News and Announcements | Singapore Maths Tuition

Healthy school start times are a long term investment in our students and youths

September 3, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

03 September 2021

There has been much debate over whether we should allow Singapore’s public schools to start the school day later.

In Singapore, many secondary schools start at 7.30am, which often does not allow for adequate sleep.

Healthy school start times are a long-term investment for the common good. Wealthy parents may be inconvenienced by an early start time, but they have the option of taking their child to school by car.

Economically disadvantaged parents in Singapore are more likely to send their child to school by public transport, or rely on school bus operators who dictate pickup times. Consequently, many teenagers from such homes do not have adequate time for sleep or breakfast.

Efforts to help students go to bed earlier are important, but they have proven far less effective in improving sleep duration compared with delaying school start times.

Singapore schools have the flexibility to start later based on feedback of parents

August 24, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

24 August 2021

Minister of State for Education Sun Xueling has said that while schools have the flexibility to start later so that students get enough sleep, parents must also play their part to cultivate good sleep habits. Currently, schools start at 7.30am at the earliest.

Ms Sun said schools have the autonomy to start later, taking into consideration factors such as parents’ feedback, school end times, transport arrangements and the traffic situation around the school.

The Ministry of Education has also commissioned two research studies looking into the impact of factors affecting students’ sleep duration and quality.

Meanwhile, Ms Sun also noted that delaying school start times may not translate to an increase in sleep duration, citing a 2016 study involving one local school that found that a 45-minute delay in school start time resulted in a 10-minute increase in sleep time.

Four new SkillsFuture work-study programmes created to meet growing manpower needs in Singapore

August 18, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

18 August 2021

Four new SkillsFuture work-study programmes, which are schemes that allow adults to pursue higher qualifications while working, will be created in order to meet rising manpower needs in Singapore’s emerging and growth sectors.

These four new programmes will be expected to offer around 300 places over the next three years. Three of these new programmes will be rolled out in October.

Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman reported that two memoranda of understanding have been signed between the higher learning institutes and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF).

The tie-ups will allow tertiary institutions to tap the SBF’s and SMF’s networks and get more employers to sign up workers for work-study programmes.

Returning Singaporean students can apply for admission to local schools

July 9, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

09 July 2021

Children of families relocating back to Singapore can apply to join local schools from July 7th.

Students who want to join secondary schools, junior colleges or the Millennia Institute for the 2022 academic year can apply through the School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans.

Applications will be open to those seeking to enter Secondary 1 to 3 and Pre-University year 1.

Returning students will need to sit a set of tests to receive their school options. These students will receive their school options from MOE in December.

More Singapore residents are securing higher academic qualifications

July 6, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

06 July 2021

In Census 2020, it was found that more Singapore residents are securing higher academic qualifications, especially university degrees. In addition, more people can read and write in multiple languages, and bigger numbers are speaking English at home.

Also noteworthy was that the proportion of university graduates also rose across the board last year for all races.

As for language, almost half of residents speak English most often at home, from 23 per cent in 2000.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Associate Professor Tan Ying-Ying is not surprised, given society’s inclination towards a “English-dominant” mode of bilingualism. NTU Emeritus Professor Eddie Kuo says the prevalence of English should facilitate more communication between people of different ethnicities. Singapore University of Technology and Design’s Dr Nazry Bahrawi agrees, but adds: “It would be a shame to lose linguistic mastery of your mother tongue.”

Quacquarelli Symonds ranks National University of Singapore 11th globally

June 16, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

16 June 2021

The National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University have been named Asia’s best universities in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) annual higher education ranking.

Globally, NUS has come in 11th, while NTU was placed 12th in a league table comparing 1,300 universities.

NUS has also held the No. 1 position among Asian universities for the past four years.

QS evaluated the institutions on six indicators: academic reputation, reputation among employers, citations per faculty member, faculty to student ratio, ratio of international faculty members and ratio of international students.

In a separate list released by Times Higher Education last week, NTU ranked fifth in Asia, up from sixth last year, while NUS maintained its third place.

Recruitment of foreign teachers has been calibrated to account for demand and staffing needs

March 21, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

21 March 2021

International or foreign-born teachers have made up less than 1 per cent of the overall teaching force in MOE schools over the past five years. There are only 320 to 330 international teachers here today.

Recruitment of foreign teachers has been calibrated to account for demand and staffing needs, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Education. There has also been a sufficient supply of suitable local educators, the spokesman said.

During the debate on ministries’ budgets, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah stressed that it was key for Singapore to “remain open to global talent who can complement our local workforce”.

MOE said that it recruits international teachers mostly to supplement the local workforce across primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and Millennia Institute.

Singapore needs to have an education system for life

February 9, 2021 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

09 February 2021

According to Education Minister Lawrence Wong, Singapore needs to have an education system for life, rather than one that front-loads learning when a person is young.

The SkillsFuture movement, for example, allows people multiple entry points to reskill and upgrade.

Schools with a larger proportion of children from lower-income families or disadvantaged backgrounds are getting more resources so that these children can get more support, Mr Wong also said.

Societies today place too much of a premium on cognitive abilities, and do not sufficiently value those engaging in other forms of work. To counter this, Singapore is rolling out the progressive wage model across various sectors, and reviewing polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education pathways.