Classification of Essay Titles by Topics

USEFUL GUIDE ON EDUCATION

In the 21st century, how important is it to be able to read, write and speak English in
Singapore? (Explaining & Illustrating)
If you were drawing up a set of school rules for a new school, what would they be?
Explain which one of these you think are the most important. (Explaining & Illustrating)
What do you think secondary schools can do to ensure the health, well being and safety
of their students? (Explaining & Illustrating)
"Parents and teachers are partners in the education of children," In what ways can
parents and teachers contribute to the education of children? (Explaining & Illustrating)

Qn: What is education?

Ans: Education is the process by which accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and
values are transmitted.
Qn: What is the purpose of education?
Ans: Education aims to nurture the physical, emotional, intellectual, aesthetic and moral
development of an individual who will contribute to society's progress.
The six goals of Education for All (EFA) have become the United Nations (UN)
overriding priority in education:
1. Expand early childhood care and education
2. Provide free and compulsory primary education for all
3. Promote learning and life skills for young people and adults
4. Increase adult literacy by 50 percent
5. Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender equality by 2015
6. Improve the quality of education
Qn: What are the different forms of education?
Ans: Formal and informal education. Formal education is classroom-based, provided by
trained teachers. Informal education happens outside the classroom, in after-school
programs, community-based organizations, museums, libraries, or at home.
Qn: What is the mission statement of Singapore's Ministry of Education?
Ans: The mission of the Education Service is to mould the future of the nation, by moulding
the people who will determine the future of the nation. The Service will provide our children
with a balanced and well-rounded education, develop them to their full potential, and
nurture them into good citizens, conscious of their responsibilities to family, society and
country.

Qn: What are the educational paths available to students in Singapore?

Ans: Other than the mainstream secondary schools there are also the School of Science
and Technology (SST), NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, the Singapore
Sports School, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and the School of the Arts, adding
diversity to the education landscape.

Qn: What are some important educational initiatives in Singapore?

Ans: In 1997, Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) was introduced to encourage
creative thinking, more varied curriculum and improvement to teachers' education. The IT
Masterplan aimed to use information technology as an education tool to expose students
to new information sources anywhere and anytime. NE was implemented in schools to
develop a sense of common purpose and destiny in all students as citizens of Singapore.
Qn: What underpins these initiatives in Singapore?
Ans: The government has adopted education as a social engineering tool to align with
other sectors like the economy, national defence and community support. Enhanced
human capital skills are seen as crucial to Singapores economy leading to new
educational changes and bigger investments into educational resources and
infrastructures.
Qn: Why the emphasis on bilingualism in Singapore?
Ans: SingaporeS bilingual education policy was borne out of a pragmatic need to operate
in the global economy using the English language while maintaining the Asian languages
and values of our respective cultures.
Qn: What help is given to weaker students?
Ans: There is the Learning Support Programme to help them in literacy and numeracy.
Northlight School was established in 2007 to assist students at risk of dropping out.
Admission to the school is based on at least two failed attempts at the Primary School
Leaving Examinations (PSLE). It also accepts those who have yet to complete secondary
education.
Qn: What help is given to students with special needs?
Ans: Deployment of Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support). Some teachers
are also trained in Special

Qn: What are some useful quotations on education?

ANS:

"There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the
other how to live"
James Truslow Adams
"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul."
Joseph Addison
"Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer, into a selflessness
which links us with all humanity."
Lady Nancy Astor
" Experience teaches only the teachable. "
Aldous Leonard Huxley
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeats