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Future of Learning: Empowering Contributors to Build a Better Tomorrow

Last Updated: 04 Mar 2024

News Press Releases

1. At this year's Committee of Supply debate, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced measures to deepen the culture of lifelong learning in Singapore, develop students holistically to maximise their potential, and support learners with different learning needs.

Supporting Singaporeans to learn throughout life

2. More support will be provided for Singaporeans to pursue further education and upskilling beyond the schooling years, in particular for two groups – (i) young graduates of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), and (ii) mature workers who are juggling family and work commitments, while seeking to stay relevant amidst rapid economic change.

ITE Progression Award (IPA) to encourage young ITE graduates to upskill early

3. The IPA supports ITE graduates to upskill to a diploma earlier in their careers and to secure better progression prospects in their chosen professions.

4. From 2024, all Singaporean ITE graduates aged 30 and below who pursue a diploma qualification issued by MOE-funded institutions will receive a top-up of $5,000 in their Post-Secondary Education Account upon diploma enrolment to help with the upfront costs of obtaining a diploma. Upon diploma completion, ITE graduates will receive a top-up of $10,000 in their CPF Ordinary Account to boost their savings for longer term goals.

5. Please refer to infosheet 1 for details on the IPA.

Enhanced support for mature, mid-career Singaporeans to upskill and reskill

6. MOE and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will also help mid-career Singaporeans aged 40 and above pursue a substantive skills reboot through the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme (SFLP).

7. The SFLP will offer mid-career Singaporeans:

  1. More support to defray course fees:
    1. From 1 May 2024, Singaporeans aged 40 and above will receive a SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up of $4,000, which does not expire. The top-up can be used to defray out-of-pocket fees for selected courses that have better employability outcomes. This is in addition to the existing Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy (MCES), which offers subsidies of up to 90% of the course fee for MOE/SSG-funded programmes for Singaporeans aged 40 and above.
    2. From AY2025, mid-career Singaporeans who had previously received MOE subsidy or government sponsorship for a diploma or higher qualification, can also qualify for MCES when taking another publicly-funded full-time Diploma.
  2. Financial support during full-time long-form training: From early 2025, mid-career Singaporeans will also receive a SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance when they enrol in selected full-time, long-form training programmes. This will partially offset income loss from pursuing full-time training.

8. Please refer to MOE-SSG's joint press release for details on the SFLP.

Developing our students holistically

9. MOE will strengthen our emphasis on 21st Century Competencies (21CC) to help our students cultivate future-ready competencies that will better enable them to achieve their aspirations and contribute back to society. With the implementation of Full Subject-Based Banding (Full SBB), MOE will also harmonise and consolidate the examination timetable, and refine the post-secondary progression pathways for students.

Enhancements to EAGLES to recognise 21CC

10. MOE will enhance the Edusave Award for Achievement, Good Leadership and Service (EAGLES) to include a new 21CC domain, to recognise students' exemplary demonstration of competencies such as (i) Critical, Adaptive and Inventive Thinking, (ii) Civic, Global and Cross-Cultural Literacy, as well as (iii) Communication, Collaboration and Information Skills, in both curricular and co-curricular settings.

11. MOE will also expand the quota for EAGLES. From 2024, up to 5% of Primary 1 to 3 students can qualify for EAGLES and receive an award of $200. The quota of Primary 4 to pre-university students who can qualify for EAGLES each year will be increased from 10% to 15%. The EAGLES award quantum for these students remains unchanged. Please refer to Table A below.

12. With the new 21CC domain and expanded quota, an estimated 18,000 additional students could be eligible for EAGLES each year.

Table A: Change in Quota and Award Quantum for EAGLES

Level Change in Quota Change in Award Quantum
[New] Pri 1 – Pri 3 0% → 5% (For EAGLES in 21CC) N.A. → $200
Pri 4 – Pri 6 10% → 15%



$250
(No change)
Sec 1 – Sec 5 $350
(No change)
Pre-U1 – Pre-U3 $400
(No change)

Enhancements to Edusave Skills Award to better recognise non-academic competencies

13. As part of these Edusave enhancements to better recognise students' achievements in non-academic domains, the Edusave Skills Award (ESA) will also be expanded in Crest Secondary School, Spectra Secondary School, Specialised Schools, polytechnics and ITE. These institutions give out the ESA to recognise the more applied and skills-based nature of the curriculum.

14. From AY2024, the ESA will be available to 5% of students in their penultimate year, and 15% of students in the graduating cohort, an increase from 10% today. About 3,400 more students are expected to benefit from the enhancement.

Harmonised and consolidated examination timetable under Full SBB

15. From 2027, graduating students will sit for the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examinations, at their respective subject levels (i.e. G1, G2, G3)1. There will be no change to the examination format, and the SEC examinations will continue to be jointly examined and awarded by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board, MOE, and the Cambridge International Education. This ensures that the national examinations maintain the same rigour and standards, and upholds its standing both locally and internationally.

16. Correspondingly, the SEC examination timetable will be consolidated into a single sitting to allow students to better pace their learning throughout the year. Under the SEC examination timetable, the written examinations for English Language and Mother Tongue Languages (MTL) will be conducted in September, while the written examinations for the rest of the subjects will be conducted from October to November, similar to the current O-Level examination timetable. There will also only be one written examination sitting for all MTL subject levels (i.e. G1, G2, G3 MTL and G3 Higher MTL). The SEC examinations results will be released in January the following year.

17. Please refer to infosheet 2 or a comparison between the current GCE N(T)/N(A) and O-Level examination timetable, and SEC examination timetable.

