MOE Workplan Seminar 2013
The MOE Workplan Seminar 2013 just ended a week ago. Some interesting new programmes were announced. Let us do a quick recap of the initiatives announced.
Applied Learning Programme
The Applied Learning Programme connects academic knowledge and skills with real-world thinking skills. It spans many different disciplines, and stretches the imagination of the student in applying knowledge in authentic settings.
Learning for Life Programme
The Learning for Life programme is designed to give students with real-life experiential learning to develop their character, values, and people skills. According to MOE, this will be the approach of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE).
Integrated Online Learning Space
An online resource library will be made available for both teachers and students. This library will consist of materials specially chosen by experienced educators. The student can refer to the library to understand concepts they did not understand in school. The teacher can also use this as an additional way to teach the students.
Student development teams
Student development teams will be formed in schools to better oversee and support students’ learning and character development. Year Heads will be appointed to oversee the Form Teachers, and together, they will plan, monitor and assess the effectiveness of the various programmes in schools.
Conclusion
Overall, MOE has launched quite a few interesting programmes. What we like was their attempt to put in real-world learning into schools. As Minister for Education, Heng Swee Keat emphasised, the 21st century environment will be ‘volatile, uncertain, complex and ambigious (VUCA)’. This is precisely what RG Channel Future School is all about. We have always tried to teach English in a way that relates and will help students in the future. An example of this is our Problem-Based Strategic Thinking Concepts programme.
The online learning space is also something that we have already implemented in our school. All our students are able to see the resources that we teach in school, as well as other supplementary reading material. We are sure MOE’s online resource library will prove to be as useful to students as ours have been to our own students.