18 September 2019

Raffles Institution gave out a record number of scholarships to students this year, each comprising of a cash award of $1,000 that helps to cover their out-of-pocket expenses, such as enrichment programmes.

Scholarship recipients are also given the opportunity to be part of RI’s mentorship programme, which gives them access to a pool of RI’s Year 4 students who organise activities like day camps, as well as share their knowledge and skills in day-to-day tasks such as studying effectively and time management.

To qualify for the scholarship, pupils should be on the Ministry of Education (MOE) Financial Assistance Scheme and do well enough in their studies to gain admission into RI.

RI principal Frederick Yeo said the scholarship is awarded to pupils from low-income families “to spur them to strive for academic excellence, ensure that affordability does not impede the pupils’ access to opportunities, and encourage them to consider schools like RI and RGS”.

13 September 2019

The latest Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Department of Statistics from October 2017 to September 2018 found that Singapore households spent S$1.4 billion on tuition.

A media report has also noted that the number of tuition and enrichment centres has seen a corresponding increase over the years, growing from about 700 in 2012 to more than 950 today.

That being said, the average household spending on tuition amounted only to S$88.40 per month in 2017/2018, based on a survey of 1.35 million households. Tuition contributed to less than 2 per cent of monthly household expenditure.

To lessen the burden of examination stress and help students discover the joys of learning, the Ministry of Education has pledged to implement many reforms, including the removal of mid-year examinations (for selected academic levels), and the abolition of streaming in secondary school.

Because many of the changes have yet to kick in, it would be unrealistic to expect any effects so soon. We are likely to see any effects of these reforms only in decades to come, after the full suite of changes have taken place and parents have a fuller understanding of what they entail.

12 September 2019

Seven teachers were recently awarded the President’s Award for Teachers, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the teaching profession in Singapore.

They were presented their awards by President Halimah Yacob at a ceremony at the Istana also attended by Education Minister Ong Ye Kung and Second Education Minister Indranee Rajah.

The seven winners were selected by a panel chaired by Ms Denise Phua, head of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, out of a pool of 3,886 individuals nominated by school leaders, teachers, parents and students.

The award winners will join an overseas conference and study trip at the end of the year as part of their professional development.

10 September 2019

According to the Meteorological Service Singapore, rapid urbanisation has led to the exacerbation of the urban heat island effect. Furthermore, by 2030, the population aged 65 and above is set to double.

A common perception is that Singapore simply needs to pour more resources into improving technology to develop solutions. But these are ultimately changes enacted on a micro level. In order to create a truly sustainable Singapore, our communities and living spaces need to be completely redesigned from the ground up.

According to the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment (NUS SDE), the right way forward is a people-centric approach. SDE calls this approach Well and Green thinking. As the name suggests, it aims to redefine the way community design is approached, by placing emphasis not just on environmentally-friendly and sustainable design, but also on the well-being of residents.

NUS SDE hopes to take this concept of the sustainable integrated development and expand it into entire districts — effectively making it the future of the whole nation.

07 September 2019

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has said that there will be more opportunities for Institute of Technical Education students to upgrade their skills.

About 1,700 ITE students will benefit from the increased number of upgrading pathways by 2030. Currently, seven in 10 ITE graduates continue to upgrade themselves over the course of their careers.

ITE graduates will have access to more places for full-time and part-time Higher National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (NITEC) and diploma pathways, with 860 more spots in the Higher NITEC programmes and 580 more places in ITE’s SkillsFuture Work-Study Diplomas.

Working adults will also have 290 more places in full-time polytechnic diploma programmes.

These polytechnic programmes recognize their competencies gained through related work experience, in addition to academic grades.

05 September 2019

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has said that most jobs that exist today will still be around in the future, but in a “refashioned” form.

Mr Ong said in an interview during the 45th WorldSkills Competition that students will need to learn new tools, and how to apply their skills differently.

Students must also learn to be technologically savvy and open-minded.

For example, the skills needed by a customer chatbot trainer, a relatively new role, are similar to those of a customer service officer trainer. However, future customer chatbot trainer will also need to know how to operate the machine and the software.

The importance of fundamental skills, even as jobs change, means “many of the things we are doing in the education system and training actually are relevant” in preparing the young and old for the future, Mr Ong said.

04 September 2019

A group of 28 secondary schools will pilot full subject-based banding next year, where students take subjects at a higher or lower level, based on their strengths.

The schools include Bedok Green Secondary, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary), Pei Hwa Secondary and St Patrick’s School.

Students at these schools will be able to choose to study humanities subjects at a more demanding level from Secondary 2, if they have the aptitude for them. The existing options are English language, mathematics, science and mother tongue language.

The 28 pilot schools will also try out new form class arrangements instead of the traditional sorting by Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams. Students from different streams will be placed in the same form class.

The Ministry of Education said that more secondary schools will introduce full subject-based banding from 2022 to 2024, and will learn from the pilot schools’ experiences.