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NEWS SNIPPETS
See also Education News
2007
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Medishield for special needs children |
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Persons with congenital illnesses can join
MediShield to obtain coverage for medical treatment that is not related
to their congenital condition... |
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As for children attending special
schools or with special needs, the basis of coverage is the same as
the basis for other children, that is, they should be healthy at the
point of entry and have no pre-existing illnesses... |
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More..... |
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Singapore ranked 4th in international reading literacy
study 2006 |
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A representative sample of our pupils – 7000
Primary 4 pupils from all primary schools in Singapore – took part in
the study in October 2005... |
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Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education
systems which participated in PIRLS 2006, an improvement from rank 15th
in PIRLS 2001 (see Table 1, Annex B). Singapore’s average score also
improved from 528 in 2001 to 558 in 2006... |
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More..... |
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Guidance Programme has helped 6,000 young offenders
since 1997 |
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In his Opening Address, Dr Vivian
Balakrishnan announced the increase of up to 25 per cent in funding for
the 17 social service agencies that are running the Guidance Programme
(GP) - a six-month programme for first-time young offenders to divert
them away from being charged in Court... |
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Towards the end of the 6-month
programme, the social worker will assess the youth’s overall
progress and make an appropriate recommendation to the Police
Investigation Officer. |
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Depending on the risks and needs of the
youth, the programme may be extended for up to
six months. The youth, if he completes the programme successfully,
may be let off with a stern Police warning in lieu of prosecution... |
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More..... |
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2007 Primary School Leaving Examination (PLSE) Results |
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A total of 49, 817 Primary 6 pupils sat for
the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) this year, a decrease of
798 (or 1.6%) over the 2006 cohort. Of these, 5176 were from the EM3
course... |
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In all, 48, 665 pupils (or 97.7%) have been
assessed as suitable to proceed to secondary school. Of these pupils,
63.5% are eligible for the Express course, 22.2% for the Normal
(Academic) and 12.0% for the Normal (Technical) course. |
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There are 1,152 pupils (or 2.3%) who are
assessed to be not yet ready for secondary school in 2008 or more suited
for vocational training... |
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More..... |
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Inaugural National Infocomm Club Awards |
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The National Infocomm Club Awards recognise
the creativity of Infocomm Club students in using technology to educate
and connect to the wider community, or within schools... |
Primary Category
Top Winner : River Valley Primary School (Project: The Adventures
of Respect)
Merit Winner : Chua Chu Kang Primary School (Project: Intelligent
Communicators)
Merit Winner : Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Project: HOPE) |
Secondary / Junior College
Category
Top Winner : Raffles Institution
(Project: E-learning Packages for Down Syndrome Youths)
Merit Winner : Hwa Chong Institution (Project: Spiderportal)
Merit Winner : Victoria Junior College (Project: Automated Quiz
Management System)... |
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More..... |
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Regulation of cyber gaming cafes in HDB estates |
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Computer gaming establishments are only
allowed to be set up at shopping, recreational or commercial centres.
