20 January 2022

O-level students in 2021 fared slightly better than the 2020 cohort.

Last year, 85.6 per cent of O-level students obtained five or more passes. With this, the class of 2021, attained the best showing at the O-level examination in at least three decades.

The Ministry of Education and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board said that a total of 23,555 candidates sat the O levels last year. Nearly all of them, or 99.8 per cent, passed at least one subject, and 96.4 per cent passed at least three.

10 January 2022

Recently, Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman announced that polytechnics will explore having a more flexible curriculum for selected students who would benefit from spreading out their learning over more than three years.

It is hoped that greater flexibility will assist students who need more time to complete their courses due to various reasons such as health issues, without being stigmatized as being academically weaker.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic principal and chief executive Lim Kok Kiang said students who wish to pursue their passions may also get the option of taking a gap semester. In addition, Temasek Polytechnic principal and chief executive Peter Lam said a flexible curriculum also includes allowing students to take fewer modules instead of the usual five or six modules per semester.

To better support a diverse range of learners, Republic Polytechnic principal and chief executive Yeo Li Pheow said the polytechnic will be piloting a customised study programme this year where students with different learning abilities can opt for a more flexible load during the semester.

22 December 2021

The Nanyang Technological University is setting up a new School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, which will start admitting students this year.

The new school is formed by merging the chemistry and biological chemistry division in the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

The new school aims to encourage interaction between students and staff in the pure sciences and engineering, help engineering students understand the fundamental science behind their work better, and help science students gain a better understanding of the applications of their studies.

Students will be grouped together for projects, and may share key modules, but will still continue to graduate with separate science and engineering degrees.

22 December 2021

Last week, the Ministry of Education and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board released the results of the GCE N-level exams, which were sat by students from the Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams.

This year’s Normal (Academic) stream students had the best showing at the N-level exams since 2009. Of this year’s candidates, 79.2 per cent qualified for promotion to Secondary 5 next year.

Of the 4,228 Normal (Technical) students who sat the exams, 98.1 per cent passed. The passing rate for Normal (Academic) students was 99.5 per cent.

10 December 2021

The Education Ministry (MOE) will have 130 student welfare officers for primary and secondary schools by the end of 2022.

Student welfare officers work with teachers and community partners to address the needs of students with poor school attendance.

The officers also work with students in the most dire straits, for instance, those who are absent from school for prolonged periods of time or those who are statutory cases. Statutory cases include students who have had brushes with the law or are under the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Child Protective Service.

Additionally, MOE has teacher-counsellors who are trained in basic counselling. The aim is to deploy more than 1,000 such teacher-counsellors across schools in the next few years.

05 December 2021

Singapore students are joining their counterparts from other countries to attend the inaugural online Global Youth Leaders Summit, in which global issues like disease outbreaks and refugee crises will be discussed.

Students from Singapore attending the summit are members of the Singapore chapter of the activist organisation Dear Asian Youth, which comprises 16 members from schools like Hwa Chong, Raffles Institution and Singapore Polytechnic. They seek to represent, educate and engage young people on social issues, especially those relating to Asian communities.

Senior Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs Sim Ann spoke at the opening of the summit at the National University of Singapore. Ms Sim held a question and answer session, where she gave her thoughts on topics like youth activism, cancel culture, Singapore’s response to the climate crisis, and involvement in politics as a woman.

05 December 2021

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently announced that around 13,000 at-risk students in Singapore will benefit from the expansion of a pilot scheme by the Ministry of Education to help them stay in school through after-school support and holiday activities.

The Uplift Enhanced School Resourcing programme, which has been piloted in 23 schools since 2019, will soon be expanded to about 100 primary and secondary schools.

As part of the programme, schools identify students from disadvantaged backgrounds who exhibit early signs of absenteeism and refer them to a designated Uplift coordinator in the town’s Social Service Office. The coordinator then links the students and their families to suitable resources, such as those on parenting skills, or activities like homework supervision, academic coaching, or arts and sports enrichment opportunities.

13 November 2021

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has said that there remains a gender gap in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) fields.

Singapore must make a concerted effort to empower women to pursue careers in these fields, he said.

Mr Heng also said that fewer women who graduate with Stem qualifications pursue a career in a related field, compared to the proportion of men.

Singapore has been doing more to encourage women to join these fields, including creating a supportive environment for female industry leaders in Stem, and introducing new bursaries that support women in these fields.