ICT Master Plan Speech

SPEECH BY RADM TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND 2ND
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE MASTERPLAN FOR IT IN
EDUCATION ON MONDAY 28 APRIL 97 AT SUNTEC CITY AT 10 AM OPENING NEW FRONTIERS IN EDUCATION WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The World Has Changed
As a young boy in primary school it seemed to me that my school was huge. The hall was a big cavernous space and the school field was a large sea of green, or brown if it had not rained for a while, stretching out to the fence which was the boundary of our world. We lived in this world, guided by our principal and teachers. Many years later, having grown up and seen the world outside, I returned to the school for a gathering of old boys. It seemed like not such a big place after all - in fact, quite a small, cosy place.

Today, primary school students in Singapore are communicating with primary school students in the UK and with a British aircraft carrier, keeping track of her progress as she makes her way half way round the world. They are learning about life on board the ship, and about the various ports she is visiting on this journey - for the students from these two schools and the sailors on board it is also a journey of mutual discovery.

The world has changed. Technology has changed it. We are now able to reach out from our schoolrooms to any place in this world. The only fences are in our minds. Information technology [IT] has made it possible for us to connect and work with more people and in more locations around the world. Our world has shrunk; and so must our minds expand to learn to take in all that is now within our reach.

Human Resources for the Future

To thrive in this future world of the 21st Century, Singaporeans must learn to think beyond the bounds of their physical surroundings - beyond home and school, to the community, our country, our region and the wider world. Singaporeans must also learn to think beyond the obvious, to think creatively, to search for new knowledge, to come up with new ideas. They must be comfortable with new technologies and be able to exploit these new technologies to venture beyond their current boundaries and open up new frontiers of knowledge.

Mastering technology and harnessing it for widespread and comprehensive use in a society is not an easy task. More so when technology is progressing and changing rapidly. Nowhere is this more true than in the area of information technology. The IT revolution is already well underway. It is changing the way we live - the way we work, study and play. The next century will witness the increasing use of information and knowledge as engines of productivity and economic growth. We have to prepare ourselves and our children to be discerning and astute users of information as well as creators of knowledge.

Preparing our younger generation

Governments in developed countries all over the world recognise that the ability of their people to continually master new technologies will have a critical impact on their future global competitiveness. These governments know that education is the key.

The United States has established a $200 million Technology Literacy Challenge Fund which will give American students access to computers. Over 6000 schools will be linked. [ASCD Report, Jan 97] In Europe, getting "every school and every school kid on the Internet" is the new manifesto of European politicians. [Cybertimes, 1 Apr 97] The major European countries - Germany, France, Britain, Italy have all announced major programmes for Information Technology in education. For example, Italy has just launched an ambitious programme to install multimedia workstations and Internet connections in 15,000 schools by the year 2000, with an investment of about S$850 million.

Finland, with a population of just 5 million has launched a 5-year plan, for a national strategy in "Education, Training and Research in the Information Society". Finland is already the country with the highest connections to Internet in the world, (in terms of number of hosts per 1000 people as reported by the World Competitiveness Yearbook).

In Asia, Japan also has similar programmes. These initiatives in the most advanced nations reflect their governments' desire to use IT in education in order to build an information-rich community and to stay ahead. Developing countries are also realising the importance and the potential of IT.

Harnessing IT for education

Singapore's Masterplan for IT in Education lays out a comprehensive strategy for creating an IT-based teaching and learning environment in every school. It will be one of our key strategies for equipping our young with the skills that are critical for the future - creative thinking, the ability to learn independently and continuously, and effective communication.

Our Masterplan for IT in Education will have four goals. First, to enhance linkages between the school and the world around it, so as to expand and enrich the learning environment. Second, to encourage creative thinking and lifelong learning. Third, to encourage innovative processes in education; and fourth, to promote administrative and management excellence in our education system.

The Masterplan will be part of our education programme for the nation. We want the computer revolution to reach every child whether or not he can afford to have a computer at home. We want every child to be proficient in the use of computers and benefit from learning in an IT-enriched environment.

Today all our schools are already equipped with computers - a typical primary school with 100 and a typical secondary school with at least 40. Many have more. Every school is connected to the Internet. 17,000 teachers have Internet accounts. We want to make our schools even smarter. As a small and compact country we can respond more quickly and flexibly to change than bigger countries. We should capitalise on this advantage to achieve the goals of this programme as quickly as possible for the benefit of all our students.
The target for our Masterplan, to be achieved by the year 2002, is for students to have hands-on use of computers for 30% of their curriculum time. This means providing 1 computer for every 2 pupils.

In addition, every school will be fully networked allowing teachers and pupils to access courseware, the Internet and digitised media resources from every classroom, and from all learning areas. This will also encourage the sharing of teaching resources within and between schools.

