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PERMISSION TO MEMBERS TO BE ABSENT Under the provisions of clause 2(d) of Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, the following Members have been granted permission to be or to remain absent from sittings of Parliament (or any Committee of Parliament to which they have been appointed) for the periods stated: Mr S. Chandra Das - from 10th to 13th July and from 2nd to 4th August, 1995. Mr Lau Ping Sum - from 10th to 12th July, 1995. Mr S. Dhanabalan - on 12th July and from 26th July to 5th August, 1995. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon - from 13th to 16th July, 1995. Dr John Chen Seow Phun - from 14th to 15th July, 1995. Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam - from 16th to 17th July and from 27th to 30th July, 1995. Mr Bernard Chen - from 16th to 25th July, 1995. Mr Choo Wee Khiang - from 17th to 27th July, 1995. Mr Chew Heng Ching - from 17th to 20th July, 1995. Mr Tan Soo Khoon - from 17th to 19th July, 1995. Mr Charles Chong - from 17th to 20th July, 1995. Prof. S Jayakumar - from 18th to 20th July and from 28th July to 3rd August, 1995. Dr Beng Kian Lam, Arthur - from 18th to 19th July and from 23rd to 28th July, 1995. Mr Davinder Singh - from 19th to 21st July and on 7th August, 1995. Dr Wong Kwei Cheong - from 19th to 21st July and from 1st to 4th August, 1995. Mr Heng Chiang Meng - from 21st to 22nd July and from 3rd to 12th August, 1995. Dr Ow Chin Hock - from 24th to 28th July, 1995. Dr Ker Sin Tze - from 24th to 31st July, 1995. Mr Peter Sung - from 24th to 30th July, 1995. Mr Matthias Yao Chih - from 25th to 30th September and from 8th to 16th October 1995. RAdm Teo Chee Hean - from 26th to 29th July, 1995. Mr Lew Syn Pau - from 27th to 28th July, 1995. Dr Yeo Ning Hong - from 28th July to 1st August, 1995. Mr Koo Tsai Kee - from 31st July to 7th August, 1995. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo - from 31st July to 8th August, 1995. Mr Goh Chee Wee - from 2nd to 5th August, 1995. Dr Lee Tsao Yuan - on 7th August, 1995. Mr Peh Chin Hua - from 11th to 16th August, 1995. Dr Ong Chit Chung - from 28th August to 1st September and from 11th to 15th September, 1995. Dr Lim Chun Leng, Michael - from 14th to 18th September, 1995. Dr Tan Cheng Bock - from 16th to 23rd September and from 9th to 15th October, 1995. TAN SOO KHOON Speaker Parliament of Singapore
ASSENT TO BILLS PASSED The following Bills were assented to by the President of the Republic of Singapore on the date stated: 24th July, 1995 (i) Legal Aid and Advice Bill 1995; (ii) Insurance (Amendment) Bill 1995; (iii) Jurong Town Corporation (Amendment) Bill 1995; (iv) Contact Lens Practitioners Bill 1995; (v) Regulation of Imports and Exports Bill 1995; (vi) Companies (Amendment) Bill 1995; (vii) Public Utilities Bill 1995; and (viii) Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Bill 1995. TAN SOO KHOON Speaker Parliament of Singapore
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - OLDER HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD ESTATES - (Stepping up of Main Upgrading Programme) asked the Minister for National Development whether the Main Upgrading Programme can be further stepped up in the older Housing and Development Board estates.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - OLDER HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD ESTATES - (Stepping up of Main Upgrading Programme) Mr Speaker, Sir, the Main Upgrading Programme has been gradually stepped up from six to 10 precincts a year. From 1995 onwards, it will be further stepped up to 15 precincts per year. Too rapid an acceleration of the programme may result in the overheating of the building industry which, in turn, may lead to increased construction costs and lower standards of workmanship. Whether the programme can be further stepped up will thus depend on the industry's capacity to absorb the added projects. It will also depend on whether the Government is able to generate s ufficient budgetary surplus to fund the programme. The Government will also have to consider how it apportions its budget for upgrading HDB flats vis-a-vis other public programmes like MRT lines, education and health.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - OLDER HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD ESTATES - (Stepping up of Main Upgrading Programme) In spite of the Minister's answer, are there any concrete plans for the older housing estates?
