業合作伙伴參與。PSG、校友和SAC與學生舉辦對話會，分享教育和職業選擇及個人挑戰中的經驗教訓。中三學生可選擇在聖淘沙名勝世界、新加坡野生動物保護區及部分酒店和零售店實習。這些努力 culminate in an ECG Day for Secondary 4 and 5 students where industry partners, former students or lecturers from IHLs are invited as keynote speakers and course advisors.

因此，行業合作伙伴非常重要，或許沒有人比我們的行業領袖更能權威地談論職場需求和期望。我們將啟動系列節目“老闆想要什麼”，由行業領袖分享僱主重視的技能、態度和特質。該系列旨在提高家長對多樣職業選擇的認識和欣賞，強調培養孩子優勢和興趣及灌輸主動性、韌性、動力和適應力等價值觀的重要性。

通過共同努力提升ECG工作，我們更有能力幫助拓寬孩子們的成功機會。

除了參與ECG工作，PSG網路幫助家長支援學校和彼此，共同培養孩子的全面發展。我很高興看到幾乎所有學校都有由熱心支援的家長組成的PSG。教育部一直鼓勵PSG的發展，並重視在它們之間建立支援網路。

我們計劃今年舉辦四場PSG領袖聯誼會，匯聚PSG領袖和學校工作人員，協同努力加強家校合作。約有730名參與者將出席這四場聯誼會。

我於2月28日參加了第一場聯誼會，看到東區如此積極參與的PSG領袖和工作人員，討論家長和學校如何在各自叢集中合作和支援，令我感到欣慰。

我遇見了多位多年來活躍於孩子學校的PSG領袖，其中一些人在孩子畢業後仍繼續貢獻。其中一位是嘉諾撒修院小學現任PSG主席George Punnoose先生。他已參與PSG九年，表示即使女兒畢業後仍積極參與，是因為他熱愛孩子們，渴望通過PSG活動為他們的校園生活帶來歡樂。

我還遇見了來自其他國家的活躍PSG領袖，他們因欣賞我們的教育體系而將孩子送入本地學校。他們參與學校和PSG，增強了學校孩子們的文化多樣性和全球意識。

一般而言，PSG成員多為母親，因此我特別高興在2月28日的聯誼會上看到許多父親。聖希爾達中學PSG主席Gordon Tan先生自2012年加入PSG，因想成為兒子“最佳父親”，尤其是在青春期關鍵階段。通過親子活動，他更瞭解兒子，並共同創造了許多珍貴回憶。

另一位父親，俊源小學PSG主席Muchtar Bin Abdul Karim先生，是該校首屆畢業生。他於2014年為女兒報名入學，並加入學校PSG，以回饋母校。他認為自己在學校的存在幫助女兒增強自信，希望激勵她效仿自己回饋社群。

我遇見的這些父親表示，參與PSG讓他們在塑造孩子成長方面發揮更大作用。他們認為PSG應更多吸引父親參與，並願意為此貢獻力量。

如此積極支援的家長是其他家長的良好榜樣。為進一步鼓勵這種指導關係，我很高興通知，第九屆COMPASS理事會將啟動COMPASS-PSG指導計劃。根據學校需求，該計劃將為希望進一步發展的PSG匹配來自COMPASS的PSG導師。我們的COMPASS PS代表均為學校PSG的資深成員，能夠為其他PSG提供支援。

當COMPASS成員趙忠興先生在2014年首屆PSG會議上分享聖希爾達小學的父親團體時，來自如如蘭小學、武吉知馬小學、勿洛綠小學和光陽小學的PSG代表們受到啟發，開始探索父親如何參與他們的學校活動。去年，勿洛綠小學訪問聖希爾達小學，觀察父親團體的運作方式，為該校舉辦了一次攀巖親子聯誼活動鋪平了道路。

通過該計劃，我們希望鼓勵家長支援團體（PSG）加強與學校的合作伙伴關係，以造福他們的孩子，併為未來世界做好準備。

女士，當我們作為一個社群共同努力，為我們的孩子提供機會，拓寬成功的定義時，我們將教導孩子們每個人都因其獨特的優勢、才能和興趣而被重視。我們將更好地幫助孩子們未來在社會中取得成功。女士，如果允許，我想用馬來語結束我的發言。

（馬來語）：[請參閱本地語演講。]主席女士，我們的孩子長大後生活和工作的世界將與我們今天所知大不相同。因此，終身學習非常重要。我們需要幫助孩子們掌握知識、技能和能力，準備好面對未來的不確定性和複雜性。

這些技能包括溝通能力、資訊處理能力和團隊合作能力。更重要的是，我們需要幫助他們成長為品格良好、能夠做出明智決策、並以韌性和適應力面對挑戰的人。這些品質將為他們的未來奠定堅實基礎。這些也是僱主在未來員工中所看重的品質，因為他們希望員工具有主動性、積極性和熱情。

因此，家長和學校必須攜手合作，幫助孩子們培養這些品質，發現他們的動力和熱情所在。這可以通過為孩子們提供教育與職業指導（ECG）來實現。雖然教育部（MOE）會為中學、初級學院、中央學院、理工學院和工藝教育學院（ITE）配備ECG輔導員，但家長必須盡其所能真正瞭解孩子。這意味著要花時間與他們共度優質時光，幫助他們

第118頁

探索不同的機會和可能性。

我鼓勵所有家長支援學校在教育與職業指導（ECG）方面的努力，利用ECG入口網站和家長教育網站等資源，探索孩子未來的不同職業路徑。這些資源為家長提供指導和協助孩子做出成熟未來決策的技巧，還包含各種教育路徑的資訊，以及引導性問題和自我評估工具，幫助學生根據興趣、優勢和價值觀做出明智選擇。

當我們的孩子發現他們的動力所在、優勢和興趣所在時，家長和學校可以共同努力，給予他們追求這些的機會。有時，這需要家長走出舒適區，鼓勵孩子嘗試新事物。只有通過這樣的探索，孩子們才能發現自我的新面向。

Adly Azizi Adly Azamin的父母就是給予孩子探索新事物空間如何轉化為未來積極力量的例子。當Adly Azizi在蒙福特初級學校首次選擇舞蹈作為課外活動時，他沒有正式的舞蹈訓練，但通過該課外活動，他發現了自己的天賦並培養了深厚的熱情。儘管舞蹈經驗有限，Adly在家人的支援下參加了藝術學院（SOTA）的入學試。如今，15歲的Adly是一位充滿動力和熱情的學生，在SOTA舞蹈系追求他的舞蹈之路。

家長和學校必須攜手幫助孩子瞭解可選的不同路徑，給予他們空間追求擅長和感興趣的領域，達到他們的最高潛能。我們應鼓勵他們追求能帶來快樂和滿足的選擇，並尊重他們所選擇的任何道路。這樣，孩子成功的機會將更加廣闊。主席女士，謝謝。

下午5時15分

主席：我們還有一點時間做澄清。Zainal Sapari先生？

Zainal Sapari先生：主席女士，我想用馬來語澄清。

（馬來語）：[請參閱本地語演講。]教育部長在演講中表示，無論起點如何，都不會有孩子被落下。部長能否分享政府對幾位議員提出的建議的立場，即是否考慮在今年預算中為所有新加坡學生免除考試費用，即使他們在私立學校如全日制伊斯蘭學校就讀？

Heng Swee Keat先生：女士，所有以私人考生身份參加國家考試的新加坡人，包括伊斯蘭學校學生，目前已經享有考試費用補貼。我們的教育體系確實是包容性的。正如我所說，我堅持這一點——不會有孩子被落下。所有家長都可以選擇將孩子送入主流學校，接受高度補貼的教育，這其中包括國家考試費用的全額免除。

因此，我們的政策仍然是希望所有新加坡孩子入讀主流學校，經歷共同的教育體驗，一起成長。因此，這不是要平衡主流學校和私立學校之間的所有條件。如果私立學校因特定原因是必要的，相關機構會在非常具體的背景下考慮他們的需求。

Lim Biow Chuan先生：謝謝，主席女士。讓我感謝部長分享教育部的重點領域。我希望我們提出的關切和建議能被帶回教育部考慮，因為我們許多人談到了戶外活動和藝術等話題。部長談到了超越成績的理念。現實是，在許多學校中，對好成績的重視仍然很強，這也解釋了為什麼補習文化如此盛行。我們可能談論超越成績，但學校確實看重成績。

我還想問部長，我在發言中提到是否可以提前為中年轉職人士提供增強補貼，而不是40歲以後，改為工作五年後。我知道財政部長已經談過這個問題。我希望部長能帶回去，與財政部討論，看看是否可以考慮提前為中年新加坡人提供增強補貼。

Heng Swee Keat先生：主席女士，當然我們會考慮所有提出的建議。在這簡短的發言中，我無法涵蓋所有建議，感謝各位議員的建議。

關於超越成績的問題，確實，這不僅僅是一個變化。正如我在演講中所說，我們需要作為家長、教育者、學校領導、僱主以及整個社會共同推動這場轉型。這是一項重大轉型工作，需要我們每個人的參與。正如我所說，每一個決定、每一個行動，

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每個人都很重要。

關於增強中年補貼，我們肯定會與財政部討論。但讓我說的是，我們的許多課程已經得到了高度補貼。正如我所說，我們的重點不應僅僅是補貼和特定課程。談到終身學習，歸根結底，是技能的運用，學習可以在許多不同的環境中進行。美國與日本的例子給了我們一個生動的教訓，我們必須關注如何使其有效，技術細節隨後可以解決。

Denise Phua Lay Peng女士：謝謝，女士。我想提出兩個澄清；一是想了解部長對整合的十年貫通學校的看法。我想澄清，我並不意味著要犧牲學術嚴謹性。我真的認為學術嚴謹和品格培養必須保持。我只是想再次徵詢部長的看法，因為我已經問過幾次了。

第二個澄清是給國務部長沈燕女士。關於特殊需要學生，如果能找到特別方案，確保特殊教育（SPED）學校不會被排除在國家層面所有好專案之外，例如目前正在進行的非常好的基於學校的閱讀障礙矯正專案。我認為這是非常好的。有一些特殊需要學生同時患有多種疾病，包括閱讀障礙。因此，我也想徵求您的意見。

Heng Swee Keat先生：主席女士，我認為Denise Phua女士體現了精通學習和終身學習的重要品質——堅持不懈，持續努力。我們都記得Phua女士幾個月前提出了休會動議。首先，我要說的是，秉持我所說的精神，我歡迎任何形式的創新，我們必須對可能性保持開放心態。我們必須探索更好做事的方法，因此我們會認真考慮這個問題。

早些時候，Inderjit Singh先生提到了稀缺心態。如果我們認為只有一條成功之路，無論是在學校還是工作中，作為家長、學生或個人，我們會怎麼做？我們會竭盡全力進入那條道路。事實上，我們在許多不同的體系中都看到這種現象。

在一些體系中，他們一直忙於改變這一切，結果是許多人抱怨教育體系失去了嚴謹性，學生準備不足，不僅是面對未來，甚至是現在。在其他體系中，壓力如此之大，以至於他們決定廢除PSLE、GCE“普通”水準考試，實行貫通制，不僅是十年，而是十二年。

只要只有一條成功之路，壓力遲早會顯現。在我研究過的體系中，這種壓力錶現為兩個方面：一是我如何進入那條路？首先，在小學階段，我進入一所好小學，然後進入好中學，最後進入好高中？

然後，壓力向下延伸。為什麼不進入好幼兒園，以便進入好小學？然後更進一步，為什麼不進入好託兒所，以便進入好幼兒園？我有個朋友的孫子三歲時被評估入讀海外某託兒所。她說孫子三歲時人生第一次失敗，就是在評估時睡著了。其他孩子評估時間很長，輪到他時正是他平時的午睡時間。

這是壓力的一個方面。另一個壓力點是在高中，因為高中決定你是否能進入大學，而大學決定你是否能成功。

我最近遇到一位新加坡人，他娶了一位女士，他岳父母問他“你是哪個大學畢業的？”當他回答後，他在家庭中成了邊緣人。因此，壓力在兩個極端顯現。

我並不是說貫通制是壞主意。我是說我們需要思考是什麼驅動了這種壓力，以及我們如何在其中創新。

大約兩年前，我遇到一位中國的深思熟慮的教育者。討論這個問題時，她告訴我，只要我們有稀缺心態，認為只有一條成功之路，那麼我們看待生活的方式就像“千軍萬馬過獨木橋”。難道系統不會有壓力嗎？這會帶來更好的教育嗎？肯定會有壓力。這是一種應對問題的方式。

另一種是我們是否擁有豐盛心態。當我們擁有豐盛心態時，成功不再由一條道路定義，而是多條道路。學校成功、工作成功，有許多不同的路徑。正如我所說，1965年我們剛獨立時，讀書是重要的晉升途徑，因為那是最大的技能缺口。

如今，我們經濟發生巨大變化，許多工作崗位需要各領域的深厚技能，因此路徑多樣化。但我們對教育和路徑的思考未能跟上這些變化。

展望未來，我們非常重要的是不要只想到那唯一的獨木橋，而是建造許多橋樑。不僅是木橋，還有鐵橋、鋼橋，尋找不同的過河方式，專用船、機動船、潛艇等等。

這樣，我們可以創造更多成功路徑。事實上，SkillsFuture獎學金、SkillsFuture學分、SkillsFuture獎項以及所有模組化課程，都是賦能新加坡人創造自己的路徑，構建自己的技能地圖，以保持相關性。同時，我們需要僱主參與，充分利用這些技能，從而提高公司生產力和利潤，進而轉化為更高工資，形成更多成功路徑的良性迴圈。

確實，有些新加坡人可能選擇自僱、創業，並在這些領域建立成功所需的技能。因此，這是真正需要實現的根本轉型——超越學校成功的思維，成功於多個領域，擁有豐盛心態，思考新可能性，具備創新和資源fulness的心態，探索新方法。

在這方面，我重申我始終歡迎好點子，我們必須不斷探索更好的做事方式。但我想重申，歸根結底，經過對全球體系的考察，我認為我們需要在成功觀、路徑觀以及創造路徑的方式上實現重大轉型。

Sim Ann女士：女士，我想回應Denise Phua女士關於與特殊教育（SPED）學校分享更多專案如閱讀障礙矯正的澄清。她提醒我，我們的專家已經開始與SPED學校合作，提升學生的閱讀和識字能力，作為SPED課程框架的一部分。如果我沒記錯，這項工作實際上比基於學校的閱讀障礙矯正專案還早一些。至於她的建議，我們會認真研究。

Irene Ng Phek Hoong女士：我想問學生的壓力水平。我歡迎教育部（MOE）轉向超越成績的理念。但現實是，由於競爭激烈和家長期望高，學生面臨越來越大的成績壓力。我擔心那些難以應對壓力、可能出現抑鬱和自尊心低下問題的學生，他們可能會產生自殺念頭。

下午5時30分

我想問部長，教育部如何增強學生應對壓力的情緒資源，面對快速變化的節奏，並與家長合作，管理他們的期望，開放接受部長剛才提到的多元路徑？

Heng Swee Keat先生：主席女士，感謝Irene Ng女士的問題。我確實認同議員的關切，我們必須關注學生的社會情緒能力。特別是在過去幾年，我們通過多種課程加強了學校中社會情緒能力的學習。同時，正如高階議員Hawazi強調的，最終家長扮演非常重要的角色。家長與孩子的溝通至關重要。

我很高興看到許多不同組織和家長支援團體（PSG）主動協助，與學校合作，互相支援。我見過這些團體，對他們的工作印象深刻，因為當家長能夠分享彼此經歷時，會形成一種共同體意識——我們共同面對挑戰。這項工作將持續進行，我們必須關注孩子們的社會情緒健康，使他們成長為適應良好、快樂的個體，正如我演講中所說，學習是為了生活，而不僅僅是為了成績。

葉振榮先生：主席女士，我有兩個問題要問部長。首先，我必須說我完全同意部長的觀點，學習不應為了成績，而應為了掌握知識。部長說過，他提到的這些變化超越了學校的範疇。

首先，部長肯定會同意，我們仍然需要學校來落實我們想要的改變，而有些歷史性的結構可能傳遞出與部長所說不同的資訊。例如，中央集中的卓越計劃（GEP）賦予了九所入選學校某種精英地位，並且會繼續讓家長認為這些是頂尖且受歡迎的學校。那麼，我們是否應該大膽地批判性審視那些可能已經完成其使命的歷史體系，並探討是否有不同的方式來實現其設立的初衷？

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我第二個問題已經有人問過，但我會換個方式堅持問。部長是否同意，貫通式的小學到中學的學校實際上非常符合部長自己提出的學習不僅僅為了成績，而是為了好奇心和掌握知識的理念？這將讓家長真正認同部長的理念，選擇這樣的學校，從而不必讓孩子們為了進入好學校而在PSLE中追求高分。

我聽到了部長的回答，但我覺得我們其實可以將頂尖學校排除在這項改革之外，保持原有的升學路徑不變，這樣就不會像部長剛才所說的那樣，將壓力向下轉移。

王瑞傑部長：感謝葉振榮先生首先完全同意我關於學習為了掌握的觀點。他提出了兩個問題。首先，我談到超越學校，但我們在學校裡做了什麼？事實上，當我說“超越”時，我的意思是你需要在學校裡做事，然後還要超越學校。所以，這不是“非此即彼”，而是兩者都需要做好。

關於卓越計劃（GEP）及其可能改變的觀感，我在演講中提到，我們現在有多種應用學習計劃。但我想超越關於一兩個GEP是否造成壓力和問題的討論，思考在我們這樣一個擁有約180所中學的大型學校系統中，如何在每所學校創造機會。

我非常致力於“每校皆優”運動。這就是為什麼我推出了應用學習計劃和生活學習計劃。這些計劃開始產生效果，家長們開始看到每所學校都提供一些有趣或特別的內容，能夠幫助他們的孩子學習。

我在演講中提到了淡海中學的例子，一位家長有三個孩子參加了健康科學課程。所以，我們要有這種豐盛心態，思考如何創造新的可能性，而不是隻關注一兩個特定領域。我們真正想要的是在非常廣泛的領域開展工作，創造我所說的多元成功路徑。

關於議員的第二個問題，是否在這種精神下，如果有貫通式課程，是否會幫助家長不再追逐分數等。我在回覆潘淑英女士時也提到，歸根結底——我們剛剛討論了四個多小時，說明社會進行這場重大轉型的重要性——我們努力的核心焦點是什麼？未來多年我們努力的核心焦點是讓每個人的心態發生轉變，以實現這場重大變革。

我願意考慮具體想法和措施的優點，但我也必須非常明確，鑑於我們擁有的資源和關注點，我會把重點放在最能產生最大影響的事情上。所以，如果我們相信，確實建立貫通式學校能產生影響，我再次重申，我願意考慮。但我花了很多時間思考這些問題，研究世界各地的教育體系，與全球教育者討論，試圖理解全球教育和社會體系行為的驅動力。我確實認為，技能未來計劃（SkillsFuture）和我提到的學習掌握、終身學習、生活學習的轉型，正是我們需要實現的轉型。在這個背景下，我們可以做很多事情。

穆罕默德·費薩爾·賓·阿卜杜勒·馬納普議員（阿裕尼選區）：主席女士，請用馬來語。

（馬來語）：[請參閱方言發言。] 剛才，部長提到了教育儲蓄獎學金（Edusave Merit Bursary）。我想向部長澄清，馬德拉薩學生是否有資格獲得教育儲蓄獎學金或其他教育儲蓄獎項？

王瑞傑部長：我相信國務部長沈燕安在本院提出了將教育儲蓄擴充套件至所有學生的法案。所以，我希望尊敬的議員知道這點。

穆罕默德·費薩爾·賓·阿卜杜勒·馬納普議員：我只是想知道，這是否包括教育儲蓄獎學金，還是僅僅是教育儲蓄計劃本身？

王瑞傑部長：是我們存入賬戶的教育儲蓄金額。

主席：馬納普先生，您還想進一步澄清嗎？

穆罕默德·費薩爾·賓·阿卜杜勒·馬納普議員：是的，因為我理解教育儲蓄計劃是否涵蓋——

主席：我認為部長剛才已經回答了，不涵蓋。在我看來，只涵蓋存入賬戶的金額。

穆罕默德·費薩爾·賓·阿卜杜勒·馬納普議員：我只是想知道，剛才提到的教育儲蓄獎項和獎學金是否會提供給馬德拉薩學生。

王瑞傑部長：我想我已經回答了尊敬議員的問題，教育儲蓄金額是存入賬戶，供學生用於課外活動，而不是其他獎項。

主席：如果沒有其他澄清，林標泉先生，您是否願意撤回您的修正案？

林標泉先生：謝謝您，主席女士。女士，請允許我藉此機會感謝部長、高階國務部長、國務部長和高階議會秘書對我們眾多問題和澄清的答覆。我代表政府議會委員會（GPC），也想借此機會對教育部以及成千上萬為孩子未來做準備的教師和其他教育工作者表示深深的感謝。主席女士，我請求撤回我的修正案。

[(程式文本) 修正案，經許可，撤回 (程式文本)]。

[(程式文本) 114億新元撥款，列入主要預算（程式文本）]。

[(程式文本) 7億新元撥款，列入發展預算（程式文本）]。

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英文原文

SPRS Hansard · Fetched: 2026-05-02

General Education Policies

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten) : Madam, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head K of the Estimates be reduced by $100".

A recent article in The Straits Times caught my eye. In the article, it was reported that there were too many Koreans chasing after too few jobs. The report stated that the college entrance rate stands at 80%, up from 30% in the 1990s. South Korean parents were reported to spend up to 19 trillion won, or S$22.4 billion, on extra tuition. But many college graduates were unable to find jobs due to severe labour mismatch. The jobless rate for people aged 15 to 29 is 8% and government data from South Korea showed that there were more than three million graduates who were "economically inactive".

In another BBC article last July, it was reported that a staggering 7.26 million will graduate from China's universities in 2014. In fact, the article was entitled "What do you do with millions of extra graduates?" Unemployment among these new graduates six months after leaving university is around 15%.

Having read such depressing news, I wonder about our Singapore graduates. Like South Korea and China, Singaporeans place a high premium on education and many students aspire towards getting a tertiary education. This is evident from the fact that a recent household survey found that Singapore families spent a staggering $1.1 billion on tuition.

