Ministry of Education (Singapore)

The Ministry of Education (Abbreviation: MOE; Malay: Kementerian Pendidikan; Chinese: 教育部; Tamil: கல்வி அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore that directs the formulation and implementation of policies related to Education in Singapore. It is currently headed by Minister Lawrence Wong who oversees education from Primary 1 to tertiary institutions.

For the ministries in other countries which are also called Kementerian Pendidikan, see Kementerian Pendidikan.

Ministry of Education
Logo of the MOE
Agency overview
Formed7 April 1955 (1955-04-07)
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
Headquarters1 North Buona Vista Drive, Singapore 138675
MottoMoulding the future of our nation
Employees62,964[1]
Annual budget 13.20 billion (est) SGD (2019)[1]
Ministers responsible
Agency executives
  • Lai Chung Han[2], Permanent Secretary
  • Lai Wei Lin, Second Permanent Secretary
  • Wong Siew Hoong, Director-General of Education
  • Melissa Khoo, Deputy Secretary (Policy)
  • Lim Boon Wee, Deputy Secretary (Services) / Group Director HR
  • Ong Tze-Ch'in[3], Deputy Secretary (SkillsFuture) / Chief Executive, SkillsFuture Singapore
  • Chua-Lim Yen Ching, Deputy Director-General of Education (Professional Development) and Executive Director, Academy of Singapore Teachers
  • Liew Wei Li, Deputy Director-General of Education (Schools) and Director of Schools
  • Sng Chern Wei, Deputy Director-General of Education (Curriculum)
Child agencies
Websitewww.moe.gov.sg
Ministry of Education headquarters at Buona Vista
Stakeholders and initiatives chart for SkillsFuture.

Organisational structure

The ministry currently oversees 10 statutory boards: SkillsFuture Singapore, Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board, ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, Institute of Technical Education, Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and Science Centre, Singapore.

In 2016, a new statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), was formed to drive and coordinate the implementation of SkillsFuture. It took over some of the functions currently performed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and absorbed the Committee for Private Education (CPE).

Unions

Civil servants employed by the Ministry of Education are organised into several Unions, including the Singapore Teachers' Union, Singapore Chinese Teachers' Union, Singapore Malay Teachers' Union and Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union for Education Officers; and the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees for the non-Education Officers. All these unions are affiliates of the National Trades Union Congress.

Impact

The Government of Singapore invests heavily in education to equip citizens with the necessary knowledge and skills to compete in the global marketplace.[4] Singapore currently spends around 1/5 of its national budget on education.[5] To boost its economic standing, the Government of Singapore created a mandate that most Singaporeans learn English. As a result, the country rose from one of the most impoverished Asian countries to one with the strongest economies and highest standards of living.[6]

SkillsFuture

The SkillsFuture initiative was introduced in 2015 to support Singapore's next stage of economic advancement by providing lifelong learning and skills development opportunities for Singaporeans.[7] SkillsFuture aims at unlocking the full potential of all Singaporeans, regardless of background and industry.[8] The program contains several key initiatives, such as SkillsFuture Credit and SkillsFuture Earn and Learn. SkillsFuture caters to many stakeholders, with initiatives centred on students, adult learners, employers, and training providers.[8] In general, SkillsFuture involves a broad array of policy instruments targeting a wider range of beneficiaries over a longer-term horizon – schooling years, early career, mid-career or silver years – with a variety of resources available to help them attain mastery of skills.[9]

Every Singapore citizen from the age of 25 is given S$500 (approximately $370) by the Singapore government for the SkillsFuture Credit to invest in their personal learning.[10] This sum can be used for continuing education courses in local tertiary institutions, as well as short courses provided by MOOC providers such as Udemy, Coursera, and edX.

By the end of 2017, the SkillsFuture Credit has been utilised by over 285,000 Singaporeans.[11] There were more than 18,000 SkillsFuture credit-approved courses available at that time.[12] As of 2016, there were also a total of 40 Earn and Learn Programmes.[12]

SkillsFuture has established a multi-level training system with dozens of initiatives and programs targeting the different skill-training needs of different social groups, such as students and employees in different career stages. Moreover, SkillsFuture also invests in forms of industry collaboration to uplift the broad base of private companies, and strengthen collaboration between training institutions, unions, trade associations, and employers to develop the skills of the Singaporean workforce.[13] In terms of funding, according to the Singaporean government budget report, a provision of $220 million has been made for SSG in the fiscal year 2018 to implement plans, policies and strategies to support skills development programs under SkillsFuture.[14]

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Education, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The position is currently held by Lawrence Wong from the People's Action Party.