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - OLDER HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD ESTATES - (Stepping up of Main Upgrading Programme) Sir, at 15 precincts per year the budget for the Main Upgrading Programme is almost $1 billion. As Members of the House will know, the Government has several very large projects in the pipeline and we have to ensure that the budget is fairly and rationally apportioned among the various projects. As Members know, the North-East sector MRT line will cost us $5 billion. The Public Works Department is also looking at the underground road system which may eventually cost us $4.8 billion. Last year, we set aside $1 billion for the Edusave fund. As Members also know, we have three big hospitals under construction: the Kandang Kerbau Hospital has a budget of $300 million; the Eastern General Hospital also has a budget of $300 million; and the Tan Tock Seng Hospital has a budget of $400 million, totalling another $1 billion. So there are several big projects and the HDB's upgrading programme, with a budget of $1 billion, is already a very large programme.
BUS SHELTERS NEAR NEW LINKWAYS - (Upgrading) asked the Minister for National Development whether there are any plans to upgrade the bus shelters in areas where new linkways have been built.
BUS SHELTERS NEAR NEW LINKWAYS - (Upgrading) Mr Speaker, Sir, the Public Works Department (PWD) has no plans to upgrade the bus shelters in areas where new linkways have been built by the Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs) or Town Councils using Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) funds. The CCCs can apply for CIPC funding for the upgrading of such bus shelters if they meet three conditions: (1) the bus shelters must be older than 10 years. This is to ensure that public funds are not wasted through the replacement of existing shelters which are still in good condition; (2) the existing bus shelter does not blend well with the covered linkway; and (3) they have obtained approval from the PWD and other technical departments for the design of the shelters.
CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND SCHEME FOR FOREIGN WORKERS - (Withdrawal of savings before age 55) asked the Minister for Labour, after 1998, or when the tax exempt Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution scheme for foreign workers ceases (whichever is the later), whether he will allow the foreign workers to withdraw their savings from their CPF account at that time without waiting till the age of 55.
CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND SCHEME FOR FOREIGN WORKERS - (Withdrawal of savings before age 55) Mr Speaker, Sir, existing CPF withdrawal rules allow foreign workers, except West Malaysians, to withdraw their CPF savings when they leave Singapore at the end of their employment. As for West Malaysians, they are allowed to withdraw their CPF savings at age 50, if they have not worked in Singapore for the two years prior to their application for withdrawal. Hence, foreigners, unlike Singaporean workers, need not wait till the age of 55 to withdraw their CPF savings. The Ministry has no intention to change these withdrawal rules for foreigners with CPF savings who will be exempted from mandatory CPF contributions on or before 31st December 1998. The exemption from CPF contributions does not affect savings already accumulated in their CPF accounts.
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT - (Ex-gratia payment) asked the Prime Minister if he will name the 47 Members of Parliament who will receive the ex-gratia payment and how many of them were Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, Parliamentary Secretaries and Political Secretaries.
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT - (Ex-gratia payment) Sir, the 47 retired Members of Parliament who will receive the "ex-gratia" payment are listed in the Annex (Cols. 1489 - 1492) which I have asked the Clerk of Parliament to distribute. Annex - MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO WILL RECEIVE THE "EX-GRATIA" PAYMENT (Cols. 1489 - 1492) Of these, 20 will also receive an "ex-gratia" for their office-holder service. Ten of them last held appointment as Ministers or Deputy Prime Ministers, four as Ministers of State and six as Parliamentary Secretaries. There are some other former MPs who have held office but will not receive the office-holder "ex-gratia" because they did not have the adequate service to qualify for an office-holder pension.
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT - (Ex-gratia payment) Sir, would the Minister tell the House the amount of gratuity and monthly pension that they received?
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT - (Ex-gratia payment) Sir, the pension received by the former Ministers and MPs is paid according to a formula under the Parliamentary Pensions Act. I do not have the information here but if the Member is interested he can work it out from the service that the Member has done and find out how much a person would have got in terms of gratuity or pension.
