The Ministry of Education (MOE; ; zh, 教育部; ) is a
ministry of the
Government of Singapore
The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore, Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President of Singapore, President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the Presi ...
responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies related to the education in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
.
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 overseeing national-based examinations in Sing ...
,
ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute,
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, SP is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore, and is renowned for ...
,
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 by the Ngee Ann Kongsi, NP is renowned for its business programmes and ...
,
Temasek Polytechnic
Temasek Polytechnic (TP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education, Singapore.
Established in 1990, TP is renowned for its law and design programmes. It is also the first an ...
,
Nanyang Polytechnic
Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), established in 1992, is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Recognition
Nanyang Polytechnic has won many awards and recognit ...
,
Republic Polytechnic
Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 2002, RP is renowned for its sports science programs. It is also the first and ...
and
Science Centre, Singapore
Science Centre Singapore, previously known as the Singapore Science Centre, is a science-themed attraction in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public. It houses ove ...
.
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, Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist ...
(WDA) and absorbed the
Committee for Private Education
The Committee for Private Education (CPE) is an agency under SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and was previously a statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Singapore. The Singapore Workforce Development Agency and Council for Priva ...
(CPE).
Unions
Civil servants employed by the Ministry of Education are organised into several Unions, including the
Singapore Teachers' Union
The Singapore Teachers' Union (STU) is the largest teachers' organisation in Singapore. It is an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), a member of the ASEAN Council of Teachers and the Education International.
The STU was fou ...
, 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 leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affilia ...
.
Statutory boards
*
SkillsFuture Singapore
The Ministry of Education (MOE; ; zh, 教育部; ) is a ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies related to the education in Singapore.
Organisati ...
*
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 overseeing national-based examinations in Sing ...
*
ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
*
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, SP is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore, and is renowned for ...
*
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 by the Ngee Ann Kongsi, NP is renowned for its business programmes and ...
*
Temasek Polytechnic
Temasek Polytechnic (TP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education, Singapore.
Established in 1990, TP is renowned for its law and design programmes. It is also the first an ...
*
Nanyang Polytechnic
Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), established in 1992, is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Recognition
Nanyang Polytechnic has won many awards and recognit ...
*
Republic Polytechnic
Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
Established in 2002, RP is renowned for its sports science programs. It is also the first and ...
*
Science Centre, Singapore
Science Centre Singapore, previously known as the Singapore Science Centre, is a science-themed attraction in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public. It houses ove ...
Impact
The
Government of Singapore
The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore, Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President of Singapore, President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the Presi ...
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
Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of learning for either personal or professional reasons.
Lifelong learning is important for an individual's competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social in ...
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
A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the World Wide Web, Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and p ...
providers such as
Udemy
Udemy ( ) is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in May 2010 by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar. It is based in San Francisco, California, United States. The platform hosts online courses, mostly ...
,
Coursera
Coursera Inc. () is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offe ...
, and
edX
edX is an American For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit
massive open online course provider. It was founded by MIT and Harvard. It is a subsidiary of 2U (company), 2U.
History
edX was founded in May 2012 by the admi ...
.
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
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Work ...
,
secondary, and
junior college
A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
education; and Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), who oversees the
ITE ITE or Ite may refer to:
Places
* Ite (village), Walloon name of the Belgian village of Ittre
* Ite District in Tacna Region, Peru
Brands and enterprises
* Interactive Television Entertainment, a defunct Danish media company
* ITE Group, an organi ...
,
polytechnic
A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...
,
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
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 t ...
.
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 an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
1955 establishments in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...