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More plans in place for students to ‘learn for life'

This article is more than 12 months old

Cabinet ministers speak briefly ahead of today's Budget

Exams have been scrapped, and younger pupils are going through the school year test-free. Help for children from disadvantaged homes to level up have redoubled.

More plans are afoot to further push students to "learn for life", as part of the Ministry of Education's efforts to move away from a narrow focus on grades, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung yesterday.

"It will be a significant thrust... and a multi-year effort which would significantly improve the education system," he said.

Details would be announced during his ministry's debate on its spending plans following the Budget's delivery today.

Mr Ong was one of three Cabinet ministers who spoke briefly on the Budget in separate community events yesterday.

While they were tight-lipped on the details, all three ministers - Mr Ong, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, and Communications and Information Minister S. Iswaran - raised the much-talked about Merdeka Generation package as a highlight of the Budget, which will be delivered by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in Parliament at 3.30pm today.

He is expected to give details of the help that baby boomers born in the 1950s will get from the Government.

Another key focus would be in fostering better cooperation between the Government and businesses and social organisations for a stronger and more resilient economy, said Mr Chan.

"This would allow our enterprises to provide better job opportunities for all Singaporeans," said Mr Chan at the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan's Chinese New Year celebration.

When asked if there will be new initiatives to help businesses to plug in to the digital economy, Mr Iswaran, who was at a West Coast GRC event, said it is an ongoing effort, including getting smaller and medium-sized enterprises involved.

"That's critical because they really move the needle for us in terms of the economy, if they plug in to the digital economy."

At a separate event in Sengkang Central, Mr Ong said the yet-to-be-announced efforts by his ministry would add to previous initiatives, which include reducing the exam load and the setting up of an inter-agency task force to help children from disadvantaged homes.

The changes, he added, are founded on the principles of the SkillsFuture movement.

He had said previously it involves connecting the dots - from schools to higher education and the adult learning sector, as well as vocational and technical skills training.

Mr Ong said that the fourth-generation leaders have been working together on the Budget, which will be the first presented by Mr Heng since he was chosen by his peers to be the next prime minister. - ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VENESSA LEE

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