The target of 1 computer for every two students is the norm that we will work towards. Some schools will reach these standards before the year 2002 depending on how fast the schools themselves can integrate the use of IT.

For a start we will increase the number of computers in every school so that students can use computers for 10% of the curriculum time. This will be achieved within the next three years. Within three years, there will be 1 computer for every 6 to 7 primary school pupils and 1 computer for every 5 secondary school or junior college students. We will also provide every school with one computer for every two teachers. A typical primary school will therefore have at least 150 computers, and a typical secondary school 340 by 1999.

The targeted percentages of curriculum time are based on the experience gained over the last one to two years in our pilot projects in 12 primary and secondary schools.

Teachers are the key to the success of this programme. The Masterplan therefore provides for a comprehensive teacher-training programme - all teachers will be trained to use IT in their lessons by 1999. New teachers undergoing training in the National Institute of Education already learn how to make use of IT for teaching as a standard part of their course.

In addition to providing the schools with one computer for every two teachers, we will give teachers a grant worth 20% of the cost of a computer to buy their own computers. Every teacher will have an Internet account.

We want to encourage high ownership and usage of computers among teachers because the computer will be an indispensable tool for teaching. Teachers will come to use the computer for preparing their lessons, for teaching in the classroom, for going through their pupils' work and for communication with their pupils, their peers and the Ministry.

Resources required

The Masterplan for IT in education will require significant additional resources to be devoted to education. The government will commit $2 billion from 1997 to 2002 to implement this programme.

This includes funds for computers, full networking of the schools, physical renovations, software and courseware, and teacher training.

Subsequently, another $600 million a year will be provided to maintain and replace hardware, develop new software, and for the continuous training of teachers.

We will also invite private sector participation not only as suppliers of hardware, but more importantly, as content providers. This is a major programme and my Ministry will not be able to develop all the required courseware and resource materials on its own; nor is trying to do this on our own the best strategy for my Ministry to adopt.

We want the private sector to be active participants in this programme and help to provide the expertise. Our wide scale implementation of this programme will provide many opportunities for the industry to introduce new technology and ideas. We hope that this Masterplan will spur the growth of a major new industry in Singapore that will provide educational software and educational content. The Ministry will also be guided by an Advisory Council on IT in Education comprising local and overseas experts who will advise us on the implementation of the Masterplan.

Success factors

Our Masterplan is a very comprehensive one that will cover all schools and all students.

Although we are a small country, the overall scale of our programme is larger than that envisaged in countries that are much bigger than Singapore. Our Masterplan will provide a computer to student ratio, and proportion of computer usage throughout the school system that is at least comparable and in many cases beyond what the developed countries are planning to do. This will help our students, our workforce and our country remain in the top league of competitiveness.

We are able to implement such a comprehensive programme in such a short time for three reasons.

First, we are a small country, more tightly knit and better organised. We can reach all the schools and complete the programme more quickly and easily than in a bigger country.

Second, we have used our resources wisely. Our government has exercised fiscal prudence, spent wisely and avoided unnecessary expenditures. We are therefore able to put aside enough resources in every year's budget o support such a major programme. We must continue to maintain a strong budget position in order to carry through this programme and make other worthwhile investments in future.

Third, we already have a strong foundation. Our education system works well, our teachers are well trained and motivated, and they are receptive to new technology. As a nation, we have emphasised IT for more than a decade and a half - since the early 1980s. Home ownership of computers is high, and so is computer usage in the workplace. Many of our people are already computer literate and comfortable with computers. These factors give us the confidence that our programme will succeed.

The Role of Principals and Teachers

No innovation in education can take place without the commitment of principals and teachers.
Computers cannot replace principals and teachers. Computers are tools for the principal, for teachers and for the students to enhance their work and facilitate learning.

For example, our pilot projects in the schools reveal that the use of computers can motivate pupils to be more interested in their studies. The brighter pupils used IT to go beyond curricular objectives and become more independent learners. Less able pupils showed greater interest in their studies and, encouraged by hands-on lessons, performed better.

The IT Masterplan is a great opportunity for teaching professionals like yourselves to exercise your creativity and devise ways of using this powerful new tool to enrich the lives of young people under your care.

Conclusion

We have a good education system. Our achievements are the result of the hard work of our students and teachers, and the reforms that were put in place in our education system in the past.

The IT Masterplan will open new frontiers in our education system. We must exploit the full potential of IT to ensure that we educate our children to be among the best in the world.

Our schools must be plugged into this more competitive, more interconnected world. Our schools must adapt and change. But our schools must still continue to provide a cosy and nurturing environment for our children, just as they always have. And you as principals and teachers must continue to guide them and help them grow for committed principals and teachers will always be the heart and soul of our education system.