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古早味的美好

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Taking charge - i know what i want

vs

The team

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我懂的东西，她不懂
她懂的东西，我不懂

教学相长，互相学习
一家人

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经验是用时间换来的

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Take ownership of own learning (private sector) to ensure employability. In control of their own PD

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being happy with what they have when they report to work

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The old and new technologies meet

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COC Taskforce
Fairuz Age 40

What I look forward to when I come to work?

Opportunity to learn and the learning process.

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Empty table?

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Since 1944... what is uniquely NH? MFC SBB TSR

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Jia Hui
Always been baking
27 years
Used her Own savings to start a baking business
Passionate about baking since young
Due to covid, decided on a change in job tracks.

Positive workplace culture - in control of things

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Got Q means Ho Jiak!
We eat this leh!

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'Excuse me, are you GEN X, Millennials or Z?'

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'Excuse me, are you GEN X, Millennials or Z?'

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Interview a working adult.
Find out the ingredients to a positive workplace culture?

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Improve Teamwork, Customer Service and Retention with The FISH! Philosophy

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https://chinatown.sg/telok-ayer/

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https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/20230530-speech-by-mr-chan-chun-sing-minister-for-education-at-the-teachers-conference-and-excel-fest-2023

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1. Good morning to everyone.

2. We have an extremely large audience today. It's not just 1,005 of you who are physically here, but there are also 10,000 joining us online. First, let me congratulate all of you for being part of the team who have done so well for our students and our system throughout COVID-19.

3. I've always said that the reason why we have done so well during COVID-19, was not just because of the system that we have, or the technology that we have, but because of teachers like you. For us to have survived the worst of COVID-19, and done what we have done, teachers are the ones we should honour today!

4. Recently, we have yet another stunning result in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). What cheered me most was not that we topped the charts across the world, or that we were one of the three countries that managed to continue to make progress despite COVID-19. What cheered me most is that we are the country that has made consistent progress over the last 20 years. Just like we had taught our students, our job is not to surpass someone else in an exam, but to keep surpassing ourselves throughout life. Congratulations, and well done to all of you.

5. When it comes to Education Ministers, I have many predecessors in the Cabinet. A wise colleague once told me this, "Anything good that happened during my time as an Education Minister, I should give thanks to all my predecessors, and anything bad that happened after my time in education, I should quickly take responsibility." I remind myself that constantly, and it is something that I will remember for life, because that is what education is really about. We are not here for ourselves, we do things for the long terms, and we do things with conviction.

6. Despite doing well for PIRLS, we should continue to stay alert and not be complacent. We know that the joy of learning is decreasing. The younger generation now face many distractions competing for their attention, which begs the question, how can we keep reading fun, purposeful and meaningful? Even though we have done well for our reading and literacy test in English, we know that we don't aspire to be just good in English in Singapore, our higher goal is to continue to be stronger in our bilingual capabilities - English and Mother Tongue. We all know the challenges of how we need to step up our efforts to interest our students in Mother Tongue, given the many distractions and the macro environment largely in English.

7. There is one other thing that we should not be complacent about, notwithstanding the fact that we have done well in PIRLS - and that is the disruption caused by COVID-19. Indeed, by all short-term measures, we have done well compared to many other countries. We count our blessings that we have not incurred much learning losses as other countries.

8. The video shown earlier was a combination of five types of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, which had generated the script, subtitles, images, animations and the voice. All these technologies will become even cheaper, better, and faster as we speak. The question for us today is, what are we going to do about this? Should we pretend that all these will pass, or should we stand up to the challenge? How can we leverage on these technologies and take our profession to the next level so that we can teach better, and our students can learn better? That is what we want to discuss today.

9. There are a lot of possibilities, challenges and opportunities that comes with technology. How do we help our students to distil, discern and discover? We live in a world of information overload, and how do we help our people distil the abundance of information. In the past, a set of Encyclopedia seems to be the sum total of all the knowledge that we need to know. Today, there's new information being generated every other minute. So, how do we help our people discern information? Discernment is about equipping our next generation with the ability to show good judgment and values. Our job is not to train our students to answer yesterday's problems with yesterday's solutions, our challenge is how to help our students understand tomorrow's challenges and discover the solutions going forward.

10. How then do we equip our teachers to help our students do this? How do we organise ourselves to learn faster and better as a system, not just as an individual? Today, I will touch on how we can equip our teachers individually and how we intend to learn collectively as a system.

11. At the International Summit of Teaching Profession (ISTP) in Washington D.C. recently, I mentioned that technology is neutral and whoever masters it win. Today, I will update this statement. Whoever masters it with the right values, society wins. We need to bear this in mind, embrace technology, and help our people master it with the right values, so that no one will misuse it.

12. Today is an example of a blended format. We had a physical session pre-COVID-19, virtual session during COVID-19, and blended session post-COVID-19. This will be the likely format for us going forward, a blended format where we can engage thousands of people on-site and ten thousand more offsite virtually and asynchronously. When we discussed the concept for today's Teachers' Conference and ExCEL Fest, we wanted it to be a live demonstration of what we can achieve. What a thousand of you experienced physically here today, can be shared with 30,000 more online. Our teaching force in the service today is about 30,000 and about 40,000 if you include all the Institutes of Higher Learning. Let's think about it, if we can do this for 30,000 teachers in one morning, and we have about 40,000 students per cohort, what more can we achieve?

