MOE FY2025 Committee of Supply Debate Response by Second Minister for Education Dr Maliki Osman

Thriving Together: Maximising the Potential of Education

Mr Chairman,

1. We have continually evolved our education system to meet the diverse and growing needs of all Singaporeans –

1. And, to ensure that every child in our country has the opportunity to grow, to blossom, and to realise their full potential – regardless of their starting point in life.

2. I will focus on two areas MOE will do more in:

1. First, we will strengthen support for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
2. Second, we will expand and enhance our post-secondary pathways, to ensure that students can find different avenues to succeed.

Supporting Diverse Learners: Strengthening Quality of Special Education

3. Let me start with our students with SEN.

4. Mr Ong Hua Han, Mr Darryl David, Ms Denise Phua and Mr Patrick Tay have asked about our support for students with SEN in their education journey.

5. Mr Chair, the needs of our students with SEN are varied and multi-faceted.

1. And require support from the whole of community – including MOE, government agencies, Social Service Agencies (SSAs) – at different stages of their journey.

6. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong shared the Government's plans to support persons with disabilities in their work and daily lives, as part of this year's Budget.

1. I will focus on our efforts during the schooling years. My MSF colleagues will touch on the support provided in the workplace and community.

7. MOE's priority is to provide good education for students with SEN whether they attend our mainstream or Special Education (SPED) school.

1. Today, about 30,000 students with SEN – or 4 in 5 – attend our mainstream schools. That's 80% of our students with SEN attending our mainstream schools.
2. The remaining 8,500 with moderate to severe SEN, receive special support in our SPED schools.

8. We start by ensuring that these children have a strong start in their education journey, as we do for their peers in our mainstream schools.

1. Well before their primary school years, MOE collaborates with hospitals to guide parents and caregivers on choosing suitable school settings and support, to meet their child's needs.
2. During the pre-school years, children with developmental needs can also participate in Early Intervention programmes. These programmes are specifically designed to provide additional support for children in areas such as speech and language, social skills, and motor skills.
3. I encourage parents to tap on these avenues and work with relevant healthcare and early childhood professionals.
4. Early engagement between parents and professionals often leads to better outcomes, allowing us to provide the right support at the earliest opportunity.
5. By addressing these needs early, we lay a strong foundation for the future learning journey of these students.

9. We have put in additional resources for children with less severe SEN and who can access the national curriculum, to make a smoother transition into mainstream schools.

1. One example is the TRANsition Support for Integration (TRANSIT), which we launched in 2021 to support schools in preparing children who may need additional support, and as they enter Primary One.
2. As of this January 2025, we have implemented TRANSIT in 98% of primary schools. By 2026, we will extend TRANSIT to all primary schools.

10. In mainstream schools, our teachers undergo training to support our diverse learners in the classrooms before they enter the teaching service.

1. There are also around eight teachers with additional training in special needs in every primary school and secondary school.
2. Beyond teachers, we have grown our number of SEN Officers from 450 in 2016, to nearly 750 in 2024. Today, all primary and secondary schools have SEN Officers, who work closely with teachers, with school counsellors, parents, to support students.
3. I assure Members that we are continually strengthening our support for our SEN Officers, by providing access to professional development opportunities to enhance their skills.

11. For students enrolled in SPED schools, we agree with Mr Patrick Tay on the importance of working closely with partner agencies, SSAs, and families, to support their diverse needs.

1. Our priority is ensuring that students, teachers, and leaders across all SPED schools have access to the same kind of developmental opportunities and support as do their colleagues in our mainstream schools.
2. We can only achieve this by moving together – not as 25 separate SPED schools, but as one SPED sector.
3. So that we can maximise the potential of the SPED ecosystem, and better support our SPED students.

12. This is why we have strengthened our collaborations with the SPED sector over the years, to enhance the accessibility and quality of education in our SPED schools.

13. Let me focus on three enhancements.

14. First, we will continue to raise the quality of curriculum in our SPED schools.

15. In the past, there was no common curriculum among our SPED schools, and each SSA leading their school developed their own curriculum.

1. This resulted in diverse teaching and learning practices, as well as schooling experiences for their students.

16. So between 2020 and 2024, we worked closely with SPED schools to co-develop and implement seven SPED Teaching and Learning Syllabuses (TLSs), giving more detailed guidance to the overarching SPED Curriculum Framework articulated in 2012.

