Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

A very good afternoon.

I am happy to be here this afternoon, to join you in launching the Maths@Home Learning Kit for Parents. I have just come from touring the children’s activities – the feeling of anticipation and excitement is tangible in this place today. It is a spirit that I hope will stay with both our parents and children, and which our children will take with them with them as they carry on their learning in school.  

IMPACT OF FAMILY ON EDUCATION

2.                   We all want our children to make the best of themselves in life, and to do what they can to contribute to others. For the parent, this often translates to seeing our children go as far as they can in their studies. It helps that we live in an Asian culture that places great importance on education and self-improvement. Parents  remind children time and again of the importance of working hard and doing well in school, so that they can secure a good future for ourselves. It is a  thinking ingrained in our psyche, and has led to the tremendous social mobility that we have seen in the past four decades, social mobility that is founded on education.

3.                   Our Malay/Muslim parents are putting a greater premium on their children’s education, and getting more involved in their children’s education. Your efforts have contributed to the real improvements in the performance of the Malay community in  education over the last decade.

4.                   This role of parents reflects a fundamental reality in education, not just in Singapore but across the world over. If there is one consistent and categorical finding in studies of educational achievement in countries across the world, it is that the involvement of parents matters, regardless of race or socioeconomic background. Children are better motivated at their studies, and eventually do better, when parents continually monitor their children’s work, encourage them on, and give them the love and care they need when young.

LEVELLING UP EARLY

5.                    AMP has been part of the community’s effort to raise achievement levels in education. Recognising the need to focus on  key areas where gaps in achievement levels continue to persist,  AMP developed the Maths@Home Learning Kit.  The learning kit focuses on the parents’ role in learning Mathematics, and features activities the parents can do with their children.  I understand that a follow-up series of activity-based workshops will be organised to teach parents how to implement these activities.

6.                   As a subject, Mathematics matters to our young, not just because improved performance in Maths will raise their ‘O’ and ‘N’ Level aggregate scores, but because Mathematics is important as a foundation for further learning, in our universities, polytechnics and ITEs. Along with Science, Mathematics remains the foundation subject for most developments in an innovation-based world.

7.                   I am told that this learning kit is a product of AMP’s research project, which had identified the possible factors affecting Malay/Muslim students’ performance in Mathematics.  The key findings revealed Malay/Muslim students tended to lag behind in Mathematics from the very outset in primary school. Many also experience high Mathematics anxiety, with a declining interest due to non-performance. Further, the research found a lack of quality home support in Mathematics learning.

8.                   This brings me to the second fact that emerges consistently from studies across the world. Good parenting is not just important; it has to begin early in a child’s life. It is in the early years, before children get to school, that learning habits and aptitudes are shaped. If we are to ensure continued social mobility, and continue to close the gaps in performance between our different communities, we have to do more to enrich the early years in our children’s lives.

PARTNERING COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS

9.                   So it is heartening to see community organisations and self-help groups take active steps in partnering with parents in this process. Over the last decade, AMP has worked hard, together with students and parents and others in the Malay/Muslim community to contribute to the progress of the community.  AMP tells me that it has given assistance to about 18,000 individuals from within and outside the Malay/Muslim community last year (from July 2003 to July 2004), through its education, social and training programmes.