Summarized from Straits Times
05 November 2014
BY PEARL LEE
The Education Ministry has in place a vetting process to evaluate external vendors before schools engage them to conduct enrichment programmes and workshops, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said in Parliament on Monday.
Mr Heng was responding to a question from Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten), who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, and Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC), who asked about the vetting process after a Hwa Chong Institution student had attracted headlines last month for criticising on Facebook a relationship programme run by an external vendor in her school.
Mr Heng said schools engage external vendors for enrichment programmes “when there is value in tapping on the external expertise of those with the prerequisite professional training or relevant life experiences to complement the teacher’s role”.
These enrichment activities include those in the areas of self management and social skills, sports and fitness, and aesthetics and enterprise, which help develop a student’s communication, leadership and collaborative skills, added Mr Heng.
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