Impact of High-rise Schools on Children's Social Interactions and Development

15 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry has plans to build taller and high-rise schools; (b) whether the Ministry has assessed the developmental importance in childhood and formative years of play, social interaction and friendship-building and the role of open unstructured spaces and unstructured interactions in child development; and (c) whether high-rise school buildings will affect this.

The Minister of State for Education (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, to make best use of the limited land in Singapore, MOE considers how we can adopt higher-rise designs without hindering or compromising teaching and learning. In particular, MOE provides open spaces in our school campuses, to support student learning, as well as healthy social and emotional development.

One example is Valour Primary School, which was completed in 2020, with eight-storey blocks. The school has various sky terraces and pockets of open spaces adjacent to classrooms at multiple levels, which allow students to interact, play and exercise. The second level of the school is designed as an open area, with (a) a parade square which doubles up as a play court, (b) a playground and (c) other outdoor learning spaces. Together, these sections form a contiguous space for both formal and informal student activities.