07 July 2019

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung recently spoke at a round table discussion during the Group of Seven (G-7) Meeting for Education Ministers. This is the first time Singapore has been invited to such a meeting.

During the G-7 Education meeting, Mr Ong spoke about Singapore’s approach to tackling inequality, which is not to cap the top and limit their potential, but to invest in the bottom to help uplift them.

Singapore’s Ministry of Education said in a statement recently that the G-7 countries have adopted a Common Declaration, reaffirming the crucial role of education in promoting equal opportunities for all and in addressing inequality in their respective societies. The G-7 countries also issued a communique on anti-bullying at school.

The 2019 G-7 Summit, which will focus on fighting inequality, will be held from Aug 24 to 26 in Biarritz, France.

In recent years, there have been many studies on inequality from organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and others

05 July 2019

Singapore’s Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) are aiming to create a wider appreciation of design and incorporate more design principles and concepts into the university curriculum.

In today’s industry, the word “design” has expanded to take on new meanings. Design no longer involves only shaping how things look, such as interior design or landscaping, but also controlling how things work.

The Design Education Review Committee has laid out five recommendations to enhance existing design programmes in the IHLs and embed design in their non-design programmes.

The first of the committee’s recommendations is to set up a separate committee comprising key industry leaders and IHL representatives to strengthen industry links such as building overseas networks or introducing collaboration opportunities.

The second is to give students from disciplines such as engineering, business and infocomm media more opportunities to come together and pick up design-led creative thinking skills.

The third is to enhance training programmes to support both design professionals and educators, or trainers. This includes helping educators keep up to date with industry trends and providing more study awards for professionals and educators.

04 July 2019

Singaporean students who are returning from overseas and who wish to study at a secondary school, junior college or the Millennia Institute next year (the year 2020) can apply to take school placement tests starting from today.

The Ministry of Education said that the application for the School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans (Spers) can be done on its website. Returning children are required to sit for the Spers tests to certify their eligibility for enrolment.

Students seeking admission to Secondary 1 to 3 next year can take the Spers-Sec tests scheduled on Sept 17, and those who wish to enter Pre-University 1 can take the Spers-JC/MI tests on Nov 14.

Applicants will receive their school placement results in December. Based on their performance in the tests, they will each be provided with a list of eligible schools to apply for.

Students who are unable to return to Singapore in time for the Spers-Sec tests can take a Supplementary Placement Exercise to enter secondary schools. The centralised tests for this exercise will be held in mid-December.

04 July 2019

975 new and returning teachers recently received their certificates and awards at the National Institute of Education Teachers’ Investiture ceremony.

Six teachers were also awarded the Outstanding Youth in Education Award for inspirational teaching and dedication to their students.

Apart from honouring the achievements of young teachers, the award is also meant to inspire youths to take up teaching as a profession.

Ms Indranee Rajah, Second Minister for Finance and Education, who was guest of honour at the event at Nanyang Technological University, said education is more than just the imparting of knowledge.

“Your mission goes beyond preparing your student for exams. Your mission is to help prepare them for life,” she said.

01 July 2019

Starting from January of 2020, the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) will ease the qualification criteria for its help schemes.

With the monthly income threshold lifted from $1,900 to $2,400, more needy families will benefit. The per capita income criterion will also rise from $650 to $800.

With these changes, CDAC projects that about 1,500 new families will benefit from its schemes, and about 1,500 families who are already on its programmes will qualify for even more support.

Additionally, beneficiaries from more disadvantaged families will receive deeper support on a more sustained basis.

Families with a monthly household income of $4,000 and below, or a per capita income of $1,200 and below, will also be eligible for certain programme subsidies after the criteria revision..

In Singapore, similar self-help groups serving other communities include the Eurasian Association, Singapore Indian Development Association and Yayasan Mendaki.

29 June 2019

Fresh graduates in Singapore are finding it more difficult to secure permanent, full-time employment. Job vacancies also dropped for the first time in two years, leading economists to believe this marks a turn in the employment cycle, with the labour market turning soft.

Additionally, in Singapore, retrenchments rose in the first quarter of the year as the manufacturing sector shed staff. The latest retrenchments hit mainly production and related workers from electronics, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in its latest labour market report.

Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) continued to make up most of the retrenched residents, at 69 per cent.

Maybank Kim Eng economist Chua Hak Bin said he expects firms to be more cautious in hiring for this year. “Employment growth will likely slow, while manufacturing employment will likely remain in contraction for the rest of the year,” he said, citing the US tariff hike last month and its toll on supply chains.