Table of Contents Ministry of Education (MOE)
MOE seeks to provide opportunities for our young to realise their potential through high quality education in schools and post-secondary educational institutions. We cater to different aptitudes, styles and paces of learning through differentiated curricula and a diversity of pathways. We will provide our children with a balanced and well-rounded education to help them discover their talents and realise their full potential, and nurture them into committed citizens. Our schools, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), polytechnics and universities strive to bring out the best in our young and provide them with a strong foundation in the values, skills and knowledge necessary for work and life.
This year, against the backdrop of a recovering global economy, it is opportune for us to continue to strengthen our investment in education to continue to prepare our young well for the future. A total budget of $9,664 million has been allocated to MOE in FY2010.
MOE subsidises the operations of schools and tertiary institutions:
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$4,212 million to subsidise the operations of primary schools, special education schools, secondary schools, independent schools, centralised institute and junior colleges;
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$2,342 million to subsidise the operations of the 3 autonomous universities, UniSIM, and the newly set up Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT);
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$1,105 million to subsidise the operations of the 5 polytechnics and 2 tertiary arts institutions; and
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$322 million to subsidise the operations of ITE.
For FY2010, MOE will continue to build on our strong fundamentals and expand opportunities. We aim to achieve the following outcomes:
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Enhancing Holistic Education to Develop Future-Ready Singaporeans – MOE will build on the Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee’s (PERI) recommendations to strike a better balance between the teaching of content knowledge and the acquisition of skills and values that will prepare our children for a more dynamic future. To better position our students to take advantage of opportunities in a globalised world, we will implement a new framework to enhance the learning of 21st century competencies. In addition, we will enhance the learning and teaching of languages in schools to build strong communications skills among our young;
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Enhancing Opportunities for All – To enhance the quality of education for special needs students, MOE will provide greater support in terms of recognition, resources and curriculum support. In the area of pre-school education, we will put in measures to ensure quality, as we continue to provide targeted support for lower income households;
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Nurturing a Quality Tertiary Sector – MOE will continue to create more opportunities for quality higher education to meet the needs of our economy.
Enhancing Holistic Education to Develop Future-Ready Singaporeans
Raising the Quality of Primary Education
In April 2009, MOE accepted the recommendations of the PERI Committee, which sought to realise a more holistic primary education and ensure that our young are equipped not just with content knowledge, but also the skills and values to thrive in a fast-changing globalised world.
To provide pupils with early exposure to different activities that complement schools’ current efforts in developing character and useful life-skills, the Programme for Active Learning (PAL) is currently being prototyped, and will subsequently be rolled out to all primary schools progressively, in tandem with the move towards single-session primary schools.
Other initiatives include the piloting of the Form Teacher Guidance Period to devote more attention to each pupil’s holistic development, as well as the prototyping of alternative modes of assessment which place greater focus on developmental objectives.
More Allied Educators will partner teachers in learning and teaching, for both primary and secondary schools. All-graduate teacher recruitment will also be achieved by 2015.
Primary schools will also be resourced with enhanced facilities that better support the learning activities and teaching approaches for a holistic primary education.
Enhancing the Learning of 21st Century Competencies and Strengthening Art, Music and Physical Education
MOE will implement a new framework to enhance the development of 21st century competencies in our students. This will underpin the holistic education that our schools provide to better prepare our students to thrive in a fast-changing and highly-connected world.
As part of this effort, MOE will strengthen the quality of Physical, Art and Music (PAM) education, as these subjects enable students to develop physical robustness, enhance their creative and expressive capacities, as well as shape their personal, cultural and social identity. For example, we will enhance the delivery of the Art and Music curriculum through single-subject specialisation, where all new Art and Music teachers focus on teaching either Art or Music, and handle Art- or Music-related co-curricular activities (CCAs) and programmes. Physical Education (PE) curriculum time will be increased for all primary and secondary school students, to develop them physically and equip them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to pursue an active and healthy lifestyle.
Strengthening Language Skills to Prepare Our Students Well for the Future
MOE will be enhancing the learning and teaching of languages in schools, in order to build strong communication skills among our young, so as to prepare them well for the future.
