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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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Speech by: DR VIVIAN
BALAKRISHNAN, MINISTER FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS
AND SECOND MINISTER FOR INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS |
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An Excerpt |
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Between 1980 and 2006, the general divorce
rate for women rose from 3.8 to 8.0 for every 1,000 married resident
females. |
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In 1990, about 4 percent of resident
households with at least one child below 16 years were headed by single
parents. In 2005, this proportion grew to 5 percent. Despite the
parents' best intentions, these families are more likely to struggle to
provide the best home and future for their children. |
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The rise of single parenthood in this
generation illuminates the changing face of family life over the
centuries and the inextricable link between economic development and
family form... |
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The key question for all of us today is what
impact the post-modern world is likely to have on family life. The
sociological impacts are likely to be as profound as the earlier
revolutions. As early as the seventies. American academic Edward Shorter[1]
noted three key traits of the post-modern family, which I am sure we can
relate to. |
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First, adolescent indifference to the
family's identity and a corresponding identification with other networks
and their peers. Second, instability in the lives of couples. The
divorce rates I mentioned earlier are one manifestation. Finally, the
end of the notion of a ''nest'' in nuclear family life, with the
liberation of women. As more women enter the workforce, fewer children
now return to homes with mums awaiting their return. |
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Another feature of the post-modern family is
susceptibility to a myriad of influences, including electronic media.
Our children grow up with MapleStory and World of Warcraft where they
lead virtual lives and belong to virtual tribes. |
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They are well-versed in the applications of
YouTube for viewing all kinds of videos beyond the censorship or
supervision. And they are well entrenched in the worlds of MySpace,
Friendster, Facebook which provide them with a platform to mingle and
catch up with their friends without having to leave their homes. |
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What does this mean for the ''post-modern''
child, so to speak? It means living in a world of abundant choices
whilst being bombarded by unlimited temptations and influences. |
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It means the richness of participating
in multiple communities, whilst struggling to find one's core
identity and values. It means the opportunity to chart new
frontiers but sometimes without the clear guidance of a moral
compass. |
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The complexities of the world would
also mean that children who are more well-off may face one too
many choices or temptations whilst children who are less well-off
may miss out on opportunities that the post-modern world offers... |
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Children in Singapore enjoy
accessible, high quality and equitable health care. In 2005, the
infant mortality rate was 2.1 per 1,000 live births, compared to
26.3 per 1,000 live births in 1965. |
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Our infant mortality rate was ranked
by UNICEF's ''State of the World's Children Report'' in 2005 and
2006 as the best in the world. This dramatic improvement is
attributable to improvements in obstetric care, and advances in
medical care, especially in newborn care in Singapore. |
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Today, a robust health screening
programme is in place for the young. Annually, about 99 percent of
7 and 12-year-olds are screened for abnormal hearing, visual
acuity and heart conditions, and provided with growth and
developmental assessment in schools. |
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Children identified with health problems are
referred to relevant healthcare institutions for further evaluation and
management at the primary, secondary and tertiary care levels. |
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Health, of course, is not just about
the absence of illness, disease or injury. It is also about
general well-being. The mental health issues of children and
adolescents are slowly gaining prominence. It is an area that we
must understand better and tackle in a more holistic manner... |
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Let me move on to the area of
education. The challenge is to impart to our children the values,
skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Education remains the key enabler and it is a resource-intensive
endeavour. Today, the Government invests about $6.5 billion in
education - about 3.5 percent of our GDP. |
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Our priority for all children is to
get them to schools in the first instance. A cornerstone of this
effort is our compulsory education policy for primary school
education, in place since 2003... |
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For those who are already in schools,
our priority is to keep them in our system for as long as we can.
Northlight School, set up in 2006, embodies this effort.
Northlight's mandate is to engage and educate premature primary
school leavers or those who have not done well in the Primary
School Leaving Examination. |
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From 2008, we will see the end of the
streaming into EM1, EM2 and EM3 bands and the introduction of a
more ''a la carte'' menu selection of study to cater to varying
levels of ability and perhaps, more importantly, address the issue
of stigmatisation for children who struggle in schools. |
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We must not destroy our children's
sense of self worth and self esteem. This approach will hopefully
also help to lower the attrition rate in schools. Our target is to
halve the dropout rate at primary and secondary school levels from
three percent to 1.5 percent by 2010. |
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We also want to provide greater
educational pathways to recognise different talent and widen the
definition of success. For example, the Singapore Sports School,
started in 2004. Next year, the School of the Arts will open its
doors for aspiring young artists. |
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We are also introducing greater
flexibility in moving across the various streams and learning
institutions - ITEs, Polytechnics and Universities. |
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We are now seeing the results of our
early investments in education. The percentage of primary one
students not completing secondary education has been steadily
decreasing, from 4.3 percent in 2001 to 2.6 percent in 2005, with
a corresponding increase in the rates of progression to
post-secondary institutions. |
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In the Global Competitiveness Report
2005/2006 published by the World Economic Forum, Singapore's
education system, as well as our science and mathematics
education, was ranked first in terms of the ability to meet the
needs of a competitive economy... |
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I believe that the next big frontier
is pre-school education. The literature consistently suggests that
early intervention through a high quality pre-school education can
help make up for deficiencies in home environments by way of
ensuring school readiness. |
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Yet 2006 figures show that five
percent of children entering primary school have not attended
preschool. We want to ensure that as many children as possible are
in preschool, so that they get a good start in life. |
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Financial assistance schemes help
ensure low-income children have access to preschool education. The
Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS), for example,
provides a monthly fee subsidy for children to attend eligible
kindergartens... |
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A key instrument for protecting
children from abuse and neglect is the Children and Young Persons
Act. The Act also provides for treatment against child abuse and
neglect. |
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The Child Protection Service (CPS) at
MCYS is the key agency bearing statutory responsibility to protect
children from abuse and neglect. CPS works in partnership with
other agencies, such as the police, schools, hospitals and social
service agencies, to ensure an integrated system of timely
intervention for victims of child abuse or neglect. |
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The incidence of child abuse in
Singapore is low. In the last five years, about 175 cases of child
abuse were investigated each year. Whilst the number is small
relative to the entire cohort of children in Singapore, we have a
duty of care towards these children. Every case is a future
robbed... |
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The Enabling Masterplan for 2007 to
2011, which was announced earlier this year, is a wide-ranging
masterplan which looks into services for people with disabilities. |
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More concretely, for school-going
children, there will be more funding and support for Special
Education (SPED), including cross posting of teachers from MOE's
mainstream schools to SPED. A purpose-built SPED school is also on
the cards to be completed by next year. |
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There will also be more Special Needs
officers and support for children with disabilities in mainstream
schools. MOE has set aside some S$50 million per year, to equip
mainstream schools to better support students with special needs
in their midst. |
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A child with disabilities needs all
the support he/she needs during their early years. To that end, we
extended the Foreign Domestic Work Levy concession to families
with disabled members, as well as starting a caregiver training
grant in October this year, to empower these families... |
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As we work towards creating a
Singapore fit for children, we must also recognise the role that
our children play in creating their destinies. Their participation
would lend robustness and inspiration to the process. We must
engage children as active partners in this process and not
approach them as mere recipients of our policies... |
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Full Text of Speech |
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Source:
www.gov.sg News 28 Sep 2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Tue 16 October 2007
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