Minister for Education Mr Chan Chun Sing's Reply to Adjournment Motion – Reimagining the Future of Education

1. Mr Speaker, we thank Associate Professor Razwana –

1. for her work as an educator,
2. her support for our education system and our educators, and
3. for sharing her aspirations.

2. As we evolve our education system for a better tomorrow, we must remember that good outcomes depend critically on good educators who can implement our ideas consistently and with conviction.

3. Let me share our key beliefs that have shaped and will continue to guide our approach to education in the coming years.

Lifelong Learning

4. First, our success is not defined by academic results attained in the first 15 years in school. More importantly, it is defined by our contributions in the next 50 years beyond our schools –

1. Where we continue to possess the joy of learning and the DNA to strive for excellence in diverse domains.
2. This starts with building a love of learning in the early years, as our children explore the world and develop their bilingual, mathematics and critical thinking foundations.
3. In their schooling years, we will provide students with porous and diverse pathways, and give them opportunities to grow their potential.
   1. This means that no single test should determine a student's future,
   2. And not every topic taught needs to be tested.
   3. For example, we are allowing students to count their fourth content-based A-Level subject for admission to our Autonomous Universities only if it improves their University Admission Score from 2026, and to count one G2 subject for admission to Polytechnic Year 1 from 2028.
   4. With changes like these, we hope to shift towards a mindset of learning and growth instead of an exam-oriented mindset.
4. Beyond the schooling years, we will invest in our people throughout life, with SkillsFuture as a key pillar of our social compact.
   1. We recently enhanced investments in our SkillsFuture programmes – from the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, to the JobSeeker Support scheme and training allowances for mid-career upgraders.
   2. All these allow our people to seize opportunities to stay relevant, and secure good jobs that offer dignity, respect and financial sufficiency.

Developing Talents, Leveraging Technologies

5. Second, we recognise that our people have strengths in diverse areas. These talents can manifest across time, rather than at any single pre-determined point in life.

1. So we must resist the temptation to "teach to the average" of a child or a class;
2. We must cater to different learning needs of our children, across different life stages.
3. And provide porous systems, for our children to develop at their own pace.

6. We have improved our system over the years to allow students to customise their education at a finer level.

1. For example, Full Subject-Based Banding now allows students to customise their learning in individual subjects, instead of keeping to one pace across all subjects.
2. We have enhanced our curriculum support for Special Education schools, to improve their ability to cater to students with a range of special education needs. There are Special Needs Officers at all primary schools, to better support students with mild to moderate needs who can access mainstream education.
3. The recently announced changes to the Gifted Education Programme and Higher Mother Tongue Language eligibility criteria in Secondary 1 will provide more opportunities to stretch our students in specific areas of strength.
4. These moves also offer more opportunities for students to interact with peers of different profiles.

7. Our school landscape and admissions system recognise students' diverse strengths and abilities, rather than purely academic performance.

1. For those with particular talents and aptitudes, we have Specialised Independent Schools – School of the Arts, NUS High School, Singapore Sports School, and Singapore School of Science and Technology.
2. Aptitude-based admissions and Direct School Admission provide opportunities for students to pursue studies based on potential and interest, and broadens their access to education pathways.

8. We share similar aspirations as the Member – to provide each child with a customised learning journey based on his or her individual strengths and abilities.

1. This is why we keep innovating and leveraging technology – including AI, data science and the science of learning – to break the conventional education system trilemma of achieving quality at scale, speed and affordability.
2. Through these efforts, we are striving towards mass customisation –
3. To free ourselves from the mindset that quality education is determined by class size alone. In fact, studies have shown that the quality of teachers is most important in determining the outcomes of education.

Building Capacity for Our Educators

9. Third, trust and professional respect for educators must be the foundation of our system. This will determine our society's ability to attract the best and most committed teachers, which then determines our education outcomes.

10. Without good teachers, even the best education policies will have limited impact.

1. Our teachers undergo years of rigorous training to do their work as professionals.
2. They pour their hearts out to bring out the best in our children, often going above and beyond the call of duty.

11. This is why MOE is stepping up efforts for our teachers' personal growth and professional development –

1. By investing in EdTech, to support our teachers' pedagogical practices, alleviate their workload and enable them to deliver customised teaching;
2. Supporting our teachers' well-being through curated resources, workshops, and counselling services;
3. And even redesigning staffrooms and workspaces to better meet their professional needs, as recently announced by Prime Minister during the National Day Rally.

12. But respect for teachers must come not just from MOE. I seek everyone's support –

1. To respect and trust our teachers to do their jobs,
2. And to work with our teachers to support our children's learning and upbringing.

Community Partnership and Engagement

13. Fourth, we agree with the Member that strong partnerships are essential for our students to learn from life.

1. This is why we established the MOE Partnerships Engagement Office last year.
2. To rally partners – industry, parents, community, experts – to collaborate with schools to create authentic learning opportunities for students, and for us to leverage on the whole-of-society capabilities to provide the best for our children.
3. The Member may be pleased to know that we will strengthen these partnerships, especially with the industry:
   1. To inspire our younger students and shape their interests early;
   2. And to help our adult learners keep up to date with industry changes by co-designing, co-developing, and co-delivering modules with our IHLs.

14. But our most important partners are our parents.

1. We all want the best for our children.
2. But the best may not mean the most popular school. Instead, we should ask which school will bring out the best version of our children –
3. So that they will learn to surpass themselves in life, instead of trying to surpass others in exams;
4. And to have confidence in their abilities, instead of comparing with others to determine their self-worth.

15. All of us – parents, educators and public – must evolve our mindsets to complement the structural and policy changes that we are making.

Conclusion

16. Mr Speaker, we can never fully know what the future holds. We cannot and should not try to remove all uncertainties and difficulties that our children face. Each and every setback is also a learning opportunity for our children to build resilience.

17. Even as we enhance our education system, we must be careful not to over-structure, over-provide, or over-protect.

18. Instead, we must retain space for our children to try, fail, take responsibility and bounce back from setbacks –

1. Only then can they learn to embrace untidiness, and thrive amidst uncertainties – the only things that we can be sure that the future will hold.

19. Finally, I would like to thank Associate Professor Razwana, and all Members of the House, our partners, parents, and teachers for their close partnership to support our children's development. MOE is committed to work with all partners to improve our education system, so that Singapore and Singaporeans can thrive in the years, and generations, to come.