This includes HDB Town Centres, which are part commercial and part
residential. |
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In addition, licensees of computer gaming
centres are required not to admit persons below 16 years of age before
6.30 pm on a school day. |
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Further, the licensee has to ensure that
students wearing school uniforms are not admitted into the establishment
at any time, and is not allowed to provide a change of clothes to
students... |
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More..... |
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Creating a Singapore fit for children |
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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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More..... |
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MOE appoints 65 principals in 2007 |
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This year, 23 of the 36 newly-appointed
Principals are aged 40 and below, which is the largest number of young
newly-appointed Principals in the last ten years. |
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Among them, the youngest are Mdm Eugenia Tan
and Mrs Clara Lim-Tan at age 35. They will be heading Crescent Girls'
School and CHIJ (Kellock) respectively... |
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More..... |
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School
Achievements in 2007 |
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The School Excellence Award (SEA)
recognises schools for their excellence in both education
processes and outcomes. It is the highest and most prestigious
award in the MoA framework. |
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This year, 5 schools will be presented
with the SEA trophy. They are: |
1) Crescent Girls' School
2) Tanjong Katong Secondary School
3) Nanyang Girls' High School
4) Hwa Chong Institution
5) Victoria Junior College |
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More..... |
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Eight schools to be upgraded from 2009 to 2011 |
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As part of the Ministry of Education’s (MOE)
continuing efforts to renew and support our schools, eight more schools
will be upgraded from 2009 to 2011 under the tenth phase of the
Programme for Rebuilding and IMproving Existing Schools (PRIME)... |
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Schools undergoing PRIME will also benefit
from the Flexible School Infrastructure (FlexSI) framework and the
provision of an indoor sports hall as part of the upgrading plan. |
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More..... |
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Update on the Norovirus outbreak at Pioneer Primary
School |
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"Norovirus was confirmed in the stool
of six food handlers. These findings highlight the importance of
good food and personal hygiene. In particular, symptomatic persons
should refrain from handling food when they are not well. |
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"The six infected food handlers have
been issued orders prohibiting them from working until they are
certified free of infection. MOH has also advised the school on
the necessary prevention and control measures to avoid future
outbreaks. |
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"Pioneer Primary School recorded a
total of 147 Norovirus gastroenteritis cases, comprising students,
staff and food handlers, during the recent outbreak. The illness
is self-limiting and most recovered within 1-3 days. None was
hospitalised..." |
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More..... |
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PACE releases report on English TV and Radio
programmes |
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"In recommending the areas for further
improvement, PACE noted that vacant timeslots left when a
programme series ends are still repeatedly filled with the same
type of slapstick programming like Mr Bean and Just for Laughs... |
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"The Committee applauded MediaCorp TV
for working with schools to involve youths in the revamped debate
programme The Arena. However, the Committee noted that there is
still a lack of quality programmes that address the issues which
youths face, and those that cater to children aged eight to 12
years old... |
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"Recommendations from the Committee
included a clear distinction between 'live talk' on air and
advertisements, as well as longer stretches of music play with
interruptions only for informative commentaries..." |
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More..... |
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Online submission of school choices for Sec 1 posting |
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"Parents of Primary 6 pupils will have an
additional channel of submitting their child’s school choices for the
Secondary One posting exercise at the end of this year. |
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"The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be
introducing a new Internet System to make it more convenient for parents
to be able to submit their child’s Secondary One school choices online. |
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"The new Internet System will also give
parents the option of checking their child’s Secondary One posting
results online... |
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"Parents who wish to use hardcopy forms
to submit their child’s school options to the primary school can
still do so. The Secondary One posting exercise procedures remains
unchanged..." |
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More..... |
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Primary 1 registration exercise for 2008 |
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"Under the
Compulsory Education Act, Singapore Citizens born
after 1 January 1996 and residing in Singapore are
required to attend national primary schools regularly. |
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"Thus, a child born
between 2 January 2001 and 1 January 2002 has to be
registered at the 2007 Primary One Registration
Exercise for admission to Primary One in January 2008.
