Number of Students Allowed to Return to School for Support with Technology-based Learning during COVID-19 Circuit Breaker Period

32 Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked the Minister for Education with regard to the implementation of home-based learning during the circuit breaker period (a) what is the total number of students returning to their schools during this period; (b) how do schools assess whether students have the necessary support at home to do home-based learning and, if not, will need to return to school; and (c) whether there have been requests from parents for students to attend school during this period which could not be acceded to and, if so, what are the reasons.

The Second Minister for Education (Ms Indranee Rajah) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, the vast majority of our students have been able to participate in full home-based learning (HBL) during the circuit breaker. Participation in full HBL was high, averaging 96% across the levels. The few who did not participate were largely on medical leave, and those who did not participate persistently were encouraged to return to school.

Notwithstanding, schools have also identified a proportion of students who would benefit from returning to school during this period, based on their understanding of the student and his/her family circumstances, parents' requests, and referrals from social workers. These would generally come under the following categories.

First, students whose parents are in essential services and do not have alternative care-giving arrangements. These students can also access the limited services offered by school-based Student Care Centres, or SCCs, including students who were not previously enrolled in the SCCs.

Second, students who face significant challenges learning at home, require face-to-face support or, for whom, a school environment is in the best interest of the student. Schools proactively identified these students and encouraged them to return to school, by providing a welcoming environment and additional small-group activities such as non-contact sports and enrichment modules, while practising safe distancing. This has helped them to stay connected and engaged, and maintain a school-going routine.

Thirdly, students who do not have sufficient digital devices at home or needed Internet access to support home-based learning. To support this group, schools have loaned out more than 20,000 computing devices and 1,600 Internet-enabling devices to date, with some support from corporates. The numbers coming back to schools for this purpose has dropped significantly since, to a small group whose parents do not wish to loan for personal reasons. If Members come across families who need devices, please refer them to the school, as we have more than enough to loan out.

Over the full HBL period, about 3,300 Primary school students and 700 Secondary school students returned to school daily for one or more of the above reasons. Requests from parents for their children to return to school were met, as long as there were genuine needs. The challenge has in fact been the opposite, where schools invite the student to come back to school, but the parents were reluctant over various reasons. But schools will continue to try.

Beyond the loan of devices, MOE and schools have also provided support to students and their families to facilitate participation in full HBL. Teachers monitored their students’ learning and well-being through text messages, phone or video calls. Resource kits are provided so parents can help supervise their children and reinforce their learning.

Through these various measures, we have been able to maintain high participation in HBL while at the same time enabling those with genuine need to return to school subject to the enhanced safe distancing measures in force during this period.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): I thank the Minister for the comprehensive answer. I just wanted to check a little bit more about the issues that some of the parents have been facing because we hear a lot of feedback that it is has been very challenging, even for the most savvy of parents to actually conduct HBL. I am just wondering whether schools and the Ministry have been receiving feedback about some of these challenges that parents are facing, and how are they supported in carrying out some of the HBL lessons at home.

The second thing I wanted to check on is the teachers. How are they coping with this because it is also not very easy for them managing. I think I heard feedback that some of them have challenges in ensuring the level of reception of the students, especially through online learning. So, how are teachers being supported in this? Especially since a recent article mentioned about how some of the students needed support beyond just their lessons but also in terms of the counselling they need because the challenges their parents may be facing. So, I am just wondering how are the teachers supported in all these, especially since some of them also are parents themselves and also have to handle HBL for their own kids.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her question and for her very obvious concern for both parents as well as the teachers. Let me start by saying that home-based learning has been a learning process for all – the schools, the parents and the students. That said, it has gone on much better than we had hoped but not without challenges. So, what are some of the challenges?

Some of the challenges are obviously from the parents' view point: some had to get familiar with the resource kits, some had to learn how to use the software, others were okay with the resource kits and the software but they had to work from home or they had more than one child who was also doing home-based learning. There were some, and for them this is particularly challenging if they had a child with special needs and other children who are also doing home-based learning.