I am concerned that more and more students see achieving a university degree as the ultimate objective in life and they will be assured of a bright future once they graduate. To me, there is nothing wrong in wanting to pursue further education. However, I worry about Singaporeans who, after spending so much time and money on attaining a higher education, are unable to secure well-paying jobs. Will Singapore have the high youth unemployment rates that we see in South Korea, in China and in many parts of Europe? If we do, I am sure that there will be great frustration and deep resentment among these people.

Last year, I urged the Government to ensure that all our students from ITEs, polytechnics and universities are properly prepared to meet the future needs of the various industries. We must ensure that the skills which our students learn in our Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs must be practical and relevant to the industries. Hence, I am glad to hear the recent focus in the Budget Statement about the need to invest in our citizens to prepare them for the future.

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Much was said about SkillsFuture in the Budget Debate. I agree that we must help our citizens deepen and master skills relevant to their jobs because our people are our only natural resource. In this competitive world, Singaporeans cannot take full employment for granted. May I ask the Minister, how will SkillsFuture help Singaporeans understand better the need for lifelong learning to achieve deeper skills in their profession or work, and to remain relevant in the workforce? Just in today's The Straits Times, it was reported that fewer workers find their training useful. Can MOE ensure that courses and skills taught by education and training providers are useful and relevant? Can the Minister elaborate more about the SkillsFuture credit and how Singaporeans can upgrade themselves using the SkillsFuture credit?

Next, allow me to speak briefly about tuition. Whilst I know that many students rely heavily on tuition, I am concerned that tuition will eventually become a crutch for these students. Some of them are so heavily reliant on tuition to achieve high scores that they may have lost the skill of self-directed learning. This will put them at a disadvantage when they enter the workforce as they may not develop problem-solving skills on their own whilst they were students. They will always have a safety net in their tuition teachers.

Can we ask our schools to encourage students who are already performing well to reconsider whether they truly need tuition? Teachers can encourage their students to be bold and confident to develop the skill of self-learning without the need for tuition teachers to constantly hold their hands and check their work. If we take a small step in this direction, we will gradually be able to reduce students' over-dependence on tuition. This hopefully will gradually reduce stress as students should see that actual competence, application skills and lifelong learning skills are more important once they enter the workforce.

Finally, I am excited to hear about the enhanced subsidies for mid-career Singaporeans. I feel that we can encourage Singaporeans to seek further development by pursuing either skills development or further education once they are clearer about their career goals. However, I wish to urge MOE to consider allowing the enhanced subsidies to be given to Singaporeans who have worked for at least five years and not wait until they are 40 years of age.

I know of many young people who, after having worked for a few years, feel that it is timely for them to upgrade their skills and this is before it becomes more difficult for them to take time off to balance office work, family life and still continue their studies. Minister, I wish to appeal that we allow them to seize the opportunities offered by our education system once they are ready instead of waiting until they are 40 years old.

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[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]

SkillsFuture – Progression Opportunities

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh) : ( In Malay ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Mdm Chair, efforts to restructure our economy is well underway to prepare us for the global challenge. With this effort, a rapid transformation will take place in our nation's industries. The implementation of SkillsFuture and other relevant schemes for lifelong learning and upgrading are important and necessary. It is hoped that this will bring about the necessary mindset change to Singaporean workers and students. This mindset change is key to the success of SkillsFuture.

Although we understand the long-term benefits of lifelong learning and upgrading initiatives, it is only a projection and a potential that will not produce quick results. I believe that many people will want to know and understand in more detail how the SkillsFuture schemes can provide motivation and a positive impact as soon as possible to our students and workers, especially for the mature workers. Can SkillsFuture continuously help our students and workers to achieve progression in their careers?

As for SkillsFuture programme in schools and Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs), what are the objectives and outcomes that we would like to achieve for our students? Can the internship and Earn and Learn programmes decide a good and stable career or is it merely for education and training? How can we ensure a good match and minimise the attrition rates and complications among students in the SkillsFuture programme so as to achieve a more optimal outcome?

Aspirations for Higher Education

Ms Tin Pei Ling (Marine Parade) : Madam, I am heartened by the Government's introduction of the ASPIRE and SkillsFuture. I hope that all of these initiatives, taken together, will over the long term foster a workforce that is always up-to-date, shrewd in making career choices, higher employability and highly sought after regardless of how the world or economy changes. More importantly, a population that is passionate about lifelong learning and ever willing to seek out opportunities to meaningfully challenge ourselves.

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Madam, I have two suggestions. First is to allow a wider selection of courses to be covered by SkillsFuture Credit. This could include post-graduate qualifications, such as Master's programmes in local institutions. It will no doubt help Singaporeans who aspire and

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have the ability to attain higher qualifications to do so.

SkillsFuture Credit is about empowerment and giving Singaporeans the autonomy and responsibility over their own personal development and career progression. Hence, why not let Singaporeans decide what are best suited to their development and to their needs because SkillsFuture credit is, perhaps, only a small fraction of the total cost of a master's programme but it is a nod towards the desire to upgrade.

Hence, my second suggestion is to allow Singaporeans to tap into their own CPF money to fund these programmes, at least partially, and make it known that if they tap on their CPF, they are expected to put it back post-graduation.

Support for Mid-career Learning

Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Chair, the definition of mid-career varies. Typically, it means someone who has worked for 10 to 15 years and is probably in their late-30s or 40s. At this mid-point, one might come to a crossroads and:

(a) have a feeling of a need to upgrade and deepen his work skills so as to do better in his career; or

(b) seek the ultimate goal and meaning of one's life and contemplate a possible change in his career; or

(c) in the worst-case scenario, face retrenchment because his skillset has become redundant or his company has closed down or relocated.

For those who need to upgrade to deepen his skills so as to perform better in his fields of work, he is definitely more self-motivated and can help himself to look for suitable courses, and he will find SkillsFuture Credit very useful.

For the second group, maybe the Government could collaborate with the industries to provide more mid-career scholarships to facilitate change of career, perhaps as a means to encourage people to tilt towards growing industries. It does not mean that we are encouraging people to change jobs or change career. Several literature about mid-career crisis shows that very often people find themselves unhappy in a path which they have trodden for some time. This is a modern-day illness.

As for the third group, it is the most worrying. For many people in their late-30s and 40s, they would have several significant financial commitments, such as housing mortgages,

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young or school-going children and elderly parents to support and so on. And they can ill afford to lose their jobs at this time of their life. This group deserves the most attention.

Mdm Chair, as we accelerate our economic restructuring, more Singaporeans will be displaced from their jobs. It is most painful when someone loses his job after working so hard for so many years in the same field. One particular group of people is those working in the manufacturing sector. A significant number of Singaporeans were retrenched when the factories were closed and relocated to Penang and China and so on. Although many new jobs have been created, a lot of these opportunities are created in the service sectors. The displaced workers from the manufacturing sector find it hard to adapt and make such a switch.

In my own personal capacity, I have tried to help some retrenched Singaporeans by offering them opportunities in the service sectors but my experience is not too positive. I used to interview several middle managers displaced from the manufacturing sector before I could find one who would possibly fit into a management role in the service sector. Even then, only one out of five who was eventually offered made it.

I hope MOM can help more displaced workers, help them to organise courses and work with e2i to find new ways to help them.

Lifelong Learning

Mrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): Lifelong learning is the pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons which enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development but self-sustainability rather than for competitiveness and employability.

Lifelong learning can also be seen as something that takes place on an ongoing basis from our daily interactions with others and the world around us.

As Singaporeans are living longer these days, they can make use of their added years in ways that please them especially when they have time on their hands. If their counterparts in Hong Kong who embrace lifelong learning can enter the classroom, there is no reason why our elderly should not emulate them if they have the interest, energy and desire to live a more enriching and fulfilling life through continuous education.

For seniors, who for various reasons had to stop their studies during their younger days, learning opportunities for them will be most welcomed and should be made available to them. Learning opportunities should also be provided to needy elderly in recognition of their

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contributions of the generation who built up Singapore and who have survived difficult times in the past and have advantage of life experience.

Intergeneration learning in class is unique and beneficial, in that both the younger students and the senior ones can learn from each other through interactions and also to overcome apprehensiveness with each other in the classroom.

We are living in a globalised world and with constant scientific and technological innovation, some seniors can even pursue courses of higher learning online either in homes or offices.

I am heartened to note that Singapore is studying the feasibility of the Hong Kong scheme for the elderly to re-enter the classroom where the seniors can take classes in participating universities and schools during the weekends and at night for tertiary education or life skills, such as basic computer use and crafts.

Hong Kong's scheme receives subsidies from the government. Hopefully, the Government will work out some form of enhanced subsidies for courses to fund the programmes under the one billion SkillsFuture plan for continued education for the future. Providing seniors with a tertiary education will certainly help keep individuals mentally alert and raise their self-esteem.

Journey of continuing education is not smooth-sailing but the highs outweigh the lows if one is patient enough. Lifelong learning is just not about achieving another qualification for jobs but our lives will be enriched, too.

Quote: "The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realise the less I know".

Internships

Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, internships will play an increasingly important role as we move to a more skills-based economy. I have spoken on this topic before. While I am happy that there will be more internships and we are told that they will be structured, I remain concerned about how industries will be engaged to ensure that internships are meaningful even as we ramp up the number of such places.

I have taken interns over the past 15 years and I have spoken with others who have as well. From the perspective of companies, the supply of interns has been somewhat unpredictable. Some institutions give longer period of notice of incoming interns and some

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are as short as two weeks before commencement. Sometimes, we are allowed to interview and select interns but often we are not.

It will be difficult for companies to plan for a meaningful project if the supply is unpredictable and if the existing skills of interns are not properly matched to what companies need. For projects to be even more meaningful and realistic, where possible, it will be better if there could be continuity across different internship intakes from education institutions. We can encourage projects commenced during internship to continue, as, say, a final year project when the intern returns to school.

This year, we have a new Earn and Learn programme with generous funding support. I hope to see internship funding support for companies that take in a minimum number of interns a year so that they can dedicate resources to meet internship rigorously akin to a sort of apprenticeship.

I also hope there can be close coordination between companies and supervisors in schools so that projects would be useful to companies while the internship experience will result in the learning required by the school. Where possible, we can also bring in the expertise of industry associations to help plan and validate internship programmes.

Targeted Sector to Help Students' Career

Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member): Mdm Chair, in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Mdm Chair, Members of Parliament, good afternoon. The 2015 Budget has initiated the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme to help match graduates of Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education or ITEs with potential employers. From this year onwards, the Government will be collaborating with the retail, food and logistics sectors to nurture a batch of SkillsFuture Mentors to help SMEs with training their talents. This is very good news.

The role of education is to fulfil the needs of society. Our local talents are trained in a rigorously structured framework. The advantage of this model is being able to upgrade the quality of our workforce as a whole. However, if any industry is being overlooked during the planning phase, there will be gaps in our manpower resources.

Gaps have already appeared in some of the traditional industries. On this note, I urge all industry and trade associations to be actively involved in the planning of our future manpower resources. Not only must they convey their respective industry needs to MOE accurately, they should also support the internship programme wholeheartedly. Through the

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internship, students can have first-hand experience of the work environment, understand whether their personal interests and strengths can have growth potential in the industry and help them to chart their future career path. On the other hand, this programme could also help employers to identify the most outstanding young people and recruit talent.

However, we must also realise that larger corporations have the capability to provide internships and attract talents. SMEs, on the other hand, often lack a proper system in place. But, if they do not get involved with manpower resource planning now, the manpower crunch would get even more severe in time to come.

In order to conform to the times, traditional industries and SMEs must also grab the opportunity to improve their overall image. For example, by and large, young people are not keen to seek employment as workers wearing singlets in cake shops. But if the boss works hard to improve the work environment and enhance the job's skills value, the requirement would then be to hire a pastry chef clad in a smart uniform which would then project a professional image and satisfaction to the employee.

Going forward, professional education and career counsellors will be assigned to all secondary schools, ITEs, polytechnics and universities. Industry and trade associations must engage closely with these counsellors to ensure that they have adequate and comprehensive industry knowledge and help them change the stereotypes students have on traditional industries.

I sincerely hope that more trade associations would partake in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme. At the same time, I would like to understand what yardsticks the ITEs and polytechnics use to select industries for their internship programmes. Only if we fully understand what yardsticks and considerations are being used can the owners of traditional industries collaborate with schools in a more purposeful and systematic manner.

Career Counselling

Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong) : Mdm Chair, in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] It is said that the biggest fear for a man is to choose the wrong career, while the biggest fear for a woman is to marry the wrong man. In modern society, gender equality means women also work and are equally wary of choosing the wrong career.

While we invest heavily on SkillsFuture, we also need education and career counsellors to counsel the students to help them understand their own strengths and weaknesses as

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well as their area of interest and various options. Secondary school students can then make informed choices when they select courses at tertiary institutions, and ultimately, make wise decisions in their career choices.

However, the education and career counsellors engaged by MOE must, first of all, have actual working experience in the different fields and receive specialised training in order to advise the students effectively. Otherwise, they will just be engaging in empty talk and mislead the students.

We are all aware that every parent wants their children to be successful. However, not everyone can become a doctor or a lawyer. As such, schools should communicate with parents and parents should work together with schools so that each student can make career choices according to their ability and interest instead of just picking the one with the highest pay. After all, no matter which job you do, you can achieve greatness.

( In English ): In English, Madam. I have mentioned in my Mandarin speech that we need to involve parents when MOE counsellors provide career guidance to the students. At the tertiary level, it is more important for the students to intern at relevant companies to apply the skillset they have acquired at the educational institutions.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman, in his Budget Statement, mentioned that the Government would roll out "enhanced internship in two-thirds of polytechnic courses and half of ITE courses over the next two years." This is an ambitious target. Could MOE share with us what is the number of internship opportunities required to support the target? How is the Government incentivising the companies to provide meaningful internships? At the end of the day, it has to be a win-win situation for the company, as well as for the student.

Every School a Good School

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Moulmein-Kallang) : Madam, beneath the observable 10% of an iceberg above the water level, is an important 90% of its total mass. It is this 90% beneath the surface that the ocean currents act on and causes the iceberg's behaviour at the top. I would like to apply the analogy of the iceberg to explain why it is still very hard for Singaporeans to believe that every school is a good school.

1.30 pm

First, what is observable at the top of the iceberg. The drive to get into what are perceived as the better schools is still relentless. This is despite all the good work that the Minister has done. Top PSLE scores are no longer announced. Ten-year series assessments

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are made easily available for all. More education awards for good character; ASPIRE and even plans to replace the PSLE T-score system to one that is less competitive. Yet, the belief that some schools are more desirable or better than others still remain.

Cut-off points to enter Junior Colleges last year went as low as three points for schools, such as Raffles Institution and Hwa Chong Institution. The tuition industry continues to thrive to a size of probably more than $1 billion now. Even polytechnic students go for tuition these days. The Direct School Admissions or DSA was not encouraging. Parents and students soon found out the best way to ace the DSA system is by excelling in certain co-curricular activities or CCAs that will put them ahead of other candidates. Popular schools now not only attract the best brains but also the best brawn.

Back to the iceberg analogy. Beneath what is observable, there are underlying structures and strong beliefs and mindsets that continue to feed the undesirable behaviours. In the interest of time, I will name just a few.

Many Singaporeans hold dear the mental model that for a good life, you will need good academic results to get into good schools so that you can get into a good university which is the passport to a good job, good salary, good spouse, hopefully good children and the cycle repeats. This is a mental model that cannot be coaxed away. People can only be convinced if they see and encounter sufficient evidence and personal experiences to replace it.

Another mental model, this time held by employers including the public service, is that graduates from top schools are more desirable and their academic scores are the key determinants of their ability and potential. Their hiring system reflects that accordingly.

The education landscape itself too is shaped by a system which primarily promotes students through academic scores and mainly assigns them to schools based on academic results from high-stakes examinations.

Many of these deep-seated mindsets originate from well-meaning intent. Education is, after all, the most obvious and empowering way to social mobility. But unless these underlying structures and mindsets are addressed, it is futile to try to get the buy-in that every school is a good school. And schooling will continue to be a pressure cooker.

There are several ways I would like to suggest to get rid of these unhealthy symptoms at the tip of the iceberg.

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One, get rid of unnecessary high-stakes academic examinations such as the PSLE. Too much time in a primary school is spent preparing students for this.

Two, pilot a 10-year integrated through-train school without compromising rigour in both academics and character building.

Three, develop a solution-based approach to organising schools and education programmes. Make solid, good subject modules available to all schools, whether they are academic or not, from foundational to typical to advanced levels.

Four, exit schools such as the gifted schools or the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools in the system. Instead of congregating students of the same abilities in one geographic location, assign students of mixed abilities under one roof in classes led by teachers or life coaches. Students can belong to one same base class, but they follow their Individual Education Plan; and in the course of the day, take classes suitable for their own ability and pace with other students of similar learning needs. Part of this is already what we see in the polytechnics and universities.

Five, be more aggressive in the use of technology to make available the best education practices and packages available to teachers, students and even caregivers to level up their playing field.

And lastly, much more must be done to provide the evidence and experiences that prove that there are many pathways to a good life. Employers, including the public service, must lead the way to find more progressive ways of hiring, promoting and recognising employees beyond the usual academics. Parents who have enjoyed the success of taking the path less travelled must share their experiences.

The vision of making every school a good school is a progressive one. It will, however, remain a dream unless all of us in this country work with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to make this happen.

Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, today many parents think that their children must get into the so-called "top" schools, based on academic results, in order to be successful in life. By allowing academically top students to congregate over time in some popular schools, we fuel the perception that these schools are better than others.

It also results in a self-fulfilling prophecy, as students who attend these schools, because of their strong academic performance to begin with, indeed do well subsequently and as they progress higher in their education. This creates a scarcity mentality that makes parents

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want their children to do well academically in order to qualify for these "top schools". As more of the academically stronger students gravitate to these "top schools", it raises the cut-off point of these schools, as Ms Denise Phua had mentioned earlier, making them look even more like "top schools", because parents do not know how else to measure the quality of a school.

This causes parents to spend a considerable amount of money on tuition for their children in order to help them to score better academically, so that they can still make it to these "top schools". This mentality has created a "tuition" race, fearing that if they do not provide their children with tuition, they will lose out to those children who are already getting tuition. Therefore, this is a disadvantage for lower-income Singaporeans.

MOE has set a goal for our children to learn independently on their own and to be self-directed in learning. The tuition mentality defeats this goal. Could the setting of a quota in each school for academically stronger students help spread these students across more schools and avoid a situation where such a vicious cycle forms?

It could also allow parents to be less fixated with the cut-off points of the schools since all schools will have a spread of academically stronger students and academically weaker students. Educationally, this also means that the school will have to be able to cater to students from across a different range of academic performances. The other advantage is that all our children learn about the diversity in society and this interaction of students of different talents and abilities will build a stronger society in the long term. Today, many of the same mould are put together in the same schools.

This approach I am suggesting will also allow parents to finally see beyond the cut-off points to take note of the many distinctive programmes that our secondary schools are rolling out, particularly aimed at catering better to the different strengths and interests of our children, across a wide range of domains – programmes that could spur the interest of their children to want to learn, see relevance in learning and make them more engaged and self-directed in learning.

Ultimately, our hope must be for each child to develop holistically, discover their interests, build on their strengths and stoke the flame for learning that will last a lifetime and benefit from interacting with people of diverse backgrounds that will later build a stronger society and a stronger Singapore. I, therefore, would like to ask the Minister if he feels that he is succeeding in changing the mindsets of Singaporeans that every school is, indeed, a good school.

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Integrated Schools

Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, this is the fourth year that I am speaking on the topic of through-train schools from primary to secondary. If I seem persistent, it is because I truly believe that in a suitably diverse education landscape, Singaporeans should have access to such a publicly-funded education option.

Such through-train schools would not require the pupil to go through the PSLE. It will allow the schools to develop holistic education for a longer period with the pupils, allowing time to work on their character and values, as well as other aspects beyond examinations. From results seen in other countries and in private schools that offer such a through-train system, academic achievements need not be compromised.

I previously outlined broad ideas on how we can start with eight of such schools distributed throughout Singapore and exclude all top schools from being part of such a pilot. I call for this to be implemented gradually and on a pilot basis because majority of Singaporeans may not yet understand how an education system can work without the PSLE.

Nevertheless, I am convinced that there is a sizeable minority who would be prepared to let their children go through 10 years of education in the same school, even if it means their children would find it difficult to enter the existing top schools without the PSLE. I call upon the Ministry of Education (MOE) to seriously study the option, conduct public surveys to gauge the level of support of parents of such pilot schools and to publish these results, so that we can have a meaningful conversation on this education option.

Tuition Culture

Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Madam, the Senior Minister of State for Education had said in this Chamber that "our education system is run on the basis that tuition is not necessary." I believe many parents would like to think so, but the stark reality on the ground tells a very different story.

An opinion piece in The Straits Times on 24 September 2013 titled "Tuition too prevalent to ignore" cited sporadic but startling data on this issue. It was reported that the private tuition industry is a $1 billion industry and various polls suggest anything from 50% to 90% of households here send their children for tuition. That is a lot of households and money spent on something the Ministry of Education (MOE) thinks is not necessary.

And do we, as legislators, believe that tuition is not necessary under our education system as well? How many of us here in this Chamber had put our children through tuition or are doing so right now? Another article that ran on 30 October 2013 took an even stronger

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stand that tuition is popular because of issues in our education system.

I urge MOE to conduct a nationwide survey into the tuition culture. Such a survey could be easily done online or by giving each student a simple form to take home for the parents to fill up.

Madam, is MOE not curious enough to study why parents are sending their children for extra private lessons despite having access to one of the best education systems in the world? I am quietly confident the results of such a survey will help MOE decipher this great mystery about our tuition culture and, perhaps, it will also help formulate more effective policies not just for the students but for the teachers as well.

The "teach less, learn more" movement was started in 2006 to develop our students holistically beyond preparing for examinations. I am not sure how much lesser the schools are teaching right now but the perception on the ground is that students are learning more from tuition.

Multiple Pathways and Accessibility

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, MOE and the Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs will play an increasingly important role in enabling Singaporeans to engage in lifelong learning. We must continue to enlarge the pathways and accessibility to education in Singapore. The credit scheme introduced by the Government will certainly spark off a lot of interest for working adults to keep on acquiring or learning new skills. Through continuous self-improvement even well into working life, they will achieve mastery in whatever jobs they do. I am confident this will allow them to develop new skills should they wish to switch to new industries or whatever new things they want to do when the economy continues to restructure. In other words, they will be futurised, like what Mr Lim Swee Sway said, to thrive in a competitive and rapidly changing global economy.