Children born between 2 January 1999 and 1 January
2001 (both dates inclusive), who have not previously
been registered for Primary One classes, may also be
registered for admission to school in 2008..." |
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More..... |
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Home for children and the elderly under one roof opens |
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"The
4-storey purpose-built facility comprising 2 homes,
Sunbeam Place and Evergreen Place, was completed in
May 06 and commenced operations a month later. |
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"Sunbeam Place is a group home for children
and young persons run by Singapore Children's Society. Evergreen Place
is a home for the aged run by Singapore Amalgamated Services
Co-operative Senior Citizens Home..." |
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More..... |
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MOE Selects First Five FutureSchools@Singapore |
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From 2008, students at Canberra Primary
School, Crescent Girls’ School, Jurong Secondary and Hwa Chong
Institution can look forward to even more innovative teaching methods
and engaging lessons – made possible through more widespread use of
Information and Communications Technology (ICT). |
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"These four schools will join a new primary
school, Beacon Primary School, as the pioneer FutureSchools@Singapore..." |
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More..... |
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Pilot project allowing cycling on all footways in Tampines |
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"Land Transport Authority (LTA), Traffic
Police (TP) and the Tampines Grassroots Organisations (GROs) will be
conducting a study in the Tampines Town to assess the feasibility of
allowing cycling on footways with effect from 27 May 2007. |
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"The study will last for one year and end on
30 May 2008... |
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"Currently, under Rule 28 of the Road Traffic
Rules, enacted in 1981, cycling on footways is prohibited. Like any
other vehicles, bicycles are to be ridden on the roads and cyclists are
required to abide by all relevant traffic rules and regulations..." |
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More..... |
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Direct School Admission Exercise for Secondary 1 in 2008 |
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"This year, 56 schools, 9 more than last
year, will be participating in the Direct School Admission Exercise for
admission to Secondary One in 2008... |
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"This year’s DSA-Sec Exercise will be
extended to the new School of the Arts (SOTA), a specialised Independent
School for talented youths in the visual and performing arts. SOTA will
start in January 2008..." |
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More..... |
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Changes to childcare subsidies for PRs |
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"From 1 January 2008, PR children aged 2
months to below 7 years will only be eligible for half the current
amount of centre-based child care subsidy. |
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"From January 2009, such children will not
be eligible for the subsidy..." |
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More..... |
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Calculators for Primary 5 and 6 Mathematics |
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"To align assessment with the curriculum, the
use of calculators will be allowed in part of the Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE) Mathematics and Foundation Mathematics examinations
from 2009. |
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"These examinations will be revised from the
current single paper to a two-paper format from 2009. Calculators will
only be allowed in Paper 2 of the examinations, which will contain
questions for which a calculator can be used..." |
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More..... |
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Niche schools recognised for 2007 |
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"Thirteen primary schools
have been awarded the Programme for School- Based
Excellence for 2007. In addition, the 24 schools which
received the award in 2005 and 2006 had their awards
renewed this year. |
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"Nine secondary schools
have been recognised as Niche Programme Schools for
2007, in addition to the 12 schools that were
recognised in 2005 and 2006..." |
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More..... |
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National Piano & Violin Competition 2007 |
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"Organised by the National
Arts Council (NAC), the competition serves as a
valuable platform to nurture and showcase young
musicians in Singapore. NAC is now inviting
participation in the prestigious event to be held from
5 to 15 December 2007... |
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"Registration for the
Competition is now open. Applications close on 6pm, 31
August 2007..." |
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More..... |
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Beware of snatch thieves in streets and common areas |
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"Since the beginning of the year, there have
been 124 cases of snatch theft reported. Of these cases, 67 cases
involved the stealing of handphones... |
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"More recently on 6 Mar at about
6.45am, a teenaged male victim lost his handphone to a snatch
thief when he was hit on the back of the head whilst walking near
Tampines St 41. The culprit picked up the $100 mobile phone that
the victim dropped and fled with it..." |
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More..... |
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Gearing up Singapore for its 2020 healthcare needs |
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"MediShield coverage among active
workers is not bad, at 90%. But 390,000 Singaporeans below 20
years of age are not insured. The premium at their age is
inexpensive, only $30 per year. |
| "And
young parents can use their Baby Bonus to pay the
premium. So cost is not the issue... |
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"We will introduce an
opt-out scheme for infants to be automatically covered
under MediShield from the time their births are
registered. |
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"Premiums can be deducted
from their fathers' Medisave or alternatively their
mothers'. Parents who do not want such coverage can
opt out any time by informing the CPF Board. We will
get this done later this year..." |
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More..... |
