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Singapore students have to develop a sense of entrepreneurship

March 25, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

25 March 2019

Singapore students have to develop a sense of dare and entrepreneurship, and learn to think bigger as well as think creatively.

Mr Saeed Amidi is the founder of the Plug and Play accelerator, a company that invests in start-ups and links them with corporate clients.

According to him, the key to success in entrepreneurship is the energy and the drive, as well as the passion for success. Also crucial is the readiness to work hard.

Students these days like to have a road map to everything. They require too much structure, whereas entrepreneurship is all about being a little scrappy. Students have also been taught to behave a little too humbly as a result of their civics and moral education classes.

That being said, Singapore students have a first-rate education and they are not afraid of hard work. Students have incredible talent, but they need to think bigger, and that only come with exposure to the outside world.

Prime Minister Lee weighs in on the latest changes to the education system

March 23, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

23 March 2019

In a recent Facebook post, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that while our education system is widely admired, the government will not stop trying to improve it.

During the Committee of Supply (debate) in Parliament today, Ong Ye Kung announced that secondary school streaming will be phased out by 2024, and that subject-based banding will take its place.

PM Lee said that streaming has enabled students to learn at their own place, and enabled many more to complete Secondary School and move on to further education. However, PM Lee also said streaming lacks flexibility, and may cause some students to lose their motivation.

Mr Lee said that he was happy that there has been a lively exchange of views in Parliament about streaming. He said that the government will continue to take education very seriously, and listen to all ideas to make it better.

Mr Lee added that schools should tailor the education they offer to the students’ varying needs and talents. At the same time, schools should create opportunities for students to interact with one another across different races and social backgrounds so that they grow up at ease with one another and share a sense of identity, mutual responsibility and nationhood.

Straits Times Education Forum to debate entrepreneurship in Singapore

March 22, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

22 March 2019

This year’s Straits Times Education Forum, which is supported by the Singapore Management University, will discuss the motion “Entrepreneurs today do more harm than good”.

Arguing for the good that entrepreneurs do will be Singapore Management University’s provost-designate, Professor Timothy Clark, and SMU associate professor of strategic management Reddi Kotha.

SMU president Lily Kong has said that the university wants to encourage dialogues about Singapore and its community.

This year’s Straits Times Education Forum will also include two junior college students and alumni from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and SMU.

The debate will be held at the SMU School of Law Building in Armenian Street. The debate will be moderated by Straits Times Opinion editor Chua Mui Hoong.

Worries remain over Integrated Programme schools being exempt from the latest changes to education model

March 20, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

20 March 2019

While Singaporeans have largely welcomed the latest move to scrap streaming and improve social mixing in Singapore’s schools, some have voiced concerns that the Integrated Programme (IP) schools have been spared these changes.

There are 17 IP schools, including Raffles Institution and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). The IP schools, as well as a handful of other MOE schools such as Crescent Girls’ School and Anglican High School, take in only Express stream students.

National Institute of Education lecturer Jason Tan said parents believe that the peer influence in IP schools will benefit their children. By contrast, these parents may also believe that Normal stream students are a bad influence on their own child’s behaviour and motivation.

Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, said that ideally, all schools should be fully integrated and do not make distinctions among students of different abilities.

A secondary school teacher, who declined to be named, said: “A lot of parents have concerns about peer influence, but they have never thought that their children must be taught to mix with the right people in any environment they are in.”

Parents will take a while to come on board with changes to the education system

March 20, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

20 March 2019

School Principal Ng Yeow Ling has said that some parents still need to be persuaded that their children do not need to learn each and every subject at the highest possible academic level.

Mr Ng, who has been an MOE educator for 26 years, said that some parents’ mindsets are still stuck in the past in spite of numerous changes to our education system.

“To be very realistic, there are some parents who may take a while to come on board (with such changes), based on their background and past experiences,” he added.

MOE had announced changes to the streaming system earlier this month, during the debate on the Education Ministry’s budget. However, Integrated Programme schools will be largely untouched by the move.

Parents will feel compelled to have their students take every subject at the G3 band, the highest subject band.

But with initiatives like SkillsFuture, it is hoped in time that parents will come to view learning as not just for accreditation or qualifications, but for the mastery of learning and working for life.

Subject-based banding will allow more students to pursue higher education

March 19, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

19 March 2019

From 2015 to 2017, of the graduates from the six local universities, about 1 per cent had come from the Normal (Technical) route and 5 per cent from the Normal (Academic) stream.

Of those who graduate yearly from Singapore’s five polytechnics, 5 per cent are from the N(T) stream, and 35 per cent from the N(A) stream.

When subject-based banding is implemented, more students can be expected to have access to higher education opportunities than would otherwise be the case.

Ms Denise Phua, MP for Jalan Besar GRC, who for years has argued against streaming, says that while in the past, a student could have been limited in his choice of subjects due to the stream he was placed in, there is now more flexibility to take subjects based on his strengths.

Ms Phua says that there will be “knee-jerk reactions” from some parents who define success as doing well academically, or want to have their children mix only with others of the same socio-economic status or academic ability. But she notes that it is significant that for now, MOE has decided to replace streaming with full subject-based banding.

Apple and Google make coding classes available for Singapore students

March 17, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

17 March 2019

Pathlight School students will have the opportunity to learn how to code as part of a national drive to teach computing.

Swift Accelerator, a coding programme developed by Apple-certified trainers, was launched recently. Students attending the programme will be those who have shown aptitude and interest in coding.

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has said that digital literacy will be a critical third form of literacy in the future.

Mr Ong also said that there was a need to demystify digital technology and make learning it accessible to anyone.

Google has also hosted an online cyber safety workshop and conducted classes on how to use Google’s Docs, Slides and Sheets.

Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board to get new chief executive

March 16, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

16 March 2019

The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) will be headed by a new chief executive, Mr Yue Lip Sin, from April 1.

Mr Yue, who is currently deputy chief executive of SEAB, will be taking over from Miss Tan Lay Choo, who announced her retirement last December.

Miss Tan has held several key positions in MOE in her 37 years of service, and has taught in several schools, including Raffles Institution.

Mr Yue has held various key positions in MOE and has served as the ministry’s director of mother tongue languages and principal of Chung Cheng High School. He joined SEAB in December 2011 as the director of assessment and research, and was appointed director of assessment planning and development in April 2014.