I hope our IHLs and training centres will be able to meet the thirst of Singaporeans who want to acquire knowledge. But we need to ensure that there are enough places for our students and workers, and also to ensure that it is accessible to all our students at every level of our education system. I would like to know what is the Ministry doing to oversee the quality of such courses and to ensure that all the time, energy and investment spent by our students and our workers will follow through to a good matching to a good paying employment and career?

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Gifted Education

Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, it has been 31 years since we started the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). Each year, about 1% of the cohort is picked for GEP through a series of national tests for abilities in English, Mathematics and Science at the end of Primary 3.

I had previously called for MOE to review centralised GEP and, in its place, provide support for as many schools to develop their higher ability students so that their students would not need to relocate to one of the nine GEP schools at Primary 4.

There are many forms of giftedness, not just in language, Science and Mathematics. Some are gifted in the arts or in sports. The current definition of GEP is narrow. We can encourage all schools to have various forms of deep, specialised enrichments and engagements. When we need skills, we can tap on the school cluster system or work through existing institutions with strong expertise in Science, the Arts or Sports. For the very rare pupil with extreme giftedness, who will even find the current GEP un-engaging, we can tap on our universities.

Some non-GEP schools have developed their own gifted classes to encourage their best students to stay with the school rather than relocate to a GEP school. We need not have this competition. We can spread the programme developed for GEP across more schools and also widen our definition of giftedness.

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Lastly, after 31 years, has MOE done longitudinal studies to track GEP graduates into their careers and can these studies be made public? I hope the public can have more data on the outcomes of GEP to examine its continued relevance.

Language Ability

Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, last year, I posted a note on my Facebook making the argument that despite our good education system, Singaporeans are still coming up short in one area and, that is, spoken English. Some people have responded agreeing, while some said that my post does not recognise our other qualities. But no one said that our standard of English was good enough. Of course, we produce some good writers and speakers, but when it comes to communication skills, it is not enough for only some to do well.

This is because the ability to communicate is a vital skill in any job, any profession; and it is, therefore, important for everyone to reach a competent standard. The real questions

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we should ask are what qualities do we want in a person who goes through and graduates from the Singapore system and are we seeing those qualities today?

In terms of the ability to communicate, I submit that the answer is no. It is a grievance shared by many employers I have spoken to. Singaporeans have good substance but not enough form. While they may know a lot or have a lot to contribute, they lack the ability to express themselves clearly and confidently. This puts Singaporeans at a serious disadvantage in the international workplace.

What is it about the way we teach that produces students who do very well in Mathematics and Science, but not in languages? It is not just about grammar, vocabulary and spelling, but phrasing, articulation, presentation and, ultimately, persuasion. Because much of what we do in life involves persuading someone else of something.

If we can agree that an important objective of our education system should be to produce articulate and confident young adults, then we need to ask ourselves: why are our current policies not achieving this desired outcome? Are we, for example, paying enough attention to language skills at the preschool level, because that is the first opportunity we have to develop the child and prevent bad language habits from being picked up?

Some of our language policies may also be counter productive. Let me give some examples.

If a student obtains a grade between C6 to A1 for Higher Mother Tongue at the GCE "O" levels, he can deduct two points from his L1R5 score. In fact, he can deduct these bonus points even if he uses Higher Mother Tongue instead of English for calculating his language score at the GCE "O" levels. And so, there is less incentive to do well or do better in English.

Oral examinations are given a weightage of only 15% at PSLE and 20% at the GCE "O" levels, no equivalent at the GCE "A" levels. So, there is very little incentive to improve communication skills. The effect of our scoring policies has led to the decline or demise of English Literature, as Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin pointed out a few days ago.

Even for Higher Mother Tongue, our policies may be counter intuitive. If a student passes Higher Mother Tongue at the GCE "O" levels, he does not have to take the subject any further. The incentive is, therefore, to do Higher Mother Tongue up to the GCE "O" levels so that you can drop it and do one fewer subject thereafter. And many of our students do that – they earn the two bonus points and then they drop the subject. The choice about doing Higher Mother Tongue is, therefore, more a tactical one instead of an educational one. The result is that we have many students who stop formal instructions and, in fact, stop using

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the language at the age of 16.

We know that people always act to further their own interests. So, if we are serious about improving our ability to communicate, we should re-engineer our system to encourage the right behaviour and right learning habits. The payoff is that our young will be equipped with a real and valuable skill that will benefit them for life.

Holistic Education – Character and Values

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong ( Tampines): Madam, in this year's batch of Edusave Character Award presentations, I went around asking some students why they thought they won the awards. A common response is: "I do not know" or "I am not sure".

I know the intentions behind giving the Edusave Character Awards are noble when introduced in 2012, but it would be useful to take stock of the usefulness of the awards at this stage. Is it really helping the moral development of our young? What sort of values and traits are the schools actually rewarding in their selection of the winners and how is this being communicated? And more fundamentally, should we scrap the cash element to the Character Awards altogether?

I urge MOE to subject the scheme to careful scrutiny and explore better ways to signal the importance that MOE places on character and values.

Various studies have shown that when it comes to character education, extrinsic motivation is not only quite different from intrinsic motivation but, actually, tends to erode it. Individuals who have been rewarded for doing something helpful become less likely to think of themselves as caring people and more likely to attribute their behaviour to the reward. Hence, researchers have found that children who are frequently rewarded are less likely than other children to keep doing those things. In short, it may be counterproductive to dangle cash rewards in front of children for displaying good character.

And, even worse, when their numbers have been artificially limited to only 2% in each school. This sets the stage for a competition and I wonder if this has resulted in them being held up as role models that others want to emulate or if it has led to the perception that these are just the lucky ones who got spotted by their teachers.

Madam, the word "education" comes from the Latin root words which mean "to lead out". To support our students' social and moral growth, the process of learning requires that they be given the opportunity to make sense of such concepts as fairness, courage and resilience. They must be invited to reflect on complex issues, to figure out for themselves –

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and with one another – what kind of person one ought to be, why this is worth striving for and how to stay the course when things go bad around them. No character awards can help them. In this way, through the process of learning, they learn to be self-motivated, self-directed and be anchored in the truth that they have control over the kind of person they want to be.

One thing I have found in my chats with young people is that some tend to pick up news from the social media, quite uncritically, and repeat the problems highlighted, asking for solutions. Sometimes, I feel that they expect a model answer from me, like an examination question. I often ask them back, "Well, what do you think? What can you do about it? Let us discuss." It may not give them the satisfying pat answer that they seek and, for some who are unused to this approach, they may find it disconcerting.

But such critical thinking and self-awareness is important if we want to help our young become moral people, as opposed to people who follow blindly what they are told or reflexively rebel against what they are told. That is why I believe our education system should put greater focus on developing critical judgements, fostering individuality as well as an interest in the community, national and international problems.

Schools should make better use of Literature, History and Sports to discuss human nature, to look at a problem from different angles and to think through carefully before taking action in stressful situations.

Being in a caring school community would help students to develop their sense of self and also a sense of civic consciousness. The school itself must have character and the students must feel a sense of belonging to it. We cannot afford to have anonymous schools and anonymous principals – which we are in danger of inculcating if we continue to rename schools and change principals rapidly.

In this regard, I welcome the $20,000 grant to each school to use for the causes that they identify. I urge schools to use this wisely, to build on its own school character and, at the same time, channel the students to worthy causes that will imbue in them a sense of personal responsibility for the wider community around them. If they feel a sense of real responsibility towards the school and the community, some behavioural changes should follow: they will be less likely to litter, for one, less likely to blame others for problems and more likely to want to be part of the solution.

I am also concerned about the tuition mentality and how that affects character development in our young. Even students who are doing well in school feel the need to go for tuition. I fear that this will breed in them a crutch mentality, erode their sense of self-

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confidence in their own abilities and feel the need to go for more courses just to feel they can make it when they should feel confident in their own abilities, in their abilities to reach high. I am also worried that excessive tuition —

The Chairman: Ms Ng, can you please wind up your speech? Time is up.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: The role of parents is also crucial in character-building. I would like to ask the Minister how it will engage parents in character-building.

Humanities and Social Sciences Research

Prof Tan Tai Yong (Nominated Member): Madam, Singapore has had an amazing run the past 50 years. We have grown from a third-world to first in a generation. And as Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday, there is renewed interest about us and not just about what we have achieved in economic terms. There is now a deeper curiosity on where we have come from, what we stand for as a nation, what we have gone through, the social implications of our development, the values we have forged in the process and how we will ride the future.

Singapore is also unique and fascinating because in the developmental journey, we have moved along the highways. Our growth is hyperbolic. This means that every generation that has lived and grown in Singapore has had vastly different experiences.

Generation gaps are very stark in Singapore, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world. The social structures, education system, jobs, life experiences, even buildings around us and mindsets are very different from one generation to the other; even our primary language of communication may not be the same as that of our parents.

This Budget is about building our future and I am very heartened that this Government has laid down plans to strengthen Singapore's competitiveness. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has identified five growth clusters Singapore will build deep capabilities in, namely in applied health sciences, smart and sustainable urban solutions, logistics and aerospace, and in Asian and global financial services.

Science and technology research is, indeed, necessary for us to develop a competitive edge in those areas. And, in this, the National Research Foundation or NRF plays a critical role. It was set up as a department in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 2006 and, over the years, it has achieved much funding to develop policies, plans and strategies for research, innovation and enterprise (RIE). Indeed, the Singapore Government has committed another

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$16 billion in R&D from 2011 to 2015 under the RIE2015 Plan.

While much has been invested in building deep technological capabilities, it is also timely to invest to build up our capabilities in humanities and social sciences research. No scientific invention or progress exists in a vacuum, but what is significant is its impact on people's lives. Steve Jobs has notably said, "It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough – it is technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities that yield us the result that makes our hearts sing."

Furthermore, the world's problems today are complex and multifaceted; problems cannot be solved by a study of the physical sciences alone.

There are economic, social and political consequences behind every policy move. Hence, we need to build deeper capacity in the humanities and social sciences to complement our traditional strengths in science and technology and augment our relevance as thought leaders in many areas.

Research into human experience adds to our knowledge about the world we live in and gives us tools to imagine the future. Humanities and social sciences research adds a dimension to enrich our understanding of our history, people, values, nation, social environment, economy and the impact of the global environment on our country. This knowledge and understanding can help us shape our future. Conversely, without robust academic research, what we know about our past, or of our policies today are but views and opinions or, worse still, conjectures.

This is a good time to invest decisively into the humanities and social sciences as Singapore seeks to build itself up as a knowledge capital. The establishment of a national humanities and social sciences research council that could support research in the humanities and social sciences the way NRF supports science and technology research would complete the research ecology in Singapore.

I understand that MOE already supports such research through its established Academic Research Fund that universities have access to. But having a dedicated national council that undergirds a national research capacity that goes beyond the universities will allow the building of a larger and more diverse research base in Singapore. There are many groups outside the universities that do important work on people and society that could benefit from such support.

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A small investment in the humanities and social sciences – and we know they do not cost a lot – can give us a potentially large impact on our development as a society and country.

Let me end by quoting a verse from a poem by the late Arthur Yap:

"There is no future in nostalgia.

And certainly no nostalgia in the future of the past.

Now, the corner cigarette-seller is gone, is perhaps dead.

No, definitely dead, he would not otherwise have gone.

He is replaced by a stamp-machine,

The old cook by a pressure-cooker,

The old trishaw-rider's standby a fire hydrant,

The washer-woman by a spin-dryer.

And it goes on

In various variations and permutations.

There is no future in nostalgia."

No future in nostalgia, I must add, save what we build from history and nostalgia, and social understandings from what we learn of people's behaviour and motivation, and all our varied variations and permutations.

Building Good Values

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines) : Madam, parents hold primary responsibility for building good values in their children. However, they need the support of the community and our schools are an integral part of this community. Schools are where our children spend most of their waking time and also can provide a more systematic framework than the home environment.

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I would like to make a suggestion how schools can help to build good values in students. But, not to worry, this does not require curriculum development, homework, examinations or extra lesson time. It just takes 10 minutes a day.

2.00 pm

When I was in primary and secondary schools, we had duty rosters to sweep the floor, empty the dustbin, clean the windows and clean the blackboard. Members would remember the days when we still used chalk blackboards. To clean the blackboards thoroughly, we had to use a wet cloth so we had to bring rags from home; we had to fetch water in pails and, after cleaning, had to hang the rags to dry. I am not sure if the duty roster practice was a standard one during those years but, today, based on a random check with my own children – three children in three different schools – it is not done consistently.

Singaporeans have become used to a "cleaned" city instead of being a clean one. With more children growing up in homes with domestic helpers and our worsening littering problem, I would like to suggest that we emulate the daily cleaning routines in Japanese and Taiwanese schools. There should be a compulsory standard system for all primary and secondary students to be responsible for their own classroom's cleanliness. A roster needs to be drawn up for the different tasks and time be allocated before a lesson for the cleaning duties. So, just 10 minutes a day will not only teach students practical life skills and foster teamwork but also inculcate in them respect and appreciation for manual work.

So, Madam, today, where we no longer write on blackboards, we can write duty rosters. While we no longer use chalk dusters, we can put cleaning rosters to good use.

Promote Social Innovation via CCAs and Values in Action (VIA)

Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin (Nominated Member) : I declare my interest as a social innovator with the Thought Collective. Values in Action or VIA is good. Let us talk about how to make it great. What stops VIA from having a bigger social impact is that though it gives kids content about values, it fails to give kids context surrounding the problems all these values could help solve. Teach a kid to be generous to the poor without grounding him with insights into why not all social solutions or situations are created equal and he might end up either cynical or, maybe, just not helpful.

The problem schools face in creating more impactful VIA programmes is not a lack of good intent. It is a lack of a strategic network of support. Teachers do want to do good, better, but they need outside expertise. So, what schools need are trusted partners from the civil

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society sector with whom they can co-create and consult.

The core business of schools is the holistic education of our children, not the holistic understanding of how to make great social impact. That is the core business of civil society and they are the missing link who could help. These are the people who know and care for these social problems inside out and they spend their entire careers thinking of solutions. So, roping in your academics, innovators, thought leaders, who hold a strong future vision for social sector solutions but having no avenue to engage you to share where the biggest possibilities for an impact are. So, two suggestions on how socially driven innovation can be nurtured in schools.

First, let us recast an exciting new socially oriented vision for co-curricular activities (CCAs). CCAs should still be primarily a fun avenue for kids to develop their non-academic interests. But let us add a social goal for them to accomplish as well. Unlike the Sports and Drama CCAs, many student clubs like Library, Gardening and even Student Councils do not have big national competitions for the students to gun for. So, this proposal is particularly great for them because it now gives them a national level challenge to engage in. Use CCAs to help kids frame the exploration of personal passions with the broader perspective of "How can my individual passions actually help solve a community problem?"

Second, form a consortium of civil society leaders and future-forward civil servants that can strategise about what are the top national social issues to work on where students can actually make a dent in. Turn it into a programme that every school can execute through their CCAs. So, let us teach kids to converge their personal interests in serving a country's needs. Kids want to be part of a big picture. If we are going to give them $20,000, let us show them how big that picture can be and help them make a real obvious difference rather than an imagined "feel good" one.

Promote Outdoor Activities

Dr Benedict Tan (Nominated Member) : Years ago, I was on a socio-civic mission to a rural part of Indonesia. With me was a group of Singaporeans in their late teens. One of them pointed to an animal crossing a road and said: "Eh, what kind of cat is that? It is so big!" I glanced at the so-called "cat" and was dumbfounded. It was actually a goat! You see, this young man had never seen a goat before and is only familiar with domesticated cats and dogs.

Madam, I would like to suggest that outdoor education feature more prominently in our school curriculum. I declare that I am the President of the Singapore Sailing Federation.

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Previously, there was much emphasis on the majority of students attending the Outward Bound School or OBS at least once during their school life. Hence, many of us grew up with trekking, orienteering, camping, kayaking and sailing experiences, which would not have been easily accessible to the average child living in an urban Singapore.

Outdoor education is now more important than ever as Singapore becomes more urbanised and our young spend more time in front of computers. Outdoor education instils an appreciation and respect for nature, builds character, independence, resilience and leadership. Surely, Basic Military Training cannot be the first time that a youth is exposed to the jungle and having to fend for himself.

When the Ministry of Education (MOE) first pushed for outdoor education, many schools ensured that each cohort would have undergone the OBS course at least once during their school life. Over the years, my impression is that fewer and fewer schools insist on this, with OBS reserved only for a selected few, such as during orientation or leadership training. Also, outdoor education may have become too tame, with some schools counting pitching a tent on the school field as outdoor education.

I am heartened that, as of the beginning of this year, OBS has become a part of the National Youth Council or NYC and would be spearheading NYC's efforts as a national youth developer. And from my understanding, the annual capacity of OBS would be significantly increased in the coming years to broaden its outreach and engagement with our youth. This is an exciting prospect as all Singaporean youth would once again have the chance to experience adventure-based learning from the passionate instructors at OBS. I know that many of these instructors welcome the renewed focus on our youth.

But with around 40,000 students in each cohort, I hope that MOE will fully leverage not only on OBS but also on the MOE Adventure Learning Centre and other providers to put every single one of our youths through a quality outdoor education programme.

I hope MOE can update the House on the percentage of students from each cohort who has undergone a proper outdoor education experience and whether there is any intention to increase this percentage.

Broaden Art and Craft Curriculum for Schools

Ms Rita Soh Siow Lan (Nominated Member) : Madam, in my response to Budget 2015 on the aspect of growing our human capital, I am in agreement with the Ministry of Education's (MOE) mission to build in every child the confidence and desire to learn, studying

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from pre-primary to primary schools.

It is important to start early and, during these formative years, each child is exposed to a broad range of activities for him to discover his talents and interests as he grows. Each child will be able to gain knowledge, skills and values he needs to thrive in the 21st century. And these core values, as stated in MOE's guidelines, are specifically with respect to respect, responsibility, resilience, integrity, care, harmony and even social and emotional competencies, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, responsible decision-making and also emerging competencies, such as critical and inventive thinking, communication skills collaborative and informative skills, are also very important. All these skills and competencies are an integral part of the total curriculum, as identified by MOE.

I highlighted earlier, we are excellent in producing highly competent and qualified talents. However, I believe that to attain the next level of growth, we need individuals who truly love and desire to master their craft! We need to be passionate about what we are learning and to be emotionally invested in the process, especially so in the fields where design is the key competency and where the integration of the head, heart and the hands, working together, is a must. The kids must be encouraged to use their hands, heart and head in a connected manner.

I had also expressed a few concerns, both as a business owner and industry representative. Over the past decade or so, many of us have noted a gradual decline in the skill sets which require the use of our hands. Particularly in my field of architecture, which combines the need for scientific knowledge and artistic skills, employers and industry professionals alike have noticed with frustration that there is this steady decline in the level of craftsmanship among incoming batches of graduates. The use of computers and their addiction to mobile devices have further diluted the focus and training in the visualisation, sensory and tactile aspects of their crafts. Hence, I decided perhaps to look at some specific areas of focus for the arts programmes in our primary schools.

When I look at the MOE Art syllabus for primary and lower secondary, I love what is written. Madam, please allow me to read the introduction.

"Art plays an important role in our everyday life. Art beautifies, captures memories, communicates ideas, imparts values and evokes emotions. Art exists all around us in different forms, such as in the colours and patterns in the nature to everyday images and design on magazines, products and media.

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In history and across countries, art reflects cultures and beliefs. Learning about art provides an additional avenue through which students can understand their own and others' histories and cultures. Through making art, our students learn to reflect and express their uniqueness by communicating their thoughts and emotions using images and objects. The role art plays in our students' growth and development cannot be overstated. Through positive learning experiences in art, students develop visual literacy which enables them to observe and perceive the world with increased awareness and aesthetic sensitivity. Making art also encourages the development of creativity while engendering a sense of self-worth. This equips the students to better understand and engage with the world they live in."

To achieve these objectives, therefore, they are teaching under the framework of "Seeing, Expressing and Appreciating", taking into consideration the cognitive, affective and psycho-motor dimensions when learning art. Although our students are provided with opportunities to observe the environment, generate ideas and create artworks, discuss on art and how its values impact the society, I still feel that the following can be further improved.

Broadly speaking, with regard to the wide spectrum of art medium that was given to the students, I feel that we often treat our art programme as a safari, where students spend more time seeing than doing. So, in the area of art techniques, in terms of painting, moulding, rendering and using digital media, it is still very general in terms of the guidelines. I did a quick scan of the websites of 12 primary schools to see what kinds of art programmes were offered. It was by no means a detailed research, but my observations are as such.

A lot of the art modules are essentially co-curricular activities (CCAs), meaning they are done outside curriculum time and are non-compulsory. About half of the students focus on Arts and Crafts, using various mediums of work. A lot of schools are teaching digital art at around the P4, P5 and P6 levels. Art, Music and PE are often lumped together, which is very much a bundled curriculum, and there are very different approaches between schools.

I could not help but look back at my days when I was in school, where we were exposed to many different types of art mediums – potato printing, making of models with plasticine, clay, basket weaving – all these can go on. But even in secondary schools, we had technical workshop classes such as woodwork, metalwork, and many of us fell in love with these craft lessons and they set a foundation for our later years in our chosen pursuits.

A hands-on and integrated approach to learning art and craft benefits the students, even the majority that will go on to pursue careers in fields that are not art-related. Therefore, I have three questions: one, the focus on digital art in the later primary school years – is it really increasing exposure or should we be laying the foundation for the students

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before they learn to use Photoshop?

The Chairman : Ms Soh, can you please conclude your cut?

Ms Rita Soh Siow Lan: The second question is, can we tie art appreciation to the subjects we learn later? Even simple building blocks teach lessons about mechanical structures. Lastly, Art programmes seem optional. Can we integrate them into the main curriculum?

Education as the Social Leveller

Mr Zainudin Nordin : Madam, education is often and rightly called the universal social leveller. Since the early days of nation-building, we have witnessed many successes and achievements from people who came from humble and diverse backgrounds, who had access to an education in academics, skills or both. Singapore is, indeed, very fortunate to come under a Government that not only recognises the importance of education but strives to make it accessible for all.

