The MOE Kindergartens are pilot kindergartens. Our aim is to provide good and affordable kindergarten education, and enable us to develop teaching and learning resources and best practices to enhance the children’s learning.

We have sited the MOE Kindergartens in HDB estates, to better reach out to children in these areas. The specific locations are based on various factors, such as the profile of the neighbourhood and the infrastructure capacity of the schools. Together, they provide a broad range of conditions, useful for our pilot.

For the next ten pilot MOE Kindergartens that will be set up over the next few years, we will determine their locations after a further study.

Currently, the school terms and holiday dates for the following year are released in the third quarter of the current year. The release of the school terms and holidays dates includes information such as :

• School Terms for Primary, Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges and Millennia Institute
• School Holidays for Primary, Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges and Millennia Institute
• Listing of Scheduled School Holidays (eg. Youth Day, Children’s Day)
• Listing of Public Holidays

The arrangement of the school terms and holidays incorporates the public holiday dates which are provided by MOM only in the second quarter of the year, and factors in the schedule of the national examinations and the release of their results.

As such, MOE is only able to release the schedule of school terms and holidays dates for the following year in the third quarter of the current year.

A key feature of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) is on relationships; specifically with friends, the school and the community. Students learn to value relationships through a variety of teaching approaches which include classroom lessons as well as experiential programmes.

In their CCE lessons, students are explicitly taught the values of respect and care in their daily interactions with others. They are also taught to appreciate the diverse strengths and abilities of the members of their community. Students are guided to take multiple perspectives and learn to respond to the needs of people around them.

Learning experiences through Values in Action (VIA) and Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) further provide our students with opportunities to engage and interact with people of different backgrounds and abilities. Through VIA, students are encouraged to initiate collective action among their peers to improve the lives of others in school and the community. They learn to appreciate diversity in the community and respect for each other’s strengths and abilities.

The vast majority of university places have gone to Singaporeans. In AY2012, Singaporean students comprised 79%, while International Students and Permanent Residents comprised 16% and 5% of the universities’ intake respectively.

The AUs are also required to cap the intake of International Students at 2011 levels and the share of these students in the total intake will continue to fall as we expand university places for Singaporeans.

University places are planned for Singaporeans first and foremost. Some places are set aside for international students. They are considered for admission using more stringent admission criteria. We allow a percentage of international students as they add diversity and vibrancy to our university campuses, and provide more opportunities for Singaporean students to interact with individuals from other cultures and experiences. Such exposure to others from culturally different backgrounds helps prepare our university students for the global market place.

Three groups of officers comprise the Allied Educators (AED) family which complements the work of teachers to bring out the best in our students.

The first group are the School Counsellors, formerly known as Allied Educators (Counselling), who provide guidance and counselling services to students and are involved in designing programmes that meet students’ social-emotional learning needs. The second group of AEDs specialise in Learning and Behavioural Support (LBS). They help teachers manage students with mild special educational needs such as autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder. Schools are resourced with School Counsellors and AED(LBS) according to their needs.

The third group of AEDs focus on Teaching and Learning (T&L) and support teachers both within and outside of the classroom. Under the guidance of teachers, they provide students with specific and differentiated learning and remediation support. In addition, they provide pastoral care for students, and help conduct CCAs and other programmes that support the holistic development of students. Schools are staffed with AED(T&L)s based on their student enrolment.

Since the introduction of the AED Scheme in 2009, the number of AEDs across the three groups has grown from 600 in 2009 to more than 2,400 today. We have largely achieved our staffing targets, with an average of 7 AEDs in each Primary and Secondary school.

In the political science department of NUS, 7 or 28% of the 25 faculty members are Singaporeans.

In the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 38 or 46% of the 82 faculty members are Singaporeans. In NTU’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, 12 or 41% of the 29 faculty members are Singaporeans.

In the NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, 21 or 44% of the 48 faculty members are Singaporean.

We do not have comparable figures for UK and US universities.

Overall, male teachers comprise about 30% of our total teaching force.