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MOE to develop 15 FutureSchools@Singapore schools by 2015
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2006 survey finds almost nine in ten children aged
10 - 14 years are infocomm users |
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"Almost nine in ten children (aged 10 to 14 years)
use the computer and Internet for communications,
learning and play... |
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"The second highest proportion of
Infocomm users are our youth and adults (aged 15 to 59 years),
with about seven in ten using the computer and Internet
extensively for communications and leisure activities. |
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"The
elderly (aged 60 and above) are also Infocomm users. Three in ten use the
computer, while two in ten have accessed the Internet in the past
year..." |
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More..... |
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Synthetic fields for eligible schools
2006
Higher school fees for PRs and foreign students |
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"From January 2007, PR in Government
and Government-aided schools, junior colleges (JCs) and the
centralised institute (CI) will pay about 20% more for school
fees. They currently pay the same fees as citizens at the
secondary and pre-university levels. |
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"FS, whose fees are already higher than
those for citizens and PR, will have their fees increased by about
30%. The new fees for FS will take effect two years from now (2009
), to give time for them to decide if they wish to apply to become
permanent residents..." |
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More.... |
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Education: Performance by ethnic group 1996–2005
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Three years of free Wi-Fi for Singapore from 1 Dec 2006
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2006 Primary School Leaving Examination (PLSE) Results
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New Chinese Language Curriculum for Primary 1 and 2 in 2007
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New committee to look into reducing school dropout rate
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New school
principals in 2007
All schools to get indoor sports hall for PE, sports and games |
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"The indoor sports hall will mean an
approximately 50% increase in a school’s sports facilities. It will give
schools the flexibility to conduct CCAs and PE lessons at any time of
the school day... |
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"Estimated to cost a total of $690 million,
the project will be implemented in phases over seven years..." |
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More..... |
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Two Years of Free Wi-Fi for Singapore |
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"Come 2007, Singaporeans will be ushering the
new year with at least 24 months, or two years, of free (basic tier)
wireless connectivity at up to 512 kbps speeds almost everywhere -
thanks to IDA's 'Wireless@SG' programme... |
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"The three operators are extending this
two-year free offering with unlimited usage to all residents and
visitors in Singapore, including tourists and business travellers.
The sign-up details will be made known from December 2006 by the
operators..." |
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More..... |
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Norovirus outbreak may have affected another two schools |
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"MOH has investigated into the Ang Mo Kio
Secondary School outbreak which occurred on 25-28 Sep and established
the cause as norovirus gastroenteritis. Investigations into the cause of
outbreak at Stamford Primary School are still in progress although
norovirus has also been identified. |
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"As at Friday, 6 Oct, two other schools [ACS(I)
and Maris Stella (Primary)] have reported 20-30 cases of students and
staff falling ill with similar symptoms. These cases are also being
investigated to determine their cause..." |
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More..... |
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Recent outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis in two schools |
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"There has been an increase in the number of
persons attending the polyclinics for acute diarrhoea over the past
three weeks... |
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"However, in view of the recent outbreaks of
norovirus gastroenteritis in two schools affecting a large number of
school children, the Ministry would like to advise the public to be
vigilant about diarrhoeal illnesses..." |
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More..... |
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Major changes in teaching of English Language in our schools |
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Singapore students do fairly well in reading
literacy, but standards of oral and written communication are highly
uneven. Some employers have observed a decline in oral fluency, writing
skills and the ability to communicate with impact... |
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The EL curriculum will focus on
developing oral confidence, grammar knowledge and a love for
reading to anchor EL learning throughout the primary school years... |
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Secondary students will revisit and
build on foundational skills, in particular, grammar and spoken
English... |
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A new subject, English Language, to be
offered at H1 and H2 levels, will be introduced at the
pre-university level from 2009... |
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More..... |
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AVA to implement grading scheme for pet shops
Primary schools to do away with EM3 stream from 2008 |
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"Primary schools
will introduce Subject-based Banding starting from the 2008
Primary 5 cohort, replacing the current EM3 stream. |
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"With
Subject-based Banding, students will be able to offer a mix of
Standard or Foundation subjects depending on their aptitude in
each subject... |
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"Schools will work
out class and timetabling arrangements that allow students to
take separate classes in Foundation subjects while being
integrated with other students for the rest of the
curriculum..." |
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More..... |
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- Easier for returning Singaporeans to go back to our schools
This section
commenced on 20 Jun 2006
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