Yet, Mdm Chair, as we become more developed, data has shown that more students from high and middle-income families are still doing better in schools. In this regard, how does the Minister ensure that sufficient support is given to students from low-income families to help them benefit from our good education system?

2.15 pm

I think the Government has done quite a lot to help financially but problems of low-income families can go beyond monetary issues. The myriad of social problems faced by low-income families can ruin a child's ability to develop well emotionally and academically. What can be done to help these children in their education journey?

Moreover, Madam, how can we equip and train our educators so that they are passionate about the teaching cause and are motivated to help students learn better, regardless of their background? At the same time, how are we equipping our educators and teachers to ensure that they are able to identify issues and problems faced by the children and assist them as early as possible and do this in a more passionate and holistic way for the good of children from the low-income family?

Support for All Singaporean Students

Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol) : Madam, the children are our future. I applaud the support given by the Government to invest in education. As our nation strives to be an

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inclusive society, this must permeate to our education policies as well. I believe that the Government should promote greater inclusiveness and support for all Singaporean students.

The decision to extend personal Edusave to all Singapore students was a step forward but the decision to limit examination fees waiver only to those studying in mainstream schools makes us fall short of being inclusive.

I would like to call for the Government to re-examine its position on Madrasahs as private schools, but rather to see them as part of our education landscape. It is important that we support the Madrasah students who will play an important role in defining the values and principles of our Muslim society in the context of a multiracial and multi-religious nation.

I would like to call for the Government to waive national examination fees for all Singaporean students, as long as it is their first attempt at taking the national examinations, including the International Baccalaurette examinations. This should apply even to those in private educational institutions or those choosing to home-school their children.

Allied Educators and After-school Care

Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio) : Madam, it has been about five years since the Allied Educators or AED scheme was introduced. From around 600 AEDs in 2009, this number has grown to about 2,400 today. There are about seven AEDs in each primary and secondary school. We must recognise the important role that our AEDs play in the classroom to assist our teachers and help ensure none of the students is left behind despite their different learning styles and abilities.

While I am heartened that MOE has stated that they have met their staffing needs for AEDs in each primary and secondary school in an earlier Parliamentary Question or PQ reply, I still feel that even more AEDs may be required in our schools. The reasons are two-fold.

First, the developmental support programme that has been rolled out by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) that will help about 2,000 preschoolers across Singapore will mean that students can be diagnosed with mild developmental needs much earlier. This is a good thing so that appropriate intervention can be extended to them through our preschool in their primary school years. Inadvertently, this would mean more AEDs may be required to seed the continuity of appropriate intervention and assistance throughout the student's school years.

Second, the recent announcement by MOE on the school-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme for all primary schools by 2016 would also mean that more AEDs or learning

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support educators are needed in our classrooms, again, to ensure continuity and appropriate intervention and assistance to students with dyslexia.

It is a challenge for MOE to employ sufficiently trained and qualified AEDs who are passionate about and committed to their cause. Raising salaries is just one way to attract more to enter the profession but it may not be enough to retain them.

Would MOE consider having a more comprehensive professional development pathway for our AEDs that may, one, help them to be more recognised for their work and see a clear career path; and, two, allow them to change career tracks to become a General Education Officer or classroom teacher once they have garnered classroom experience and content proficiency? In addition, would MOE consider implementing the SkillsFuture and Earn-and-Learn Programme to allow stay-at-home mothers, mid-career entrants or retirees to join the teaching fraternity as AEDs? This could be one way to train and deploy more AEDs to our schools.

On the matter of after-school care, many have voiced the desire to see each primary school providing after-school care within their premises in the next couple of years. This is necessary for many working parents of primary school-going children as having the after-school care within the school lends a sense of security and assurance.

However, providing the physical space is an easy part. The challenge is having sufficient caregivers to helm these after-school care centres. I would like to propose that MOE consider piloting a project where our tertiary students from the polytechnics and universities to sign up as youth volunteers to help run the after-school care centres as part of the community or Values In Action (VIA) projects. MOE may have to provide the funding for the infrastructure, while these youth volunteers can source for extra fundings from external sources or through crowdfunding for programmes or operating expenses of these after-school care centres.

Student Care Centres in Primary Schools

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Nee Soon) : Mdm Chair, with all primary schools going on single session, I know of many working parents with children in primary schools who encounter difficulties in the care arrangements of their children after school. This is especially so for those who elect to not have domestic help or a caregiver at home, or those with two or more children.

We have set up the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to oversee the childcare sector, but I urge the set-up of a similar outfit with a single Ministry taking full ownership to focus its efforts on beefing up the number and quality of student care centres in Singapore. One way is to equip the majority of primary schools with after-school student

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care facilities. These student care centres in primary schools will be a great boon for working parents or parents with two or more children.

Children can use the afternoon till evening to rest, spend quality time picking up new skills, interacting with friends, going on learning journeys or having fun through games or sports within the school premises. Perhaps, self-help groups, volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs) or co-operatives can provide this service across the Primary schools in Singapore.

Student Care

Ms Lee Li Lian (Punggol East) : Madam, it is a known fact that the strong demand for childcare will inevitably be the same for student care in time to come.

I had spoken about this in last year's Debate on the President's Address. New estates like Sengkang and Punggol house younger families. Therefore, school-based student care centres (SCC) are well received in these areas. Such centres provide the much-needed convenience as both parents are working. It provides parents with peace of mind, that they need not worry about where their children will be heading to after school or whether it is safe for them to travel home alone. Such centres also offer enrichment classes and supervision to children doing homework. Such an arrangement reduces the family's need for a domestic helper and is especially useful to children that lack home support.

In last year's Committee of Supply or COS debates, the Minister announced that the public can expect another 40 SCCs. While this is welcomed, I believe the Ministry can do more to push for at least one student care centre in every school. I would like to call upon the Ministry to place greater emphasis on this.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Last year, at the Debate on the President's Address, I mentioned that young families have a need for student care services. Today's need for childcare centres will turn into tomorrow's need for student care services. Student care services will help monitor the students' behaviour, as well as their homework. Parents need not worry about where to leave their children after school or whether the kids will be safe going home alone. This arrangement will reduce the family's reliance on domestic helpers. I hope the Ministry of Education (MOE) can pay more attention to this issue.

Before- and After-school Care

Mr Ang Wei Neng : Madam, I appreciate MOE's effort and promise to increase the number of school-based Student Care Centres or SCCs to 120 by 2015. I also want to

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congratulate the Minister for the success of the scheme. Many of the school-based SCCs are full and, with long waiting lists, as soon as they are opened.

The shortage of vacancies in some of the school-based SCCs that are near to rental blocks is even more severe as the demand is high. I hope the Minister could share with us on the constraints of providing more places at these school-based SSCs, whether it is space and infrastructural constraints in the school or manpower constraints faced by the operators.

If it is a manpower constraint, would MOE consider extending similar subsidies and grants for volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs) to expand the places at these centres or set up additional SCCs near the school? For example, I have a VWO that is ready to do so in Jurong and I hope the Minister can consider it seriously.

The Minister for Education (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Madam, with your permission, may I display some slides on the LED screens?

The Chairman : Yes, please.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Madam, I thank the many Members for their thoughtful and wide-ranging comments.

This year, we celebrate our nation's Golden Jubilee. We celebrate how education has enabled generations of Singaporeans to build a better life and enabled us to build a nation. We thank our Pioneer educators and their parents.

Looking back, in 1965, education meant 读书 or "study book". Our Pioneers had a sense of where they wanted to be in the future, where they were and worked hard to bridge that gap. The big gap then was basic literacy and numeracy skills – so "study book" made sense as they learnt the three "Rs" – reading, writing, arithmetic. Many became literate and numerate.

We then built on this education system, year by year. At critical points, we made important choices to adapt and change. Educators, parents and students responded with spirit and each wave allowed us to make further progress with purpose. With these changes, we built a good education system, developed our people and grew our economy.

But there were also inadvertent negatives. In our minds, "study book" became increasingly about examinations, grades and qualifications. A strength in focusing on academic grades can be over-done and become a weakness, as we leave little time to develop other attributes that are necessary for success and fulfilment. Students tell me of

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the stress they face because of the high expectations placed on them.

The chase for better grades fuelled a tuition industry. It created a vertical stacking of qualifications, as well as the tiering of schools in the minds of parents, based mainly on academic results – a hierarchy of grades.

We are not unique in this. The same "study book" culture that enabled the other three Asian dragons – South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan – to make great strides is also generating the same, if not even greater, pressures in their societies.

Like our Pioneers before us, we have to ask anew: where do we want to be in the future, where are we today and how do we make the leap?

At Our Singapore Conversation two years back, many Singaporeans expressed their aspiration for a cohesive home full of spirit and trust. A home where we all have opportunities to pursue our dreams. A home where we all have the assurance that we will each be taken care of when we face difficulties and where we live out lives of purpose. So, it is not just what we do. It is who we are as a people.

But many also recognised that the future will be more uncertain and volatile as the global economy and political order change in unpredictable ways. Political and religious developments elsewhere can strengthen or weaken our social cohesion. An ageing population will create challenges that we cannot totally foresee. A younger generation that is digitally connected can either be more united or more divided.

The nature of jobs will also change. For a start, many existing jobs will disappear. Smart machines and lower-cost workers elsewhere will take these jobs. So, we have to change jobs, maybe several times over our lifetime. But jobs that need uniquely human qualities cannot be displaced by machines and, indeed, will become more valuable.

Even the same job will look different. So, traits like creativity, inventiveness, adaptability, social and emotional skills and cultural and global awareness will give Singaporeans an edge.

New, interesting and diverse jobs will be created. Some of us will be self-employed, some of us will create jobs for others as entrepreneurs. And if our economy grows well, more jobs will be created.

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So, all these present new and multiple pathways for success. Faced with such challenges and opportunities, we are at a crossroads. We have two options. We could continue with the "study book" path, with a narrow focus on grades and examinations, and descend into a spiralling paper chase and expanding the tuition industry, as many Members have warned. Employers choose not to invest in employees, relying wholly on academic qualifications to determine who gets the job. Educators drill and test and see their duty as helping students to obtain the best possible examination grades. Parents obsess over grades and spend ever-increasing amounts of resources to give their child an edge over other children. Students chase the next point and spend most of their time going for more tuition and enrichment in very narrow areas. Stress levels in society climb and the system churns out students who excel in examinations but are ill-equipped to take on jobs of the future nor find fulfilment in what they do. And unemployment or under-employment becomes pervasive. Everyone is worse off.

This is a grim road, but sadly one in which other societies have already trodden down. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, in his opening speech, raised vivid examples of what is happening elsewhere. Ms Denise Phua warned us that if we do not change, the currents beneath the oceans will cause us to drift and drift us in the wrong direction. This is one possible outcome.

Or we can have another outcome. We can act with boldness and resolve to take another path forward, to embark on a major transformation. We will need collective will and action by employers, teachers, parents, students and society at large where employers look beyond academic qualifications in hiring and promoting the best person for the job; where bosses support employees in skills upgrading; where educators focus on holistic education, building a strong foundation of values and the capacity to learn; where our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) play a leading role strengthening the nexus between learning and work and learning for life; where parents recognise every child's unique strengths and do their part to build their children's character; where students flourish through a range of academic and co-curricular activities (CCAs) and take different pathways to success and grow up to be well-rounded; where the economy stays resilient and flexible, with high levels of employment and many opportunities – high skills, high productivity and high wages. And where our society and our people continue to be caring, harmonious, gracious and cohesive, and we do not see education as a race among our children.

This is a path that no society has charted out fully yet – and I have been looking at education systems around the world. Charting this new territory will require us to, once again, be pioneers.

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Here, in Singapore, building on the many changes in our education system in the past, we have continued to make further changes and to make further moves in this direction. As Ms Denise Phua reminded us, we have focused on values and character, strengthened holistic education, removed school rankings and enhanced support for weaker and special needs students. We developed new ways of learning in our schools, made every school a good school, expanded applied pathways in tertiary education and, in this Budget, outlined a series of SkillsFuture initiatives that build on ASPIRE's recommendations.

All these changes have laid the groundwork for a transformation to create a better future for Singapore, a future anchored by deep skills and strong values.

But this future will belong to us only if we, as a people, shift our mindsets about education. This is not about "study book" or 读书. It is about learning in every domain, anytime, anywhere for a purposeful, meaningful, fulfilling life. In other words, we need to live the pioneering spirit; beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery; beyond learning in school to learning throughout life; beyond learning for work to learning for life.

Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned about the Integrated School Programme. Ms Denise Phua made very good suggestions on changes in our schools and also mentioned once again the integrated through-train programme. In fact, Ms Phua even raised an Adjournment Motion some months back. I would say let us go beyond what we do in schools. Let us go much further. It is not just about what Mr Png Eng Huat mentioned about tuition. It is about a more fundamental change. Allow me to touch on these fundamental changes.

The first major shift is to go beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery. How do we develop mastery in our fields? We do not have all the answers. But let me share a story.

When I was in the Police Academy more than 30 years ago, one of my Pioneer instructors was Mr John Chang. He did not have high academic qualifications, but he was, in my mind, one of the best instructors. He knew the law, he knew how to deal with tense situations and he knew how to teach. He explained to me that after handling every case, he would reflect on how he could have done better. He would imagine, in his mind, scenarios – how should he have reacted if the criminals he was dealing with had been more violent, if they were armed with firearms or if the victims were less cooperative and so on and so forth. He studied on his own, he attended classes, he asked his peers and seniors at work. Everybody whom he could get to, he would ask.

John was one of the few police officers who started as a constable, got many promotions, went all the way and retired as an Assistant Superintendent. You see a

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photograph of John when he was promoted. Quite a feat in those days.

I learnt a lot from John, as a very young officer, about what it means to be an effective learner and how one achieves mastery. He was self-directed. No one told him how to learn but he did so on his own. He was reflective. He thought through his own experiences and learnt from both mistakes and successes. He learnt in bite-size modules, picking up what he needed, when he needed. He kept an open mind and learnt from everyone, everywhere, at any time. He was disciplined. Learning was not left to chance but was built into his everyday routine. And he was passionate. He cared deeply about what he does. All these before we spoke about SkillsFuture.

Now in my job in education, I am lucky to meet many who, like John, devote themselves to mastery and in many different fields.

Let me quote just one example – Assoc Prof Chong Yap Seng, a Senior Consultant at the National University Hospital (NUH). A doctor by training, Prof Chong is leading a nationwide birth cohort study on how mothers' diet and lifestyle during pregnancy affect their babies' growth after birth. It is a study of great national impact to prevent and manage diseases like diabetes and obesity. Someone like him, steeped in knowledge of his field, does not shy away from applying his knowledge and skills innovatively to push new frontiers, to explore the unknown and to invent new things.

We should aim to be a nation where Singaporeans develop mastery in every field, Singaporeans who are resourceful, inventive and break new grounds. This will take collective effort across our schools, IHLs and industry.

So, let me outline my Ministry's contribution to this. In 10 years of basic education, we aim to, first, equip every student with a strong foundation in literacy, numeracy and thinking skills, whatever their starting point. Mr Hri Kumar mentioned the importance of expressing our ideas well and being confident. I fully agree with him and I thank him for these useful suggestions on how we could do better. And, indeed, we are starting very early now in preschool and in our primary school, with our new reading and oracy programmes.

Literacy skill, numeracy skills and so on are vital, as they enable our students to keep learning and progressing. Rigour will be maintained through appropriate assessments as checkpoints to help them track progress and to make good decisions on the best pathway to continue learning. And, where necessary, students can access levelling up programmes to build their basics.

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Second, we will give every student broad exposure to a whole range of subjects and co-curricular activities (CCAs) to pique their interest in various fields – sports, arts, outdoor adventures and so on. I share Dr Benedict Tan's enthusiasm for outdoor and adventure-based learning and I thank him for his suggestion. I also thank Ms Rita Soh for her suggestions on art education and how we can continue to improve it.

Third, continue to improve on our teaching, to stimulate curiosity and let every student put knowledge into action. This includes using ICT to teach, as Ms Denise Phua had highlighted. In fact, I am happy to share that we are already developing our Student Learning Spaces, and, hopefully, we will have high-quality content and many high-quality ways of using these.

Fourth, build in every student deep wells of character. It matters in life, and it matters in achieving mastery because mastery takes effort and perseverance in careers and endeavours.

An important aspect of learning for mastery is to match our students' strengths and interests to opportunities in our schools and IHLs, in careers and enterprises. Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), but I would like to go further. I would like to stimulate the curiosity of learning in all our children, provide plenty of learning opportunities for them in ways which are meaningful, for all our students, in all our schools.

A recent innovation in our schools is the Applied Learning Programmes or ALPs in almost all our secondary schools, and this is part of our "Every School A Good School" movement. In fun and creative ways, our students apply various domains of knowledge to solve complex, real-life problems in their field of interest.

Let me share two examples. First, Hillgrove Secondary. Hillgrove Secondary has an ALP on Flight and Aerospace. Students learn fundamental Aerospace theories and apply mathematics, science and design and technology by building and flying their own model planes. The students go on to take Advanced Elective Modules in Aerospace, where they learn how planes defy gravity while flying a flight simulator!

Rayner Lee really enjoyed learning at Hillgrove and, in fact, he is now doing Aerospace Technology at Nanyang Polytechnic and says, "I chose Hillgrove because of the Youth Flying Club CCA. I wanted to be a pilot. My parents and school teachers encouraged me to take the Private Pilot Licence PPL. Now that I have my licence, I hope to join the RSAF as a pilot." Well, I hope Rayner flies high.

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Another example is Damai Secondary's ALP on Health Science and Technology. Students apply concepts from Chemistry and Biology to construct biomedical devices. They built salinity sensors that can analyse urine samples to determine the health of a person. Damai students also develop a sense of empathy when thinking about their users. Through tie-ups with IHLs and the community, students are inspired by the possibilities of careers in the healthcare and medical technology sectors. As Mdm Fiona Han, a mother of three sons in Damai, puts it, "This is a great experience that allows them to broaden their future career choices."

Different ALPs open up different possibilities for students to put knowledge into action and bring learning to life. Learning becomes relevant and engaging for every student, in every school. We are not channelling students to specialise early. In fact, deep skills acquired in one field can be transferred to another.

For example, Ngee Ann Polytechnic uses the technical know-how in building unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs to build unmanned underwater vehicles UUVs to clean ship hulls – transferring skills from air to sea.

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A team in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) worked with the Singapore Zoo's applied Medical Technology to design an incubator and succeeded in increasing the hatching rate of reptile eggs from 25% to 75%. So, if you see many more crocodiles in the zoo, you know why. It is quite productive!

We are fortunate that our vibrant economy has created a range of good jobs. With more choices, we need good Education and Career Guidance or ECG. There are many domains and fields that students could explore and develop deep skills in – whether it is design, business, arts, music or sports. By exposing students to possibilities, we empower them to make better choices and choose suitable pathways.

We will, hence, strengthen ECG at all levels. ECG curriculum in schools, ITEs and polytechnics will be enhanced and, by 2017, we will have a professional core of ECG counsellors and an online ECG portal that shows many exciting opportunities – enriched by our SkillsFuture initiatives.

Ms Rita Soh earlier spoke about how we should integrate the arts and sciences and how we should integrate the learning of head, hearts and hands. In fact, many meaningful and exciting things are also happening in our IHLs.

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If you have to build an exciting platform which the Prime Minister will stand on for a Chinese New Year celebration, how would you go about doing it? Well, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) students put to work their knowledge of engineering, design, arts and cultural awareness to create this year's Chinese New Year light-up display in Chinatown.

They designed a total of 338 goat lanterns, including 28 motorised ones. Three special goats, each weighing about 400 kilogrammes, were perched on a mountain to form the 10-metre-tall centerpiece. It is not only a wonderful sight to behold; it vividly brought in the Year of the Goat. And we all know that the Prime Minister was very pleased to grace the platform. You can see on the screen the Prime Minister's wefie with the team.

This is the fourth year SUTD students have helped to design the display for Chinese New Year and, each time, with each new animal of the horoscope, they learned from the previous year, pushed themselves to think differently and put all their skills and knowledge into a new masterpiece.

They put their heads, hearts and hands into creating this. And, indeed, our ITE motto is "Hands-on, Mind-on, Hearts-on." Be it ITE or SUTD, this is an important way to learn. And, indeed, this is what it means to go beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery.

The second major shift that we need to make together as a people is to go beyond learning in school to learning throughout life. Let me share with Members another story.

I was at the Seletar Aerospace Park recently. Fifty years ago, Seletar was better known for the smell of pig farms. Fifty years on, I visited Seletar to witness the delivery of our first Rolls-Royce TRENT 1000 jet engine, made in Singapore for a Singaporean company – Scoot. A world of difference!

I met three Singaporeans working there – Ravinder, Cheria and Siti Mariani. Ravinder is a team leader with 24 years of aerospace experience. You would have thought that he knows everything, but he told me, and I quote, "To me, every day is a learning process". And this gentleman was serious when he said that. It turns out that his son is also interested in aerospace engineering and so he decided that he, too, "had better return to school to pick up new skills and more skills", so that he can mentor his son and pass on his skills to the next generation.

So, he enrolled in Temasek Polytechnic's Diploma in Aerospace Engineering and is now six months into his course. All that, whilst working hard at Rolls-Royce mentoring his younger

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colleagues, like Cheria and Siti.

Cheria is technically Ravinder's "schoolmate" in Temasek Polytechnic or TP as she is also pursuing a Diploma in Aerospace Engineering, but she is one-third his age. As an intern, she is learning at the workplace even as Ravinder is learning in TP. Siti, an ITE student in Aerospace Technology, was also part of the team. And whilst working at a bookshop at Changi Airport, she saw the aeroplanes taking off and it piqued her interest. She started to wonder how planes fly.

Today, she is a Rolls-Royce ITE scholar, thrilled to be building an impressive and complex engine with some 30,000 parts! And learning all that as an intern. So, you see, it is not just about learning technical skills. She said, and I quote, "Rolls-Royce taught me to be versatile and assertive in order to keep up with changes in the aerospace industry."

Ravinder, Cheria and Siti are at different stages of life but all actively learning to be better, to succeed both at work and in life.

But I empathise with many Singaporeans who tell me, "Once we start work or have family commitments, it is hard to set aside time to learn." Indeed, we have to address the practical constraints to empower lifelong learning.