Changes to Polytechnic Year 1 admission criteria under Full SBB

18. With the removal of streams, and flexibility for students to offer subjects at different levels, MOE has reviewed the admissions criteria for post-secondary pathways.2 The updated criteria better recognises the different subject levels offered by students and provides options for different learner profiles, while ensuring that students have the foundational competencies to thrive in their chosen pathway.

19. The Polytechnic Year 1 admission criteria will be refined to recognise learning at the different subject levels, in line with the intention of Full SBB. Under the current admission criteria for Polytechnic Year 1, students are required to offer five G3 (i.e. O-Level equivalent) subjects, which are computed into an ELR2B2 (English Language, two relevant [R] and two best [B] subjects) aggregate score. From the 2028 intake, students can offer one [B] subject taken at either G2 or G3 in their aggregate score. The remaining four subjects must continue to be offered at G3 to ensure that students can cope with the academic rigour in the polytechnics.

20. Please refer to infosheet 2 for details on changes to the Polytechnic Year 1 admission criteria.

Supporting learners with different needs

21. MOE will continue to support learners with different needs to maximise their potential by enhancing the affordability of quality education for families, and strengthening the professionalism of the special education (SPED) sector.

Enhancing affordability and quality of SPED

22. Currently, about 50% of SPED school students pay similar fees to mainstream school students. SPED schools charging higher fees had previously reduced their fees to make it more affordable for families. These nine SPED schools are expected to further reduce their fees by up to 60%, as the maximum monthly fees chargeable for Singaporean students will be reduced from $150 to $90. About 3,500 students stand to benefit from these changes, which will take effect by mid-2025. The fees will be determined by the schools, and will be communicated to parents when ready.

23. As part of MOE's ongoing efforts to cultivate a professional and competency driven SPED teaching force, MOE will also increase funding to SPED schools in phases to raise the average salaries3 of trained SPED teachers and teacher aides (TAs). The enhancements will vary for individuals depending on their experience, competencies, job role and work performance. Between 2024 to 2026, SPED classroom teachers can receive salary increases of up to 12%, and TAs can receive an increase of up to 15% By 2026, SPED classroom teachers and TAs can expect to receive monthly salaries ranging from $3,000 to over $7,000, and $2,000 to over $4,000, respectively.

24. From this year, starting salaries for SPED classroom teachers and TAs will also be increased by up to 15% and 17% respectively. While starting salaries will vary depending on their experience and skills, SPED classroom teachers may receive a starting salary of up to $3,600 per month before they undergo their Diploma in Special Education training. Likewise, TAs may receive a starting salary of up to $2,100 per month.

25. Additionally, more education leadership courses will be extended to teachers for their professional development. MOE will provide targeted resourcing to SPED schools to drive the dedicated planning and implementation of their professional learning opportunities.

26. Please refer to infosheet 3 for details on the SPED enhancements.

Extending Kindergarten Care (KCare) Additional Subsidy to more lower-income families

27. As announced at the 2024 Budget Statement, from Q4 2024, MOE will extend the KCare Additional Subsidy4 for MOE Kindergartens (MK)5 to all families of Singaporean children (regardless of mother's working status) with a gross monthly household income of up to $6,000. This is in addition to the $150 monthly Basic Subsidy currently provided to all families of Singaporean children.

28. With this extension, newly eligible families will see a 51% to 99% reduction in monthly fees. Please refer to Table B below. This will improve the affordability of MK and KCare for lower-income families so that their children can develop a strong foundation for learning and development. Families with a gross monthly household income of $3,000 and below will pay as low as $3 each month for MK and KCare.

Table B: Enhanced KCare subsidies

Gross Monthly Household Income Current Basic Subsidy
(Applicable to families with Singaporean children)		 Additional Subsidy for Families from Q4 2024
(Regardless of mother’s working status)6
$3,000 and below $150



 Up to $235
$3,001-$4,500 Up to $220
$4,501-$6,000 Up to $170

For media enquiries, please contact the media officers listed in the respective infosheets, or send your queries to MOE_media@moe.gov.sg.


Footnotes

  1. Under Full SBB, students will be able to offer subjects at three 'General' levels, termed G1, G2 or G3, mapped to the different standards for the N(T), N(A) and Express subjects respectively. Please refer to MOE's Full SBB microsite for more details of the implementation of Full SBB: https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle-fsbb/full-subject-based-banding/main.html

  2. Currently, access to the different post-secondary pathways is largely determined by students' stream-based subject combinations (i.e. Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical)). MOE had announced in March 2023 that from the AY2028 intake, students taking G3 subjects or a mix of G2 and G3 subjects will be able to access Polytechnic Foundation Programme – thus removing the current stream-based admission which is limited to today's N(A) students. In July 2023, MOE also announced that the admission requirements for direct entry into Year 2 for all Higher Nitec courses would be set at G2 from the AY2028 intake.

  3. As SPED schools are run by different SSAs and cater to diverse student profiles, salaries for SPED teaching staff may vary across schools.

  4. KCare is an optional care service for parents who require a full-day care service for their children who are enrolled in MOE Kindergarten. The KCare Additional Subsidy is tiered according to household income levels and is currently available only to families of Singaporean children with working mothers.

  5. Eligible Singapore Citizen children enrolled in MK can also qualify for financial assistance under the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) provided by the Early Childhood Development Agency for their MK school fees. More information of KiFAS can be found here: www.ecda.gov.sg/parents/subsidies-financial-assistance#KIFAS

  6. To calculate the estimated monthly KCare fee after subsidies, please refer to: www.moe.gov.sg/preschool/moe-kindergarten/kindergarten-care