Expanding Learning Support Programmes to Include all Primary School Subjects and Levels
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Hany Soh’s inquiry on the adequacy of learning support for students with greater needs and whether such programmes will expand to cover all primary subjects and levels. Minister Desmond Lee responded that current initiatives like the Learning Support Programme and Learning Support for Mathematics (LSM) strengthen foundations in literacy and numeracy from Primary 1. He highlighted that the LSM and Reading Remediation Programme were recently extended to higher primary levels, while Primary 5 and 6 students can offer subjects at the Foundation level. Furthermore, schools provide targeted support in any subject as needed, and Ministry of Education data shows these interventions help students perform well relative to international peers. Minister Desmond Lee concluded that the Ministry will continue to review and refine these support measures to ensure they remain effective for all students.
Transcript
52 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the current learning support programmes sufficiently support students with greater learning needs; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider expanding the learning support programmes to include all primary school subjects and levels.
Mr Desmond Lee: For students with greater learning needs in primary school, learning support programmes are provided to strengthen their foundation in literacy and numeracy. These programmes include the Learning Support Programme and the Learning Support for Mathematics (LSM) Programme from Primary 1, the Reading Remediation Programme (RRP) for English and the Mother Tongue Support Programme from Primary 3.
To enhance learning support for students who do not meet the milestone learning outcomes at the end of Primary 2, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has extended LSM to Primary 3 and 4 students since 2023. MOE has also enhanced the RRP at Primary 3 and 4 and extended it to Primary 5 students this year.
At Primary 5 and 6, students who cope better with a less demanding curriculum can offer subjects at the Foundation level.
On top of these, schools and teachers also provide targeted support for students in any subject as and when needed.
Our academically weaker students had generally performed better than their international peers in English, Mathematics and Science in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD)'s international benchmarking studies. This suggests that the dedicated and customised support has been effective for many of these students. We will continue to review and refine our learning support programmes as necessary.