• In Primary schools, male teachers typically comprise 20% of the teacher population. In Secondary schools, Junior Colleges, Centralised Institutes and mixed-level schools, this proportion rises to about 35-40%.

• In all-boys schools, the proportions of male teachers are slightly higher, at about 25% of Primary teachers and 45% of Secondary and post-Secondary teachers.

While we would welcome more male teachers joining the teaching service, gender is not a consideration in our selection and deployment of teachers. We recruit teachers based on their aptitude and passion for teaching, as well as their character and values, among other factors. When deploying teachers to our schools, we consider factors such as the subjects they are trained to teach, as well as the learning needs of the school’s students.

The Ministry of Education has been publishing the results of the Graduate Employment Survey (GES) for Autonomous Universities (AUs) since 2008. The GES provides:

• Prospective students with timely and comparable data to assist them in making informed course decisions; and
• Stakeholders such as the AUs, governmental agencies and employers with information to assess the industry demand for the AUs’ graduates.

The GES findings have helped our AUs to track their graduates’ employment outcomes. MOE factually presents data, such as starting salaries and employment rates, based on the course of study. While the starting salaries of graduates from the various courses are a point of reference, they should not be the main or sole criterion for students in deciding what to study. Students should choose their desired courses holistically based on their interests, abilities and aspirations, aside from the immediate employment outcomes from the various courses of study.

With technological advances and new career opportunities, the average student today can expect, in his life time, to change jobs several times. MOE places emphasis on Education and Career Guidance (ECG) to prepare our students and equip them with the mindsets, skills and competencies to contribute positively in such an increasingly complex work environment.

In the revised ECG curriculum to be implemented in 2014, secondary school students will be taught the various career sectors in Singapore and understand how jobs become obsolete and new ones emerge. They will also learn to seek opportunities for lifelong learning to improve productivity and employability. Career Coordinators are given updated labour market information to incorporate into their curriculum where appropriate.

Besides ECG lessons, schools also organise career fairs, industry visits, visits to open-houses of post-secondary institutions or tertiary institutions, work attachments and work shadowing opportunities for their students. School counsellors provide career counselling to support students in their education and career decision-making processes.

The interactive online ECG portal implemented in schools since 2009 helps students to discover their strengths and interests, and guides them in education planning and career exploration. The occupational database comprising jobs requiring different skills available in Singapore exposes students to think about jobs that they may not have considered before.

Our polytechnics currently offer about 35 specialist diplomas in clusters ranging from the health and applied sciences to business, engineering and the information and digital technologies. Approximately 1500 places have been taken up in such courses for academic year 2012.

In a recent survey conducted by polytechnics in February and March this year to ascertain key employment outcomes of such participants, approximately 6 out of 10 specialist diploma graduate respondents indicated that their current employment was related to their course of study. Of those who were not employed in a relevant industry, the commonly cited reasons included greater career prospects and more lucrative job openings in other fields of work, and taking up the courses for reasons other than employment purposes, e.g. personal interests and development.

A similar survey conducted with employers this year also yielded positive feedback on graduates from the part-time academic diploma and post-diploma programmes in the polytechnics, including the specialist diploma courses. About 9 in 10 employers indicated that such programmes have helped their employees to be more effective in their work, and were able to handle duties beyond the technical and professional areas. More than 9 in 10 employers also observed that their employers were more motivated to perform better in their work after completing their course of study.

The polytechnics also obtain timely feedback about the quality of their graduates and programmes through platforms such as the School and Industry Advisory Committees as well as other informal engagements. Academic programmes are developed and refined in consultation with the polytechnics’ industry partners, employers and government agencies. This process helps to ensure that course curricula remain in line with industry developments, skills needs, and employer expectations, and polytechnic graduates continue to enjoy good career prospects and progression opportunities.

The polytechnics require all academic staff, including those teaching the specialist diploma programmes, to have at least a bachelor’s degree, with a significant proportion holding post-graduate qualifications. Other factors are also taken into consideration when assessing the suitability of potential candidates, including relevant work experience, passion for teaching, and experience in curriculum design and classroom delivery.