13. For the rest of today's session, we will also experience how we use data to enable what we teach using the analytics available. I attended the ISTP last month in Washington D.C. It is a by-invite-only forum for the top performing or rapidly improving education systems, to share their practices. It was a long flight to-and-fro, and I had a lot of time to reflect. There was one question on my mind: "Why are some systems more successful than the rest? Why have some systems progressed, and the others regressed?"

14. I believe it is the quality of teachers. Andreas Schleicher once said that the quality of our education system cannot exceed the quality of our teachers. But if that is the case, then what determines the quality of our teachers? How do we invite the best people to join us in the teaching professions? We count our blessings that we are able to recruit teachers from the top one-third of the cohort. But that is both a strength and a potential blind spot.

15. If the quality of our teachers is fundamental, then the reason behind their decision to join is important as well. I believe that the respect a teacher receives is even more important than the salary that they receive. In ISTP, I met colleagues from other countries. Some countries used to excel, but are facing teacher shortages of up to 30% today. Another country shared that only 10% of their teachers believe that the teaching profession is a profession worthy of respect by society. If that is the case, any society will be in deep trouble. If nobody wants to join the teaching profession, we can be quite sure that there will be no quality teaching force, and no quality education system. How then, can we earn and engender this respect?

16. There are also other enablers, such as good pedagogies. How do we keep evolving our pedagogies, or ensure there is a diversity of approaches to be student-centric and allow multiple pathways to cater to different needs? We need to change our mindset, as pedagogy is not something that can come down from just MOE, AST or NIE. A good, vibrant pedagogical ecosystem must come from all of us.

17. Besides pedagogies, we need to look at technologies as well. How do we embrace technology and focus on how we can value-add? I have visited many of you during my school visits, and I have never come across teachers who are afraid of hard work. Our teachers are only afraid of boring and meaningless work. It is not about working more or less, but how we can make our work more impactful and meaningful. This is why we have to constantly improve our pedagogies, technologies and system design, where we can mass customise.

18. In the past, it was all about mass access to education. Today, we have gone beyond the point of mass access. We need to mass customise, according to the needs and potential of each child, for them to fulfil their potential.

19. What are some of the key principles that makes up a successful education system? I have come to this conclusion - the 4Cs that makes a good education system and allows it to continue to progress.

20. First, Consistency of Commitment for resources and talent. In Singapore, we have been fortunate enough to have the political commitment to give the education service the budget requirements. Our education budget is one of the top three items for our budget since our independence, and this allows us to plan for the long term. Beyond money, the fact that we can commit a sizable proportion of the top one-third of every cohort to become teachers is a commitment on our part to the next generation. This may sound simple, but very few countries can do this. We should not be complacent that this will always be the case. My assurance to you is that this Government will continue this consistency of commitment of resources and talent. But this is not enough.

21. Next, we need Coherence and Continuity of policies. Many countries have very good ideas on what they can do. However, you cannot have education policies that change every few years. I remember at an international conference, I was asked what is it that makes Singapore's education so special. I shared that we simply focus on doing the simple things well, consistently, and together. There is no need to be overly sophisticated. But it is easier said than done.

22. Today, there is an avalanche of demand for us to teach more and do many more. We need to set clear priorities on what needs to be done instead of chasing the latest fads. Our students and teachers have finite bandwidth, and we need to judiciously guard this bandwidth. Ultimately, in an ever-evolving world, perhaps there is only one skill that we hope that all will be equipped with - and that is the ability to learn, learn fast and learn on their own. We will never be able to frontload what is necessary for our students in their life, but we can only hope that we give them the foundation to Learn for Life.

23. The third 'C', which is the most important to me, is Conviction of the professionals and policymakers. Policymakers are not evaluated on the short-term outcomes, or how well our students score for their PSLE, O' Level or A' Level. Our ultimate goal is that our students grow in the long term. We have to bear in mind that there are many important goals in life that cannot be measured. Examinations are short-term results. It is simply a feedback to our system and to our students, on how we can help them develop their potential. Examinations is not a rat race, or comparing with someone else incessantly. We should always encourage our students to surpass themselves throughout life than to surpass someone else in an exam. Our ultimate goal is developing a Confident Contributor and Lifelong Learner. It is about being confident in themselves and defining their success by their contributions, not just by their achievements and to be a lifelong learner.

24. Finally, 'Collaboration'. We need partners from industries, parents, alumni and unions. We must have the humility to accept that we don't have all the knowledge necessary to help our students. I mentioned earlier that there may be a blind spot, by our very strength that we can recruit the top one-third from every cohort. This also tells us that we might not be as diverse in our experience as we'd like. There is no way we can make the teaching force a microcosm of society. It is not possible to send out all of you out there to understand every industry. This is where we need to bring in the expertise of parents, alumni and the industry to complement that we teach in school, to be relevant and current for our students.

25. There are many challenges and demands today, beyond teaching the basic academic subjects. With the finite number of resources we have, especially in terms of time and bandwidth for our teachers and students, we need to achieve higher impact with a more focused effort. How can we leverage technology to help us do our work better?

26. Many of you have asked if we can reduce class sizes, so that the students can receive more attention. But realistically, we can only attract so many quality teachers. With the increasing load and finite workforce, how can we improve the quality to achieve greater impact and how do we leverage technology? Technologies will free us from the mundane work, help us to scale, and customise learning according to needs.

27. But we must first understand and appreciate one fundamental issue, and that is all our academic learning rests on the foundation of a strong social emotional development, or 'CCE' as we call them. These are necessary skills beyond academic subjects that must run parallel to our academic development. This is why while we have developed world class standards in our academic rigor, we must also have world class standards on how we develop students beyond academics. We need everyone to develop the right values and have a sense of society beyond themselves, and we need to inculcate the curiosity for lifelong learning to surpass themselves throughout life.