Our IHLs will play a leading role in empowering Singaporeans to learn everywhere, throughout life. Our IHLs will work with companies that are keen to make workplaces great places for learning. We will have more enhanced internship opportunities so that young people like Siti and Cheria can learn and solve real-life problems and acquire soft skills. I thank Mr Yee Jenn Jong and Ms Lee Li Lian for their suggestions on internships and how we can engage the different players.

Our IHLs will create SkillsFuture Earn-and-Learn Programmes so that Siti and Cheria and others can be mentored on the job and acquire skills when they graduate. Students who take up Earn-and-Learn are effectively enjoying one year or more of highly-subsidised education. But instead of learning just in our IHLs, they enjoy a blend of facilitated learning in our IHL and structured mentoring at work. They acquire a higher industry-recognised qualification through this.

We will also put in place skills-based modular courses. By the end of the year, there will be over 300 modular courses offered by our polytechnics and universities. These will be in specialist areas, such as Digital Forensics and Investigation at SP, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at NTU, Functional Genomics at UniSIM and Coaching and Counselling

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and Skills at RP. As you can see, a very wide range!

We will subsidise part-time, Specialist, and Advanced Diplomas for all Singaporeans more generously even if this is not the first time you are getting one and provide the even more generous SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidies for Singaporeans aged 40 and above. I agree with Mrs Lina Chiam that we must encourage everyone to learn, including the elderly.

Our IHLs will play a leading role in specific sectors. For a start, we will appoint Sector Coordinators for 17 strategic sectors. These are sectors identified as future growth sectors or meeting critical needs in our society. Besides engineering and manufacturing sectors, we will also have early childhood education, which Senior Minister of State Indranee will speak more about later, as well as healthcare and many others.

Let me explain how this would work. Republic Polytechnic or RP, for instance, is the Sector Coordinator for Logistics. They will ensure a tighter nexus between learning in school and learning at work in the logistics sector. I want to commend the RP staff who were very enterprising in engaging industry players and galvanising 12 companies, including top players, like YCH Group, DHL Express and Yang Kee Logistics, to come together to design a 12-month Earn-and-Learn programme.

These companies will use RP's workplace training blueprints so that learning at work and learning at RP are integrated for maximum impact. Students who complete the programme will acquire skills that are in RP's Specialist Diploma in Supply Chain Management but they will do so on the job, be recognised for it and get paid in the process, without having to pay fees! They will learn how to deal with complexity and scale in global goods flow, data analytics, manage supply chains and inventories and devise plans to optimise transportation. As you can see, all are very high-skills areas. They will learn problem-solving, people skills and a range of soft skills. When they show that they have acquired and can apply the new skills, they will then take on greater responsibilities and see a wage increase. Mr Zainuddin Nordin earlier raised the issue of how we ensure that the skills that are learnt result in better progression. This is how, and I hope many more, industry players will come on board.

RP will provide specialised training for mentors to help companies build a network of industry mentors, skilled like Ravinder. This will multiply our effectiveness and spread expertise in the sector. I will do it systematically for each of these sectors. We will study different models of learning on-the-job, explore greater use of online learning and look at innovative approaches. This is how we will help all Singaporeans to go beyond learning in

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school to learning throughout life.

As we resolve to learn for mastery and learn throughout life, we need to rethink a few issues about learning and the significance of the changes. Let me share some observations. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD did a recent survey of adult skills. Workers in Japan ranked highly in their skills but ranked poorly in terms of how well these skills are utilised on the job. At the opposite end, workers in the US ranked poorly in skills but ranked among the top in using skills on the job – so whatever skills they have, they use them to the fullest.

Much of our Budget Debate focused on the quality control of courses and whether workers get to attend. These courses to learn skills matter. But this OECD study paints a very vivid story that what matters even more is whether workers use the skills learnt. We must not end up debating which courses can enjoy the credit and so on. We must not end up using SkillsFuture Credit to chase another form of qualification or debate which courses can acquire qualifications. Training courses are just the means. Our focus must be on the ends – acquiring, mastering and using deep skills.

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So, if workers or companies attend courses to meet quotas or because there are some incentives for it, very little will be achieved from attending the courses. But if companies make the best use of the higher skills of workers, it leads to higher productivity and higher margins; in turn, they can pay higher wages. Higher skills, higher productivity and higher wages. This is the virtuous cycle that we must seek to achieve.

To achieve this virtuous cycle, companies play a critical role. So, I am glad that Mr Robert Yap, Chairman and CEO of YCH Group and also Chairman of Singapore National Employers Federation, has been very supportive of his company's collaboration with RP. I hope many more employers will take action to develop and use their employees' skills as part of their productivity and innovation strategy. And I thank Mr Thomas Chua for calling on industry associations to work closely with MOE and also calling on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who can come together in the industry associations to also work closely with us. We are always ready to work with them.

Another observation relates to how we direct our own learning or self-directed learning.

With SkillsFuture, various specialist and advanced diplomas and specialised, bite-sized modular courses are even more highly subsidised. In fact, there is an even wider range of courses available. Opportunities for learning will be across our IHLs – graduates of

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polytechnics, ITE or university can take relevant modules, or in WDA-certified courses or at the workplace.

With this array of courses, especially modular courses, the system is even more open and flexible. Besides the multiple pathways in our IHLs, you can now create your own learning pathways – build a portfolio of skills, just-in-time, tailored to your own needs, at your own pace. You can stack modules towards a qualification or just choose relevant modules. It empowers each of us to take charge, direct our own learning and build our own unique skills map. It empowers each of us to make the best use of the initiatives, including the SkillsFuture Credit and other learning opportunities.

Mr Ang Wei Neng highlighted the plight of middle-aged displaced workers. And this is why we have even greater subsidies for those aged above 40.

But this self-directed, independent learning must start young. Our teachers must not spoon-feed our students and give them model answers. In life, there are no model answers.

I once had a parent who wrote to me to argue for an extra mark for her child's term test in school. Rather than seek an extra mark in tests, let us nurture our children to make their mark in society.

We have to encourage our children to be independent, self-directed learners, skilful at figuring out their own way. Prof Tan Tai Yong made an important point that we must not over-protect our children so that they can develop adaptive resilience and learn to deal with uncertainties in life. But if we intervene when a child does not get an extra mark, how does he or she develop that resilience? Mr Lim Biow Chuan cautioned about the over-reliance on others to learn and how it can develop a crutch mentality. Mr Inderjit Singh made the same point and emphasised the importance of self-directed learning. Mr Singh also made suggestions on how we can create more diversity in our schools' profile, which we will study.

So, let us start early in our schools and make our children self-directed, independent learners. Let us all take a collective pause and see whether the way that we are bringing up our children in school or at home is helping them to develop that independence, that self-directed learning, the resourcefulness and initiative or whether we are spoon-feeding them and that they are going to lose that ability when the crutch is taken away, that they cannot go out and create, invent and build new things.

My next observation on learning for mastery relates to learning as a habit of mind. Structured courses are very useful, and that is why our IHLs are embarking on that and that

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is why the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) is also doing a lot more.

But no matter how many programmes we have under SkillsFuture, we cannot cover every learning possibility. It is not possible. Why? Because learning can take place in formal and informal modes – in the classroom or at the workplace, through self-reflection, team-learning or online learning, with friends or in groups. Lifelong learning is a habit of mind, rather than a mere act of attending courses.

So, it is important that even as we debate about SkillsFuture accreditation and the quality of courses and so on, we must not forget that it is not about attending courses per se. We need to seize learning opportunities everywhere, from anyone, throughout life and even on our own, like the way that Mr John Chang did at the Police Academy many years ago.

Finally, learning for mastery is not just about learning what is known. A lot of our learning is about learning how others have done it and how we might learn the basics from there. But it is also about exploring the unknown and inventing new possibilities by putting all of our knowledge to creative use, like what Prof Chong is doing to help parents have healthier babies.

So, let us nurture many more who seek mastery relentlessly in their field, who are inventive and resourceful and who can make breakthroughs for Singapore. I have made several observations about learning for mastery and learning throughout life and that it is not just about learning what is known; it is not just about attending courses; it is not just about relying on others but, rather, to be self-directed, independent learners.

Let me now move on to a third major shift. The third major shift that we need to make together is to go beyond learning for work to learning for life. Developing deep skills to succeed at work is important. But life is more than just work. Developing a lively interest in the world around us, in nature and culture, in sports and adventure, in having zest for life and a concern for others are what makes life purposeful and fulfilling. Earlier, Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin, Dr Benedict Tan and Ms Rita Soh all touched on this.

So, let me share another inspiring story, this time on Edward Chia. Edward is a 31-year-old entrepreneur who started his own business when he was 18 years old. His Timbre group of restaurants is well-known for good dining and live music. Timbre restaurants have a social mission. Combining food with music, his restaurants champion Singaporean musicians and give them a platform. His staff would applaud the performing bands and urge his diners to do the same. Edward shares that, and I quote, "Everything we do still counts back towards our social mission of supporting Singapore's music scene. At a very simple level, I had an idea

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I wanted to do, that idea was good for society and I just wanted to get it done." He gained respect from his team, many of whom were older, by getting his hands dirty and doing everything he asked of his staff. He washed toilets, cleaned the office, ran the bar and helped out in the kitchen. So, I agree with Mr Baey Yam Keng that it is very important for our children to learn all these skills. You see how important it is in life. Edward acknowledges that those early years were not easy but through working with his team, he also learnt from them.

Today, he pays that learning forward. His ventures provide a platform for budding chefs and he recently partnered Singapore start-up Infinium Robotics to develop drones that can navigate their way around tables to serve food. If this sounds like a scene from Star Wars, it is. There are eight drones delivering food, but this is still an experiment and an exciting one. What it means is that the waiters can work more productively and do things that machines cannot do.

Edward, for me, embodies the spirit of learning for life, in that he is passionate and innovative in his field. He gives back to the community and creates new opportunities for others. He has a deep interest in music and he wants to give Singaporean talent a platform. So, he runs enterprises with a mission. From musicians, now he is going on to helping budding chefs. So, I hope that we will have a more lively scene in the future.

I spoke to many Singaporeans during Our Singapore Conversation. Many shared their aspirations to live a life of purpose and spirit. They wanted to build a successful and cohesive society, a society where Singaporeans lead fulfilling lives, each in his own way.

Many have also expressed support for our student-centric, values-driven education. They believe we can develop each individual fully, and develop our sense of community, and our sense of personal and collective responsibility.

So, I am glad that our students experience the arts, music, sports, outdoor activities and overseas trips. In fact, I should add that there are very few school systems in the world – none that I know of – which send one-third of their students on overseas trips in order to give them the exposure. There is much we should be thankful for. They interact with peers around the world. And, by the way, these are not just students in our top schools. These are students in every school. They lead and participate in a wide range of CCAs. These experiences broaden their worldview and grow them as rugged individuals, physically active and healthy, appreciative of the finer things in life.

Like Edward Chia, we hope that they also develop a strong sense of purpose and a desire to help each other and give back to society.

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Ms Irene Ng earlier on spoke about the Edusave Character Awards. Let me emphasise that, for me, it is a very important signalling of a shift in our education in that we must place emphasis on character and values. It is a catalyst for change. But for the same reason, we should not overdo it and that is why the numbers are kept very small. But we will study her suggestion on how we can make it more meaningful. I am glad that many parents and many students have also spoken to me, and the school principals have noted the progress since we introduced this. And we are actually going beyond all these awards. What is a small part is really the signalling. The real change is in our schools' programmes – in the Character and Citizenship Education programme that has been revamped. And, more recently, in our Learning for Life programmes that reinforce these life skills.

In East View Secondary School, students work with community partners on food donation drives and reach out to promote health and IT skills to the neighbourhood residents. One student said, "The joy on people's faces has driven me to do more."

Over at Mayflower Secondary School, a project called "Spirit of Generosity" has students doing 50,000 acts of kindness to friends, family and the community to celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday. This has brought the school and its surrounding community together through the spirit of giving. Teachers and students alike love how this has made the school a more caring community. Indeed, in giving, we receive as much, if not more.

All across our schools, when students put values into action, character and citizenship education comes alive.

These efforts are all very commendable. We want to encourage our students in our schools, polytechnics and ITE to do more. SG50 giving will provide funds to enable students to support meaningful causes in the community.

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I thank Ms Kuik Shao-Yin for her suggestion on how this programme can work in partnership with VWOs to make it more impactful. Indeed, students will identify Institutions of a Public Character or IPCs that they would like to work with and donate funds to them and they will then partner these IPCs to make a real difference, however small, in their community.

Holistic education covers moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic dimensions. So, I hope our students grow up to appreciate and contribute to the rich multi-dimensional aspects of life and grow richer in spirit and purpose.

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This is how we build a vibrant, creative and caring society. This is what it means to go beyond learning for work to learning for life – for a rich, purposeful and meaningful life.

Madam, allow me to say a few words in Mandarin to summarise what I have just said.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] The Pioneer Generation educators laid the foundation for Singapore's education system and prosperity of our country. They had the courage to chart new territories, were unafraid of difficulties and were resourceful in nurturing young generations of Singaporeans.

Ultimately, the aim of education is not just to learn to read and write, and to obtain good grades and paper qualifications. More importantly, it is to learn how to get along with others and have meaningful relationships.

Education has a deeper and broader meaning. Education is about educating the individual, which encompasses the moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic dimensions. Before the teaching of knowledge, one has to educate the individual; and before educating the individual, one has to nurture the mind. We need to cultivate the right spirit before nurturing the mind.

With rapid economic and social development, we must keep abreast of the times, be flexible and constantly improve ourselves. We must pursue mastery and learn everywhere, learn throughout life and learn for life. We must build upon the foundation laid by the Pioneer Generation and continue to work hard, upholding their pioneering spirit.

In every domain, at any time and any place, we must strive to learn to live a fulfilling life. Let us shift our mindsets, continue the pioneering spirit and create a brighter future together.

Firstly, we should go beyond learning for grades to learning for mastery. Secondly, we should go beyond learning in school to learning throughout life. Thirdly, we should go beyond learning for work to learning for life.

( In English ): The three shifts that I have outlined – Learning for mastery, Learning throughout life, Learning for life – are important for every Singaporean. We want every Singaporean to have access to learning opportunities, whatever their starting point, just as Mr Zainudin Nordin earlier spoke about the importance of social mobility.

Many parents told me that they appreciate the structured supportive environment that student care centres provide for students after school. And, in fact, this is the reason why I

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have been expanding the student care centres in our schools over the years, a point which Ms Lee Li Lian and Mr Ang Wei Neng also mentioned. So, I appreciate that this is well received. MOE will continue to work with MSF to improve quality and accessibility. We have 100 school-based student care centres at the beginning of this year. I am happy to announce that we will set up another 20 school-based student care centres this year and another 20 next year. I would also like to thank Dr Intan for her suggestions on how we can overcome the constraints of high-quality manpower by getting older students to help out. Our main constraint is really the quality and number of staff.

We help students who need additional support to build a good foundation in literacy and numeracy through a comprehensive suite of levelling-up programmes from the kindergarten level right to secondary school. Educators with specialised training work in small groups with these students to motivate and teach them better. And the results have been very heartening. Let me share just two stories.

Siti, a Primary 6 student in Qihua Primary School last year, has dyslexia and was frequently absent from school. But her teachers, allied educators and counsellors all pitched in with such determined and tireless wrap-around support that she went from skipping school to discovering a new interest in mathematics and eventually emerging as Qihua's top scorer in Foundation subjects! Inspired by her teachers, she now aspires to be a teacher so that she can do for others what her teachers did for her.

Joshua could barely speak a word of English when he entered Da Qiao Primary at Primary 1. In one year, Joshua has graduated from the Learning Support Programme and gained confidence. Joshua's mother, Mrs Lim, worked with the school and used word cards the school prepared to practise together with Joshua at home.

Specialised programmes in our schools like Crest, Spectra, NorthLight and Assumption Pathway keep students engaged and help them build confidence.

Hairi picked up smoking, drinking and even joined a gang when he was a primary school student. He disliked school but loved football. His teachers at Crest Secondary recognised that and engaged him through football. And in Hairi's words, it was a "game-changer". So, Hairi started to enjoy school and blossomed as a peer leader. He quit smoking. Hairi's parents, having seen his change, have also enrolled his brother Hilmi in Crest.

For students in Special Education or SPED Schools, we have invested, as Deputy Prime Minister Tharman mentioned, 50% more in real terms to support them over the last few years. Our School-based Dyslexia Remediation programme has been a success. Dr Intan mentioned about the AEDs earlier. As Minister of State Sim Ann shared earlier, we expanded

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the programme to 60 more primary schools this year. Two-thirds of our primary schools now offer it, up from one-third just last year. By next year, 2016, all primary schools will have dyslexia remediation so that students with dyslexia will get help early in their primary school. Minister of State Sim Ann will touch on other efforts to support students across the spectrum of SEN later.

Let me touch on financial support. Education is already heavily subsidised but we will provide further support. Let me reiterate that this is not because more students are poor but because the Government is providing greater support. I will summarise some of the announcements made by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman and provide additional details.

We will top up Edusave accounts or Post-Secondary Education Accounts of Singapore Citizen students aged seven to 20 – reaching more than half a million Singaporeans. We will waive fees for PSLE, GCE "N", "O" and "A" levels for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded schools starting this year. We will waive vocational examination fees for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded SPED schools and specialised schools – including ITE Skills Certificate and WSQ modules. We will provide subsidies comparable to the current GCE "A" level fees for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded schools who sit the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma examination. We will waive examination fees for Singapore Citizen students enrolled full-time in ITEs and polytechnics, starting from Academic Year 2015. Our focus on national, mainstream schools is important because it provides an important bonding experience. And where private schools are relevant, the specific relevant agencies will deal with these.

The MOE Financial Assistance Scheme or FAS has been enhanced over the years. In 2012, we raised the income ceiling and also introduced a per capita income criterion to allow more students to benefit. From 1 April this year, we will provide transport subsidies under MOE's FAS. This will provide further support for lower-income families. Those travelling by public transport will receive $120 in transport credits annually. For primary school students taking the school bus, MOE's FAS will cover 50% of the regular school bus fare. In addition, we will double the sum of annual grants for school-based financial assistance from $5 million to $11 million per year for the next three years. This will give schools more resources to provide further targeted assistance to students from less advantaged backgrounds. We will also raise the income criteria of Edusave Merit Bursary from $5,000 to $6,000 to benefit more students.

No child should be left behind, whatever their starting point. We are doing more to support students with a weaker start, be it learning needs, special needs or financial needs. Spending in these areas, across all levels – from schools to IHLs – has more than doubled from $200 million to $500 million, as compared to five years ago.

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But to uplift our students, not just academically but also in social-emotional growth, we need both resources and "heartware". I echo Mr Sam Tan's point that we must focus on "heartware". "Heartware" comes from supportive parents, persevering students, dedicated educators and supportive community. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi will speak more on how we will engage parents and the community in bringing out the best in our children, including character-building.

I very much appreciate the many educators and volunteers who worked doggedly in our schools, self-help groups and other VWOs. They put in much time and heart into doing this important work, quietly, unstintingly. I have the greatest admiration for them.

I find it most encouraging that students who received help are giving back at this very young age. For example, Jia Qi from Teck Whye Secondary was supported by FAS, and he discovered and developed his passion in mathematics through Teck Whye's Math enrichment programmes and personal motivation workshops. So, Jia Qi gives back enthusiastically by coaching his friends in mathematics through the school's peer tutoring programme and derives great satisfaction from his friends' improvement.

Umaira was supported by the Independent School Bursary to attend Raffles Girls' School (RGS). Grateful for the opportunity, she now wants to spread the message that students of diverse backgrounds are welcome in RGS through a Malay language and culture competition for primary schools this year.

We must not shy away from excellence but we must make sure that those who are excellent in whatever they do have a heart to give back to society.

Let me now make some concluding remarks.

I began by speaking about how our Pioneer Generation made hard choices at critical points of nation-building. They faced many crossroads – each right decision helped us progress.

Today, we face a new crossroads – do we focus narrowly on grades and examinations, or do we focus on what is truly important by building strong values and deep skills throughout our lives? Do we fixate on narrow measurements of our value, or do we actually be people of value, with values?

Madam, to me, the path is clear. It is to do everything we can to be people of deep skills and strong values.

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We take the pioneering path, to nurture Singaporeans who are inventive, resilient and caring. We have some idea of the qualities of this pioneering path. It will have learning on the job, learning just in time, learning in the right place at the right time, learning without boundaries – without the boundaries of institutional walls, age, place or time.

I am happy to hear many Members speak in support of the spirit of this because we must take this pioneering path together, as a whole society. We are not the only ones at a crossroads. Others, too, are asking – what is the future of education? I have been reading their projections, but as I read through what they wrote, I realised that much of what they envision in the future, we are doing now.

And what is special about our mission is that we are not thinking about the future of education in just one school or one university. We are thinking about the future of education for our whole nation.

We are pioneering a path that will shape our whole society, one that will require collective effort from everyone in society. Millions of individual actions and choices by Singaporeans will move our nation towards a brighter future.

3.30 pm

Our students in schools today are between five and 25 years old. In 50 years, they will be 55 to 75 years old. They will be the Pioneer Generation at SG100. Will we be stuck with the "study book" culture that brought us this far in our first 50 years? Or will we, and this younger generation, live again the pioneering spirit and transform how we work and learn?

I am confident that we can succeed, as there are already many new pioneers in our midst. Each of the examples I raised in my speech are pioneers. But we need many more pioneers, in every school, in every field, in every job.

Singaporeans who take ownership of learning throughout life, like John, Prof Chong, Ravinder, Cheria and Siti – who are passionate and innovative and make a difference to the lives of others, like Edward, Umaira and Jia Qi.

Teachers and schools who focus on holistic education, build in students a strong foundation and make learning real and relevant, like those in Hillgrove and Damai Secondary, SUTD, TP, ITE, RP and so on. Parents who build on every child's strength and interest beyond academics, like Fiona and Ravinder. Employers who truly value our people and help our people acquire relevant skills, like YCH and Rolls-Royce. A society that respects every job and

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encourages everyone to achieve mastery in their own fields, in their own way.

These are fundamental changes that will take time. But we need to take the first step now and take it together. The journey of transformation will not be easy. But every decision, every action, by everyone, counts.

Learn for mastery. Learn throughout life. Learn for life. This must be our compass as we chart our way forward.

