The Government announced its plan to increase its R&D expenditure from 2.25% of GDP in 2004 to 3% by 2010.

As part of this plan, MOE’s Academic Research Fund (AcRF) to support research in our universities was nearly tripled to a total sum of about $1.4B for five years starting from FY2006 when compared to the preceding same period.

From this, MOE sets aside $250M for the establishment of Research Centres of Excellence (RCEs) at our universities to fund programs that will generate research of global impact. RCEs are co-funded by NRF, which provides another $500M, making a total of $750M.

Our universities have geared up their research activities and quality, in tandem with the increased funding. We have already seen some promising indicators of progress:

• Number of postgraduate research students funded by the AcRF currently stands at 4,676, a 13% increase from the 4,147 in 2006 and 65% that in 2001.
• Number of projects funded increased from 30 in 2006 to 53 in 2007, representing an increase in funding from $24M to $42M.
• Three RCEs have been approved over the past 2 years. One such RCE is the Centre for Quantum Technology at NUS, where a team of 3 researchers recently won the prestigious 2008 National Science Award for their outstanding theoretical and experimental studies in the field of quantum cryptography.
• NUS and NTU have improved their performance on the research indicators used by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES). In terms of citations per faculty member, NUS has moved up in rank from the 115th - 122nd band in 2006, to the 61st - 67th rank band in 2007. NTU too has moved up about 40 places, and was among the 125th to 130th universities in 2007.

In view of these efforts, our universities are gradually climbing up in terms of international research benchmarks.

Our universities adopt internationally-used indicators like those employed by the THES and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities. Besides the number of citations per faculty mentioned earlier, other indicators, like the number of high quality publications and the number of patents filed and granted, are used to measure their progress.

Beyond quantitative measures, the MOE and the universities rely on qualitative assessments of experts and international academic leaders.

For example, the Academic Research Council (ARC) was formed in June 2006 and is chaired by Dr Robert Brown, President of Boston University and former Provost of MIT. The Council has been instrumental in helping MOE shape and foster a strong research culture in our universities, which has grown from strength to strength.

MOE does not cap the number of research groups that research fund recipients can belong to. However, when assessing research proposals for funding, expert and evaluation panels do take into account the ability of the researcher to provide the level of commitment needed for the success of the project.

Mr Zainudin Nordin, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education since research has been identified as a key pillar of our economic advancement (a) what is the progress of our efforts to promote more research work in our universities; (b) how do the universities measure the success of research work; (c) whether the quality of research and the processes that are used to measure it are comparable to world standards; and (d) as research is a knowledge-intensive and time-demanding process, what is the maximum number of research groups that research fund recipients can belong to.

Up to the late 1980s, priority admissions into schools for Primary One (P1) were used to support population policies. Following a review, the Government decided in 1992 to de-link P1 registration from population policies, even if they were an effective measure.

Primary school admissions should be guided by educational goals, wherever possible. Proximity to home is a key criteria for admission so that a young child does not have to travel a long distance to go to school. Having siblings studying in the same school is another criteria as this is convenient for parents; allows the older sibling to help the younger child and builds schools ties. We give priority to key stakeholders, such as children of old boys or girls, members of school advisory committees and parent volunteers as it strengthens community and parental support for the schools.

The current scheme reflects a careful balance of the various factors that serve the educational interest of the child and the school.

Er Lee Bee Wah, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in light of the Government’s call for families to have more children, whether the Ministry will review its existing policy on Primary 1 registration to give priority to those with three children or more as an incentive for parents.