28. We will need to redouble our efforts to do more for CCE than just academics. When I visited Unity Secondary School previously, I learned that they have developed a unique curriculum. Despite having a five-day school week, they only have a four-day academic calendar. The fifth day of every week is dedicated to CCE and their CCA, where they learn about other important complementary life skills. When I was at the school, the school's National Police Cadet Corps showed me a discussion where they manage fake news during one of their sessions. They came to a conclusion that our elderly are more susceptible to fake news and scams, and they came up with a plan to partner with Feiyue Senior Activity Centre, and went out to the community to help them. Meanwhile, in Fengshan Primary School, they learn about supporting one another through teamwork. These are things that we want our students to learn, managing their own emotions. CCE will become a critical part in our curriculum and run in parallel with all our academic subjects.

29. This is why we are launching the Singapore Centre for CCE (SCCCE) in NIE today. Just as how we develop the pedagogy for academic practices, we want this Centre to focus on developing the pedagogies for CCE. I have three wishes for the new SCCCE.

30. First, I hope that this Centre will develop into a keynote of our education ecosystem where we have as strong pedagogies for CCE as we have for academic subjects. Second, from the research to how we work with NIE and AST to equip our educators with the best pedagogical practices for CCE, we also envision this Centre to work with partners beyond the education fraternity, and bring back best practices so as to improve ourselves. Third, we want to set a goal for this Centre to be a keynote in the region and the world in CCE education and research.

31. NIE has become a Centre of excellence for pedagogical approach for mainstream curriculum. Eight years back, we set up a new Centre to focus on early childhood education parallel to NIE, and that's how we developed NIEC. Today, NIEC focuses on the pedagogical approaches for the early years. More recently, we wanted to have a third limb - the Institute of Adult Learning (IAL), to make sure we put in resources and attention to develop the pedagogy and andragogy for our adult learners. This is much more challenging than NIE, because at NIE we can focus on a 10-year cohort of young children from seven to 17 years old, but the IAL must focus on the different learning needs of learners from 25 years old to 75 years old. Now, the SCCCE will help us focus our efforts on how we can uplift the CCE practices for our whole fraternity. This is how we can stay at the forefront, and this will also be one of the key elements of how we can continue to engender respect for our profession, which is constantly evolving.

32. I had a similar conversation with Andreas earlier, how can we engender respect in our profession if we do not keep improving. Professions such as doctors or accountants will set aside a certain amount of time each year to upgrade themselves. We, too, must do the same in our profession.

33. We need to embrace technology. Today, there are many tools that Aaron and his Educational Technology Division team has come up with. But I am not satisfied with that yet, because while we have all the tools, we are not using them as frequently as I would like. This is why we must fully utilise tools such as the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS) to alleviate our teachers' workload.

34. First, teachers can make use of the auto-grading function to cut down the time on grading papers. It is more than just digitising papers, but redesigning the way we test. This is where we need to constantly upskill and reskill ourselves at speed. If we want to use the auto-grading system, we need to evolve the way we design our assessments. The auto-grading system can help with teachers' mundane workload. But there needs to be a balance because you will still need to provide feedback to the students. This tool can help teachers focus better on higher-needs students, and give value-added advice to students.

35. Second, the Learning Feedback Assistant will help to assess the students' essays on their grammar, vocabulary, spelling and so forth. However, the Learning Feedback Assistant will not replace teachers. We still need teachers' feedback, but this allows teachers more free time to do more value-added work rather than the mundane correction of spelling and grammar. This will be a useful tool for the English teachers.

36. Third, the Interactive Thinking Tool. With this tool, teachers would be able to find out the feedback and viewpoints of the quieter students in class, who will be able to key in their input. During my school visits, I see students utilising these tools, and even the quietest of the students can now participate in class activities. These are the tools that we need to learn to use, because they help to draw out the best in everyone.

37. Fourth, the Adaptive Learning System for mathematics and even oracy. Adaptive learning is something close to my heart, because it allows us to lift the bottom, enable the middle and stretch the top. With the same subject, the weaker students can continue to learn at their own pace and apply themselves at a different level. The higher-ability students can challenge themselves with more challenging math problems, and the system would be able to appraise this. This is not an earth-shattering idea, it is similar to the gamification of levels in most computer games now.

38. For those who are more able, you stretch yourself. For those who are less able, you practise at your own time. This is done for Mathematics, and should be done for more. This will free up our time to cater to the needs of the higher needs students.

39. What about support for oracy? This is a Chinese language lesson. Students can learn the pronunciation of unfamiliar words. You read the passage, the computer will score you. You can try that again to improve your pronunciation or score. Again, the high ability students can go on to read more difficult passages, the high needs students can continue to repeat this. We started this with the Mother Tongue, Malay, Tamil and Chinese. We are going to have this for English as well.

40. These are all the tools that are available for us to free up our time and resources to focus on the high needs students and allow the top to be stretched even more. Now, I'm going to show you something even more exciting that is already in our system and I hope that this will be progressively used by all of you, starting with the higher levels.