Madam, in this SG50 year, let us appreciate and build on our pioneers' precious legacy. Let us reflect on where we are today and where we want to go. Let us inspire all Singaporeans to take this pioneering path and live the pioneering spirit, together, and create an even better 50 years ahead of us. [ Applause. ]

The Senior Minister of State for Education and Law (Ms Indranee Rajah) : Mdm Chairperson, the Minister has given an overview of the future of education and what the Ministry of Education (MOE) is doing. I will speak on two specific areas: preschool and tertiary education.

Ms Irene Ng and Mr Zainudin Nordin touched on social and emotional resources of our young and supporting low-income students. We aim to give our children a good start in life. Research shows that children who have a good early childhood education tend to do well later in life. A good educational foundation early in life is, therefore, extremely important.

We are doing this in two ways. First, by promoting consistency of standards in content and teaching across the sector. Secondly, through MOE Kindergartens or MKs. To-date, we have 10 MKs which provide quality preschool education that is affordable to Singaporeans. Five more will open next year. The MKs aim to pilot teaching and learning resources and establish good practices for sharing with the preschool sector.

Giving every child a good start does not mean that the child in preschool must be able to do the Primary 1 syllabus while still in preschool! There is still a preconception that a child is doing well only if the child is doing something beyond that child's level. That should not be the case at the preschool stage; the child should learn in a way that is appropriate to his age and stage of development. What is important is: what they learn, that is, the content; and how they learn, the pedagogy.

For content, MOE has developed the Nurturing Early Learners Curriculum, a toolkit of kindergarten curriculum resources. This contains guidelines for a holistic preschool education, including learning areas, such as numeracy, motor skills development, language

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and literacy and social and emotional development.

In terms of how they learn, MOE has two core pedagogies: to engage children in learning through, firstly, purposeful play, and, secondly, quality interactions between teachers and children.

The MKs of today are not the kindergartens that we remember. Children no longer learn through spelling lists and rote memory. Today, we encourage children to learn, explore and ask questions about their world through play. The teachers plan learning activities that are fun and enjoyable for the children and help them achieve intended learning outcomes holistically.

Mr Hri Kumar talked about communication skills. We are helping our children to build a strong foundation through bilingualism. Research increasingly shows the importance of learning languages at a young age. Children who are exposed to two languages from young are more likely to be able to acquire both languages at a higher level of proficiency than their peers who start later.

Researchers compared a group of children who learnt a second language earlier and used it longer with another group who learnt a second language later. They found that the group of early bilinguals were more fluent and proficient than their peers. The early bilinguals also had greater self-regulation skills and ability to focus on a given task.

We have made bilingualism a key feature of our MKs so that our children will be fluent in English and Mother Tongue and will have a strong anchor on which to build their language capabilities as they grow older.

Our MKs have the Weeks of Wonder or WoW. These are term projects that facilitate language learning. Each year, children do four WoW projects, two in English and two in Mother Tongue, where they work together with their peers and teachers to investigate topics of interest in Mother Tongue. With your permission, Mdm Chairman, may I display some slides on the screens?

The Chairman : Yes, please. [ Slides were shown to hon Members. ]

Ms Indranee Rajah: Here, you see the MK children visiting a flower shop. These are the ones doing Tamil Language and interviewing the Indian owner about the use of roses in the Indian culture. They also interviewed others and searched through books and the Internet. The owner showed them around his shop, demonstrated how a rose garland was made using banana strings and explained the use of roses on different occasions in the Indian culture.

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The children were so excited that they decided to set up their own florist shop! This required them to work with each other, practise their Tamil and express their creativity. The children also learnt about the value of teaching others when they went home and created rose bouquets with their families using recycled materials for their flower shop.

This WoW project illustrates the pedagogical approach of learning through play as well as innovative techniques for language learning.

But in order to provide good preschool education, we must also have good preschool teachers. MOE is working closely with the Early Childhood Development Agency or ECDA to train preschool teachers. We have developed the Nurturing Early Learners Framework which guides preschools in designing and implementing a quality kindergarten curriculum for children aged four to six.

We have also launched the Educators' Guide which helps teachers translate the Framework into quality learning experiences for children. About 6,000 preschool educators were expected to be trained by end-2014.

We need more Early Childhood professionals to meet the growing demand for services. If you are interested in teaching, if you like children and are passionate about helping them build character and a strong foundation for life, do consider a career in Early Childhood Care and Education. I would also encourage persons, including women who have left the workforce and wish to return, to consider a career in early childhood.

There are many different pathways to become an early childhood professional, with entry and training into the sector at all levels. There are early childhood courses at ITE, polytechnic and university levels, each providing a stepping stone to the next level, in combination with work experience.

For pre-service trainees, there are the ECDA Training Awards for both full-time ITE and polytechnic diplomas in Early Childhood Care and Education courses. The ITE Training Award was introduced last year. The take-up has been promising, with about 20 ITE students receiving the award to date.

Mr Ang Wei Neng and Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about support for mid-career learners. There are also pathways for mid-career professionals who want to enter the sector. Li Xian was an auditor in an accounting firm for four years. She wanted to change her job for a better work-life balance. Inspired by her older sister who is an early childhood professional, Li Xian took the Singapore Polytechnic Conversion Diploma in Early Childhood Education and completed the one-year course in September last year. She is happy with her career change

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and says that she is "enjoying the moments of satisfaction and the priceless hugs of the children on a daily basis!"

There are also part-time courses for those who cannot study full-time. Working professionals can take the part-time Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education at our polytechnics from October this year. These courses will give recognition for prior learning and competencies gained through work experience, which will shorten the overall course hours. ECDA is also working closely with WDA to develop structured competency-based pathways.

SkillsFuture has been a prominent feature of this Budget, and MOE is actively involved in implementing various aspects of SkillsFuture. First, enhanced education and career guidance will now be an integral part of our education system.

And for this, let me share Daniel's story. Daniel was an ITE student, completing a Higher Nitec in Mechanical Engineering when I first met him last year. Like many young people, he was not sure what his next step should be. He had taken Mechanical Engineering at ITE but it was not his first choice. He was not sure he wanted to continue in engineering. I asked him what he thought he might like to do. He said either culinary arts or sports science but, again, he was not sure. I offered to arrange internships for him so he would be in a better position to decide. He opted to try culinary arts.

I asked PS Cafe, which operates in my constituency, if they could take him on. They kindly agreed to do so. Daniel duly went for his internship which he enjoyed tremendously. The outcome, however, is interesting and this is how Daniel made his decision.

He spoke to the other chefs and they shared their experiences and advice. He also spoke to his section head of Mechanical Engineering at ITE. He knew he really enjoyed his work as a chef and had fun in the kitchen. But he also considered the cost of sacrificing and throwing away everything he had learnt in the two years. So, after much thought, he decided to continue with engineering and not to discard what he has learnt. Cooking remains a passion for him but he wants to have something which builds on his engineering background as a career. And if his passion for culinary arts is still strong, he may go back to it later in life. I suppose he can use the SkillsFuture Credits.

He has since applied for Polytechnic admission in engineering-related courses, including Engineering and Product Design. These courses would offer the prospect of interesting, practical and stable jobs and they allow him to leverage his Mechanical Engineering skills foundation yet explore new areas. However, his internship at PS.Cafe provided him with valuable experience and he now has the option of revisiting culinary arts at a later stage if

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he wants. But the most important part about this story is that the advice, guidance and the internship empowered Daniel to make an informed choice that was his own decision. This story illustrates the importance of Education and Career Guidance or ECG. And this can be delivered through structured ECG programmes, short internships or industrial visits.

Mr Ang Wei Neng noted that ECG counsellors need to be properly trained. We agree. MOE will play a coordinating role to ensure that ECG programmes are relevant to students from primary to post-secondary levels. And a Central ECG Unit is being set up within MOE to oversee planning and implementation of ECG.

We will pilot an enhanced engagement programme for Secondary 2 and 3 students to build awareness of industries and sectors and the applied learning environment in polytechnics. And, this year, we will begin with 50 schools for the Secondary 2 students, and 24 schools for the Secondary 3 students. At the polytechnics and ITE, we will introduce more systematic ECG through a common set of ECG outcomes and learning objectives.

Another aspect of SkillsFuture which MOE is closely involved in implementing is internships and industrial attachments. The benefits of internships are clear. They provide an authentic learning environment which allows the student to gain real-life practical knowledge and hands-on experience.

Mr Yee Jenn Jong spoke about the management of industrial internships. Some companies do them well, some not so well. We agree that more can be done to improve internships. It has to be done sector by sector. And the Government and the IHLs will support, but the employers must do their part.

3.45 pm

In the early childhood sector, ECDA has provided a capability grant to centres that host enhanced internships for students from the full-time Early Childhood Care and Education courses at the IHLs. The grant will help employers defray costs of developing and running internship programmes. For instance, the cost of training, deployment of mentors as well as costs in providing stipends and teaching and learning resources for interns. ECDA is also working with IHLs to develop structured internship programmes for specific durations, which will help companies plan their internships better.

We need more companies to support enhanced internships to provide meaningful work assignments and mentoring by experienced professionals. We also need companies to provide places for on-the-job training within the SkillsFuture Earn-and-Learn Programme. Polytechnic and ITE graduates who successfully complete this skills training programme will

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receive industry-recognised qualifications, such as advanced diplomas, specialised diplomas or certificates.

Members have spoken about the need for manpower. The Earn-and-Learn Programme is, in fact, a powerful recruitment platform and pipeline of talent for local businesses, MNCs and SMEs alike. I would encourage companies to take it up.

Lifelong learning is another important aspect of SkillsFuture. Let me tell you Johnny's story.

I met Mr Johnny Ng, Managing Director of NKH Building Services, a company that does pump services and maintenance. Johnny finished his GCE "O" levels in 1977 and proceeded straight to National Service (NS). He found it difficult to get a job after NS. He realised he needed to upgrade himself and took part-time courses at the then-Singapore Vocational Institute (SVI) and, later, ITE. From 1988 to 1992, he took electrical studies as he was then working with his brother to install and maintain control panels.

From 1993 to 1994, he obtained his qualification as a licensed electrical worker. As business expanded, he realised he needed other skills. So, between 1992 and 1995, he took up management courses at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And at the same time, electronics was booming. He saw the opportunity but realised he did not have the skills. So, between 1995 and 1999, he took electronics courses at ITE.

Then, came the 1998 crisis which hit many businesses hard, including Johnny's. Undeterred, he modified his business plan to ride out the crisis. He changed his business focus, from installing pumps to the maintenance of pumps, a more shock-proof business model. To equip himself for this new direction, he then took courses in plumbing from 1999 to 2002 and air-conditioning from 2002 to 2005. Not content with this, from 2003 to 2004, he became a licensed plumber. And somewhere between the electronics, air-cons and the pumps, he managed to notice the pretty girl in the seat behind him at ITE and married her.

On the strength of continuing education and training from ITE and SVI courses, Johnny transformed himself over 15 years, from a GCE "O" level school leaver to where he is today – the owner of a million-dollar business. His company is still growing and he has not stopped learning. He continues to take other courses and he remains very grateful to ITE, not just for his success in life but also for his wife!

The MOE-funded CET courses at the polytechnics and ITE and WDA-funded WSQ courses will help people to progress through life, just like Johnny. There are also short

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courses offered by the polytechnics and ITE in a wide range of interest areas.

Our IHLs are also Centres of Innovation. Let me now tell you Derek's story.

Derek graduated from Republic Polytechnic or RP in 2008. His dream was to start a business to make fish bak kwa. After NS, he started a company in 2011 with RP and SPRING Singapore's help. But his first venture failed. However, he did not give up. He continued to pitch for investments, look for opportunities and he continued to work with his mentor from RP's Centre for Enterprise and Communication to improve his business plan.

The original product was not so good in presentation and also in terms of how it was done. Derek tapped on what he learnt during his final-year project at RP about processes to prevent the introduction of bacteria. This led Derek to vacuum-seal the fish bak kwa, to increase its shelf-life without adding preservatives. Derek relaunched Ocean King in 2013 and secured his first funding in October 2014. It comes in three flavours – King Salmon, Big-Eye Tuna and Blue Marlin. Today, Ocean King is set on making the world's finest fish bak kwa, a new take on a timeless tradition and enjoyment of bak kwa without the guilt.

Derek's polytechnic education put him in good stead to be an entrepreneur. His story also shows how our polytechnics' Centres of Innovation can help industry.

This is the new face of education – learning and collaboration do not need to stop when school ends. Education and industry are intertwined and, when done well, can spur entrepreneurship, support innovation and productivity, generate economic activity and help make dreams come true. Mdm Chairperson, if I may now say a few words in Malay.

( In Malay ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Mr Zainudin asked about the desired outcomes of pre-employment programmes and lifelong learning.

With SkillsFuture, our students will have many more opportunities to succeed in life. It is not possible to have guaranteed employment places waiting for everyone. But with SkillsFuture, we can greatly improve their employment prospects and opportunities to progress in their careers.

ECG will help our students to recognise their strengths and identify good job opportunities in many different sectors. Internships will also enable students to gain real life skills and get to know the industry better. If they do well in their internships, employers will want to employ them.

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The Earn-and-Learn programme will enable them to work and receive a salary, and study and obtain additional qualifications at the same time. The Continuing Education and Training or lifelong learning programmes will allow them to upgrade their skills throughout their lives. This will enable them to get better increments and promotion, and also move into supervisory, managerial or even ownership positions. The story of Mr Johnny Ng that I shared earlier shows how this can be done.

I would like to encourage our students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by SkillsFuture. With hard work and determination, everyone can succeed, no matter what your starting point.

( In English ): Madam, I will now continue in English.

Prof Tan Tai Yong spoke about the need to support research in the Humanities and Social Sciences or HSS. HSS contributes to a better understanding of our society. It complements Science and Technology research. Investment in HSS research is important for Singapore's development. Concerted efforts are needed to deepen research grounded in Singapore's context.

Currently, MOE supports research funding for the social sciences through the Academic Research Fund. Many Government agencies commission HSS research in areas relevant to public policy. The Government is considering a bigger push in HSS research, guided by the consideration of serving Singapore's needs. The Government will engage the academic community further on this.

The Chairman : Order, I propose to take the break now.

[(proc text) Thereupon Mdm Speaker left the Chair of Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]

Mdm Speaker : Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.15 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 3.54pm until 4.15pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.15pm

[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]

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Debate in the Committee of Supply resumed.

[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]

Head K (cont) –

Students at Risk of Being Left Behind

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng : Madam, I wish to draw the Ministry of Education's (MOE) attention to three groups of children that I think could be at risk of being left behind.

The first is children from lower income families. I am glad that financial assistance and other schemes such as after-school care have been put in place for these children.

US research had suggested that students' performance decline after long school holidays, especially for those from families with low income. As Mayor of Central District, I observed that many children from lower-income families engage in little learning or enrichment activities during their school holidays. They tend to lack adult supervision due to the work commitments of their parents and absence of caregivers. This is unlike their peers from more affluent families who can afford additional learning experiences, such as outside enrichment programmes like family vacations.

My Community Development Council (CDC) team and I had organised holiday camps for these children, trying to help them close the gap with their more affluent peers. We taught them how to write e-books, play musical instrument, new games and even make and edit movies.

However, I fear these efforts on the ground are not systemic and regular enough to make sustainable impact. I urge MOE to work with the relevant partners to ensure that students who lack adult supervision during school holidays can continue to learn and are not being left even further behind their more affluent peers.

Next, Madam, on students with special needs in both mainstream schools and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).

The Allied Educator or AED scheme. The introduction of the AED scheme in 2009 was a significant initiative for students with special needs in mainstream primary and secondary schools. The number of Allied Educators has grown from 600 in 2009 to more than 2,400 in 2014. Their role can be challenging, especially for those involved in teaching and learning and behavioural management support. I would like to seek the Ministry's update of the AED

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scheme, the achievements and challenges to date and how MOE might partner further the major disability partners to support and equip these professionals.

On Disability Support Offices. In 2013, students with special educational needs in IHLs received the great news that there will be a Disability Support Office or DSO in each publicly funded university, polytechnic, ITE college and arts institutions. This is a game changer and will give excellent support for those students, as support had been inconsistent and dependent very much on the good hearts of individual IHLs. I would like to seek an update on the status of the set-up of these DSOs.

On the Special Education Needs or SEN Fund, in the same year, MOE had also announced the setting up of a SEN Fund to help students with physical, hearing or visual impairment. This fund currently does not include the three most common forms of learning disabilities, namely, dyslexia, ADHD and autism. I seek the Ministry's favourable consideration to include these students as candidates for the use of the SEN Fund.

Students with special needs in SPED schools. Thanks to the enthusiasm of Minister of State Sim Ann and the Minister, SPED schools have continued to receive much support. There are some gaps that I would like to bring up for attention.

First, a portal for teaching materials for core common life skills. After expending a lot of time and resources in developing curriculum framework, it is time for MOE to start populating the framework.

Currently, each volunteer welfare organisation (VWO) and their respective SPED schools are developing their own resources. For greater productivity, I urge MOE to allocate resources to develop a portal – a repository of core materials in core topics such as daily living skills, literacy and numeracy. Instead of only asking the educators to populate the framework, MOE can invest in local and foreign content so that more is available quickly for both schools and families to use.

Second, SPED schools offering mainstream curriculum. Efforts have been made in this aspect but there are still disconnects. SPED teachers, for example, who are teaching the PSLE, are not granted the opportunities to be in the markers' pool for better exposure and development.

Third, on ICT. Most recently, the very useful ICT Learning Roadmap for MOE mainstream school Info Clubs were planned and budgeted, but only with mainstream schools in mind. SPED schools who wish to enrol their students were advised to engage the vendors

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separately.

Fourth, on inclusion in good national initiatives. All students, whether taking mainstream academics or not, should also be included in the other good national initiatives, such as the school-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme, applied learning programme and even the SkillsFuture Master Plan.

The Chairman: Ms Phua, please conclude. We are out of time.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: I thank and congratulate the MOE team for the diligent work that they have done and I want to tell you that you have made a difference.

Mother Tongue Exemptions

Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, I agree with bilingualism being a cornerstone of our education system. All students in our primary and secondary schools now have to offer a Mother Tongue Language or MTL.

In a recent Parliamentary reply, MOE had said that around 3.5% of students are exempted from MTL at the PSLE yearly. I accept that there are genuine reasons for exemptions, such as those who join our education system mid-way without prior learning of the MTL or there are medical reasons that adversely affect their ability to cope with MTL.

In another reply, MOE cited that on average, over the past five years, 178 MTL exemptions were given at PSLE in the five schools with the highest exemptions. This is 35.6 students per school, which is around 15% to 17% of the PSLE cohort in an average school.

This is high compared to the national average of 3.5%. Has MOE examined the reasons why there are wide variations in MTL exemptions across schools? Has MOE or have the principals of schools with high exemptions sought to interview applicants to probe further into the reasons for seeking MTL exemptions? Seeking exemption based on medical reasons is costly. Is there a strong correlation between MTL exemptions and the socioeconomic status of parents?

I hope students will not find ways to opt out of MTL even if they find the subject difficult or parents worry that offering MTL may pull down their children's PSLE T-Score.

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Regulating Private Special Schools

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Madam, the Private Education Act was passed in September 2009 to strengthen and level up the private education sector. As a result, the Council for Private Education or CPE was set up to raise standards in the sector through effective regulation, industry development and consumer education. A wide range of private education institutions exists in Singapore.

It is the private special education schools that I wish to draw the Ministry's attention to. Privately run special schools have been sprouting up in Singapore. Some of them are owned by local operators whilst others are foreign-owned. Children with special needs from both local and expatriate families attend these classes.

However, because this education offering is targeted at a very vulnerable segment of children and families, I believe the Ministry of Education (MOE) must exercise a stronger moral responsibility and take a more active role in overseeing these schools or centres.

The strategic thrusts of the CPE are to ensure quality assurance and effective consumer education, amongst others. These private special schools are known in the market as MOE-registered and it is highly plausible that their education programmes, facilities and even pricings are perceived to be endorsed by MOE by the parents.

I urge MOE to conduct proper due diligence and reference checks before registering these schools and perform its duty of ensuring quality assurance and effective consumer education. To protect the consumers – in this case, the children – after they have been abused or harmed might be too late in some instances.

Quality assurance cannot be just about hardware or administration, in the business of education. I would like to seek the Ministry's inputs on how it intends to protect the interests of especially the children, some of whom may not even be able to express themselves.

Disability Support Offices

Ms Chia Yong Yong (Nominated Member): Madam, thank you. I thank also the MOE for its enlightened approach in including persons with disabilities (PwDs) in mainstream education. And as the hon Member Ms Denise Phua has pointed out, the setting up of the Disability Support Offices or DSOs was welcome news to the sector last year. Likewise, the launch of the Special Education Needs Fund. We also hope that Ministry would consider extending to children of other disabilities.

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Apart from funds, and apart from just skills and equipment, I would also like to ask more specifically how much budget will be allocated for capability development and training of the persons who will be staffing the DSOs? Also, in relation to that, on a broader and higher-level culture of the IHLs. We cannot have DSOs built as operating as silos. They are there to facilitate but they are not there to do all the work. So, how does Ministry envisage that steps will be taken to build a culture of inclusiveness from top down and amongst the faculty and staff of the IHLs?

Multinational Youth Interaction

Dr Benedict Tan: Madam, I would like to encourage multinational interactions among youths through sports. We can do this by bringing together students from local MOE schools and the international schools, increasing interaction and exchanges through sports and games.

Singapore at its core has always been multicultural, multi-ethnic and multilingual. And particular attention has been paid to integration and the development of the Singapore identity since Independence. Over the years, we have seen more and more international schools being set up in Singapore and expanding. We also have local schools, setting up their sister international schools. This may create a divide but it also presents opportunities.

There are many nationalities living, working and studying in Singapore. To leverage on this cultural diversity, to give greater exposure to Singaporean students and to be inclusive, I feel that our inter-school competitions or what is now known as the National School Games, should include international schools as well.

Currently, the schools from the two ecosystems – the MOE and the non-MOE schools – do not interact much. The platforms and avenues for interaction do not present themselves naturally. Sports offers such a bridge.

Granted, there will be operational challenges, such as the timing of school semesters, vacation periods, fixtures and scheduling, manpower and cost sharing issues. But I do believe that the benefits of having a vibrant, inclusive school sports ecosystem will provide many tangible and intangible benefits for the young and prepare them for increasing globalisation.

