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The Ministry of Education (MOE; ms, Kementerian Pendidikan; zh, 教育部; ta, கல்வி அமைச்சு) is a
ministry
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian ...
of the
Government of Singapore responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies related to the education in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
.
Organisational structure
The ministry currently oversees 10 statutory boards which includes 5 polytechnics and 2 institutes: SkillsFuture Singapore,
Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Education of the Government of Singapore.
SEAB was established on 1 April 2004 as a statutory board to develop and conduct national examinations i ...
,
ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
The ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute is a research institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1968.
Previously known as the Institute of Southeast Asi ...
,
Institute of Technical Education
The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established by the Ministry of Education, it was formerly known as Vocational ...
,
Singapore Polytechnic
Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 1954, the institution is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore and is ...
,
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 1963, the polytechnic is renowned for its business programmes.
History
Ngee An ...
,
Temasek Polytechnic
Temasek Polytechnic (TP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1990, it is the only polytechnic in Singapore offering a law programme.
Histor ...
,
Nanyang Polytechnic
Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
History
Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) was established on 1 April 1992, and enrolled its first ba ...
,
Republic Polytechnic
Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 2002, it is the first and only Polytechnic (Si ...
and
Science Centre, Singapore
The Science Centre Singapore, previously known as Singapore Science Centre is a scientific institution in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public. It houses over 85 ...
.
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
Workforce Singapore (WSG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Manpower of the Government of Singapore
The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which i ...
(WDA) and absorbed the
Committee for Private Education
The Committee for Private Education (CPE) is an agency under the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and was previously a statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is ...
(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
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC is at the heart of the Labour Movement which comprises 5 ...
.
Statutory boards
* SkillsFuture Singapore
*
Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Education of the Government of Singapore.
SEAB was established on 1 April 2004 as a statutory board to develop and conduct national examinations i ...
*
ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
The ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute is a research institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1968.
Previously known as the Institute of Southeast Asi ...
*
Institute of Technical Education
The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established by the Ministry of Education, it was formerly known as Vocational ...
*
Singapore Polytechnic
Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 1954, the institution is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore and is ...
*
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 1963, the polytechnic is renowned for its business programmes.
History
Ngee An ...
*
Temasek Polytechnic
Temasek Polytechnic (TP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1990, it is the only polytechnic in Singapore offering a law programme.
Histor ...
*
Nanyang Polytechnic
Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
History
Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) was established on 1 April 1992, and enrolled its first ba ...
*
Republic Polytechnic
Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 2002, it is the first and only Polytechnic (Si ...
*
Science Centre, Singapore
The Science Centre Singapore, previously known as Singapore Science Centre is a scientific institution in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public. It houses over 85 ...
Impact
The
Government of Singapore invests heavily in education to equip citizens with the necessary knowledge and skills to compete in the global marketplace. Singapore currently spends around a fifth of its national budget on education.
To boost its economic standing, the Government of Singapore created a mandate that most Singaporeans learn English. It is the language of governance and administration in Singapore and English is also the medium of instruction in most, if not all, schools in Singapore. 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.
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. SkillsFuture aims at unlocking the full potential of all Singaporeans, regardless of background and industry.
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.
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.
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. 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
Udemy, Inc. is a global destination for teaching and learning online. It was founded in May 2010 by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar.
As of November 2022, the platform has more than 57 million students, 213,000 courses, and 74,000 ins ...
,
Coursera
Coursera Inc. () is a U.S.-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses ...
, and
edX.
By the end of 2017, the SkillsFuture Credit has been utilised by over 285,000 Singaporeans. There were more than 18,000 SkillsFuture credit-approved courses available at that time.
As of 2016, there were also a total of 40 Earn and Learn Programmes.
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. 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.
Ministers
With the expanding scope of education in Singapore and the implementation of SkillsFuture in 2016,
the Ministry was led by two ministers; Minister for Education (Schools), who oversees the pre-school,
primary,
secondary, and
junior college education; and Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), who oversees the
ITE,
polytechnic
Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences.
Polytechnic may also refer to:
Educatio ...
,
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
and SkillsFuture education.
In 2018, the Ministry returned to being headed by one minister.
The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Education, who is appointed as part of the
Cabinet of Singapore
The Cabinet of Singapore forms the executive branch of the Government of Singapore together with the President. It is led by the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The prime minister is a Member of Parliament (MP) appointed by the ...
. The incumbent minister is
Chan Chun Sing
Chan Chun Sing ( zh, s=陈振声, p=Chén Zhènshēng; born 9 October 1969) is a Singaporean politician and former major-general who has been serving as Minister for Education since 2021 and Minister-in-charge of Public Service since 2018. A m ...
from the
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
.
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
Singapore Government Directory Interactive — Ministry of Education
{{authority control
Education in Singapore
Education, Ministry of
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
1955 establishments in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...