RETIRED CIVIL SERVANTS - (Ex-gratia payment) asked the Prime Minister, as Members of Parliament who retired before 31st December 1992 will receive the ex-gratia payment, whether the Government will consider the same for civil servants who retired before 31st December 1992 instead of 1st January 1982 and, if so, how many more retired civil servants will benefit from the scheme and the additional amount involved.
RETIRED CIVIL SERVANTS - (Ex-gratia payment) Sir, the answer to the first part of the Question is "no". The civil servants will not be considered for the same kind of ex-gratia payment when they retired before 31st December 1992 instead of 1st January 1982. The reason is that it is not appropriate to compare Members of Parliament with civil servants. The retired civil servants' contribution to the political destiny of Singapore, while important, was not equal to that of the retired MPs. They did not face the same risk to their lives and limbs as the MPs who stood for and won their elections in the turbulent period from 1959 to 1965. Furthermore, pensionable civil servants have secure tenure whereas the MPs' tenure is uncertain. They may or may not be re-elected. Moreover, those civil servants who retired after 1st January 1982 would have received a higher pension because the NWC payments after this date, till 1993, were made pensionable. From 1993, NWC adjustments as well as salary revisions were made non-pensionable. Although MPs who retired before 31st December 1992 will receive the "ex-gratia" payment, the cut-off date for computing their reckonable service for the "ex-gratia" payment is 31st March 1989, and not 31st December 1992. This is because the MP's allowance was significantly revised after 31st March 1989 and the service rendered after this date had been adequately recognised.
NEW NTUC COMFORT TAXIS - (Radio despatch system) asked the Minister for Communications why the new NTUC Comfort taxis are not equipped with the radio despatch system.
NEW NTUC COMFORT TAXIS - (Radio despatch system) Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry encourages all taxi companies to fully equip their fleet with radio despatch systems. This will enable the companies to utilise and deploy their taxi fleet more efficiently to meet commuter demand. It will also cut down the need for taxi drivers to drive around looking for passengers, thereby reducing unnecessary mileage and congestion on the road. All taxi companies, including Comfort, are actively looking into upgrading or replacing their present system to a new Automated Taxi Despatch System using Global Positioning Satellites. I am told that Comfort's present despatch system is only able to serve about 3,000 taxis. Increasing the number of taxis on its present network will adversely affect the system's efficiency. When Comfort commissions its new Automated Despatch System, it will be able to equip its new taxis with the despatch system. It can also expand its despatch network to its entire fleet of 10,000 taxis.
KEPPEL SHIPYARD - (Investigation into bribe to Exxon employee) asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that a Government-linked-company, Keppel Shipyard, offered a bribe of $144,000 to an employee of Exxon and whether he will consider ordering an investigation with a view to prosecuting the wrongdoers.
KEPPEL SHIPYARD - (Investigation into bribe to Exxon employee) The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau has informed the Prime Minister that it has initiated action on the matter. It would be highly prejudicial to the investigations to disclose any further details.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) asked the Minister for Communications whether the report on the feasibility study of the North-East MRT line has been completed and, if so, whether that MRT line shall pass through the Potong Pasir Constituency.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Mr Speaker, Sir, MINCOM announced on 14th July 1995 that the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC) had completed its feasibility study on the North-East line. The MRTC study is based on a 20-km line running from World Trade Centre in the south to Punggol in the north. The exact route alignment, the number and location of the stations have not been finalised. These will be settled after further discussion with the land-use planning and other relevant agencies. Mr Chiam asked whether the line would pass through Potong Pasir constituency. The answer is "yes". But the location of the station has yet to be finalised. MRTC's consultants who carried out the North-East line feasibility study had analysed various possibilities for station locations. On the possibility of having a station at Potong Pasir, this is what they had to say: `Potong Pasir is the weakest station on the North-East line. Although there are plans to develop the area near the proposed station, it will improve the viability of North-East line, if Potong Pasir station were deferred (to save) about $1 million per year.' Straits Times reported Mr Chiam on 27th July 1995 as saying apropos the North-East line that "Any decision has to be made rationally." He is right. It is a $5 billion decision which must be carefully weighed. In deciding when to proceed with the construction of the North-East line and the exact alignment and station locations, the Government will take a broad view and consider other benefits that can be derived from this investment, such as reduced travel time, and an expanded and improved public transport system. The House can expect a firm decision by the end of this year.