The incidence of suicide for all residents between ages 10 to 241 years has not shown any increasing trend over the past few years. According to data from the birth and death registry of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), the incidence2 for this age group was 7.2 in 2003, 5.8 in 2004, 6.1 in 2005, 4.9 in 2006 and 6.7 in 2007. Among these, suicides involving students varied from 10 to 19 cases per year. The figures are given in Table 1:

Table 1: Number of Cases of Suicide involving Students

While the numbers have not been rising, every suicide is regrettable and MOE’s has adopted a comprehensive approach that aims prevent such incidences. Measures have been developed over the years based on the Ministry’s research on suicide prevention and inputs from external partners and experts which include psychiatrists and clinical psychologists from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). The key elements of this approach are:

1. building protective factors in our students,
2. identifying at-risk students for early support, and
3. channelling students with suicidal tendencies to the appropriate psychological, medical and other necessary resources for intervention.

Our schools build protective factors within students themselves primarily through the provision of social and emotional learning (SEL). SEL helps students acquire a set of social-emotional competencies, which will enable our students to better understand themselves, interact effectively with others and cope with life’s challenges, thereby inoculating them against succumbing to suicidal thoughts and behaviours. This is further augmented by the Mind Your Mind (MYM) programme, a school-based mental health education package, targeted at primary and secondary school students. The package is jointly developed by Health Promotion Board (HPB) and MOE, and covers topics such as stress and anger management, building positive self-esteem and depression.

To help students in need of support, every school has a tiered-referral system in place to facilitate the early identification and extension of help to them. At the first tier are our teachers who are trained to identify students who show signs that they are troubled and provide the necessary basic support, including referring students to counsellors in school who form the second tier of support. Complex cases are referred to the third tier of support, which can involve guidance specialists from MOE, mental health professionals or the relevant social service agencies. Our post secondary institutions and universities also have their equivalent of student support services and programmes to cater to the mental health needs of their students.

In addition, HPB runs an on-line peer support network and disseminate pertinent mental wellness messages using such youth-centric communication channels. The Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) also conducts ‘Emotional First Aid’ talks and workshops to equip youths with information on where one could seek help and knowledge to identify suicide warning signs so that they can look out for their friends who may be going through difficult times. In addition, youths in distress can email SOS or call their 24-hour hotline.

Despite these efforts to prevent suicides, a few cases still occur each year. They showed no early warning signals or sign of trouble which alerted teachers and other school staff, to act. We will persist in our efforts to prevent suicides and MOE will continue to work closely with our partners, such as the IMH, to develop strategies for early detection of mental illness and intervention for students in need.

While schools and the wider community can support and educate our youths, the support from the home is also paramount. Parents and family members can help their youths set realistic expectations for themselves and develop the resilience and strength of character which will enable them to ride the challenges of life.

Mdm Cynthia Phua, MP for Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) What is the incidence of suicide among youths between 10 and 23 years old? (b) How many of these cases involved students? (c) How many of these suicide victims had seen their school counsellors before they ended their lives? (d) What is the Ministry doing to reduce the suicide trend among students?

  Our approach is to create an environment where both local and international students feel comfortable interacting with one another, and share common experiences. Our schools and institutions have orientation programmes to help our international students to get used to their new environment. We also create opportunities for them to engage with Singaporeans.  
  Schools make use of natural vehicles like school activities, co-curricular activities (CCA) and community involvement programmes (CIP) to promote interaction between local and international students. Schools are also given additional resources to mount activities which facilitate integration, including orientation programmes, learning journeys, cultural awareness and English enrichment classes. Through the school curriculum, international students learn about Singapore history and national issues through subjects like History and Social Studies. They also learn about our social diversity and the importance of racial and religious harmony though the celebration of festivals and events like International Friendship Day, Racial Harmony Day and National Day. 

  Integration efforts are continued in our polytechnics and universities, typically through the International Student Office that looks after the administrative, academic and welfare needs of international students. These include orientation programmes, buddy schemes, host family programmes and a variety of campus and off-campus activities. There is a good mix of local and international students in the halls of residence to facilitate interaction.  

  These initiatives and programmes help international students adjust to life in Singapore, form friendships with Singaporeans and feel a sense of belonging here. MOE will continue to monitor the integration of international students, and work with agencies like MCYS and PA to see how integration can be furthered beyond the school setting in the community. Finally, the integration of international students also requires all Singaporeans to play our part, by reaching out to them and making them feel welcomed in Singapore.

