Education Minister has ‘much better feel’ on system
After three weeks on the job, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said that the feedback received has given him a "much better feel" for what needs to be reviewed in the education system.
The next step is to check on whether his feel of the ground is right or if there are other areas to look into, he was quoted by The Sunday Times as saying.
"I'm doing more in-depth analysis, looking at the data and experience we've accumulated over the years," said the Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC.
Already, he has met with some groups such as school superintendents and fresh graduates from the National Institute of Education.
He also has several dialogues planned and will be revealing some areas of review at his Ministry's annual Work Plan Seminar.
The Education Minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a community event at the Darul Ghufran Mosque. The programme provides free lunches to the needy parents in the Tampines Central ward every two weeks.
Minister Heng said he received hundreds of email messages and comments on his Facebook page. "It's been a very enriching experience. Many of them have given very thoughtful suggestions," he said.
He added, he is very heartened and encouraged by the suggestions and that many of the emails were very reasonable and writers understood not all suggestions could be acted upon.
"There is a tremendous amount of energy and passion in Ministry of Education headquarters and in the schools, and everyone wants to do their best," said the Minister.
"What we need to do is to harness all that energy and ideas from our people. Education is very complex and we need all the different perspectives."