41. Five years ago, long before COVID-19, Singapore Polytechnic (SP) wanted to put all their lectures online. When they put up YouTube videos of their lectures, they started by digitising the analogue. That's not good enough. What do I mean by digitising analogue? The speakers spoke into the camera for one hour and expected people to pay attention. Even a live audience doesn't pay attention after 30 minutes. Over time, they have learnt to splice the video into quizzes, modules and break it up into smaller parts. But when they put the video onto the Internet and allow their students to access it asynchronously, they are able to track how many students access it, when, and what did they do. Some students watched the video and played it at the normal speed. Some students fast forwarded and played it at double the speed. Some students rewound that part and played it again. What does that tell us? The lecturers, the faculty know exactly which part of the lessons their students require more help, and they focus their attention and discussion on those aspects.

42. Look at this other example. The student did the quiz, and the lecturers broke it down to see which are the subtopics that the students need more help with. Again, they focused their attention on the class.

43. Of course, with SP having reached this stage, I have set a new goal for them. These are input indicators. What we are most interested in is not input indicators, but outcome indicators. As a next step for SP, they are going to evaluate which of these technologies and which of these pedagogies and methods are most effective for which subjects, and that's the ongoing work that we must do.

44. 84% of our students are using it monthly. Is that good or bad? 84% to me is not good enough yet. We have 12,000 resources available, and different modules for people to do self-directed learning. That is more than a whole Encyclopaedia Britannica put together. But that's what we have today. We have 7,500 lessons through our SLS community gallery for teachers. Is that good or bad? What do you think our numbers should be? I have a dream that soon it will be 75,000. And I'll tell you how we will get that. Today by using such shared resources, our teaching fraternity have collectively saved 640,000 hours. 641,000 to be exact.

45. But I'm not impressed yet. Why? I have 30,000 teachers. 640,000 hours equate to 21 hours of every teacher's time. That is not good enough. My aspiration is that through this sharing system, we will save 200 hours of every teacher's time. That will make a difference. I'll explain how we are going to get that done.

46. We will continue to equip our teachers adequately. How many of you have been equipped and know how to put your lectures onto YouTube? Or more interestingly, how many of you have used TikTok? How many of you in the live audience have used "TeachTok"? It's the education version of TikTok. 20% of TikTok is made up of learning modules. To put up a module and crunch it down to two minutes or one if possible, or even 30 seconds, is an art, science and a skill. So, we should expect NIE to have one lesson at least on TikTok for all new teachers and we should expect some of you to go for the refresher training quite soon on YouTube, TikTok and many other things.

47. How do we design the new feedback and assessment methods? How do we design lessons and leverage on the analytics? These are all the new skills required.

48. The next resource available is OPAL (One Portal, All Learners). Today, we have 1,800 active communities. What is interesting about OPAL is not just what is being shared there. I can see what is the most searched course that is of use to you, as well as what you have searched and have been unable to find. If I know what you have searched for and are unable to find, I will try to figure out how best to help you. So, this is not just about mass customisation for our students. It is also about customisation to help our fellow teachers. You may want some help, you may not know what to do, but guess what? Somebody out there amongst the 30,000, 40,000 of you will know and have a better idea, and if we can collectively harness the energies and ideas from everyone else, we'll be able to organise ourselves to move better and faster.

49. You should join the OPAL communities to learn, as well as share your EdTech knowledge with other teachers in the SG Learning Designers Circle or the EdTech Leaders Community. You are the content generators that will share and benefit from other people sharing as well. If we can do that, then we'll be able to progress much faster.

50. Going back to the SLS, an example of one of the most shared SLS resources is by Yio Chu Kang Secondary's Miss Xu Xiahong. She shared a Chinese language reading SLS lesson. Since last January, it has garnered more than 1,200 shares. That allows other teachers to benefit. So this year, we have initiated this - I will give out a Minister's Innovation Award for large scale projects with sustained impact on our education system. It will apply not just to MOE HQ, but also our statutory boards, and any other products that benefit our community.

51. Next year, I also want to recognise the ground-up contributors. Miss Xu from Yio Chu Kang Secondary will be a worthy recipient. I learned this idea from another country where they do not have such strong curriculum resources, but they have a mass of ground-up initiatives. When everybody puts in their ideas, how do we know which is the best? It is determined by the market, by the fraternity. Everybody downloads whatever they find most useful.

52. Now, a word of caution. Never be complacent that we are topping the charts on PISA or PIRLS or anything of that sort. Some other countries with much less resources, but much more creative thinking can overtake us, because they have a desire to learn and to share. There's no reason why our 30,000, 40,000 in the teaching fraternity cannot organise ourselves better to share faster, and to share more. So this year, I want to capitalise the ground-up sharing of practices for us to achieve this, at scale and speed.

53. I have a vision - that every teacher will be a tech-enabled smart user, pioneer, and collaborator. How are we going to achieve that? Three very simple ways. Firstly, every teacher learns one new thing every year. Secondly, every teacher contributes one good practice to SLS or OPAL every year. If every one of my teachers contributes one good idea every year, we all have 30,000 ideas to learn from. Thirdly, every school contributes one good, innovative idea every year. There are more than 300 schools, 182 primary schools, 148 secondary schools, 22 JCs, five polytechnics, three ITE campuses, six universities with many faculties. There will be many innovative ideas.

54. Now, I will round up with where I started with - societal respect. How do we get societal respect? I promise to have your back. This Government will continue to have this commitment towards you.

55. Promise me that no matter how busy you are, you will keep learning.

56. This is why despite your workload in the school, I want you to go out for your Teacher Work Attachment Plus (TWA+). This is why we will organise all the community networks, whether it's OPAL, SLS, to enable you to learn. I have a vision - one day, all my teachers can access and learn any subject, anytime, anywhere. If we can do this for the whole Singapore, there's no reason, why we can't do this for our own teaching fraternity, why our teachers cannot be the exemplars of lifelong learning.