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, MP for Marine Parade GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education what are the current initiatives to engage non-citizen students and integrate them within the schools and the community.

Infocomm technologies or ICT have become an integral part of students’ learning in Singapore schools. There are adequate ICT facilities and computers in schools for use during and after school hours. Based on a recent survey by MOE, about 90% of our students indicated that they had access to an Internet-connected computer at home. For students without such access, some schools also loan out notebook computers to them to work on their assignments at home.

At the same time, MOE works closely with the Infocomm Development Authority or IDA and other community organisations to help needy students gain access to an Internet-connected computer at home.

First, IDA’s NEU (NEw and Used PC) Plus Programme helps needy students to purchase desktop computers or laptops complete with software and 3 years of broadband access at a subsidised price of $285 and $730 respectively. All Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents from families with gross monthly income not exceeding $2000 or per capita monthly income of not more than $500 are eligible for the Programme. Since the launch of the NEU PC PLUS Programme in end 2006, a total of about 5000 students have obtained their computers under this Programme, with 1,350 in FY2006 and 3,650 in FY2007.

Second, those who need additional help to pay the subsidised rates can tap on MOE’s Opportunity Fund, which was set up in April 2006, and the INSPIRE fund set up by IDA with the industry in November 2007. For the Opportunity Fund, schools decide on the subsidy amount and the eligibility criteria. Under the INSPIRE fund, in lieu of the $285 or $730 they would otherwise have to pay for a PC or laptop, they render 6 to 12 hours of community service such as helping out at old folks and children’s homes.

To date, schools have disbursed a total of about $900,000 under the Opportunity Fund and INSPIRE fund for the purchase of computers, with about $66,000 in FY2006 and about $860,000 in FY2007. This is estimated to have benefited some 4,000 students. Thirdly, students can also seek funding support from agencies such as SINDA, Yayasan Mendaki, and Chinese CDAC, as well as their Schools’ Advisory Committee and Management Committee, and the Lee Wee Kheng Fund.

In short, MOE, IDA and community organisations have put in place various schemes to ensure that as many of our students as possible have access to computers at home.

Mdm Cynthia Phua, Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask Minister for Education in view of many schools requiring students to use laptops in their school work

1. whether there are financial assistance schemes for needy students who cannot afford to pay for the laptops and new computer programs;
2. under what circumstances will these students qualify for free laptops and computer programs from the schools; and
3. whether the Minister can give a breakdown of the financial assistance granted to needy students for purchase of laptops and computer programs during the fiscal year 2006/07 and 2007/08.

Currently, there are a total of 6,364 and 9,226 hostel places in the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) respectively. NUS has sufficient hostel places to house 27% of its undergraduates and is in the process of building more hostels. (The current level of provision is equivalent to providing one year’s hostel stay for all undergraduates.)

At NTU, there are sufficient hostel places to allow nearly half (46%) of its their undergraduates to stay on campus. NTU will also be increasing their hostel capacity in the next few years to cater to the growing demand.

Er Lee Bee Wah, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in view of the rising student enrolment (a) how many student hostels are there in the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University; (b) whether these hostels are sufficient to meet the demand; and (c) whether there are plans to build more hostels.

MOE and MOH are now studying our medium and long-term health-care needs carefully and how we can meet the projected demand for medical manpower.

Over the years, we have improved our doctor-to-population ratio to the present ratio of 1:660. To keep pace with needs from an ageing population, MOE in consultation with MOH has decided that the annual medical intake of the National University’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine will increase from 250 to 260 for Academic Year (AY) 2008. There are plans to gradually increase this further to 300 in AY2011.

Dr Fatimah Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education whether there are plans to increase the number of places in the annual intake of students at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS) from the current 250 places per cohort.