1. These syllabuses were progressively introduced across diverse domains – from Visual Arts, to Social-Emotional Learning as well as Communication and Language.

17. With the completion of TLSs in 2024, we now have a National SPED Curriculum across all SPED schools, to pave the next lap of excellence in teaching and learning.

18. Having visited several SPED schools, I am personally encouraged by how our SPED practitioners – both educators and allied professionals – have leveraged the curriculum to deliver engaging lessons that meet the wide ranging students' needs.

1. I thank our educators and partners in the SPED community, who have worked tirelessly with us to develop this National SPED Curriculum, and encourage the broader SPED fraternity to deepen the use of these resources.

19. Second, we will partner with schools to better integrate digital tools in our SPED schools.

20. Today, we have a range of technologies and applications, to reduce the workload of teachers in our mainstream schools.

1. For example, we have applications that facilitate communication between teachers and parents. And we know that the parents for those in our schools today and our teachers, would be familiar with using Parents Gateway to liaise with each other.

21. Our SPED schools, on the other hand, have different systems and processes to manage their administrative work because they are different organisations with different needs.

1. There is room for greater productivity. For example, while teachers in mainstream schools can leverage technologies to track their students' progress and learning outcomes, some educators in our SPED schools do so manually today.

22. We are working with SPED schools and our Social Service Agencies to explore possible digital solutions for SPED school processes, including the potential extension of existing MOE systems to our SPED schools.

1. We need to study this carefully though, to account for the diverse needs of our SPED students, our parents, as well as our SPED teachers.
2. For example, a parent of a child with SEN will have a significantly different admissions process and experience from a parent with a child in a mainstream school. While the process of applying to a mainstream school can be largely automated, SPED schools will need additional information from parents and professionals, to better understand the child's needs.
3. We will explore this collaboration to introduce these digital solutions, and we will share the outcomes when ready.

23. Third, we will work closely with our partners in the community, to strengthen the collective expertise and professional creed among our SPED educators.

1. We have worked with SSAs to progressively set up SPED Communities of Practice (COPs), as a platform for practitioners in schools, educators, and SSAs to collaborate professionally.
2. The platform will support SPED educators in keeping up with new practices in the sector, and across the many sub-specialisations.
3. We established the inaugural SPED COP for Multiple Disabilities last October, led by Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore, with members from Rainbow Centre and Asian Women's Welfare Association (AWWA).
4. Another SPED COP for Autism will be underway in the second half of 2025.

Supporting a Smooth Transition for Students with SEN to the Workplace

24. Mr Chairman, MOE's support for students with SEN does not stop at schools. We also ensure that they transition well into higher education and the workplace.

25. An increasing number of students with SEN progress from our mainstream and SPED schools into our Post-Secondary Education Institutions, including the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).

26. Today, ITE has a strong ecosystem in place to help students with SEN maximise their potential.

1. These include dedicated SEN Support Officers and Education and Career Coaches, as well as partners like SG Enable (SGE).

27. To strengthen support for students with SEN to transit from classroom to the workplace, ITE and SGE started a programme last year to provide them with further internship and employment support. This was what Mr Darryl David had asked earlier.

1. Under this programme, students with SEN undergo training in areas such as personal grooming, résumé and interview preparation.
2. These students are then placed in suitable internship roles.
3. Members would be pleased to know that ITE and SGE work very closely with participating students and employers to ensure that these internships are calibrated to meet students' learning needs.

28. One student for example, in this programme is Joseph, a Year 2 student with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in ITE's Higher Nitec in Retail and Online Business course.

1. ITE helped Joseph secure an internship at Uniqlo outlet at Waterway Point.
2. Joseph had initially found it difficult to adjust to the work environment with high footfall and busy operations throughout the day.
3. To support Joseph, a job coach from TOUCH Community Services visited him weekly at the store to train him on work skills, including communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. Very hands-on. The coaches are assigned personally to attend to students like Joseph, during the internship experience.
4. He was also given opportunities by Uniqlo to learn and apply these skills around the store.
5. Two months into the internship, Joseph had grown significantly, and was awarded Best Customer Service Award by the store. Just within 2 months of his internship. We are very pleased with that, and we hope more students like Joseph will benefit from such internship opportunities.

