ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES
In terms of how MOE will allocate resources, such as specialised teachers and facilities to support schools in implementing high-ability programmes, Mr Chan said a “slight adjustment” will be made for teachers in “regional centres”.
These centres are certain schools across Singapore where students take after-school modules.
The ministry wants to ensure there are enough teachers to conduct the modules, and also make sure that students do not have to travel too far to attend them, he added.
“So perhaps in every town, a few schools can come together to form a cluster, and we will have probably slightly more … schools than the current nine that allow us to conduct such regional programmes,” he said.
Such regional centres can also be moved depending on the distribution of students across the island, Mr Chan noted.
PARENTS SHOULD INVOLVE CHILDREN IN DECISION-MAKING
On the topic of parents’ mindsets, Mr Chan addressed a question on how MOE plans to engage parents to adopt the notion that all schools are good schools.
The phrase “Every school, a good school” was popularised by former Education Minister Heng Swee Keat over a decade ago, as Singapore sought to move away from an over-emphasis on academic grades.
Mr Chan said parents should consider whether a school is a good fit for their child at his or her current stage of development, and – most importantly – what the child chooses.
“I want all our children to grow up taking responsibility for their own decisions,” he added.
“Of course, parents say: ‘Oh no, you can’t make my child make such decisions when they are at this age.’
“But if you think back when we were younger, we all learned to make such decisions and we didn’t turn out too badly, because at that point in time, perhaps our parents were not as informed and they let us have the freedom to choose, but they also taught us to take responsibility for our own choices.
“I think we need to (give) our children this space to make decisions and have the space to make decisions,” Mr Chan said.