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, I thank the Minister for telling the House that the North-East line shall be passing through Potong Pasir. Can the Members view the report of the feasibility study?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, the feasibility study is a technical study and it contains confidential information, eg, information concerning possible alignment of the routes, locations and so on. Under the circumstances, such information at this stage would still be considered confidential and I am not prepared to release the report at this stage.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, as the MINCOM's statement has indicated that $5 billion is a huge sum to spend on the North-East line, may I ask the Minister whether he would consider a much cheaper option by having a fish-hook loop, branching off from Yio Chu Kang station of the North-South line to pass through Jalan Kayu, Kangkar, Punggol and Serangoon New Towns? And if it stops there, many of the stations would be above ground. I believe it would be much cheaper. Unfortunately, it will also have the unintended effect of bypassing Potong Pasir.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, I have not actually thought about that particular alignment. But since the Member has raised the possibility, I think it will be an interesting exercise to see whether we can still serve the residents in that area and save the Government some money as well.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, why is the proposed station at Potong Pasir considered a "weak" station?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, at each proposed station, the consultants have taken into account the ridership; in other words, they have taken into account the catchment area around that particular station, compared with the actual cost of running and operating that station. In that sense, I believe the consultants have come to the conclusion that of all the proposed stations that they have studied, the Potong Pasir station, taking the ridership from that particular station and taking the cost of operating that station, is the weakest station on that line.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, how long does the Minister expect to wait before the station can become a "strong" station so that it can be built?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, at this stage, it is difficult for me to answer that question. But based on the current plans for redevelopment of that whole corridor - and this is what the study is currently based on - the ridership around that station is still not sufficient or not strong enough to warrant it being built, that is, if the consultants' recommendation is to be accepted.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, to put the matter in perspective, will the Minister tell us how does this $5 billion compare to the total cost of building the present MRT line, and how many people will benefit from this North-East line?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, as the MINCOM's press release pointed out, the cost of $5 billion for the North-East line is equivalent to the total cost of building the North-South-East-West line. The North-South-East-West line today carries something like 700,000-800,000 passengers per day. As a comparison, the North-East line is expected to carry something like 200,000-250,000 passengers. The cost is the same. The ridership is roughly one-third.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, what is the consultants' opinion about the strength of the proposed station at Hougang Central, in terms of ridership and other factors?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) It is not the weakest, Sir.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, in fact, there are two pieces of vacant land at Potong Pasir Constituency adjacent to Upper Sera ngoon Road. They are in fact ready for the construction of a station. Does the Minister not think that it would be more feasible to build the station once the line is built rather than to wait later on when prices would have gone up?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, I am familiar with the two pieces of land that the Member is talking about. But I think he would also realise that building a station does not depend on whether there are empty pieces of land. It also depends on many other factors, including, as I said, the catchment area around that proposed station. In any case, if he looks at the area around his constituency, he will notice that there are many other empty pieces of land which are not within the Potong Pasir constituency.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, would the North-East line follow approximately the Serangoon/Upper Serangoon Roads all the way to Punggol?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, as I said, at this stage, it will be premature for me to give too much details about the proposed alignment of the North-East line, for reasons which I think the Member himself is aware. In other words, there are certain confidential information pertaining to the alignment and the location which must necessarily be kept under wraps at this stage. But he asked a specific question and I attempted to answer that question to his satisfaction.
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) Sir, can I ask the Minister how is Braddell Heights Constituency compared to Hougang and Potong Pasir?
NORTH-EAST MRT LINE - (Feasibility study report) It is quite strong!
LAND BRIDGE LINK BETWEEN PENANG AND SONGKHLA - (Effect on Singapore) asked the Minister for Communications if he will give an assessment on whether the proposed land bridge link between Penang in Malaysia and Songkhla in Thailand will affect Singapore.