The Integrated Programme (IP) was introduced in 2004. At this point, our evaluation can only be preliminary as only one batch of IP students has completed their ‘A’ level or equivalent examinations.

Feedback from the IP students indicates that they have enjoyed the learning environment which allowed them to stretch their intellectual potential, while equipping them for self-directed learning. In terms of examination results, their performance has been good. Based on the 2007 A-Level results of the first batch of IP students from the IP JCs, namely Raffles Junior College, Hwa Chong Institution and National Junior College, the IP students performed at a similar level as last year’s cohort in the same JCs. [For information: 98.2% of IP students in the three JCs obtained a pass in 3H2 subjects and GP/KI, compared to 98.3% of the same JCs last year]. Given the change in the A-level curriculum, we also looked at the performance within each JC, and IP students have also performed well when compared with their non-IP peers. In these 3 JCs, 98.2% of IP students obtained a pass in 3H2 subjects and General Paper / Knowledge and Inquiry, compared with 96.8% of the non-IP students.

As with previous cohorts from these schools before IP was introduced, there are a handful of students who did not meet the minimum criteria to qualify for admission to our three publicly-funded universities. These students have chosen to repeat their ‘A’ levels, or apply to overseas educational institutions using their ‘A’ level and school-based results.

Our preliminary assessment from initial results is that the IP programs have been positive, and met their objectives of providing a more holistic education for our students. MOE will continue to monitor the progress.

Dr Ong Seh Hong, MP for Marine Parade GRC

Question

To ask the Minister of Education (a) if he will provide an evaluation of the Integrated Programme so far; and (b) what is the status of these students who did not pass their GCE Advanced Level Examinations, if any.

The safety and well-being of pupils have always been the top priority when schools select school bus operators. Schools are guided by the following criteria in the selection of school bus operators:

Firstly, schools will select operators who comply with all safety measures as stipulated by LTA for the safe transportation of pupils. These safety measures require the operators to ensure that there is no overcrowding and no standing passengers on the bus. These operators are to provide bus drivers who would adhere to the speed limit of 60 km/h. They will also have to ensure that their buses that are less than 10 years old pass the compulsory annual inspections while those that are more than 10 years old pass the half-yearly inspections.

Schools also require a bus attendant be provided for each bus with more than 30 seating capacity. The bus attendant would oversee orderly behaviour by pupils and that safety measures are adhered to by pupils. They also assist pupils in embarking and alighting from the bus.

Schools also select bus operators on the basis that they are able to provide the necessary services to the school in terms of number of buses, area of coverage, proposed route plan, pick-up and drop-off time and other operation services as required by the schools.

Selection is also based on the charges offered at competitive prices that can best serve the pupils and schools.

Lastly, schools consider the track record of the operators. Parents’ feedback and school’s assessment of service provided will be noted for continuation of services.

Er Lee Bee Wah, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education what are the criteria used by schools to appoint bus operators to transport students.

About one-third of our local students who graduated between 2005 and 2007 from the local universities had taken up tuition fee loans to finance their undergraduate studies. (Another one-third of our local students drew down on either their parents’ or their own CPF under the CPF Education Scheme to pay for their fees.)

Most students would have graduated with an average debt of about $20,000. Based on the maximum loan repayment period of 20 years, a university graduate would need to repay about $130 per month¹, which is about 5% of the average starting pay of graduates². The pay of a graduate is very likely to rise as he progresses in his career, enabling him to repay the debt in a shorter period of time.

Government has introduced the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) and will continue to top up the amounts from time to time when budget surpluses allow. For needy students from the lower income brackets, the Government has enhanced the financial assistance schemes to provide more help to these students. With the PSEA and the enhanced financial assistance schemes, needy students can use the PSEA and higher bursary quanta to defray some of their fees, thereby further reducing their debt burden.