29. ITE and SGE are working closely to scale up the programme to benefit more students.

1. ITE will expand the internship support provided, so that more students with SEN can benefit from such structured job support.

30. Ms Denise Phua asked about supporting continuing education for persons with disabilities.

1. Mr Chairman, their learning needs are diverse and complex as we all know. In addition to specialised training opportunities curated by SGE, we have been working with training providers to make mainstream training programmes more accessible to persons with disabilities. This is work-in-progress.
2. More importantly, the lifelong learning ecosystem for these individuals must be well integrated with inclusive employment models and opportunities.
3. This is why we take a whole-of-society approach, with MSF and SGE taking the lead, to support their lifelong learning journey.

31. Joseph's journey illustrates how an ecosystem of educators, employers, dedicated agencies, and job coaches can come together to support learning, the internship, and employment opportunities for individuals with SEN.

1. I hope that there will be more of such stories as we work together to build an inclusive society.

Developing Diverse Post-Secondary Pathways

32. Mr Chairman, beyond supporting those in need, we will also provide multiple pathways to meet the diverse aspirations of our students.

33. For our students at the post-secondary level, we want to equip them with work-ready skills, to thrive in the future economy.

34. For ITE students, we have made good progress in our curriculum redesign.

1. Starting with selected courses from AY2022, ITE introduced a new enhanced three-year curricular structure leading directly to a Higher Nitec certification.
2. This curricular redesign streamlined the 2-year Nitec plus 2-year Higher Nitec structure, providing a more integrated pathway to equip our ITE students with deeper skills and a robust foundation for future skills upgrading.
3. Around 15,000 students have benefitted thus far. The first cohort graduates this July, and has enjoyed a rigorous curriculum and extended industry attachments. We hope they will enter the workforce empowered with a new sense of confidence.
4. More students can look forward to these experiences, as ITE transitions all remaining courses to the enhanced structure next year.

35. Our support for ITE students also continues, after they graduate.

1. Last year, we introduced the ITE Progression Award (IPA), which provides young ITE graduates with a total of $15,000 to upskill to a diploma earlier in their careers.
2. We recognise that many ITE graduates aspire to upgrade their qualifications with higher level skills, and can benefit from financial support to defray education costs and boost their savings.
3. I am pleased to share that by end March, we would have awarded around $90 million to support the upgrading journeys of about 12,000 ITE graduates who enrolled in or completed their diplomas in 2024. I congratulate all of our 12,000 ITE graduates who have benefitted from the IPA.

36. To support our ITE graduates' different upskilling needs, we will extend the IPA to those who are upskilling via diplomas offered under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ), from 1 June this year. This means that the IPA will be extended to more courses, beyond those offered by the ITE and polytechnics.

1. These WSQ diplomas are aligned to the Skills Framework, and allow individuals to acquire skills and credentials to access good jobs.
2. With this expansion, more than 30 diploma programmes will be eligible for the IPA, on top of the 300 eligible programmes that we already have today.

37. Let me move on now to polytechnic students. Mr Chair, for polytechnic students, we piloted new ways of learning, such as flexible curriculum workloads for students and short-term work attachments.

1. Over 1,000 students have participated in these pilots, with 9 in 10 reporting that these programmes had helped them.
2. Learning from the pilots, all our polytechnics will allow all students to customise their curriculum load.
3. We will also work with the institutions to provide students with a range of industry exposure opportunities earlier.

38. So beyond these efforts, we will encourage our polytechnic students to explore their interests and develop skills along the way, through Common Entry Programmes (CEPs).

1. Under the CEP, students can explore different specialisations within a sector through a common semester, before deciding on a diploma of their choice.

39. Dr Wan Rizal would be happy to know that since its launch in 2017, the number of CEPs has increased by over four times to 25 today.

1. They collectively provide access to 75% of all diplomas.
2. While students can still choose specialised diplomas directly, the number of students entering CEPs has also increased to 25% of each polytechnic cohort, up from 10% in 2017.

40. We will continue to work with our institutions to innovate and provide space for students to broaden their exposure and competencies.

