7/28/2019 Math SyllabuS - Tweaked Fr 2013
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Pri 1 ma s syllabus be weaked fr m ex yNG JiNG yNG
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Singapore Pupils entering primaryschool next year will be given
more breath-ing room to grasp basic numeracy skillswith the
Ministry of Education (MOE)planning to drop part of the Primary
1mathematics syllabus as part of its regularcurriculum review.
A ministry spokesperson told T oday that minor changes will kick
in from nextyears Primary 1 cohort.
For instance, Primary 1 students willno longer learn about
measuring and com-paring objects physical mass through theuse of
non-standard units like paper clipsand apples. They will also not
be taughtabout 3D shapes.
They will instead learn about the orien-tation of objects such
as whether they arefacing left or right or pointing up or down.
These minor changes improve the se-quence of the topics being
taught withoutincrease in content, added the spokes-person.
In tandem with these changes, the
format of the Primary School Leaving Ex-amination (PSLE) for
mathematics will beadjusted for these students come 2018. Nodetails
on the format change are availableyet, but the MOE said schools
will be in-formed of the change two years in advance.
The syllabus adjustments come afterthe MOEs regular curriculum
review done every six years and they are inline with the Primary
Education Reviewand Implementation (PERI) initiated bythe MOE to
provide a more all-rounded
primary school education.Primary school teachers To
welcome the latest move, saying itcurrent gaps in students
undersand allows more time for students tthe remaining topics.
A teacher who has been teacseven years agreed that teaching
cleft and right orientation is useful bnot all know their left from
their rithis knowledge is needed when it coheuristics problems.
Another primary school teacmore than 30 years of experience
sasyllabus is already very tight for Prand doing away with some
topics wifor more breathing space.
Noting that not all students enmary school with a good
knownumeracy, she felt lightening the sload will give teachers more
time tobasic numeracy skills.
It is important to have a strodation so that it will be easier
for tunderstand more difficult concepon, she said.
Pla s f r g v a d -pr fi b dies c -ma age awker ceashley
Chia
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Singapore New hawker centres to bebuilt over the next decade
could be co-managed by the Government and non-profit organisations,
such as social enter-prises and cooperatives, said the Ministryof
the Environment and Water Resourcesyesterday.
It agreed with most of the recommen-dations made by the Hawker
Centre PublicConsultation Panel, which had submit-ted its final
report last month. The expertpanel had suggested that new
hawkercentres could be managed and operatedon a not-for-profit
basis, with a dedicatedmanagement team assigned to overseedaily
operations and management at eachhawker centre.
While the National Environment Agen-cy (NEA) retains oversight
of hawker centremanagement, the ministry said it welcomesproposals
from non-profit organisationswhich are interested in working with
theNEA to manage hawker centres.
The Government has the responsibil-ity of ensuring that the
model of manage-ment for its hawker centres is practical and
sustainable over the long term in achievingthe main objective of
ensuring affordablefood in an environment that is clean
andhygienic, said the ministry. The Govern-ment plans to build 10
new hawker centresover the next decade.
The panels recommendation was wel-comed by social enterprises
such as Break-through Missions, a halfway house thatprovides
rehabilitation programmes, andDignity Kitchen, a food centre
managementand training school for the disabled and
thedisadvantaged.
Mr Koh Seng Choon, Dignity Kitchens
executive director, however felt that hawk-er centres cannot be
100-per-cent run by asocial enterprise because it will not be
ableto cover overheads. Instead, he suggestedthat at least 60 per
cent of the stalls shouldbe rented out at commercial rates for
thecentre to remain financially sustainable.
As he works with those with specialneeds and ex-offenders, Mr
Koh also feltthat a dedicated management team over-seeing
operations at each hawker centrewould have to be trained to manage
theworkers. Proper equipment, like cashierswith buttons marked with
Braille for thevisually-impaired, would have to be builtfor those
who have special needs, he added.
To ensure hygiene practices are con-
sistent, the NEA is studying the feasibility of a single agency
managing cleaning servicesfor existing centres a suggestion made
bythe panel. For this proposal, stall holderswill bear the cost of
table cleaning togetherwith the service and conservancy
charges,which will ensure their part in upholdingsound hygiene
practices.
Adam Road Food Centre, for example,has such a service but stall
owner Mo-hamad Ibrahim, 37, thinks that adding acentrally managed
washing service wouldbe better. It will help make our work
easierand I dont mind paying extra for the serv-ice, he said.
To make hawker centres more envi-ronmentally-friendly, recycling
facilities,
such as recycling bins and food cpoints were also suggested by
thA hawker stall assistant, who onlyto be known as Mohamad, was
sce
Singaporeans are used to leavdirty dishes behind. They can even
them still on the table. They just donsaid the 55-year-old.
Agreeing with the panels recdations, the ministry said it will
cthese suggestions in the buildinnew hawker centres while taking
count cost, functionality and affor
The Government will also stbest to incentivise stallholders and
to adopt environmentally-friendltices, added the ministry.
The syllabus is already very tightfor Primary 1 and doing
awaywith some topics will allowfor more breathing space Itis
important to have a strongfoundation so that it will beeasier for
them to understandmore difficult concepts later on.
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