57. So, I will walk the journey with you. Go for your learning journeys, form networks in the community. Be humble, invite people to come into the school to share their insights.

58. Last but not least, next year, we're going to host the ISTP in Singapore. 20, 30 countries will be coming here. I have one simple wish that when our guests come to Singapore, they will see the diversity of our school and practices, the confidence and competence of our students and most importantly, the dedication, drive and professionalism of our teachers.

59. On that note, thank you once again for all that you have done. I'm extremely proud of all of you. Your dedication during COVID-19, your innovation and speed of reaction to COVID-19. Your consistency over the years will allow us to achieve continuous progress. Without you, today, we will be talking about the learning loss for a generation as in some countries.

60. We will continue to take care of you, you take care of our students. They will take care of our future. Thank you very much.

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Speech by Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, at the Teachers' Conference and Excel Fest 2023

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1. Good morning to everyone. 2. We have an extremely large audience today. It's not just 1,005 of you who are physically here, but there are also 10,000 joining us online. First, let me congratulate all of you for being part of the team who have done so well for our students and our system throughout COVID-19.

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https://www.channelnewsasia.com/listen/work-it/leaders-chair-google-singapores-ben-king-why-his-monday-mornings-are-blocked-out-3538441

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Work It

Play

Work It kicks off a limited series called The Leader's Chair where we speak to c-suite leaders about what they learnt on their way up, how they deal with stress and what they consider the hardest job as a leader. We kick off the series with Google'C country manager for Singapore, Ben King.

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Work It - The Leader's Chair: Google Singapore's Ben King on why his Monday mornings are blocked out

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Work It kicks off a limited series called The Leader's Chair where we speak to c-suite leaders about what they learnt on their way up, how they deal with stress and what they consider the hardest job as a leader. We kick off the series with Google'C country manager for Singapore, Ben King.

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OECD’s dissemination platform for all published content - books, podcasts, serials and statistics

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We thank Forum contributors Harry Lim, Edwin Chow and Paul Chan for their views on teaching and learning approaches in schools ( Lessons on primary school education worth learning from international schools, Jan 27; Focus on teaching kids skills needed for future economy, Jan 30; Education must cover wide ground to prepare students, Feb 2).

To help our students face a fast-changing world, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and schools have been shifting our efforts beyond preparing our students for life in school, to equipping them for the school of life.

To achieve this, MOE continuously learns from the best educational practices around the world. Today, we are building on a strong education system to help students strengthen 21st century competencies like critical and inventive thinking and collaboration, as well as values like empathy and resilience.

Our students pick up these skills through a range of different experiences in and out of class. For example, teachers utilise interactive teaching tools and games in subjects such as mathematics to engage students and help them better understand concepts.

Schools offer applied learning programmes to help students connect what they have learnt in the classroom with real-world contexts. Beyond the classroom, students take part in a range of co-curricular activities, learning journeys and outdoor activities to cultivate resilience and holistic development.

Taken together, these initiatives encourage our students to explore, experiment, and be creative in their approach to learning.

These efforts take place against a backdrop of system-wide changes to encourage broader definitions of success and a shift away from an overemphasis on academic grades.

For example, the removal of mid-year examinations for all remaining levels in primary and secondary schools by 2023 will give our students more time and space to further develop holistically, and embark on more student-initiated learning.

But even as we do so, schools will continue to ensure students receive feedback on their learning, as well as the necessary learning support.

We will continue to ensure a good balance in our curriculum and teaching, and stay guided by our mission to ignite the joy of learning in our students and help them thrive in life.
Mr Sherwin Cheng
Director, Curriculum Policy Office
Ministry of Education

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Moving Towards Preparing Students for the School of Life

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We thank Forum contributors Harry Lim, Edwin Chow and Paul Chan for their views on teaching and learning approaches in schools ( Lessons on primary school education worth learning from international schools, Jan 27; Focus on teaching kids skills needed for future economy, Jan 30; Education must cover wide ground to prepare students, Feb 2).

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Speech by President Halimah Yacob at the Opening of the Second Session of the 14th Parliament

Parliament is re-opening at an important milestone in our history. We have spent the last three years fighting the crisis of our generation.

Together, we found our way through the uncertainties and fears of the pandemic. Because everyone played their part, we emerged stronger and more united than before. Social capital amongst Singaporeans has deepened, trust in Government has strengthened, and our global reputation has been enhanced. These strengths will prove crucial on the road ahead.

A Different World

The worst of COVID-19 is now hopefully behind us. But there are new challenges ahead, as we enter an increasingly dangerous and troubled world.

The war in Ukraine rages on and is unlikely to end soon. How the crisis unfolds will have major ramifications for the security of countries everywhere.

The rivalry between US and China continues to intensify, and has recently taken a turn for the worse. Near-miss encounters are happening more frequently around the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Neither side wants to go to war, but events have their own momentum, and accidents can easily spiral out of control in ways no one can predict.

The global order is also being reshaped by strategic geopolitical rivalry. The major powers are focused more on unilaterally securing their own advantage, than on promoting mutual interdependence or strengthening the multilateral system. The international norms that underpin peace and prosperity in the world are under severe strain.

Securing Our Place in the World

These are realities we have to adapt to. As a small nation, we must take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. But we are far from powerless on the international stage by acting together with like-minded partners, both big and small. We remain vigilant and proactive in defending ourselves against external threats. We will continue to build a network of friends to advance our shared interests. We will strive to preserve our sovereignty and the right to determine our own future, as we have done since independence.

