SINGAPORE: Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said
his ministry will be focusing on three outcomes: values, social and
emotional competencies, as well as new skills in thinking such as
being more globally aware.
Mr Heng was speaking during his visit to Gongshang
Primary School on Saturday morning where he was gathering feedback
on what needs to be done to improve the education
system.
He also shared his views during the seminar with
parents.
According to Mr Heng, the input from the seminar will help shape
the direction that he is charting for the education system.
"I'm looking at how we can better support our school leaders, our
teachers in delivering this education, and how we can also bring in
parents as part of this very important process."
During the seminar, some parents voiced their concerns over
students with financial difficulties might be left behind and can't
afford study aids such as computers.
Others wanted to know how they can secure their children's place in
their school of choice during the annual Primary One Registration
Exercise.
While this was going on, many parents were unaware that the
education minister was sitting at the back of the hall listening
and taking notes.
Midway through the seminar, Mr Heng made his presence felt as he
addressed the issues that were raised up.
Mr Heng said: "First criteria is really proximity. If you have a
school nearby, that is the best because you really don't want the
child to be travelling a long distance. Having said that, schools
are very well resourced. MOE provides facilities to all the
schools.
"We centrally post teachers and principals to the schools and we
ensure that there's a certain standard in all our primary schools.
The fact that so many of you are here today is very encouraging. It
shows that as parents, you care a lot about the education of your
children. And this is a very important value in Singapore."
Mr Heng said his visit was to get a real sense of what is happening
in the schools.
"I did not want to disrupt the interaction. I try to spend a lot of
time on the ground interacting with our school principals, with our
teachers and with our students because this is where the teaching
and learning take place."
- CNA/fa