With the expanding scope of education in Singapore and the implementation of SkillsFuture in 2016,[15] the Ministry of Education was helmed by two ministers – one minister (Schools) overseeing pre-school, primary, secondary, and junior college education; and another minister (Higher Education and Skills) overseeing the ITE, polytechnics, universities and SkillsFuture.[16]

In 2018, the Ministry returned to being headed by a single minister.[17]

MinisterStart of TermEnd of TermPolitical Party Ref.
Minister for Education
Chew Swee Kee6 April 19554 March 1959 Labour Front
Lim Yew HockMarch 19593 June 1959 Singapore People's Alliance
Yong Nyuk Lin5 June 195918 October 1963 People's Action Party
Ong Pang Boon19 October 19635 September 1970 [18][19]
Lim Kim San6 September 197015 September 1972 [20][19]
Lee Chiaw Meng16 September 19721 June 1975
Chua Sian Chin2 June 197511 February 1979
Goh Keng Swee12 February 197931 May 1980
Tony Tan Keng Yam1 June 198031 May 1981 [21][22]
Goh Keng Swee1 June 198131 December 1984 [22]
Tony Tan Keng Yam2 January 198529 December 1991 [23]
Lee Yock Suan1 January 199224 January 1997
Teo Chee Hean25 January 199731 July 2003
Tharman Shanmugaratnam1 August 200331 March 2008
Ng Eng Hen1 April 200820 May 2011
Heng Swee Keat21 May 201130 September 2015
Minister for Education (Schools)
Ng Chee Meng 1 October 2015 (Acting) 31 October 2016 People's Action Party
1 November 2016 30 April 2018
Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills)
Ong Ye Kung 1 October 2015 (Acting) 31 October 2016 People's Action Party
1 November 2016 30 April 2018
Minister for Education
Ong Ye Kung1 May 201826 July 2020 People's Action Party [17][24]
Lawrence Wong27 July 2020Incumbent [25]

Sources

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA License statement/permission on Wikimedia Commons. Text taken from Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising Practices in Southeast Asia, 1-62, Yorozu, Rika, UNESCO. UNESCO. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use.

References
  1. https://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/docs/default-source/budget_2019/download/pdf/27-MOE-2019.pdf
  2. Au-Yong, Rachel (5 March 2019). "Several ministries to get new permanent secretaries from April 1". The Straits Times. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  3. Chong, Clara (15 October 2019). "National Library Board to get new chairman and CEO; new CEO for SkillsFuture Singapore". The Straits Times. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  4. Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). UNESCO. No. 4: 16 – via UNESCO.
  5. Mara, Wil (2016). Singapore. New York: Scholastic. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-531-23297-2.
  6. Mara, Wil (2016). Singapore. New York: Scholastic. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-531-23297-2.
  7. Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). UNESCO. No. 4: 50 – via UNESCO.
  8. Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising Practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). Uil Publications Series on Lifelong Learning Policies and Strategies. No.4: 17 – via UNESCO.
  9. Woo, J. J. (15 August 2017). "Educating the developmental state: policy integration and mechanism redesign in Singapore's SkillsFuture scheme". Journal of Asian Public Policy. 11 (3): 267–284. doi:10.1080/17516234.2017.1368616.
  10. Seow, Joanna (19 May 2017). "The ST Guide To... Using your SkillsFuture Credit". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  11. Seow, Joanna (1 February 2018). "285,000 Singaporeans have used SkillsFuture Credit, with more doing so in 2017". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  12. Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in transformation: Promising practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). UNESCO. No. 4: 52 – via UNESCO.
  13. "ANNEX A-2 SUMMARY OF SKILLSFUTURE INITIATIVES" (PDF). 22 June 2019.
  14. "Head K: Ministry of Education – Budget 2019" (PDF). 22 June 2019.
  15. Yong, Charissa (9 March 2015). "Singapore Budget 2015: SkillsFuture courses to include aerospace, IT, languages, culinary skills". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  16. Jing Yng, Ng (29 September 2015). "2 ministers each in MOE, MTI needed due to bigger work scope". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  17. Chia, Anthony (24 April 2018). "Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (Apr 2018)". Prime Minister‘s Office Singapore. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  18. "Ong Pang Boon". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  19. "Statement from the Prime Minister's Office" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. 29 May 1981. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  20. "Lim Kim San". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  21. "Tony Tan Keng Yam". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  22. "Statement from the Prime Minister's Office" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. 29 May 1981. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  23. "Statement from the Prime Minister's Office" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. 31 December 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  24. Ong, Justin (28 September 2015). "Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces Singapore's new Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  25. Mahmud, Aqil Haziq (25 July 2020). "PM Lee announces new Cabinet; 6 office holders promoted, 3 retirements". CNA. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
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