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Do not look at education system changes in isolation, urges Heng

SINGAPORE — At the first dialogue session organised by Government feedback arm REACH on the National Day Rally, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat yesterday had to allay concerns and doubts about the policy changes to the education system, as he urged parents to be patient and not to look at the changes in isolation.

Mr Heng urged participants to be patient regarding the details of the education changes. Photo: Ernest Chua

Mr Heng urged participants to be patient regarding the details of the education changes. Photo: Ernest Chua

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SINGAPORE — At the first dialogue session organised by Government feedback arm REACH on the National Day Rally, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat yesterday had to allay concerns and doubts about the policy changes to the education system, as he urged parents to be patient and not to look at the changes in isolation.

About 180 members of the public participated in the 90-minute dialogue chaired by Mr Heng. About a quarter of the 20 questions focused on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s announcements on the education system, including doing away with aggregate scores for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Pupils will instead be placed in bands, similar to the O and A levels examinations.

On the change to the PSLE - a hot topic that emerged from the Our Singapore Conversation project - a parent questioned if students will still know how well they did for each subject and if they don’t, how can they know which subject they are good at and which school to apply for if they do not know their academic strengths?

Another participant felt that the Government did not go far enough in tweaking the Primary 1 registration exercise. From next year, at least 40 places will be set aside for children with no connection to the school of their choice. The participant argued that enrolment should only be based on practical considerations such as proximity to a child’s home and whether the child has a sibling in the school. Other factors, such as affiliations, should not be taken into account if every school is indeed a good school as the Ministry of Education (MOE) preaches, he said.

Also questioning whether all schools are quality schools, a secondary school student said she was denied the opportunity to take a full Humanities subject because her school did not have enough teachers for that subject.

Mr Heng, who listened to all the questions and feedback before responding at one go, urged the participants to be patient regarding the details of the education changes. “I still have plenty of time to announce details,” he said. He also asked them not to look at the measures in isolation but in totality of what the MOE has been doing in recent years.

Adding that his ministry will continue to equip students with “skills for the future”, Mr Heng said he hoped that the impending changes in the education system will have an impact on the way Singaporeans think about education, and reduce the overemphasis on academic results.

He stressed that MOE wants “to be able to create opportunities for every child regardless of background” and to “enable every child to pursue endeavours of the future”. He noted that, among other things, the ministry is increasing the number of teachers and places for children in preschools. It is also raising the number of places in publicly funded universities for Singaporeans.

In his opening remarks, Mr Heng said that the National Day Rally “shows that the government is strategic and forward looking” and “remaining creative and bold in seeking new opportunities for Singaporeans”. The rally also showed that the Prime Minister was being “responsive to views of Singaporeans”, he added.

REACH chairman Amy Khor, who moderated the dialogue, said that the feedback on the National Day Rally garnered by REACH so far centered around strengthening social safety nets through healthcare, sharing the fruits of Singapore’s progress through housing and maintaining social mobility and inclusiveness through education. She said while many have praised the changes to the education system, some have questioned the implementation details of a banding system for the PSLE.

During the dialogue, participants also raised other concerns ranging from a lack of national identity, to the need to build a more gracious and civic-minded society.

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