Mr S Dhanabalan, President SINDA

Distinguished Guests

Parents and Students

I am pleased to join you this afternoon to share the achievements of outstanding students in the SINDA Tutorial for Enhanced Performance programme or STEP for short.

SINDA introduced the STEP tuition programme to help our Indian students do better in school. Since it was started in 1992 STEP has benefited more than 12,000 students. Many students who went through the STEP programme are now in institutions of higher learning, at ITE, the Polytechnics and the Universities.

Today, 34 students will be receiving the STEP Award. The STEP Award recognises significant improvements made by STEP students in the school examinations. Through determination and hard work, these students have done better in their studies. My congratulations to all the award winners. Keep up the good work.

The enrolment of students in STEP has increased each year. 3000 students have enrolled in STEP in 1999 – the highest since the start of the programme. For Primary One alone, 450 students have enrolled in STEP. This is about 10% of the total Indian pupils’ cohort in Primary One.

The continued growth of the STEP tuition programme reflects the quality of the programme. This is made possible by the dedication and commitment of the STEP centre principals and tutors. I understand some principals and tutors have been in the programme since it started in 1992. I would like to commend you for your steadfast support and contribution for the Community.

The education system is undergoing several important changes. We are now moving towards an ability-driven paradigm with increasing focus on the individual. We want each of our students to have the opportunity to develop their potential to the fullest. More resources will be allocated to schools to provide even closer attention to nurture our students. MOE will deploy an additional 400 teachers in our schools in January 2000. Almost half of all primary and secondary schools can expect to see an increase in the number of their teaching staff – some schools will have as many as twelve more teachers. The school computerisation programme, or the IT Masterplan for Schools, is already in full swing. The objective is to have an overall ratio of one computer to every two students by the year 2002. Schools are now also offering additional help to weaker students through programmes like the Learning Support Programme (LSP) and the Underachiever’s Programme (UAP).

I am pleased to note that SINDA has made changes to its own programmes to complement the changes announced by MOE. These include the modular revision tuition programme for Secondary students, equipping Indian students with skills on exam preparation, techniques for handling exam questions, motivation and studying smart techniques. Parents are also provided a helping hand through workshops and seminars on motivating their children and helping their child cope with schoolwork and examinations. To provide help to children with poor reading skills, volunteers are sent to the children’s homes to read to them.

The untiring efforts of SINDA and other Indian organisations towards ensuring the continued improvement of Indian students in education is commendable and clearly yielding results. In 1998, for example, among all Indian pupils who attempted PSLE, 44.1% qualified for the Special/Express streams in secondary school, compared to 37.2% in 1994. These results are a testimony to what we can achieve through self-help.

My congratulations once again to the award winners. You have done your families and teachers proud. As award winners, you will have a positive influence on your peers and will grow up as self-assured and confident Singaporeans.

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Information on LSP

The purpose of the Learning Support Programme (LSP) is to identify children at primary one who are "at risk" of failing in school. Additional support is given to these children to help them cope with the school curriculum.

At the end of January, a School Readiness test is conducted on all primary one pupils. This is a test of basic literacy skills such as

• listening,
• copying,
• writing,
• reading and
• spelling.

Pupils who have not learnt these basic skills may have problems coping with the school work. There is a gap between what they can do, and what they are expected to be able to do.

Through early identification, we can start to narrow this gap, or prevent it from getting wider.

Children in the programme are taught by a Learning Support Co-ordinator (LSC). The LSC is a teacher with additional training in teaching language and literacy skills.

Children in the Learning Support Programme attend about 4-6 classes per week.

During these lessons, the LSC teaches using a parallel curriculum, i.e. she teaches the same topic or content as the class teacher teaches at a slower pace, uses a wide variety of teaching strategies and resources to meet the learning needs of the children, ensures that the children experience success in their learning.

As children are taught in smaller groups of 8 - 12, they are given more attention, and more opportunities for practice and participation. The LSC is also able to tailor her teaching to individual needs, and ensure that every child is effectively supported.

The LSC reviews the children's progress regularly with the Educational Psychologist who may carry out curriculum based or psychological assessments for children who need additional help. An Individual Education Plan may then be drawn up for the child to provide for more focused teaching to meet clearly defined targets.

Where necessary, children may also be supported by an Educational Counsellor in areas such as behaviour, study skills, time management, stress management and social skills.

The purpose of the Underachiever’s Programme (UAP) is to help children who are of average or above average ability to maximise their learning potential.

Pupils in this programme are those who show a discrepancy between their school performance and their ability. Their teachers feel that with additional support, they would be capable of better grades in English and/or Mathematics.

Teachers work closely with officers from the Specialised Pupil Programmes Branch to identify pupils for the programme. This is done through curriculum based assessments, teacher observations and knowledge about the pupil, semestral assessments and diagnostic tests.

Pupils are provided with remediation in English and/or Mathematics. Diagnostic remediation is an active process through which teachers identify a very specific area of need, plan teaching to meet that need, and evaluate the effects of the remediation.

Through this process, teachers ensure that they are addressing the needs of their pupils, and closely monitor the progress that the pupils are making.

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