Singapore Government Press Release
Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,
MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2^nd Storey, Singapore 179369
Tel: 837-9666

Good afternoon Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to be here this afternoon to address you at the 3^rd Teaching Scholarship Presentation Ceremony. By taking up a teaching scholarship, you have made an important decision to commit yourselves to helping our young of tomorrow. This ceremony is held to recognise and celebrate with your parents, families and teachers the beginning of a new chapter as you embark on a teaching career.

This year, we will be awarding 235 undergraduate awards comprising 114 PSC teaching scholarships and 121 MOE teaching awards. In addition to the undergraduate awards, the scope of the MOE Teaching Awards was extended earlier this year to include 2 groups – firstly, those entering their Honours or Accelerated Masters Programme (AMP) and secondly, those graduating with Honours or AMP who decide to join teaching. This year, we will be awarding 67 awards under these 2 new groups – 26 awards to the first group entering their Honours or AMP this year and 41 to the second group who have completed their Honours and have recently entered NIE. By the time our 302 recipients are deployed to schools as Beginning Teachers, the Ministry would have invested a total of $25 million in their university education and NIE training.

Teachers lie at the heart of all we do in Education. They translate policies and initiatives in a way that make lessons come alive for their students. We need good teachers, and enough of them, to help us do all the things that we want to do in our schools.

We are happy with the recruitment numbers that we are seeing, but at the same time, we need to ensure that this good recruitment can be sustained, and that teaching continues to be an attractive career for those who choose to come into the profession.

With the new career structure, teachers can choose a career path that best suits them. You can aspire to be a Master Teacher, a Principal or a Specialist. Each of these career tracks, the Teaching Track, the Leadership Track and the Senior Specialist Track, is challenging and rewarding.

Edu-Pac will help position the Education Service for the long term. It is our investment for the future. Our goal is to recruit and retain good officers by offering them satisfying careers that are in line with their personal goals and aspirations.

What do we look for in our teaching award holders? As in all scholarships, we select people with good academic records and demonstrated leadership qualities. But what sets you apart from the other scholarship holders is your desire to work with young people, to engage them intellectually and above all, to care for them and guide them.

I would like to share a story about a student and his secondary school teacher. This is a true story from our schools. It was one out of 2,000 stories of inspiring teachers that we received when we published the book "If not for my Teacher" two years ago. This student had been over-protected as a child. His parents were busy working and had neglected him. As a result, he became stubborn and rebellious. He was notorious in school and regarded as a problem student.

One of his teachers, Mrs Heng, knew about his record in school, but never discriminated against him. She paid extra attention and was strict towards him. He tried to cheat in his examinations by amending the answer after she had returned him his marked script. Mrs Heng was sharp and she realised it at once. She did not question him, but merely informed him that she would not disregard the marks he had obtained. However, she requested to meet his parents. Mrs Heng convinced his parents that money could not buy the love that the child needed. She made them realise that the student had done all these things to get their attention. After that, they spent more time with him and paid more attention to him.

Mrs Heng’s care and patience eventually changed his life and his relationship with his parents. She guided him and brought him back to shore.

Each of us will also have our own story to tell, of teachers whom we respected, who taught us many things and who helped us grow into better persons. I am heartened to learn that amongst the audience today, we have 90 teachers present. These teachers have been nominated by this year’s batch of teaching award recipients as teachers who have made a difference in their lives. They have been good role models and have inspired our teaching award recipients to take up the challenge to teach.

As teaching award recipients, you are in a good position now to enjoy top quality education while having the opportunity to provide an excellent education for your students in future. While undergoing your university course, take every opportunity to learn beyond your degree. Read widely, discuss issues and share ideas with your peers, and participate actively in co-curricular activities. Expand your horizons. As you will eventually be part of the teaching fraternity, you should also constantly keep in touch with the Education scene in Singapore.

The Ministry will conduct a mid-course programme for you at the end of your second or third year in university. A key component of the programme would be the period of attachment to schools. During the school attachment, you will be guided by the school Principal and assigned to a mentor teacher. Make use of the opportunity to interact closely with serving teachers, many of whom will have invaluable experiences to share.

Upon completion of your university education, you will enrol at the National Institute of Education to undergo the Postgraduate Diploma in Education. This foundation training at NIE will equip you with the skills necessary to be a competent teacher. The Ministry will give you every support and guidance to be a good teacher.

In closing, let me congratulate you on having been awarded a teaching scholarship. I wish you the best in your studies and look forward to welcoming you back soon to join the teaching service.