LAND BRIDGE LINK BETWEEN PENANG AND SONGKHLA - (Effect on Singapore) Mr Speaker, Sir, Malaysia's proposal for a Penang-Songkhla land bridge was raised within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) economic cooperation framework. We do not know at this stage the details of the project proposal. However, it is clear that the envisoned project is a massive one, and will involve substantial investments in roads, pipelines and port infrastructure. The financial viability of the project will also depend on how competitive the costs of unloading, transportation and re-loading of cargo are, in relation to the existing alternatives. As the preliminary feasibility study into the project has not yet been completed, it is too early for me to comment on the project's impact on Singapore. The land bridge project is part of a wider trend in the Asia-Pacific. With rapid economic growth, the region will continue to experience an increase in container traffic. The volume of containers handled by PSA alone has been rising at an average rate of 21% per annum between 1984 and 1994. Emerging ports in China, Indochina and as far away as the Middle East are understandably eager to compete and tap a share of the region's dynamic growth. PSA is well-positioned to grow with the region. Singapore's strength is our ability to provide the shipping community a total service capability at competitive prices. This is due to our excellent infrastructure and active investment in anticipation of future infrastructure needs, as well as our ongoing efforts to maintain high productivity growth rates. The completion of Brani Terminal, and the upgrading of Tanjong Pagar and Keppel Terminals, will meet PSA's capacity requirements fully by 1997. PSA has already begun to develop a new container terminal at Pasir Panjang which will commence operations by 1998, and eventually double PSA's total handling capacity from 16 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) to about 34 million TEUs by the year 2007. PSA is also striving to keep our international port productivity ranking at number one through skills upgrading programmes and by increasing port automation. For example, state-of-the-art equipment like Overhead Bridge Cranes and Automated Guided Vehicles are being tested for the new terminal to enhance PSA's technological edge and operational efficiency. By adopting a farsighted and proactive approach, PSA is poised and ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
LAND BRIDGE LINK BETWEEN PENANG AND SONGKHLA - (Effect on Singapore) Sir, if the land bridge project should eventually proceed, would the Minister be able to assess how much it would affect the port of Singapore?
LAND BRIDGE LINK BETWEEN PENANG AND SONGKHLA - (Effect on Singapore) Sir, as I indicated in my answer, it is very difficult for us at this stage to give an answer to that question. Partly, it is dependent on how much the actual cost will be incurred by operators using that route, and how much will be the comparable cost using the port of Singapore. Secondly, the pie will grow. The region is growing and it is quite possible that eventually when the land bridge is built, if it is found feasible, it is quite possible that there will be sufficient business for both the land bridge as well as the port of Singapore. But all these are hypothetical answers because, as I said, we would have to, first of all, determine whether that particular project is feasible and what are the details involved in building such a massive infrastructure.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) asked the Minister for Education whether he will consider reducing class size in schools in view of a recent study by Tennessee State University in the United States which concluded that students in small classes outperform those in large classes.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Mr Speaker, Sir, research evidence on the effect of reducing class size on pupil achievement is inconclusive. While studies such as the one conducted in Tennessee favour small classes, there are other studies which suggest that small class sizes do not result in any gain in pupil achievement. Better instructional methods and the use of information technology may well result in larger achievement gains. This is an important consideration in view of our limited manpower and land. A reduction in class size will entail the recruitment of significantly more teachers and the building of more schools. We should not commit such scarce resources unless there is strong and conclusive evidence that smaller classes do in fact bring about significant gains in pupil achievement. Schools in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong generally have large classes of 40 or more pupils per class. Yet they have achieved better academic performance than western countries with much smaller class sizes. In Singapore, our better and more popular schools tend to have larger class sizes than schools with declining enrolment. One reason for the smaller class sizes in western countries is their reluctance or inability to close schools which have declining enrolment.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, in the March 1992 Budget debate, I raised the same issue and in his answer, the Minister referred to the US computer studies of educational achievement. He said that class size did not matter. Whereas this study shows that smaller classes will help students to perform better. The Minister says that it is inconclusive. I would like to know from the Minister whether he is saying that the report he cited earlier from the US is more conclusive than this one.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, over the years, there have been many studies. I did not just cite one study. There were in fact many studies in the United States, in UK and so on. And the studies have been inconclusive in general. Some show improvements, others show no improvement or, in fact, worse performance. This particular study shows improvement. For the information of Members, the study involved a reduction of class size from 24 to 15. That means a reduction of about one-third, and they applied it to pupils in kindergarten to Grade 3, which is our Primary 3. Even then, despite the substantial reduction in class size by over a third, the achievement gains were relatively small. In our case, the norm is 40 students per class. And it may be of interest to Members that the top school in Singapore at 'O' levels, Raffles Girls School, in fact, has 40 students per class.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, would the Ministry consider conducting a study in Singapore to determine whether class size does have an effect on students' performance?