Against the backdrop of great power rivalry, smaller countries like Singapore are experiencing growing pressures to take sides. We will be subject to foreign influences and disinformation campaigns, aimed at shaping our domestic public opinion, and pressing the Government to adopt certain positions.

We must do our utmost to resist such pressures. We have to close ranks and stay united, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation, especially when it comes to core national interests. We must never allow external parties to divide us, and should always stand together as one people to uphold Singapore's vital interests.

Growing our Economy

Unity will also be important as we push forward against the economic headwinds. Global trade and investment flows are facing growing obstacles. Governments in the major economies are providing substantial fiscal support to develop strategic industries and strengthen their own industrial bases. This creates a more unlevel playing field, and tougher competition for us.

We will adapt to these new circumstances and find opportunities amidst the challenges. We cannot compete head-to-head with big powers seeking to control key technologies and industries in the global economy. But we can be more agile and nimble than others, and respond more quickly and effectively to new challenges and opportunities.

We will run up against more binding constraints in land, labour and carbon over the coming years, and will have to do our best to manage them. But even as we adjust and adapt, a few fundamental imperatives will not change.

We must stay connected to the world, strengthen our connectivity infrastructure, and entrench our position as a trusted and reliable business hub.

We must develop talents and skills of our people throughout their careers, and continue to attract foreigners with entrepreneurial networks and expertise to help grow opportunities for Singaporeans.

We must invest in innovation to unlock new areas of growth, including in digitalisation and sustainability.

Importantly, we must nurture the strong tripartite partnership between Government, businesses, and workers.

If we are adaptable and resourceful, we can strengthen our competitive advantage, and position ourselves best to prosper and thrive in this new environment.

Refreshing Our Social Compact

To do well in this troubled world, and remain one united people, we will need to strengthen our social fabric. Every Singaporean must feel that they have a stake in our country. The fruits of our progress must be shared fairly, and no one should feel left behind.

This is the main purpose of the Forward Singapore exercise - to renew and update our social compact even as we refresh our goals and strategies. Collectively, the 4G team have engaged more than 14,000 Singaporeans over the past six months, and are continuing to deepen these engagements.

This exercise reaffirms the core values that we hold dear as Singaporeans - fairness, inclusivity, mutual support and the desire to give back to society. We want every person to be treated equally with dignity and respect. We want a Singapore where everyone belongs, and every citizen has the chance to achieve his or her fullest potential. We want a society that values and supports families; where we care for and help one another, and pitch in to make a difference to our community.

These values will shape the Government's agenda:

We will expand opportunities throughout life for every citizen, regardless of their starting points.

We will strengthen social safety nets so that in every stage of life, Singaporeans can better cope with uncertainties and look forward with confidence.

We will build a smart and liveable city - a green, connected and thriving metropolis that we are all proud to call home.

We will deepen Singaporeans' sense of shared identity and mutual responsibility towards one another.

These will be the key priorities for the remainder of this term of Government.

First, we will expand opportunities throughout life for all, regardless of individual backgrounds and circumstances.

Meritocracy has long been the organising principle of our society. It has provided opportunities to countless Singaporeans with the drive and ability to excel. But as we prosper as a society, those who have already done well will naturally seek to pass on their advantages to their children. This is why absent major upheavals, all societies tend to become more stratified and less socially mobile over time.

We will do our utmost to combat this tendency. We must not allow advantages and privileges to become entrenched and persist over generations. This would weaken and fracture our society. We must ensure a broader and more open meritocracy that works well for all Singaporeans. This means rethinking our approach to education and work.

We will continue to prepare our children for the future, starting from their early years. We will provide more resources to support those who start out with less. At the same time, we recognise the competitive stresses that have built up in our education system, especially amongst certain segments of society. We will provide everyone with access to a good education, and many chances in life to learn and improve. But let us not be unwittingly drawn into an educational arms race, and end up worse off as a society.

We must also re-examine how society rewards different skills and talents, and recognises the full range of pathways to success. We should accord greater value to those who are skilled with their hands and contribute through their technical and practical abilities, as well as those with the social and empathetic traits to excel in jobs such as caregiving or community service. Every Singaporean must have the opportunity to take on work they find fulfilling and meaningful, build on their talents, give of their best, and be rewarded fairly for it.

At the same time, we will step up support for the disadvantaged and vulnerable segments in our society. We will uplift lower-income workers and families, and empower them to take the initiative to improve their own lives. We will enhance support for persons with disabilities, so they can pursue their aspirations and participate fully as contributing members of society. We will ensure that Singapore remains an open and inclusive society, where we uplift everyone with opportunities throughout their lives, and where we interact with one another as equals, regardless of our backgrounds.

Second, in a world of rapid change, the Government will improve social safety nets to help Singaporeans better cope with disruptions and setbacks in life.

With more uncertainty in the world economy and faster technological change, workers, especially those in their 40s and 50s, are at higher risk of skills obsolescence and unemployment. During the pandemic, we implemented the COVID-19 Recovery Grant and the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programme to support those who had lost their jobs. We will study how we should extend similar support beyond the pandemic.

Beyond helping displaced workers, we will further strengthen our SkillsFuture ecosystem to bring everyone along on our digitalisation and industry transformation journey. We will enable every citizen to do a significant skills reboot in the course of their working lives. This will help to keep them employable, whether they progress further in their respective fields, or transit across to jobs in new areas of growth.