For English Language (EL), MOE will be enhancing teacher capacity to teach EL and English-medium subjects, as well as promoting school-based programmes to improve EL usage by students. Initiatives include setting up the English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) to provide in-service training for EL and English-medium teachers, as well as providing an EL Innovation Fund for schools to promote practices and activities that encourage the use of good English. We will also be extending Language Facilitators to more primary schools, following the successful pilot in 2009.
With an evolving language environment in Singapore, MOE will be adopting differentiated approaches to the learning and teaching of Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs) to cater to students with different levels of ability and interest. The Chinese Language (CL) Review Committee led by the Director-General for Education (DGE) will set out the philosophy underlying the teaching of CL to different groups of learners in Singapore and recommend the appropriate approach to customise CL learning for our CL learners of different abilities. Similar reviews of Malay Language (ML) and Tamil Language (TL) are being carried out in tandem.
As recommendations of the Review Committees will take time to be implemented, MOE will be making some intermediate changes over the next few years, to better align MTL learning and teaching to the broad approach that will be adopted. For instance, schools will help students acquire confidence and proficiency in the use of MTL in daily living, like effective oral communication, reading in everyday contexts (news, movies, internet information) and functional writing. MOE will leverage on the use of ICT.
Enhancing Opportunities for All
Providing Greater Support for Special Education
The policy of ‘Many Helping Hands’ has served us well, and MOE will continue to work with the National Council of Social Services (NCSS), families and other partners to engage special education schools in our efforts to further improve the quality of education for our children with special needs. For example, starting from 2010, we will provide funding to Special Education (SPED) schools to establish school-based awards, to recognise and encourage SPED students for their achievements or progress. To enhance the teaching of literacy in the SPED schools, we will be introducing a Direct Instruction reading programme to SPED schools over the next few years. We will also support greater opportunities for meaningful integration between students from SPED schools and mainstream schools.
We will continue to support students with mild special needs in mainstream schools. We have been deploying Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support), and training groups of mainstream school teachers in special needs.
Ensuring Quality of Pre-School Education
Recognising the value of pre-school education to the development of our children, MOE will ensure that quality pre-school education is accessible and affordable for all Singaporeans, with a diversity of options and models offered by the community and the private sector.
Initiatives include providing greater support for eligible kindergartens to attract and reward better qualified principals and teachers, providing more curriculum resources to all kindergartens and implementing Kindergarten Link (K-Link), a web-based interactive and integrated IT system which kindergartens can leverage on for data management and sharing of resources. To encourage kindergartens to further uplift their standards, MOE disseminated a Quality Rating Scale for kindergartens’ self-appraisal last year and is on track to rolling out a kindergarten accreditation framework by next year. MOE will support the establishment of an Experimental Kindergarten at Temasek Polytechnic in 2011, to innovate and conduct research in early childhood education, in particular, in curriculum and teaching strategies.
Nurturing a Quality Tertiary Sector
MOE will provide 15,300 subsidised university undergraduate places in Academic Year 2010, catering to about 26% of the cohort. Two new institutions – the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will provide places to cater to a larger proportion of the local cohort in coming years.
SIT was established in 2009 to provide another pathway for Polytechnic graduates to obtain industry-relevant degrees. It will launch its first 8 degree programmes with 5 overseas universities later this year.
SUTD has been established with the appointment of its Board of Trustees and President, and the formation of strategic alliances with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Zhejiang University. SUTD's unique offering will provide its students with skills and knowledge that will prepare them to be technically-grounded leaders in the new economy.
The Polytechnics are a key pillar of our post-secondary education, serving over 40% of the cohort. As the Polytechnics become popular among O-Level students, and also ITE upgraders, through their expanded, industry-relevant offerings, MOE will be expanding the built capacity in our 5 Polytechnics by 20% over the next 4 years.
With the institution of the “One ITE, Three Colleges” framework, each of the 3 regional colleges (ITE East, Central and West) now have the critical mass to innovate, optimise resources and provide a better overall educational experience for students. This blend will cater to the training needs of skilled manpower to support emerging growth areas in industry, while maintaining ITE’s strengths in traditional technical areas. To enhance ITE students’ employability, ITE will be reviewing existing and rolling out new, industry-relevant NITEC and Higher NITEC courses. It will also continue to provide Continuing Education Training courses, for members of the workforce and displaced workers to re-skill and prepare themselves for the job market.
To find out more about the Ministry of Education and our initiatives, please visit our website.
