Singapore’s education system has undergone significant reforms over the last decade. Policy changes have been aimed at creating a more nurturing environment, reducing the emphasis on exam grades to drum home the importance of a holistic education, and ensuring that admission to top schools remains open to a broad pool of students, among others. The approach to teaching and learning has been refined to equip students with the right competencies, skills and values to thrive in a more volatile and uncertain future environment.
In a recently-completed paper titled Educating Singapore’s Next Generations: Towards the Super School Concept, its author Mr Tay Kheng Soon1 asks if the next step for educational reform in Singapore is to go beyond focusing on what Singapore students learn, to looking more closely at why they learn, how they learn, and where learning takes place. The key proposal advanced in the paper is the integration of learning environments within community space through the creation of “Super Schools”.
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) is organising a forum where Mr Tay – an architect and adjunct professor at the NUS Architecture department – and his associates will present their ideas. A discussion on how to possibly construct a new architecture for the Singapore education system will follow.
1. The paper, Educating Singapore’s Next Generations: Towards the Super School Concept, was prepared by Mr Tay Kheng Soon with inputs from Mr Kevin YL Tan, Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, Mr Koh Boon Long, Mr Donald Low and Mr Jack Sim.