Academic staff are appraised by the polytechnics annually. These appraisals take into account assessments of classroom delivery, facilitated by classroom observations, as well as student feedback and performance. They also cover staff contributions in areas such as technical and educational research and the quality of course materials produced, which directly impact student outcomes and ensure the continued excellence of the polytechnics.

The average annual intake at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSOM) over the past three years was 280 students. An average of 3 foreign students was admitted each year, of which 1 - 2 were ASEAN scholars. This is less than 1% of total intake.

Out of the applicants who applied to Medicine as their first choice in the past three years, about 1,000 applicants per year were rejected. Some of them did not meet all the necessary admissions criteria. Others met the criteria but were not admitted as the number of applicants exceeded the number of places available.

YLLSOM is a very popular choice and attracts applications from many highly-qualified Singaporean students. The admissions process is based on merit and is highly selective. Decisions on admissions take into account an applicant’s academic grade, personal portfolio, as well as his performance in a Focused Skills Assessment, a Situational Judgement Test and an interview. The admissions assessment process is rigorous. Candidates are assessed not only on academic ability, but also other attributes such as good communication skills, a positive work ethic and care and empathy for patients.

MOE does not have data on the number of rejected Singaporean students who went overseas to study medicine.

The Government also recognises the rising need for doctors due to the changes in Singapore’s demography. In response to this projected increase in demand, we have thus increased the pipeline of locally trained doctors by expanding the intake of YLLSOM and setting up two additional medical schools: the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University.

At the Committee of Supply sitting in 2012, MOE had announced our commitment to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of school-based SCCs as one of the many measures to support students from low to middle-income families. We had pledged then to increase the number of school-based SCCs to 70 by the end of 2014. With strong community support and proactive efforts by our schools, there are already 80 school-based SCCs as of today with enrolment of more than 6,500 students.

At the recent Committee of Supply, we have said that more school-based SCCs will be set up in primary schools, as part of our efforts to level up and support students. We will make an announcement on this when the details are ready.

Our schools select their SCC operator through an open procurement approach. Prospective operators are required to submit proposals that include the nature of programmes to be offered, fees to be charged, staff-to-student ratio, and the qualifications and experience of the staff. Schools will evaluate the proposals submitted and select the SCC operator that offers the best package in terms of quality and affordability.

Respect for all is a fundamental value taught to all students by our schools. In addition, as part of the Character and Citizenship Education curriculum from 2014, the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) module further emphasises this value within the context of education courses and occupations.

Schools provide ECG to students from primary to post-secondary levels, based on their developmental needs. At the primary level, ECG helps our pupils know themselves — their abilities and interests and be aware of the many different occupations in the world of work. Teachers help to correct misconceptions about occupations such as gender-role stereotypes and perceived social status of certain occupations.

At the secondary level, teachers will reinforce in our students, an appreciation for the value of all occupations and how different jobs contribute to the well-functioning of society. Students will have opportunities to explore a wide array of occupations, including new jobs and new industries.

To supplement the curriculum, an online ECG portal, ecareers.sg, has been implemented in schools since 2009. This allows students to discover their own strengths and interests, engage in education planning and career exploration. The occupational database comprises jobs requiring different skills available in Singapore. This expands our students’ minds to consider jobs aligned to their interests and abilities that they have not thought of.

NUS convened a Board of Discipline hearing for the NUS Campus Crusade for Christ (NCCC) Executive Committee members in September 2012, after confirming that the police were not taking any action against the students involved. After the hearing, NUS tasked the NCCC to submit a reflection report. NUS has accepted the outcome of the NCCC reflection report, which includes steps NCCC has taken to ensure that a similar incident will not happen again.

From 2007 to 2012, 11 polytechnic graduates were admitted into the LLB degree course at NUS and 2 were admitted to the LLB degree course at SMU. Table 1 provides a detailed breakdown.

These polytechnic graduates had pursued diplomas in areas such as law and management, mass communication, business and finance.