When I Was Young

By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 May 2009 1907 hrs

Students in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Education Ministry is reviewing its sexuality education curriculum and tightening controls on the engagement of external agencies for these programmes in schools.

Previously, schools were given the autonomy to engage external agencies to teach sexuality education.

Now these agencies must be approved by the Education Ministry.

They must submit their materials to the ministry for vetting in June.

Approved agencies will be appointed by mid-August.

The ministry said sexuality education must be secular and reflect the values of mainstream society.

Abstinence is the key message but information on contraception must also be included.

Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen, said: “Our schools and educational institutions cannot become proxy battlegrounds for groups with contending ideologies. What we must stringently and strictly avoid is allowing our school to go the way in some other countries, for example United States, where different groups with different views try to square off and settle their arguments in schools. If we allow this to happen, our school and education system will be casualties and will be worse off.” - CNA/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Letter from Edmund Kwan

05:55 AM May 11, 2009

I REFER to “Aware’s, other sex ed courses put on hold (May 7) and “Did MOE do its homework?” (May 8).

I am certain the Ministry of Education (MOE) and schools would have been prudent in dealing with external vendors. How is it then that a “slip-up” occurred? Could it be that teachers and educators are overworked, despite the fact that more manpower and resources have been dedicated?

I have a child in primary school. His lessons were behind schedule because teachers across subjects did not complete the syllabus in time.

Homework was “dumped” on the pupils right up to the day before the commencement of the current mid-year assessments. My son’s classmates told me a teacher had not taught much during curriculum time and had asked the pupils to do their school work at home.

Teachers were in a rush to complete their lesson plans so that they could be accountable to their head of department. A form teacher told pupils verbally that exam dates had to be changed in spite of an official timetable posted on the school’s website earlier. After that had caused some “panic”, she apologised and said it was based on hearsay from another teacher. Could it be that she had too many things on her mind? Colleagues relate similar incidents in other schools too.

Taking off from the recent Comprehensive Sexuality Education issue, parents should take a greater interest in their child’s school work as well as actively engage with the school. This must go beyond just the parent support group role. In some countries, parents form national associations to seek a say in school affairs and education policies.

I hope that more parents are now encouraged to step forward to contribute towards an education tripartism, comprising MOE, educators and parents and pupils.

From TODAY, Voices – Monday, 11-May-2009