Footnotes

1. This is computed based on repayment terms for the Tuition Fee Loan Scheme where interest is computed based on average prime rates of the local banks. The loan is interest free during the students’ course of study and interest would accrue only after graduation.
2. Based on the 2007 Graduate Employment Survey, the average starting pay of a graduate is about $2,800 per month.

Ms Sylvia Lim, Non-constituency Member

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Government tracks social mobility vis-à-vis access to local university education and what are the indicators used; and (b) of the students entering NUS, NTU and SMU in the last 3 years, how far does the distribution of household income of the undergraduate population in the 3 local universities mirror or differ from the household income distribution of the general population.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) tracks participation in local university education of the different socio-economic groups by housing-type. Table 1 provides the housing-type distribution of the students from the 1990-1992 Primary 1 cohorts. These cohorts would be age 22 to 24 in 2007 and have been admitted to NUS, NTU or SMU if they had qualified.

Table 1: Housing-type Distribution of the 1990-1992 SC/PR P1 Cohorts

The data shows a positive picture. Students from all socio-economic groups are making it to local universities. 1 of every 8 undergraduates comes from poorer families who live in 1- to 3-room flats. When compared with the distribution of households of Primary 1 cohorts, students whose parents are more successful are more likely to make it to university. This is a trend seen in most stable, developed societies. It is not surprising that this is happening in Singapore too, after one and a half generations of our meritocratic system. Able students from poor households have done well in their studies, risen in life, and now have children of their own who also tend to do well.

Admission to our publicly funded universities is strictly on the basis of merit. All those who qualify will have a place, regardless of socio-economic status. The Government and universities have put in place the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) and a range of scholarships and financial aid schemes to ensure that no deserving student needs be held back due to financial difficulty, and in practice nearly all go to university.

Our efforts to enhance social mobility extend to other levels, with high subsidies for education in our schools, ITE and polytechnics. We actively ensure that students at all levels are able to progress through the many education pathways, and that promising students from poorer families are given every encouragement and support to pursue ambitious goals.

Ms Sylvia Lim, Non-constituency Member

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Government tracks social mobility vis-à-vis access to local university education and what are the indicators used; and (b) of the students entering NUS, NTU and SMU in the last 3 years, how far does the distribution of household income of the undergraduate population in the 3 local universities mirror or differ from the household income distribution of the general population.

MOE and NCSS are committed to funding and supporting the Special Education (SPED) schools in delivering the full suite of education and other services to meet the needs of children with special needs. The 21 SPED schools recruit teachers, therapists and other staff according to their need. As at 8 Jan 08, there were some 700 Teachers in the 21 SPED schools and 18 vacant teaching positions temporarily filled by relief teachers. The SPED schools are currently recruiting candidates to fill the vacancies. With regard to therapists, there were a total of 45 therapists which comprised 21 occupational therapists, 11 physiotherapists and 13 speech therapists. For SPED schools which need additional support services for their students, they could purchase therapy services from the Therapy Hubs set up by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). Currently 4 SPED schools, which are unable to fill their vacant positions for therapists, are buying such services from the Therapy Hubs. .

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) help uplift the quality and image of the sector through the provision of additional funding and greater professional development opportunities as well as recognition for outstanding SPED teachers. These include a training vote for customised training to meet the teacher’s individual professional needs. In addition, teachers can also apply for work attachment opportunities to broaden their exposure beyond their school experience. Other professional development opportunities include leadership training programmes for principals and middle management staff and specialised training for teachers teaching children with autism. To boost the professionalism of SPED educators and provide recognition for outstanding SPED teachers, the MOE-NCSS SPED Teacher Award has been implemented and the inaugural award presentation was held in Nov 07. With all these provisions in place, the recurrent cost of the SPED schools had increased by some $31.5m over the last 4 years, from $46.8m in FY04 to $78.3 in FY08. NCSS reviews the pay packages of SPED teachers regularly to ensure they are equitably compensated. SPED teachers’ salaries were revised as recently as April 2007. NCSS will continue to explore ways to make teaching in SPED schools, a rewarding and fulfilling career.