We will also strengthen the sense of assurance in other ways:

We will take better care of our growing number of seniors. Through HealthierSG, we are stepping up preventive care and empowering citizens to manage their own health, and go for regular screenings and check-ups.

We will help Singaporeans enjoy their golden years with greater peace of mind, by enhancing retirement adequacy, and expanding care and living options. We will enable more seniors to age in place, in the comfort of their own homes, with their families and friends close by.

We will also keep public housing affordable and accessible for Singaporeans. Close to 100,000 private and public homes are expected to be completed between now and 2025. We are giving priority to young married couples and families with children to purchase their first homes.

Third, we will press on with longer-term efforts to build a city that is green, connected and highly liveable.

We will continue to renew and transform our urban landscape. New centres and districts will be developed outside of the CBD, to pilot creative urban solutions that transform the way our people live, work and play. Technology will be a key enabler; our urban plans will be integrated with our Smart Nation vision.

Our built environment is not just about better hardware and infrastructure. The city should also become more people-friendly. We will strengthen the distinctive cultures and heritages of different neighbourhoods. We will have better-connected streets and green spaces that are conducive for walking and cycling, where people can meet, interact and connect with one another. We will make our housing estates more vibrant spaces where children grow up together, where shared memories are formed, and where we nurture our unique identity as a multi-racial and multi-religious nation.

Fourth, we will strengthen our collective responsibility to shape our new compact. More government action should not result in a greater sense of dependency and entitlement. Instead, the Government will, through its actions, reinforce individual and family efforts, and bring forth contributions from other stakeholders.

For instance, employers must do their part to invest in their workers. Community partners must complement government efforts to support vulnerable families, just as we rallied to support one another through the pandemic. Those who have done well must pay it forward and give others a hand, so that we help one another stand tall with dignity and pride.

To tackle the complex challenges ahead, Singapore will need a stronger network of stakeholders to participate in nation building. Committed businesses that champion socially responsible and sustainable practices. A passionate civil society that advocates for their visions of a better society. An active citizenry that takes ownership of issues. The Government will do more to mobilise and involve all stakeholders. In particular, our youths show strong interest to take action and initiate change on issues they care about, like mental well-being and sustainability. We will engage the ideas, dynamism and energy of our young Singaporeans.

Ultimately, our refreshed social compact is about a shared understanding of how we relate to and support one another in our next phase of nationhood. By pooling our individual expertise, experiences and resources, we can achieve better outcomes for ourselves, our fellow citizens and our nation, Singapore.

Stewarding Our Future Singapore

Even as we focus on our present needs, we must also plan for the future and think on behalf of generations to come.

We are here today only because of what previous generations of Singaporeans did. They were willing to work hard and make sacrifices, to give us - their children and grandchildren - a better life. We must uphold these same values and leave behind a Singapore that is better than the one today, for the sake of future generations.

Climate change poses an existential threat to our island state. We have committed to decisive action to reduce carbon emissions and are taking resolute steps towards meeting our net-zero commitments. We also need to protect ourselves against global warming, especially rising sea levels. We are developing plans for more extensive coastal protection measures, and will dove-tail these plans with our urban renewal strategies.

All this requires responsible use of our fiscal resources and husbanding of our accumulated reserves. We must therefore continue to uphold our longstanding principles of fiscal prudence and discipline, so that future generations too will have the means to weather major storms, and the wherewithal to build the Singapore of their dreams.

Our Unity as a People

Throughout our nation building journey, we have repeatedly faced challenges and setbacks. We survived when few believed we would. When we started out in 1965, the journey looked so daunting, with so many problems to solve. But with courage and determination, our founding leaders and pioneer generations tackled challenges head-on, one by one, and built this thriving metropolis.

We are now in a much stronger position - better poised to overcome our vulnerabilities and armed with crucial resources to push forward with confidence, however stormy the weather.

Our collective experiences have strengthened the mutual trust between Singaporeans, and their confidence in our system of government. This virtuous circle relies on us partnering one another and working together to make the impossible, possible.

The leadership transition to the 4G team is well underway. They have worked well together and proven their ability and grit through their handling of the COVID-19 crisis. They have also been engaging citizens widely through the Forward Singapore exercise. They must continue to strengthen their bonds with Singaporeans, and work closely with them to write the next chapter of our Singapore Story.

The trust between our political leadership and people, and between Singaporeans themselves, is a key strength we must continue to nurture and cherish. In so many societies, this has gone wrong. These societies face deep divides that are difficult to bridge. Instead of bringing people together, political parties aggravate rifts by divisive appeals for support from competing groups. Their political systems are stuck in gridlock. Consequently, trust in government and its institutions plummets, making recovery even harder.

We cannot afford to let this happen in Singapore. In an open, diverse society, people will always have different views. We must debate them honestly and robustly. But our conversations also must be constructive, respectful and responsible, based on facts and sound analysis. Our interactions with one another must be anchored on mutual respect and trust, and a shared goal of advancing the larger public interest. In this way, we can work through our differences, enlarge our common ground, and draw strength from our diverse perspectives.

So far, we have done well: out of our diversity, we have built a deep reservoir of social capital and trust. As we commemorate the centenary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's birth, we should reflect on the values and principles of the founding generation of leaders. We should reaffirm and uphold our shared values, while re-examining what needs to be updated and possessing the courage to break new ground. Only then can we forge ahead confidently, firm in our footing and sure of our destination.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 experience shows what Singaporeans are capable of when we come together as a nation, and gives us quiet confidence and strength as we face the future together. Let us learn from this experience to work together to improve the lives of today's Singaporeans, keep faith with future generations yet unborn, and build a Singapore that thrives and endures for many years to come.

