SINGAPORE : Education Minister Heng Swee Keat has
said the whole society has to believe in a values-driven education
for it to be successful.
He was speaking to some 300 students at the annual
Polytechnic Forum on Friday.
Now in its seventh year, the forum brings together
selected students from all five polytechnics.
The theme of the forum was "Our Singapore Dream", and the students
asked a range from questions, from renewable energy to educational
opportunities.
There was also a spirited discussion about the ministry's new
Character and Citizenship Education framework, which was announced
on Thursday at the ministry's Work Plan Seminar.
Students asked if values can be taught in textbooks and whether
schools could improve the way subjects such as Civics and Moral
Education are taught.
Mr Heng said stories continue to be a good way to teach values, and
textbooks are useful.
However, he said values can be taught during any lesson - be it
music, sports or co-curricular activities.
He said that ultimately, for a values-driven education to work, the
society at large has a part to play.
Mr Heng said: "I fully agree with you that it takes the whole
society to work on these values. One of the societies that has done
extremely well in this is of course Japan. And in Japan, everybody
believes in that, so it is not superficial, it is something very
deep, people believe in it, and it is very well internalised. So
during a crisis - the triple problem that they had, the tsunami,
the earthquake, the nuclear meltdown - people behaved extremely
well."
- CNA/ms