So, what the schools and the teachers have tried to do is to ensure that they maintained a contact with the parents, talked through the issues that the parents have and together tried to work at various solutions. And this is also bearing in mind that no two children are exactly alike. Some have taken to the home-based learning very well but some others need more offline learning; and the parents have had to adjust and cope with that as well.

So, I would say that the initial period – certainly, the first week – there was quite a lot of adjustments that had to take place and learning on both sides. But a couple of weeks on and now we are at the fourth week, things have more or less stabilised. But I rather suspect that the school holidays commencing tomorrow will be a welcome break for all.

With regard to teachers, here I really would like to salute the teachers for the tremendous effort that they made. Many of you do not see this behind the scenes but when HBL was first announced, the teachers had to come together very quickly to put together the packages and the resource kits. What was heartwarming from this that we have learnt from the feedback from the schools, is that those teachers who were familiar with technology started to help those who were less familiar. Some of the older ones who were very experienced teachers but not so familiar with technology were learning from some of the younger ones. So, altogether it was an experience where people shared their different knowledge; the teachers shared different resources; some of them were just putting together DIY kits, building on MOE resources that were available. But altogether moving in the same direction with the sole purpose of making sure that the children were adequately equipped, and also trying to ensure that the parents were supported in this task of home-based learning.

And for the students who need support beyond lessons, obviously, the teachers also have been trying to engage them in other ways. And for the ones who have other issues, the school counsellors and the social welfare officers have reached out to them, again, either by telephone calls, video calls, emails, but just trying to make sure that they stay in contact with the students so that they are supported.

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): I thank the Minister for her replies. And it is very heartening to know that the reply regarding students with special education needs as well. Thank you also for giving examples of some of the groups that are allowed to return to schools during this period. I expect, as the Minister Lawrence had mentioned, in time there will be more information on who will be allowed to return midway during circuit breaker period. But for now, can I ask the Minister to share MOE's experience with regard to perhaps students who are boarders or students who do not have strong family support at home and maybe might be in school hostels, for example. Are special concerns given to these students in terms of allowing them the support, bearing in mind that they might be in their room for a significant period of time without the family support that other children or other students may have in their home.

Ms Indranee Rajah: For the children who are without family support, the teachers in the schools are especially mindful to make an extra effort for these students. These students also have access to the limited services available. So, I would just like to reassure the Member that every effort to ensure that these students are supported.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I thank the Minister for the comprehensive sharing. I do agree that HBL has given us all a very big learning curve during this period. I would like to ask if MOE would consider – because of the learning and the processes and challenges we have been going through in the education sector during this HBL period – an initiative to take stock of what is happening, what we have learnt, what are some of the best practices build a body of knowledge so we can learn more about who might be suitable to take home-based learning, what type of configurations some of these students will be more suited for and how we can ensure also that the teachers will be able to move from, say, a very instructor-dependent kind of e-learning, e-teaching to something that is better blended so that content, for example, which is repeatable, can be consolidated, put into packages that everybody can use.

In short, I would like to ask MOE to consider an initiative to take stock of all these learnings, so that indeed we will be able to progress to the next level of e-learning, blended learning and so forth.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Let me thank the Member for her suggestion. We will certainly take that on board. MOE is already beginning to look at some of the feedback and the learnings that we have derived from this.

One of the pieces of feedback that has come, for example, is that teachers have said that the preparation of the lesson plans for online learning or learning through virtual platforms, is very different from face-to-face learning. So, that is one example. And the way you prepare the resources that you use and how you package it together is different.

They are also looking at the right balance because after awhile, if it is only pure online learning, children get bored. They need stimulation of other kinds. So, you have got to make sure you have the right mix. You also want to make sure that you have a healthy mix.

So, there are actually many things that have come out of this and we should see this as an opportunity to learn, to derive new strategies and add that into the mix of things, as we continue to make sure that our education system remains the foremost one in the world.