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The Istana is the office of the President of the Republic of Singapore and is used to receive and entertain state guests.

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Good afternoon everyone,

1. Let me first thank everyone for supporting our work and efforts to bring out the best in our children. Without the support of our Parent Support Groups (PSG) in the various schools, we would not have come so far. We certainly can go even further if we have this continued partnership.

2. In this fast-moving world, the lifespan of skills has shortened considerably. In my previous interactions with many of you, you have also highlighted your concerns and fears on preparing our students adequately for the future. Some of your questions include the type of skillsets that we need to equip our students with, and the types of jobs available in the industries. One of the unspoken concerns is how do we equip ourselves to equip our children. As parents, despite sending our children for various classes, we are often too shy to attend classes ourselves. Many of the parents have told me that they too need help, as the questions we pose to our children are also questions we pose to ourselves.

3. Today, we can come together and try to answer the following questions:

1. What do you think would be the first question a potential employer would ask our children?

2. What do you think would be the top three most sought-after jobs in ten years' time?

3. What do you see as the number one skillset that our children must be equipped with in 10 years' time?

4. Indeed, it is not easy to answer these three questions, but it will help to shape how we approach our education system and our partnerships. Coming from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), I have seen firsthand how fast jobs and skills can become obsolete. It is not just the fear we have for our children. We, as employees, similarly worry about our future.

5. On the other hand, when I speak with entrepreneurs, they always lament that our education system does not produce students with all the required skillsets. So, I sat these entrepreneurs down, and invited them to share with us all the skills that they would like their future workers to be equipped with. The Ministry of Education will look to produce students with these attributes and skills, but these companies will then have to ensure a good job for our students in 10 years' time when they graduate. None of them took up my offer. This is because the lifespan and product range of a company, even for a Fortune 500 company, would change in 10 years' time. This is why it is not about whether we can forecast future demands, but how we can close the loop between frontier industry practices and needs with what we are doing in schools today.

6. Having heard your feedback, we are going to start a new series of conversations, dialogues, and discussions that are accessible to parents from all schools, and not just members of the PSGs. In fact, we would like to host as many webinars as we possibly can to allow people at the frontiers of industry practice to come forward and share the types of skillsets, perspectives and emerging jobs in the world with our parents. Our parents, together with our teachers, would then be able to share this knowledge with our students.

7. We also encourage our teachers to step out of the school compound to experience different work attachments and see the world from a different perspective so that they are able to further enrich their teaching of our students. This is why we are pushing for school-industry partnerships, where we want every school to have a unique Applied Learning Programme if possible, in partnership with different industries. We hope every school would have access to experts in the industry to understand the attributes and skillsets that they are looking for. This will allow our parents and educators to broaden their perspectives beyond the school setting.

8. I have a simple hope -- that we will move from the "school being our world" to the "world being our school".

9. This is why today we are going to launch "A World Beyond School", which is a series of dialogues and conversations to equip educators and parents with the latest knowledge of what is happening beyond schools in the workplace to prepare our children for the future. Some of you have asked me, how many sessions are we having this year? So far about 15 sessions have been planned. As more industries come onboard, and more of you volunteer your perspectives, we will have an even more varied programme for everyone. I know a lot of you have skills, talents and networks that you can share. What you are contributing to the respective schools can be further shared and proliferated across different schools for everyone's benefit. If we do this as a team sport, we will certainly be able to have much more material and content to enrich our parents' and educators' learning, and we can certainly do even more for our students.

10. As we broaden the definitions of success for MOE schools, I hope this broadening takes place in two dimensions. The first dimension is to broaden the definition of success beyond academics, to skillsets and perspectives that will be useful to our students in the future. The second dimension is to define success not just by our achievements, but by our contributions. This is fundamental to the success of Singapore going forward. If all of us only define our success by our personal achievements, rather than our collective contributions, we may end up as a high achieving but individual-centric country. For us to be a warm-hearted and inclusive society, we need to broaden our definition of success beyond personal achievements to collective contribution.

11. On that note, I thank you once again for your service to our education system, and commitment to bring out the best in each and every child. I hope that together, in partnership with each and every one of you, we will move from the school as our world, to the world as our school.

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Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing's Opening Remarks at the Parent Support Group Engagement Session

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Good afternoon everyone, 1. Let me first thank everyone for supporting our work and efforts to bring out the best in our children. Without the support of our Parent Support Groups (PSG) in the various schools, we would not have come so far. We certainly can go even further if we have this continued partnership.

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Chinatown holds many special memories for many Singaporeans. Over time, it has also become a gathering ground for many senior Singaporeans. Since 2011, efforts have been put in to attract the younger generation of Singaporeans to Chinatown to renew the interest in the Chinatown story and ensure it remains relevant to the younger generation. And today, Chinatown is the home to many co-working spaces and new age offices, offering an alternative to the rigidity of traditional offices.

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- 33 years at on Cheong
- interest in jewellery
- most of the staff have worked at on Cheong for at least 15 yrs
- pride in work

What makes a good environment
- affirmation
- ongoing pd, skill based , giving staff the ownership in personal pd
- intangible benefits
- good boss
- respect staff
- very good relationships with colleagues
- not calculative

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‘You’ve only got an hour so make the most of it’

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‘You’ve only got an hour so make the most of it’

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Lunch time at CBD areas are usually bustling with activities. Join in the fun and Take a photo of a uniquely Singapore culture during lunch time.