MOE going through changes to prepare students for the future: Ong
Education Minister (Higher Education and SKills) Ong Ye Kung. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — While fiscal adjustments were “not major” in this year’s Budget, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is going through an “overwhelming” adjustment in order to prepare children for changes in the world coming their way, said Education Minister (Higher Education and SKills) Ong Ye Kung.
Noting the economic uncertainty, with growth moderate and concerns about jobs, skills and their relevance in the future looming, Mr Ong said encouraging students to pursue their talents is the way to make sure they “grow up fully prepared for the changed world ahead”.
He illustrated this task for his ministry with how a computer’s hardware may look unchanged, but inside, the operating system and the algorithm are changing. “From the MOE’s perspective, that is an overwhelming adjustment,” said Mr Ong, speaking at the sidelines of a family carnival in Sembawang on Sunday (March 12) .
“We’re at a stage (where) Budget headroom is not so much now ... I can’t just make a big change in the system by pumping in another billion dollars, build another polytechnic, build another university.
“But instead, it’s changing the way we do things — uncovering students’ talents, developing them to the fullest.”
During the debate on MOE’s budget last week, various ways to help students maximise their talents and develop their passions were announced, including changes to the Direct School Admissions scheme and tweaks to aptitude-based admissions to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnics.
Referencing these changes, Mr Ong said: “Altogether, I think we’re taking meaningful steps, changing the way education should work for our children, so that they grow up fully prepared for the changed world ahead.”
Earlier in the morning, Mr Ong gave out Education Merit Awards to 330 students between primary and junior college levels.
This was the first year that the award — meant for top performers whose monthly household income crosses S$6,000, meaning they do not qualify for the Edusave Merit Bursary — was given out in Sembawang GRC’s Canberra ward.
EDUCATION AWARDS
A total of 267 primary school students received an S$80 cheque, whereas 63 secondary school and junior college students received a S$100 cheque.
The award was co-funded by the North West Community Development Council and the Canberra Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC).
One of the recipients, Endeavour Primary School student Meadow Isabelle Adipura, 8, felt encouraged to study harder after receiving the award. She intends to reward herself by buying Barbie dolls with the prize money. Her mother Helen Tan, 38, a sales analyst, said she usually scores above 90 marks for each subject.
Mr Ong said the purpose of the awards is not in the monetary value, but “to give (students) a pat on the back to tell them, ‘You’re doing well, you’re on the right track’”.
Another 185 students received cheques ranging between S$120 to S$150 on Sunday, under the Canberra Education Awards funded by the CCC. This annual award targets students whose household income falls under S$6,000 per month, and whose grades are behind the top 25 per cent of students in their cohort.
The awards were given out at an annual family carnival attended by around 10,000 Canberra residents on Sunday.
