What really needs to change for social equality in mass education

While streaming was effective in the past in reducing school dropout rates, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has introduced subject-based banding (SBB) in lieu of streaming.

However, some education experts feel that the landmark policy change will neither enhance social equality in education nor reduce society’s obsession with grades.

SBB at best, moves students of all abilities to the same classroom (unlike streaming) but weaker students will still bear a label that will be hard to erase. Hence stigmatisation of students will continue in another form.

To achieve greater social equality in education, MOE needs to adopt a renewed two-pronged approach, one at the pre-school level and another for primary and secondary schools, which when combined, will lead to greater social equality over the medium to long term.

Let me elaborate first on the changes needed in our primary and secondary schools.

Read also

• Erasing social divide: It’s more than just about putting children of different backgrounds in same classroom

MOE should introduce pedagogically sound systems such as Mastery Based System (MBS) to personalise learning for each student.

This can be done in every classroom with children of different abilities, without the need to “band” students, even if they are behind in a specific subject.

This would be a frictionless social approach too, as subject-based diagnostics can be used to quickly identify misconceptions in learning for personalised remediation.

This drastically reduces the need to do frequent standardised testing which will lose its purpose in MBS, and more importantly, reduce MOE’s and its teachers’ emphasis and hence parents emphasis on grades.

This helps children improve much faster than standardised testing, according to educational research done by  University London College and University of Durham in the United Kingdom and other institutions across the world.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush recently cited examples of how the Summit School chain in California and another public chain of schools in Sweden (name translated to Knowledge schools) using MBS have for some years now demonstrated efficacy in learning with better student outcomes.

A trained teacher can implement personalised MBS using a computer-based Student Learning System.

After he teaches a concept and carries out a fun and pedagogically-sound diagnostics quiz, he will immediately receive feedback on which students understand the concepts he has taught.

Through visual reports, the teacher can then pinpoint where the students face specific difficulties. Furthermore, AI-based tools already common place to provide virtual tutoring can be embedded in the Student Learning System to help the teacher.

This is a far more superior method to teach students of differing abilities, without the need for labels.

Read also

• No more streaming at sec schools: Some cheer, but concerns remain

Instead, currently, schools resort to over-testing with standardised examinations and internal ranking of schools perpetuate such behaviour in schools.

It is therefore not surprising that Education Minister Ong Ye Kung’s plea to parents to place less emphasis on grades has fallen on deaf ears.

Next, what are the changes needed in preschool education sector, which is 90 per cent run by the private and social sector?

My suggestions are as follows:

• Reduce preschool class sizes from as high as 40 to 12 for pre-schoolers aged four to six. This reduced teacher-student ratio is far more important than such ratios in primary and secondary schools, as children from disadvantaged backgrounds will have professional intervention early to improve their motor and cognitive abilities and prepare them better for Pri 1.

• Every preschool classroom must have two teachers - a normal and a special needs teacher. They will have complementary roles like in Finland’s preschools to help level the cognitive, and other learning difficulties, especially of children from lower income and dysfunctional families. This will hopefully make every child closer to the same starting point by the time they enter Primary 1, therefore promoting social equity and equality in education.

• Transform the current teacher- centric curriculum, which is based on an instructor-led model to a child-centric model, where children learn through play, using what academics term as inquiry-based learning. This is a form of active learning that starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios—rather than simply presenting established facts or portraying a smooth path.

Without training teachers in inquiry-based education, it is hard to implement the concept of learning through play, which is fundamental for reforming the early childhood education in Singapore.

The Government’s Early Childhood Development Agency should therefore look into training more preschool teachers in inquiry-based learning and MOE can do more to reduce teacher-student ratios in the preschool sector.

Children below the ages of six are at their most curious, and this is the time when our education system should facilitate creativity, not stifle it.

To be sure, some top private-sector kindergartens here are close to meeting these three suggestions.

But many are not, and the Government will need to provide greater financial support in teacher training and even to subsidise teacher headcounts, so that fees do not go up further in private kindergartens.

MOE can also allocate greater resources to both its own kindergartens and social sector kindergartens such as those run by NTUC, PCF and self-help groups.

Read also

• How I deal with the label of being from the Normal stream

These improvements, if executed effectively, will lead to reduced testing in primary and secondary schools, as Finland model of education has shown the world.

An improved preschool education sector using inquiry-based learning coupled with MBS in primary and secondary schools will better prepare Singaporeans for the jobs of tomorrow.

The time is now to make real impactful changes that will lead to the much needed social equality in education. Cautious incremental policy changes on the other hand can lead to unintended consequences. For example, removing exams for Pri 1 and 2 exams and mid-year exams for other levels only makes parents more anxious, and leads to more enrichment and tuition expenses.

That is clearly not what the policy intended.  

MOE must better align preschool and school education to the overall SkillsFuture movement, so that social equality can be achieved while preparing our children to enter a fast-changing workforce.

This also necessitates the adoption of new strategies that will instil greater trust in our teachers and empower them. Specifically, it needs to transform teacher evaluation and compensation to enhance their motivation.

In conclusion, the same formulae that brought us past success, can no longer be the mantra in a changed world, social media and digital disruption.

In the next decade, the 4G leaders will have to help shape the lives of the next generation though an education system where there is social justice, reduced social inequality, while  instilling a deep joy of learning for students when ensuring their economic relevance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

R Sinnakaruppan is Chairman of Singapore Education Academy, which provides educational products and services for both young and adult learners in Asia Pacific. A two-term Member of Parliament who chaired the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, he has also served on the boards of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education, among others.