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, a study of this nature was done a few years ago. Again, the results were inconclusive.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) In Singapore?
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Yes, the study was done in Singapore.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, the Minister said that class size in Japan was large and yet they had good results. Does the Minister realise that they have some kind of force-feed system there? The students are sent to cram classes to force knowledge into them. In Singapore, I think we are getting near to that with the vast increase in private tuition. Is this evidence not an indictment of a large class size?
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, the pupils' performance depends on many factors. Of course, tuition is one factor. But it also depends on how ready the pupils are for schooling. In the United States, many of the pupils enter school not prepared for schooling at all because of the family environment. The discipline situation in the class is very poor. If a teacher spends most of his time with a few pupils who are naughty, it will be wasting the time of the other students. In our case, the pupils are generally well behaved and ready to learn. So when a teacher explains a lesson to a class of 40, it is no different from explaining to a class of, say, 30 or even 20. Of course, the marking load will be different. If we do have additional te achers, the question is whether we should deploy them to do enrichment or to reduce the marking load of some teachers, for example, those with heavy marking loads, or should we reduce the class size. Basically, we are short of teachers in Singapore. For secondary schools, we even have to recruit teachers from Australia, New Zealand, UK and so forth. So our manpower resource is very short and we should be careful not to just go for small class sizes because intuitively people feel that small class sizes are useful for learning.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, just now the Minister mentioned that a study was done in Singapore on class size. Would he release the result of the study to the public?
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, I believe some details were released some time back. I can check on that point.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Would the Minister please confirm that the classes for the Gifted Education Programme are small and, if they are, would he please explain the rationale, if studies are not conclusive, that small class sizes help?
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, for the gifted pupils, who are really the cream of our young population, we are trying to do the best we can to improve their creative thinking, their ability to learn on their own, and so on. We are trying to stretch them to the best of their ability. So for this group of pupils, we employ more interactive methods where the pupils have to do project work, to discuss and defend their position in the class and so on. If you have that kind of a situation, then maybe you do need a smaller group to be effective. But when you are lecturing to a class of, say, 200 in the university, it is no different from lecturing to a class of 40. So we have to be careful about the scenario and what we are talking about in this situation.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) The Minister has said that Singapore is short of teachers. So the reason for not reducing the class size is in fact the shortage of teachers and probably the shortage of buildings and a lack of other facilities. It is not the educational fact that teachers can in fact teach more effectively in smaller classes.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Sir, the shortage of teachers is clearly an important consideration, but it is not the key factor. If need be, we can try and hire more teachers. The point is whether it is worthwhile putting all those resources into the education system by reducing class sizes. For example, if we were to reduce the class size from an average of 40 to an average of 30, it means that we have to increase the teaching workforce by one-third; from 20,000 to about 27,000. If we halve the class size, it means going up from 20,000 to 40,000. So it is a big question mark as to where we are going to find those teachers. But that is not the key point. The key point is that we must be sure that it is worth investing those resources. With the use of information technology, you have self-paced learning and the additional teachers could be used for enrichment. For example, in the case of RGS, which I have mentioned, it is an independent school, it has stuck to the class size of 40. It uses the additional resources for enrichment and it can use the additional teachers to lighten the loads in certain subjects like English where the marking load is high. There are other independent schools which have reduced the class sizes. Lately, they have been going back again closer to 40, because it is very costly to reduce class size, and yet the benefits are not evident.
CLASS SIZE IN SCHOOLS - (Reduction) Just now the Minister admitted that for an interactive method of teaching and creative thinking, you would probably need a smaller class size. In view of the recent MOE's policy on the teaching methods and that we should encourage creative thinking, would it be justified for the Ministry to review the class size of schools in Singapore by reducing the present class size from, say, 40 to 30?