Sports Co-curricular Activities

Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, several Members, including myself, have spoken previously about a greater level of sports engagement for our pupils and to increase the number of sports on offer by schools. Active participation in sports from young can hopefully help

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students develop a culture of active sports in the future.

I wish to suggest how we can add to schools' efforts to provide more sports engagements for students. Number one: introduce more fun competitions for sports within schools, which can be tiered so students who are at a lesser skill level can move up to a higher level when skills have improved.

Number two: introduce the concept of a minor co-curricular activity (CCA) where students who want regular exposure to various sports can sign up for as a second or even third CCA. The time commitment may not be as intense as a regular CCA, but it will allow students to try out more sports. CCA points would be correspondingly lesser.

Number three: recognise and award CCA points for the achievements of students who participate regularly and competitively with external training providers outside of school hours, even if the school does not offer the sports as a CCA. This might encourage students to pursue sports of their interest at a serious level when schools are not able to find the resources to offer that sport as a CCA.

Lastly, allow international schools to join in the local inter-school competitions to increase the level of competition, a point that was also just raised by Nominated Member Dr Benedict Tan.

Revamp of Schools' Sports Day

Dr Benedict Tan: Madam, following my speech in Parliament on 19 January this year where I identified 10 worrying trends in Singapore's sports participation, many parents and students as well as Members of this House approached me to personally provide even more evidence of such trends. In particular, they affirmed that their schools are too focused on winning medals and that there are not enough opportunities to learn sports through the local school system. They are particularly unhappy at being rejected by the school team, especially at the primary school level. And when they pursue the sport on their own outside the school, their participation is not recognised.

This all-or-none scenario, whereby you are either good enough to make the school team or you are completely shut out, exists during sports day as well. If you are not good enough to represent your house, then you cannot compete during sports day. Instead, you get "arrowed" to attend as a spectator. And these are not the enthusiastic fans that you see in Brazilian stadiums – both students and teachers tell me that they are mostly reluctant participants. With such negative experiences, is it a wonder why many of our young develop

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an aversion to sports and physical activity?

Instead of having only a small proportion of the school population competing in track and field events during sports day while the majority sits and watches, why not engage the

whole population by transforming sports day into a sports festival? During the sports festival, we can give students opportunities to try their hand at the various sports and games. If a child takes a liking to a particular sport during such a try-out, the school can link up with external providers such as ActiveSG and various community centre groups to deepen his or her interest in the sport. And this out-of-school activity should be recognised as a CCA, even if it is at a recreational level as suggested by the Member before me.

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Yes, MOE has explained that the Physical Education or PE curriculum rotates students through various sports. But we know that given the limited time for PE and the time taken up just to prepare for NAPFA, such exposure is too superficial to get the student hooked onto a lifetime of active living. Let us give our young, especially those in Primary schools, a positive sporting experience and a positive start by reviewing the format of their sports day.

Madam, let me conclude by commending the Minister and his team at MOE for their insight and pioneering work in transforming our education system.

The Minister of State for Education (Ms Sim Ann) : Madam, Minister Heng spoke about the need for us to go beyond a narrow focus on grades and exams, and emphasise deep skills, holistic education, strong values and lifelong learning. We want an economy that is resilient and flexible as well as a society that is caring, harmonious and cohesive.

I will now speak on how the Ministry of Education (MOE) seeks to realise our vision in the areas of bilingualism and support for students with special education needs.

Earlier, Minister Heng and Senior Minister of State Indranee Rajah acknowledged the points made by Mr Hri Kumar on language and communication skills. Because language and communication are integral to what we are trying to achieve for our students, I think his points bear being acknowledged by the third speaker from MOE.

English, our working language, provides a common platform for Singaporeans of all races and backgrounds to interact with and understand one another. Spoken English is also a key competency for the global economy. MOE is committed to improving our students' proficiency in it. We have created more opportunities for primary school students to speak, ask questions and interact in class through the implementation of the Strategies for English

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Language Learning and Reading (STELLAR) Programme in 2010. We increased the weightage of the listening and speaking components of the GCE "N" and "O" level English Language examinations in 2013. Our pre-university students must offer Project Work, which emphasises group discussion and requires students to make an oral presentation as part of their assessment.

Our Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs) are an anchor to our Asian culture and traditional values and provide a foundation for our students to acquire cross-cultural competencies. The Member's speech highlights a key tension between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations in the learning of MTL. Extrinsic motivations like bonus points can be useful. They encourage students to persevere and stretch themselves. They also signal the importance that we place on our Mother Tongue Languages. However, over-reliance on these motivators can have drawbacks, for instance, ending up with situations where students stop putting in effort once the motivators are no longer there.

On the other hand, intrinsic motivation nurtures self-directed learners who will maintain good communication skills in their MTLs over their lifetimes. Therefore, while extrinsic motivators like bonus points do exist, our core goal is to foster intrinsic motivation.

We aim to teach the Mother Tongue Languages in fun and engaging ways that will interest our students. For instance, all our schools organise Mother Tongue Language Fortnights annually. These Fortnights are meant to provide opportunities for students to learn and use their MTLs in authentic contexts.

In addition, we recognise that we are more likely to sustain our children's interest in the MTLs by leveraging on their instinctive feel for technology. To this end, we have introduced initiatives such as the Oracy eLand in 2011 and the iMTL Portal in 2013. Both are online portals that aim to teach students how to communicate in their MTLs through multimedia, games and interactive tasks. Mdm Chairperson, I would now like to say a few words in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] This year, MOE adopted the 2015 Primary School Mother Tongue Curriculum. This curriculum places emphasis on students' oral and written interaction skills, and on learning through authentic, everyday activities in our daily life. For example, our teachers will guide students to discuss food items sold in the canteen and thereafter teach them how to use the relevant phrases and sentences. To reinforce what the students have learnt, our teachers will assign tasks for the students to complete by using the new phrases and sentences they have learned.

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Parents and teachers have given very positive feedback on this curriculum. They think that the curriculum's authentic and applied nature has captured the attention of the students. Ms Patricia Lua's child just started primary school this January. Ms Lua said that this curriculum has provided many opportunities for the children to engage in interactive dialogues and is conducive to developing the children's oral communication capability.

Although her child has only been in Primary 1 for two months, he is already starting to speak more Mandarin as compared to before he started primary school and often shares what he learns in school with his parents at home in Mandarin.

( In English ): To reinforce what is taught in the classroom, we want our students to apply their MTL communication skills outside the classroom. MOE works with community partners to provide opportunities for students to do so and these activities reach out to more than 100,000 participants each year.

Our teachers work with the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee to author and publish books under the Lower Primary Storybooks Project, so as to foster the love of reading among young children. Xinmin Secondary School collaborates with the Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Language and Learning and zbCOMMA 逗号 to organise the "CreateYour Own Newspaper" Competition for secondary schools.

Last year, I attended Avvaiyar Vizha, an event organised by the Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee and the Tamil Language and Cultural Society to commemorate an influential female Tamil poet. I was heartened by how our schools worked together with community partners to promote greater awareness of Tamil literature and hone our students' skills in spoken Tamil.

In response to Ms Denise Phua's question about the private Special Education or SPED schools, I will first describe the overall landscape of MOE's support for students with Special Educational Needs or SEN. MOE's broad approach is to support them in education settings most appropriate for their needs. Students who have the cognitive abilities and adaptive skills to learn in mainstream settings are provided for in our mainstream schools. Students who require intensive specialised assistance in their education to optimise learning and their potential for independent living are provided for in the 20 SPED schools funded by MOE and operated by Voluntary Welfare Organisations. The vast majority of our students with SEN are catered for in these two types of settings.

A small number of private education institutions or PEIs offer full-time Special Education courses. The majority of students enrolled across these schools are non-Singaporeans. These schools do provide additional choice for some Singaporean parents too.

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While we will carefully consider the Member's proposal, these schools are currently regulated through the Private Education Act by the Council for Private Education, a statutory board under MOE. While the Council does not accredit the academic quality of programmes offered by PEIs, its regulatory framework aims to safeguard the interests of students and parents and to help them make more informed choices. The Council ensures minimum standards in corporate and academic governance, strengthens student fee protection measures and requires the PEIs to disclose key information on courses and teachers.

Whenever cases involving privately-funded SPED schools come to the Council's attention, they are looked into carefully. The Council has also taken the appropriate steps to address issues at these schools and I wish to assure Ms Phua that we do not condone abuse or criminal misconduct in any of our PEIs, including private SPED schools. If any evidence of such conduct is uncovered, the matter will be referred to the Police.

We also acknowledge the Member's concern for students who are at risk of being "left behind" and I wish to emphasise that MOE is committed to ensuring that all students have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Minister Heng has touched on various measures including enhanced financial assistance.

On the issue of a potential digital gap, I would like to share that our schools can loan computing devices to students from lower-income backgrounds. And on the issue of international exposure, our Trips for International Experience (TIE) initiative provide all students with the opportunity to embark on overseas learning programmes. Our schools, polytechnics and ITEs are also provided with an Opportunity Fund which can be used to subsidise computer purchases as well as overseas visits, student exchange programmes and school enrichment programmes for students from less advantaged backgrounds.

On the Member's suggestions on supporting SEN in the mainstream schools, we constantly welcome feedback from VWOs, the community and other stakeholders for strengthening our models of provision for support. Such feedback has been very useful to us in the past and we will continue to seek feedback and refine what we are currently doing.

On SEN, the Ministry is committed to uplifting the current level of support, with 10% to 20% of teachers in every mainstream school trained to have deeper knowledge and skills to support students with special needs. They work together with Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support), otherwise known as AEDs (LBS), who have been posted to all primary schools and 69 secondary schools.

I wish to thank several Members – Ms Chia Yong Yong, Ms Denise Phua and Dr Intan Azura – for expressing strong interest in our AEDs (LBS). I wish to share that MOE is

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committed to attracting, retaining and systematically training our AEDs (LBS). We have increased the numbers of AEDs (LBS) from 300 in 2010 to around 400 today. In addition, all newly recruited officers undergo a one-year full-time diploma in Special Education offered by the National Institute of Education or NIE before they are deployed. We also provide in-service professional development by sponsoring officers to attend the Advanced Diploma in Special Education and we will continue to review our AEDs (LBS) staffing to ensure adequacy of support for our students with SEN. I cannot agree more with our Members that, when doing so, we must always be careful, because it is important to recruit officers who have the right disposition, the right heart for our students with SEN and the potential to do a great job.

We have also invested more to help students with dyslexia, and this has been shared by Minister Heng just now. We introduced the school-based Dyslexia Remediation or SDR Programme in 2012 and, since then, we have been scaling it up as quickly as we can. Along the way, we have refined our instructional methods and trained more instructors. This year sees the expansion of the SDR Programme to 60 additional schools and the programme will be made available to all primary schools in 2016.

Support for children with SEN also comes in the form of allowing special arrangements for some of them sitting for national examinations and one example would be the Mother Tongue Language exemptions at PSLE that Mr Yee Jenn Jong spoke about.

We have made special accommodations for a small group of students at PSLE who have compelling reasons for finding it hard to cope with MTLs. Among these students, some may have joined or re-joined the school system mid-stream without having learnt MTLs before. Others are students with certified medical conditions or SEN, such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder or ASD and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

Each exemption appeal citing medical grounds or SEN is carefully reviewed by an MOE panel comprising specialists who will consider submitted evidence such as medical reports, school reports, examination results and work samples. I wish to highlight that exemptions are not given lightly. If the child indeed has the condition cited in the application, exemption will be considered. And if the Member knows of instances where this is not so, he can provide us with the details and we will be sure to look into these cases.

I would now like to thank Ms Chia Yong Yong for asking about the SEN Support Offices or SSO or Disability Support Offices or DSOs in our Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs as well as capability development and manpower training to help make them more effective in supporting of students with SEN. These are the key initiatives to support our students with SEN in our IHLs. Every ITE college, polytechnic and publicly funded university now has an SSO that serves as a first-stop help point. The SSOs also administer the SEN Fund, which helps ITE

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and polytechnic students with physical or sensory impairment purchase Assistive Technology devices or support services.

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More than 500 students have sought help from these offices. To enhance capability development, the SSOs in the polytechnics and ITE colleges meet every three months to share best practices. This month, Singapore Polytechnic will be hosting a workshop on Accessible Education by Brandman University's Office of Disability Services for the SSOs in all our IHLs.

Our IHLs have also been actively conducting staff training on basic SEN awareness and support on campus since 2013. The training introduces IHL staff to a wide range of SEN and teaches classroom strategies to support students in their learning.

In our polytechnics and ITEs, 1,500 staff members have been trained, including one in five of these institutions' academic staff. Over the next five years, our polytechnics and ITEs will work towards training all their academic staff in basic SEN awareness and support. Our universities also provide training opportunities for staff who interact with students with SEN. So, I think quite a lot is happening in the SSOs in our IHLs and I want to thank Ms Chia as well as Ms Phua for their strong support of this initiative.

Let me cite the example of a student who has been helped by this initiative. He is Lionel Tan, an 18 year-old Business Services student at ITE College Central with a visual impairment. Upon receiving an offer for the Nitec in Info Communication Technology or ICT course, the ITE's Learning Accessibility Office spoke to Lionel to understand his needs. Through this session, which included a tour of the ICT labs, Lionel realised that the course might not be suitable for him. The Learning Accessibility Office then worked with Lionel to identify his other interests and helped him enrol in a course suitable to his strengths and needs. The Office then helped provide Lionel with the appropriate support. A discussion between Lionel's lecturers and his former teachers at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School was arranged. The Office also purchased a text-to-speech software and a note-taking device using the SEN Fund. Lionel's lecturers have also worked with the Office to provide him with accessible learning materials.

I wish to thank Ms Phua for her proposal to allow students with other types of SEN to tap on the SEN Fund. The SEN Fund has to be viewed in the context of this broader framework of measures to support students with SEN. We aim to tailor our support measures to the specific needs of students, such as access arrangements for students with dyslexia, orientation of training facilities for students with autism spectrum disorder and

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additional assistance in classroom learning for students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. MOE and our IHLs will continue to review the range of support available from time to time and work towards strengthening it.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman and Minister Heng have spoken about how our spending on SPED schools has increased by 50% over the last five years. Please allow me to flesh out how this has translated into new and better programmes that enhance the affordability, accessibility and quality of SPED. With your permission, Mdm Chair, I wish to display an infographic on our screens.

The Chairman : Yes, please. [ A slide was shown to hon Members. ]

Ms Sim Ann : Regarding affordability, we know that parents of children with SEN are more likely to face additional financial outlay and that is why it is so important to help them with affordability. MOE, therefore, provides substantial financial support. We have extended various schemes to our SPED schools over the years, including the Edusave Scheme, the SPED Financial Assistance Scheme or FAS and the School Breakfast Programme.

We will continue to extend financial support to help our SPED students fulfil their aspirations. This year, we will be enhancing school-based financial assistance for the next three years to $25,000 per school on average, up from $15,000. We will also enhance the SPED FAS to include a public transport subsidy.

At the same time, we will fully subsidise the examination fees paid by Singaporean students in SPED schools taking national examinations as well as examinations leading up to national vocational certification.

To give a sense of what this entails, let me cite the example of Shaherah bte Daud, a 16-year-old student at Metta School. Shaherah aspires to be a chef and will be taking the ITE Skills Certificate in Baking Practice. Shaherah does not need to pay for the assessments for ISC Type 1 and Type 3 modules over the next two years. If she wishes to improve her mastery of baking, she will not need to pay for the assessments for the Type 2 and Type 4 modules subsequently. From now until she reaches 21 years of age, Shaherah can take these assessments and work towards obtaining her certification.

For accessibility, MOE works to make it easier for children who need special education to be placed in the right schools. To this end, we regularly upgrade school infrastructure and expand the capacity of some SPED schools to meet the rising demand for places. Today, 15 SPED schools are purpose-built and five have been refurbished.

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We also want to help parents make the important decision of placing their child in the right school. To do so, we have introduced Post-Diagnosis Educational Guidance, providing accurate information and advice, as well as emotional support, to parents whose children have been recommended for placement in a SPED school.

The key plank in our efforts to raise the quality of SPED has been the SPED Curriculum Framework, put in place in 2012. This guides SPED schools in delivering a quality and holistic education and helps SPED students achieve living, learning and working outcomes. I want to thank Ms Denise Phua for working tirelessly with us on improving the curriculum and also for her new suggestions, all of which we will study.

We have also directed additional resources to SPED schools like the Teaching and Learning Fund, the Curriculum Enhancement Fund, the High Needs Grant to fund manpower to support students who need more help, the MOE-Tote Board ICT Fund for schools to purchase infocomm technology as an aid to teaching and a Parent Support Group Fund to build and sustain home-school partnerships.

Beyond funding, MOE recognises that it is crucial for SPED schools to have skilled and dedicated teachers and staff. We support SPED teachers to upgrade their skills by developing milestone programmes like the Diploma in Special Education and awarding post-graduate scholarships to deserving teachers. We also fund SPED schools generously to conduct training workshops and send teachers for conferences and learning journeys.

One key initiative has been the Advanced Diploma in Special Education targeted at experienced teachers. We have received very positive feedback about the Advanced Diploma. Educators have found it meaningful and enriching and appreciated the research-to-practice approach taken by the course.

Given the context of SPED, we know that our parents and SPED educators are very concerned about what their children or students would do after they leave school. To help address this concern, we have been working hard on helping SPED students be future-ready.

We introduced a Vocational Education Framework in 2010 to cater to students who can go further in terms of work capability. We have also facilitated quality vocational education programmes in SPED schools serving students with mild intellectual disability leading to national certification in selected industry areas and this has enabled one in four SPED graduates to be successfully employed.

For students who can work but may not benefit from vocational certification, we have worked with MSF, SG Enable and the SPED schools to prototype a School-to-Work

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programme in five SPED schools starting in 2014. We intend to make it available to more SPED schools in phases from 2016.

These measures provide different pathways for our students to build a robust foundation of skills and prepare for the world of work. And, in this regard, I think we can think of our SPED sector as being an early adopter of the key spirit of SkillsFuture.

Madam, the Government has been doing more to ensure that we continue to be a society that gives hope and assurance to all. MOE will continue to work with MSF, NCSS, SG Enable and other partners to embrace Singaporeans with special needs as full and integral members of Singapore society.

But the Government cannot do it alone. I wish to thank the VWOs, supportive employers and businesses, our educators and everyone who have worked hard to build an inclusive society.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Hawazi Daipi) : Mdm Chairperson, I do not think I can complete my speech within 12.5 minutes. May I seek your permission to extend my speaking time for about five minutes?

The Chairman : Yes. Five minutes is fine.

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Mdm Chairperson, schools, parents and the community are key partners in the collective effort to forge a future where our people are valued for what they are and beyond the credentials they possess. To develop our children holistically and equip them with the strong foundation of values, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has strengthened art, music, sports and outdoor activities as well as internationalisation efforts in schools.

In the area of sports, we agree with Dr Benedict Tan and Mr Yee Jenn Jong that all students would benefit from participating in sports and co-curricular activities (CCAs) at competitive and non-competitive levels as part of their holistic development.

I am pleased to inform Members that with the revised Physical Education (PE) programme, all our students learn fundamental movement skills and concepts, and are given broad exposure to at least six sports, as well as dance, gymnastics, athletics, swimming and outdoor education. Dr Benedict Tan had suggested that all students should play a sport during Sports Day. Sports Day is one of many opportunities for student participation. Besides Sports Day, schools provide a wide range of sporting experiences for all students throughout the year, such as inter-class and inter-house games, cross-country meets, Sports Carnival and

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the Sports Education Programme.

The CCA programme complements these experiences and more than 60 Sports CCAs are offered in our schools. About a third of all our students participate in sports CCAs, of which 60% are non-school team players. The range of CCAs offered within each school would depend on student interests and availability of facilities, financial and manpower resources. Each type of sporting experience serves a different purpose and allows for excellence and mass participation to co-exist.

Dr Tan may be pleased to know that through outdoor education in the curriculum, all primary and secondary school students learn simple navigation and outdoor living skills such as cooking and shelter building. All students would have attended at least one outdoor adventure camp by the end of Primary 6 and at least two camps by the end of Secondary 4, one of which is an outdoor adventure camp. Through sports, CCAs and outdoor education, our students experience to work in teams, develop resilience and ruggedness and discover aspects of themselves that they might not discover in the classroom.

Such out-of-classroom experiences also occur through cross-cultural experiences provided by schools through multiple platforms, such as exchange programmes, overseas learning journeys and partnering foreign communities based in Singapore. These internationalisation efforts better prepare our students for the globalised environment as they develop the 21st Century Competencies of global awareness and cross-cultural skills.

We agree with Dr Benedict Tan that sports is an effective platform that can be used to foster interaction between our youth and those of other nationalities. This is already being done through sports events, such as the Annual ASEAN School Games, National School Games, and school-based collaborations between local and international schools. For example, Jurong Secondary and North Vista Secondary meet the Singapore American School annually for friendly games in basketball; and Queensway Secondary has organised friendly games in football and basketball with the Australian International School for the past two years.

However, holistic development is not the sole responsibility of schools. Parents and the community must play their part to offer these opportunities. Community clubs, Sport Singapore, National Sports Associations and People's Association (PA) offer many such programmes and activities, and students and parents should participate in these to further develop their interests and strengths in various domains.

Let me now talk about SkillsFuture. The Minister and Senior Minister of State Indranee have spoken about SkillsFuture and the importance of helping children discover their unique

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strengths and interests, enabling them to pursue different pathways to their fullest potential.

All schools do this through their Education and Career Guidance (ECG) efforts. Let me respond to Mr Ang Wei Neng's query on the role parents can play in career counselling. It is important that parents recognise that the competencies and skills that were needed for jobs of today may not be the same ones that their children will need for the jobs of tomorrow.

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Parents can partner schools in their ECG efforts. Using resources such as the MOE e-careers portal and Parents-in-Education website, parents can support our young in exploring various education pathways and making informed choices based on their interests, strengths and work values.

In Presbyterian High School in Ang Mo Kio, students go through a Celebrate Life! Seminar that helps them identify various pathways based on their interests, strengths and aspirations. The school includes parents by introducing the e-careers portal to them and encouraging them to use its tools to guide their child in setting and achieving their goals in life. Parents are also made more aware of various pathways through learning journeys to Post-Secondary Education Institutes and Institutes of Higher Learning.