Special Needs Officers (SNOs) are deployed to mainstream schools to assist teachers in providing support to students with mild to moderate special education needs. The SNOs provide different forms of support which include in-class support, support outside the classroom, specialised remediation, specialised training in lifeskills and the implementation of Individual Education Plans for the students. They may progress to be a Senior SNO as they gain more experience and skills to provide increasing levels of support needed for pupils with more complex learning disabilities. The Senior SNOs will provide guidance and professional supervision for junior SNOs and assist school personnel in developing resources and systems to better support pupils with special needs. Some SNOs may choose to advance their careers in the SPED school sector.

Candidates applying to be teachers in the SPED schools must meet the minimum requirement of ‘A’ Levels, which is the criteria for entry to the NIE pre-service teacher training course, the Diploma in Special Education. Whilst ‘A’ levels is the minimum academic qualification to be a SPED teacher, SPED schools have been able to attract candidates with higher academic qualifications. Of the 700 SPED teachers currently in the SPED schools, 325 have degrees, ranging from Bachelor to Masters degrees. Thus, graduate teachers form 47% of the total number of teachers in the SPED schools.

Mr Chiam See Tong, MP for Potong Pasir

Question

To ask the Minister for Education

1. whether there are sufficient teachers and therapists for special needs schools;
2. whether his Ministry will improve the benefits of teachers in special needs schools to the equivalent of teachers in mainstream schools in order to attract more people into special needs education;
3. what are the career advancement opportunities for Special Needs Officers employed under his Ministry; and
4. what is the rationale for not having degree level courses for special needs education despite its importance.

Understanding about the importance of early childhood education is still evolving. Some recent international research suggests that the early childhood years are a sensitive period in which a child’s future development can be influenced. MOE’s own data indicates that pre-school education is particularly helpful in allowing children from low-income and non-English speaking families to be more school-ready.

MOE has done much to help children from diverse pre-school experiences to transit to formal education in Primary One. In this way, all children will have the opportunity to benefit from the quality education in our schools, regardless of starting points. Some examples include the reduction in Primary One and Two class sizes from 40 to 30 for smoother transition from kindergarten, enhancement to the Learning Support Programme to build literacy skills, and the introduction of a similar programme in Mathematics.

MOE’s support for early childhood education has been targeted at areas which would have the greatest leverage. These areas include:

1. Delineating the Desired Outcomes for Pre-School Education which are aligned to the desired outcomes of primary education;
2. Developing a curriculum framework;
3. Raising the minimum professional qualifications of teachers;
4. Developing a professional development framework to encourage continuous professional development of pre-school practitioners;
5. Organising workshops, courses, seminars and sharing sessions for kindergarten leaders and teachers;
6. Promoting kindergarten self-appraisal to encourage a culture of continual improvement among pre-schools

MOE is currently looking at whether there is a need to further enhance measures in some of these areas, to help our pre-school operators level up.

The Pre-school Qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC) was set up jointly by MOE and MCYS in 2001to ascertain that the courses conducted by teacher training agencies meet the prescribed standards. Its role is to assess and accredit the pre-school teacher training courses in Singapore up to Diploma level.

The course content is regularly reviewed with input obtained from the stakeholders such as the practitioners and trainers to ensure that it is in line with recent developments in the ECE field. The latest review of the pre-school teacher training courses is underway and is expected to be completed some time in 2008.

Mr Chiam See Tong, MP for Potong Pasir

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the importance of early childhood education; (b) whether his Ministry can pour in the equivalent effort to build a stronger infrastructure system for early childhood education that is comparable to other educational levels; and (c) in light of many different private schools offering diploma and degree courses in pre-school education, who is responsible to ensure quality control over their curricula.