1. From AY2025, all schools in Republic Polytechnic (RP) will offer a broad-based diploma option for students. They will cater to students who desire to both engage in multidisciplinary learning within their cluster, and gain specialised skills through a selected major.
2. So for example, rather than specialising in a specific domain of engineering such as aviation or robotics, students can choose to enter the Diploma in Engineering.
3. While of the same duration which is 3 years as other diplomas, this diploma provides broad-based training in essential skills related to the engineering sector like design, programming and data analysis, allowing students to major in Innovation & Design, Project Management, and Sustainable Technology, depending on their interests. After graduating, students will have the flexibility to take on a wider range of jobs across different engineering domains.
4. So in this case students will also have the option to pursue Minors to broaden their knowledge or deepen their expertise in their respective disciplines. We hope that RP's experience will spur other polytechnics to consider such opportunities for their polytechnic students.

41. Mr Chairman, allow me to continue in Malay. 42. Tuan Pengurusi, selepas 60 tahun kemerdekaan, kita tetap terus melabur dalam pendidikan rakyat Singapura kami akan 1) terus berusaha gigih menyokong aspirasi pelajar yang pelbagai; 2) dan mengukuhkan sokongan untuk pelajar yang mempunyai keperluan yang berbeza-beza dan 3) mempertingkat laluan pendidikan pascamenengah. Dengan landskap economy Singapura yang berubah dengan pesat, rakyat Singapura perlu sentiasa bersedia mempertingkatkan diri dengan kemahiran baharu untuk kekal relevan dalam dunia pekerjaan – menerapkan prinsip pembelajaran sepanjang hayat dalam jiwa dan kehidupan mereka. 43. Kami amat prihatin dan memahami cabaran yang dihadapi oleh keluarga-keluarga yang mempunyai anak-anak berkeperluan khas. Perjalanan mereka sukar tetapi mereka tetap teguh menghadapi cabaran membesarkan anak-anak mereka. Kami akan mengukuhkan sokongan kami kepada para pelajar Keperluan Pendidikan Khas (SEN) dan keluarga mereka. Kami akan bekerjasama dengan Agensi Perkhidmatan Sosial (SSA) dan agensi-agensi lain untuk mempertingkat sokongan kurikulum untuk para pelajar ini serta memperkukuh pembangunan profesional bagi pendidik di Sekolah-sekolah Pendidikan Khas (SPED). 44. Kami juga akur pentingnya memperdalam minat pelajar terhadap bahasa ibunda mereka. Dengan kriteria kelayakan baharu yang disemak semula untuk Bahasa Ibunda Lanjutan (HMTL) di peringkat menengah, pelajar yang cemerlang dalam Bahasa Melayu boleh mengambil subjek Bahasa Melayu Lanjutan tanpa mengambil kira prestasi akademik secara keseluruhan mereka. Ini juga mendedahkan mereka kepada pelbagai buku dan bahan-bahan sastera dan isu-isu kompleks, memperdalam penghargaan mereka terhadap budaya Melayu dan meluaskan pandangan dunia mereka. Kami akan terus menyediakan program-program khusus untuk mengukuhkan penguasaan Bahasa Melayu pelajar kita, untuk membentuk pemimpin bahasa dan budaya Melayu pada masa hadapan. 45. Kami juga akan menyediakan pelbagai laluan untuk memenuhi aspirasi para pelajar kita yang berbeza-beza, dan mengalu-alukan lebih ramai pelajar untuk memanfaatkan peralihan semua kursus Institut Pendidikan Teknikal (ITE) kepada struktur kurikulum ITE tiga tahun yang dipertingkat menjelang Tahun Akademik 2026. Untuk memberi peluang kepada lebih ramai lulusan ITE meningkatkan kemahiran melalui Diploma, kami akan memperluas Anugerah Kemajuan ITE (IPA) kepada kursus-kursus diploma yang dikeluarkan oleh Kelayakan Kemahiran Tenaga Kerja (WSQ). Kami berharap lebih ramai graduan kita dapat menjadikan peningkatan kemahiran sebagai tema dalam perjalanan pembelajaran sepanjang hayat mereka.

Conclusion

46. Mr Chairman, to conclude, MOE is committed to ensuring that all children, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.

47. With great care and attention and in partnership with parents, teachers, and our fellow Singaporeans, we will ensure that the seeds we plant in our education system today, grow into a thriving Singapore for generations to come.