At Greenview Secondary School in Pasir Ris, parents are involved in the programme named "Work Attachment with Parents". For three days during the June holidays, parents of Secondary 2 and 3 students volunteer to take their children to work to expose them to the work they do in various jobs such as in the wet market, prisons, aviation and paediatric oncology. The students reflected that they had greater appreciation for their parents after witnessing how hard they worked and the kind of realities they faced in the workplace. Such authentic experiences are invaluable and prepare students well for the expectations of the workplace.

By engaging in ECG efforts, parents may discover that their children want to pursue pathways that may be more unconventional. After the GCE "O" level examinations, Ariel De Silva qualified for the polytechnic but found that none of the courses she qualified for were of interest to her. Her mother, Mrs Sarie De Silva, recognised her strengths in creativity, language skills and storytelling, and encouraged her to pursue the early childhood education course at ITE. As a result of pursuing her passion, Ariel did well in ITE and went on to Temasek Polytechnic. She is now a qualified pre-school teacher.

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As parents, we must have faith that when our children pursue what they are strong in and passionate about, they will find success and fulfilment.

Parents can also come together through the Parent Support Group (PSG) network to support schools' ECG efforts by giving students exposure to occupations beyond what their own parents are engaged in.

In Eunos Primary School, upper primary students use the e-careers portal to learn about different occupations during ECG lessons. These come to life through a work-shadowing programme where PSG members host Primary 6 students at their workplaces to give them real-world experiences. This initiative has benefited 120 students since its implementation in 2012, and more parents from the PSG are coming forward to support this programme.

Pei Hwa Secondary School in Sengkang engages the PSG, alumni, school advisory committee or SAC and industry partners in a structured ECG programme for all students. The PSG, alumni and SAC host in-conversation sessions with students to share about their education and career choices, and the lessons learnt through their personal challenges. Secondary 3 students can opt to participate in work attachment opportunities at Resorts World Sentosa, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, and selected hotels and retail outlets. These efforts culminate in an ECG Day for Secondary 4 and 5 students where industry partners, former students or lecturers from IHLs are invited as keynote speakers and course advisors.

Thus, industry partners are very important, and perhaps no one speaks as credibly on workplace requirements and expectations than our industry leaders. We will embark on a series, "What Bosses Want", where industry captains shared about the skills, attitudes, and attributes valued by employers. This series aims to raise parents' awareness and appreciation of the variety of career options available, and the importance of nurturing children's strengths and interests and imbibing in them values such as initiatives, resilience, motivation and adaptability.

By working collectively to enhance our ECG efforts, we are better placed to help widen our children's opportunities for success.

Beyond involvement in ECG efforts, the PSG network helps parents support schools and each other in nurturing their children holistically. I am happy to note that almost all schools have a PSG made up of enthusiastic and supportive parents. MOE has been encouraging the development of PSGs and sees value in establishing supportive networks amongst them.

We plan to organise a series of four networking sessions for PSG leaders this year. These sessions will bring together the PSG leaders and school staff to synergise efforts for

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enhancing school-home partnerships. About 730 participants will be attending these four sessions.

I attended the first session on 28 February and was heartened to see such an engaged group of PSG leaders and staff from the East Zone, discussing the various ways parents and schools can collaborate and support each other in their clusters.

I met a number of PSG leaders who have been active in their children's schools for many years, some of whom continue to contribute even after their children had graduated. One such parent is Mr George Punnoose, current PSG Chairman at Canossa Convent Primary. He has been with the PSG for nine years, and says that he continues to be active even though his daughter has graduated because of his love for the children and the desire to bring cheer to their school life through the PSG activities.

I also met active PSG leaders who had come from other countries and had placed their children in our schools because they appreciate our education system. Their involvement in schools and PSGs enhances the cultural diversity and global awareness of the children in the school.

Generally, PSGs comprise more mothers and I was especially encouraged therefore to see so many fathers at this session on 28 February. Mr Gordon Tan, PSG Chairman in St Hilda's Secondary School, joined the PSG in 2012 because he wanted to be "the Best Father" for his son, especially during the formative teenage years. Through parent-child bonding activities, he got to know his son better and together, they have created many treasured memories.

Another father, Mr Muchtar Bin Abdul Karim, Chairman of PSG in Junyuan Primary School, was in the school's first graduating cohort. He enrolled his daughter in 2014 and joined the school's PSG as a way to give back to his alma mater. He believes that his presence in school helps his daughter grow in confidence and hopes that it inspires her to follow in his footsteps by giving back to the community.

The fathers I met shared that their involvement in PSG allowed them to play greater role in shaping the way their children developed. They felt that it was important for PSGs to reach out to more fathers and want to do their part to promote this.

Such engaged and supportive parents are positive role models for other parents. To further encourage these mentoring relationships, I am pleased to inform that the 9th Council of COMPASS will launch a COMPASS-PSG Mentoring Programme or Scheme. Depending on the needs of the school, the Scheme will match PSGs who would like support in developing

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further with PSG Mentors from COMPASS. Our PSG representatives on COMPASS are all experienced members of PSGs in schools and are well-placed to provide support to other PSGs.

When COMPASS member, Mr Tio Chong Heng, shared at the inaugural PSG Conference in 2014 about the fathers' group in St Hilda's Primary School, PSG representatives from several schools, namely Rulang Primary, Bukit Timah Primary, Bedok Green Primary, and Guangyang Primary, were inspired to explore how fathers could be involved in their schools. A visit to St Hilda's Primary to observe how the fathers' group conducted itself paved the way for a rock-climbing father-child bonding activity last year for Bedok Green Primary School.

Through this Scheme, we hope to encourage PSGs to strengthen their partnership with schools to benefit their children and prepare them for the world of tomorrow.

Madam, when we work together as a community to provide opportunities for our children and extend our definitions of success, we will teach our children that they are each valued for their unique strengths, talents, and interests. We will better enable our children to succeed in society in the future. Madam, if I may, let me conclude my speech in Malay.

( In Malay ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Mdm Chair, the world that our children will live and work in when they grow up will be one that is very different from what we know of today. Lifelong learning is, therefore, very important. We need to help our children acquire the knowledge, skills, and competencies that will prepare them to face the uncertainties and complexities of the future.

Such skills include communication skills, information skills and teamwork. More importantly, we need to help them develop into people of good character, capable of making sound decisions, and facing challenges with resilience and adaptability. These are the qualities that will hold them in good stead for the future. These are also the qualities that employers look for in the worker of the future as they desire employees who show initiative, are motivated, and passionate when performing their duties.

Therefore, it is critical that parents and schools work together to help children develop these qualities and discover what they are motivated by and passionate about. This can be done through Education and Career Guidance or ECG for their children. While MOE will provide secondary schools, junior colleges, centralised institutes, polytechnics and the Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs) with ECG counsellors, parents must do their part to really get to know their children. This means spending quality time with them to help them

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explore different opportunities and possibilities for themselves.

I encourage all parents to support the schools' efforts in the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) by using resources such as the ECG portal and the Parents-in-Education website to explore different career pathways for their children in the future. These resources provide parents with tips on how they can guide and assist their children in making mature decisions about their future. There is also information on the various educational pathways, and guiding questions and self-profiling tools to help students make informed choices based on their interests, strengths and values.

When our children discover what motivates them, and where their strengths and interests lie, parents and schools can work together to give them opportunities to pursue these. Sometimes, it requires parents to step out of their comfort zone so as to encourage their children to try something new. Only through such explorations will children be able to discover new aspects of themselves.

The parents of Adly Azizi Adly Azamin are examples of how giving your child the space to explore something new can turn into a positive light for the future. When Adly Azizi first picked up dance as his CCA in Montfort Junior School, he had no formal training in dance but, through the CCA, he discovered his talent and developed a deep passion for it. Despite having limited dance experience, Adly auditioned for admission into School of the Arts (SOTA) with the support of his family. Today, Adly is a driven and enthusiastic 15-year-old pursuing his dance journey in SOTA's Faculty of Dance.

Parents and schools must work together to help our children learn about the different pathways that are available to them, and give them the space to pursue what they are good at and interested in, to the highest level they are capable of. We should encourage them to pursue options that will bring them joy and fulfilment, and value them for whatever paths that they choose to take. In this way, opportunities for our child to succeed will be widened. Mdm Chair, thank you.

5.15 pm

The Chairman : We have a little bit of time for clarification. Mr Zainal Sapari?

Mr Zainal Sapari: Mdm Chair, my clarification in Malay please.

( In Malay ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] The Minister for Education, in his speech, said that no children will be left behind whatever their starting point. Can the Minister share the Government's position on the suggestions by several Members of Parliament for the

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waiver of examination fees to be given to every Singaporean student, even though they are in private schools like the full-time madrasahs, and whether this suggestion will be considered by the Government in this year's Budget?

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Madam, all Singaporeans taking the national examinations as private candidates, including madrasah students, currently already receive a subsidy on their examination fees. And, indeed, our education system is inclusive. And as I have said, and I stand by what I have said – no child will be left behind. All parents can choose to enrol their children in mainstream schools to receive a heavily subsidised education, which now includes full waiver of national examination fees.

So, our policy remains that we want all our Singaporean children to enrol in our mainstream schools, to go through a common educational experience, and grow up together. Therefore, it is not about the equalisation of all conditions between mainstream schools and private schools. If private schools are necessary for specific reasons, the agency coordinating it will look at their needs in that very specific context.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Thank you, Mdm Chairman. Let me thank the Minister for sharing MOE's key area of focus. I hope the concerns and suggestions that we have raised will be brought back to the Ministry of Education (MOE) for consideration, because many of us spoke on many topics like outdoor activities and arts. Minister spoke about going beyond grades. The reality is that in many schools, the emphasis on good grades is still very strong, which explains why there is such a strong tuition culture. We may talk about looking beyond grades but the schools do look at grades.

The other point that I wanted to ask the Minister is that I had, in my speech, asked about bringing forward the enhanced subsidy for mid-career persons instead of beyond 40 to five years after work. I know the Minister for Finance had already spoken about it. I hope the Minister would bring it back, discuss with MOF to see whether we can consider bringing forward the enhanced subsidies for mid-career Singaporeans.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Well, Mdm Chair, certainly we would look at all the suggestions that have been raised. In this short speech, it is not possible for me to cover every idea that has been suggested, so I thank all Members for your suggestions.

On the question of beyond grades, indeed, it is not just a change. As I had said in my speech, we need to take this transformation together, as parents, as educators, as school leaders, as employers, as a society at large. So, this is a major transformational effort that will require every one of us to really pitch in. And as I said, every decision, every action,

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everyone counts.

In terms of the enhanced mid-career subsidy, we will certainly discuss this with MOF. But let me say that many of our courses are already indeed highly subsidised. And, as I said, our focus should not just be about the subsidies and the particular courses. When we talk about lifelong learning, at the end of the day, it is the utilisation of those skills and learning can take place in many different contexts. The example of the US versus Japan gives us a very vivid lesson that we got to focus on how to make it work and the technical details can then follow from there.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng : Thank you, Madam. Madam, I would like to seek two clarifications; one is to seek Minister's thoughts on the integrated 10-year through-train schools. I want to clarify that I do not mean compromising any form of rigour in academics. I really think the rigour of academics and character building must remain so. I just want to seek again the Minister's thoughts on this, since I have been asking several times.

The second clarification is for Minister of State Sim Ann. For the special needs students, if a special solution can be found to ensure that the SPED schools are not left out of all the good things that are happening at the national level, for example, the very good school-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme that is currently ongoing. I thought that was very good. There is a number of special needs students who also have co-morbidities. They have different conditions at the same time, including dyslexia. So, I would like to seek your opinion on that as well.

Mr Heng Swee Keat : Mdm Chair, I think Ms Denise Phua exemplifies learning for mastery and lifelong learning. One important quality is really about perseverance, and really pushing and pushing. We all recall that Ms Phua had filed the Adjournment Motion some months back. So, let me say at the outset, that in the spirit of what I said, I welcome any form of innovation and that we have to keep an open mind to possibilities. We have to explore new and better ways of doing things, and therefore, we will look at this with serious consideration.

Earlier on, Mr Inderjit Singh mentioned about the scarcity mentality. If we think that there is one pathway to success, whether in school or at work, what would we as parents, students, or individuals do? Well, we will do everything we can to get onto that pathway. In fact, we see that in many different systems.

In some systems, they have been busy with changing all these and the end result is many of them lament that the education system has lost its rigour and students are very ill-prepared for, not to mention the future but even the present. In other systems, it is driven

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by so much pressure that they have decided that they will abolish the PSLE, the GCE "O" levels, and they have a through-train system, not just for 10 years, but 12 years, all the way.

For as long as there is only one path to success, the pressure will manifest itself at some point. In the systems that I have studied, it manifests itself in two areas: one, how do I get onto that path? So, first, at the primary school level, I get into a good primary school and, therefore, I can get into a good secondary school and I can get into a good high school?

Then, the pressure goes downwards. Why not get into a good kindergarten so that I can get into a good primary school? And then it goes further down, why not a good nursery so that I can get into a good kindergarten? A friend of mine had a grandchild who was being assessed at the age of three for entry into one of these nurseries overseas. She said her grandchild had his first failure in life at the age of three because he fell asleep while being assessed. The assessment for the other kids took so long that by the time it came to his turn, it was his usual nap time.

That is one point of pressure. The other point of pressure is at the high school, because the high school determines whether you get into university, and whether you get into university determines whether you succeed in life.

I recently met a Singaporean who married a lady and, in this place, his parents-in-law asked him "Which university do you come from?" And after he gave the answer, he became quite an outcast in the family. So, the pressure then exerts itself at two extremes.

I am not saying that through-train is a bad idea. I am saying that what we need to do is to think about what is driving that pressure and how can we innovate within that.

About two years back, I met a very thoughtful educator in China. When we were discussing this issue, she said to me that for as long as we think we have this scarcity mentality and we think there is one path to success, then the way we look at life will be something like this: 千军万马过一条独木桥. In English, it means thousands of horses and soldiers all rushing to cross that one narrow wooden bridge. Would there not be pressure in the system? Would it lead to better education? Certainly, there will be pressure. That is one way of dealing with the problem.

The other is whether we have an abundance mentality. When we have an abundance mentality, then success is not defined by one pathway, but many pathways. Success in schools, success at work, many, many different pathways. As I said, back in 1965, when we first became independent, 读书 was an important way to get ahead because that was the

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biggest skills gap.

Today, we have enormous changes in our economy, many jobs are being created, requiring very deep skills in every area and, therefore, the pathways have multiplied. But our thinking about education and pathways have not kept up with these changes.

When we think about the future, it is very important for us not to think about that one lone single wooden bridge, but really building many bridges. Not just wooden bridges, but iron bridges, steel bridges, find different ways of crossing the river, specialised boats, motorised boats, submarines, whatever.

In that way, we can create many more pathways to success and, indeed, the SkillsFuture fellowship awards, the SkillsFuture Credit, the SkillsFuture Awards and all these modularised courses are really many different ways to empower Singaporeans to create our own pathways, to build our own skills map, so that we can stay relevant. At the same time, we need employers to come onboard to make full use of these skills and, in that way, companies can have higher productivity, higher margin, that can then translate into higher wages and create a virtual circle of many more successful pathways.

Indeed, some Singaporeans might choose to be self-employed, to be entrepreneurs and again build skills to be successful in those different areas. So, really. this is the fundamental transformation that we need to make – thinking about success beyond school, but success in many different fields and having this abundance mentality to think of new possibilities, having this inventive, resourceful mindset to think about new ways of doing things.

In that regard, let me reiterate that I am always open to good ideas, and we must always explore whether there are better ways of doing things. But I want to reiterate the point that at the end of the day, fundamentally, having looked at systems all over the world, I think what we need is that major transformation in the way we think about success, about pathways and in the way that we go out to create those pathways.

Ms Sim Ann : Madam, I wish to respond to Ms Denise Phua's clarification about sharing more programmes like Dyslexia Remediation with our SPED schools. She reminded me of the fact that our specialists have begun working with our SPED schools on reading and literacy improvements for our students as part of our SPED curriculum framework. If memory serves me right, I think that this effort actually predates our School-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme by a bit. As for her suggestion, we will study it seriously.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong : I would like to ask about the stress levels on the students. I welcome the Ministry of Education's (MOE) shift to go beyond grades. But, on the ground,

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the reality is that there is increasing pressure on the students to chase good grades, given the very competitive system and also the high expectations of parents. I am worried about those who find it hard to cope with stress and become exposed to problems like depression and low self-esteem, who may then be vulnerable to suicidal thoughts.

5.30 pm

Can I ask the Minister how the Ministry is building up the emotional resources of students to cope with the pressures, given the rapid pace of change and also to work with parents to manage their expectations and to be open to the multiple pathways that the Minister has just talked about?

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Mdm Chair, I thank Ms Irene Ng for the question. Indeed, I share the Member's concern that we must look at the socio-emotional competencies of our students. Over the last few years in particular, we have strengthened the learning of socio-emotional competencies in our schools through a variety of programmes that is incorporated in the syllabus. At the same time, as Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi has emphasised, at the end of the day, parents play a very, very important role. The communication between parents and their children is critical.

I am very happy that many different organisations and Parent Support Groups (PSGs) have come forward to help and to work together with the schools, and to help one another in this effort. I have met some of these groups. I have been very impressed by what they do because when parents are able to share what each of them is going through, it creates a certain sense of community that we are in this together. This will be a work that will always have to go on and we have to watch the socio-emotional health of our children so that they grow up to be well-adjusted, happy individuals, and very much like what I said in my speech about learning for life and not just learning for grades.

Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, I have two questions for the Minister. First, I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with the Minister that learning should not be for grades but for mastery. The Minister has said that these changes he spoke about go beyond schools.

First, surely the Minister will agree that we will still need the school to implement the changes that we want and there may be some historical structures that may give a different message to what the Minister has said. For example, centralised GEP gives a certain elite status to the nine selected schools and will continue this perception in parents that these are the top and popular schools. So, should we be bold to critically examine historical systems that may have served their purposes and there may be different ways to achieve

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what it was set up for?

My second question has been asked but I will ask it in a different way to be persistent. Would the Minister agree that the integrated primary to secondary schools will actually go very well with the Minister's own message that learning is not just for grades but for curiosity and mastery? It will let parents truly buy into the Minister's message for this option and to subscribe for such schools, so that they do not need to have the children chase for top grades in PSLE to get into the good schools.

I have heard what the Minister said, but I feel that we can actually exclude the top schools from this exercise and leave the original pathways unchanged so that we do not transfer that pressure downwards, as the Minister has just said.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Mr Yee for first agreeing wholeheartedly with me about learning for mastery. He raised two questions. First, I talked about beyond school, but what are we doing in schools? Indeed, when I spoke about going beyond school, when I used the word "beyond", what I mean is that you need to do things in school, and you then need to go beyond that. So, it is not "either or". It is that you need to do both and do both well.

On the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) and how that might change perceptions and so on, the point that I have made in my speech is that we have now a variety of Applied Learning Programmes. But I want to go beyond this discussion about whether one or two GEPs are creating all this stress and problems; to go beyond that and think about how, in a very big school system like ours where we have about 180 secondary schools, we can create opportunities in every school.

I am very committed to this "Every School A Good School" movement. That is why I have introduced the Applied Learning Programme and the Learning for Life Programme. This is beginning to have its effects and parents are beginning to see that each of these schools offers something interesting or special that can help their children learn.

I mentioned in my speech the example of Damai Secondary School and how one parent had three of her kids in this Health Sciences programme. So, it is to have this abundance mentality to think about how we can create new possibilities, rather than to focus on one or two specific areas. That we really want to work across a very broad front to create the multiple paths of success that I spoke about.

On the Member's second question about whether in this spirit, if we have the integrated programme, would it not help so that parents do not chase the points and so on. Again, I mentioned in my reply to Ms Denise Phua that, at the end of the day – and we have just

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spoken for over four hours on how important it is for our society to make this major transformation – what is the central focus of our efforts? The central focus of our efforts over the next many years is to create this transformation in our mindsets by everyone, in order to make this very major change possible.

I am open to considering what might be the merits of particular ideas and particular things that we could do. But I also need to be very clear that with the resources that we have and the attention that we have, that I focus it on what will make the biggest impact. So, if we are convinced that, indeed, creating the through-train schools can make the impact, again let me repeat, I am open to considering it. But I have spent a lot of time thinking about these issues, studying systems all over the world, discussing with educators all over the world and trying to understand what is driving the behaviour of education and social systems all around the world. And I do think that this SkillsFuture initiative and this transformation that I spoke about, in terms of learning for mastery, learning throughout one's life, learning for life, is really the transformation that we need to make. And there are many things that we can do within this context.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Madam, in Malay, please.

( In Malay ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Just a moment ago, the Minister mentioned the Edusave Merit Bursary. I would like to seek clarification from the Minister on the Edusave Merit Bursary and other Edusave awards, whether madrasah students are eligible to receive the Edusave Merit Bursary or the other Edusave awards.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: I believe Minister of State Sim Ann moved the Bill in this House on extending Edusave to all students. So, I hope that the hon Member was aware of this.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: I would just like to know whether it is including the Edusave Bursary Award or is it just the Edusave scheme itself?

Mr Heng Swee Keat: It is the Edusave amount that we credit into the account.

The Chairman: Mr Manap, do you want to clarify further?

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Yes, because my understanding is that the Edusave scheme, does it cover —

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The Chairman: I think the Minister just answered it does not cover. In my view, it covers only the amount credited into the account.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: I just want to know whether the Edusave awards, plus the bursary, as mentioned just now, will be made available to the madrasah students.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: I think I have answered the hon Member's question that the Edusave amount is for the account, for the students to use for their extra-curricular activities, not for the other awards.

The Chairman: If there are no other clarifications, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, would you like to withdraw your amendment?

Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Thank you, Mdm Chairperson. Madam, allow me the opportunity to thank the Minister, the Senior Minister of State, the Minister of State and the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for their replies to our many questions and clarifications. On behalf of the Government Parliamentary Committee or GPC, I also want to take the opportunity to put on record our deep appreciation to MOE as well as the thousands of teachers and other educators involved in preparing our children for the future. Mdm Chairperson, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn (proc text)].

[(proc text) The sum of $11,400,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates (proc text)].

[(proc text) The sum of $700,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]

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