The Government’s annual recurrent spending on foreign students over the last three years is estimated at about $154 million in the three publicly-funded universities and about $69 million in the five polytechnics. This is about one fifth and one tenth of the total annual recurrent grants disbursed by MOE to the universities and the polytechnics respectively, and is based on the proportion of foreign students in the total student population. This spending goes towards meeting the operating expenditures incurred by these institutions in teaching its students. These primarily comprise manpower, equipment and other operating expenditures.

Foreign students have to meet at least the same admission standards to enter the tertiary institutions as local students. They pay higher fees than local students. As announced earlier, from AY2008 onwards, fees for foreign students will be increased from 1.1 times local fees to 1.5 times.

In return for the subsidies they receive, FS are bound by MOE’s Tuition Grant obligation, where they have to work for Singapore-based companies for 3 years upon graduation. Those who do not wish to meet this obligation pay full fees with no public subsidy.

Ms Sylvia Lim, Non-constituency Member

Question

To ask the Minister for Education for the last 3 years, how much public monies were spent annually on educating foreign students at the tertiary level in our public sector education institutions, with a breakdown of the key items of expenditure.

MOE adopts a multi-pronged approach to tackle the issue of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among youths. It involves the home, school and community. This is because the issue of STI is a complex one, involving family factors such as lack of family support and cohesion, personal factors such as low self-esteem, as well as broader shifts in societal mores.

In our sexuality education programme in schools, we seek to help students appreciate the value of healthy relationships, understand the consequences of sexual behaviour and equip them with the knowledge that they must have in order to make responsible decisions. The basics of the sexuality education programme are sound, but we have sought to refine and improve how schools deliver the programme over the last two years.

The effectiveness of sexuality education depends as much as on the content of the programme as on the confidence and innovativeness of the teacher. We have seen significant improvement in teachers’ skills in delivering the programme, and have been ramping up teacher training to help them engage and communicate better with students on the issues. Schools have also been conducting action research, to develop more effective strategies for delivery of sexuality education lessons.

We have also recently introduced a tiered approach to sexuality education, which recognises that different approaches are necessary for the different target groups of students, What may be a sensible approach for most students may be less relevant to students who are already at risk. The approaches also have to vary across schools, depending on the profile of their students.

For the general student population, schools have been trying out new ways to engage their students, get them to face the issues squarely, and to express themselves and discuss the issues honestly. For example, senior personnel in some co-educational schools organise gender-specific closed-door discussion sessions to provide students with opportunities to ask questions pertaining to sexual matters.

For students who are at risk of sexual behaviour or are already engaging in unsafe sexual practices, we have strengthened the messages we send on contraception and protective behaviour through one-on-one counselling sessions with their Full Time School Counsellors.

MOE has also collaborated closely with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) in the Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) programme to address the concern of rising STIs/HIV infection among students. The BDB programme, which started in 2007, has helped to raise greater awareness among students about the high risk of contracting STIs/HIV through casual and unprotected sex and provided them with the necessary skills to negotiate, make responsible decisions and be assertive so as to delay their sexual debut. MOE and HPB have been working closely to achieve the target of 100% implementation of this programme by June 2008 in our secondary schools.

Parents, however, play a vital role in influencing their children in sexuality matters. MOE has therefore stepped up its efforts to engage parents and raise their awareness, in collaboration with both HPB and MCYS. This has resulted in the development of the parents’ education package entitled “Love Them. Talk About Sex”. This package can be delivered via two tracks - through school-based workshops, or at the workplace in the form of a lunchtime talks. One of the aims of the progamme is to provide parents with tips on how to talk to their children about sex.

While the teenage STI issue is challenging, we believe that with strong and effective collaboration among schools, parents and the community (especially the mass media), we are likely to succeed in imbuing our students with the necessary life skills and giving them the power to make decisions responsibly.

Assoc Prof Kalyani K Mehta, Nominated Member

Question

To ask the Minister for Education whether his Ministry has any new strategies or educational programmes planned to address the tripling of sexually transmitted infections among youths in the age group of 10-19 years in the last 5 years and, if so, whether he will elaborate on them.