亞洲教育北京論壇                                   Education Forum for Asia

NEWSFLASH

February 2006

In the News:  Current News and Events in Education and Asian Society

Indonesian Government to Promote IT-based Education

More junior and senior high school students across Indonesia will soon be able to enjoy communication and information technology-based education provided free of charge by the government.  The government has allocated Rp 500 billion (about US$53 million) for the National Education Ministry to implement the project throughout Indonesia.  Ministry spokesman Rusmadi DM said the program was aimed at improving the quality of education.

The educational TV programming had been developed by the ministry's Communications and Information Technology Center since 2004.  In the program, junior high school students will this year be able to watch Televisi Edukasi (TV-e), a special educational television channel, from their classrooms.  Those at some senior high schools will receive Internet connections at schools, through which they can develop their studies.

Rusmadi said every junior high school with access to electricity would be able to receive the TV-e broadcasts, and the ministry would provide the necessary equipment, such as a television set and a decoder.

TV-e, broadcast on the 3785 MHz frequency, would cooperate with local television stations to relay its programs. Schools outside of areas accessible to local TV stations would be given satellite dishes in order to receive TV-e programs.

Rusmadi said that the program is partially a response to the fact that students in rural areas often find it more difficult to pass national exams.  Educational material broadcast on TV-e focuses on material tested in national examinations -- including programs on math, sciences and the Indonesian and English languages.  "We hope that by receiving lessons broadcast by the special education channel, students in rural areas can catch up with their peers in major cities, so there will be no knowledge gap between students across the nation," he said.

TV-e airs its programs from 7 am to 10:30 am every school day and reruns them in the evenings from 1 pm to 4:30 p.m. The station also distributes its monthly program guide to schools, so teachers can follow it and match the programs with students' daily learning.

The program also provides Senior high school students with more Internet connections at schools that already own computers.  National Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo recently said that about 50 percent of high schools in Indonesia would soon be connected.  Rusmadi said, "For now, the ministry can only provide us with the connections. So the program will be prioritized for schools that already support the technology,".

In addition, a website (www.e-dukasi.net) has been developed by the Center for Internet-based Learning which provides online learning materials and facilitates as well as inter-school collaboration and communication.

Rusmadi said the central government would share the responsibility with the local administrations to provide the budgets for the program.  (Source: The Jakarta Post)

Workforce Development Agency to Focus on Adult Education

The Workforce Development Agency (WDA) of Singapore has set itself the long-term goal of building up the country's adult training infrastructure.  Key to this objective is expanding the Workforce Skills Qualification (or WSQ) to meet the training needs of older workers. The government has committed S$100 million to implement the system in various industry sectors.

CEO of the WDA, Mr. Ong Ye Kung, spoke to our reporter on the challenges ahead, following the release of two recent major reports on the enhancement of the employability of low-wage and older workers.

The task of the Workforce Development Agency starts from the time people leave school and start working.  "At the bottom most end, there is a vulnerable segment who become retrenched who may go out of work and who may be between jobs. We need to help solve frictional issues and place them in suitable jobs," Mr. Ong said.

Last year, 27,000 were successfully placed, most of them older and low-skilled workers.

Following the release of two high-level reports to deal with the plight of low-wage and older workers, the Workforce Development Agency will be working closely with the tripartite partners to implement many of the recommendations.

In fact, a key challenge facing the WDA is to bring about a mindset change in both employers and employees and to emphasize that even in times of good employment, training and retraining remain vital.

And that is where the agency's plan to expand the workforce skills qualifications system to retrain adult workers will kick in.  Mr. Ong added, "They don't want to go back to JC, go back to poly and restudy everything in an academic environment. They need to study and be trained in an adult workers training environment - meaning the training must be very relevant to what they will apply at the workplace."

"They have very little time to redo all the academic subjects. It has to be an open system: if you missed out on formal school education and unable to redo your "O" level or polytechnic you can come through the WSQ system, learn through another route and get your qualifications. This will help open up more opportunities for many workers."

The skills qualifications system will become even more important with the economy restructuring. Even as some workers need to be urgently re-skilled, others have to be converted from one industry to another.  And the WDA hopes to make a difference by getting them better jobs and entering into professions previously shunned.  (S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia)

Asia can Eradicate Poverty in a Generation

The Department for International Development (DFID), in collaboration with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, today announces details of a conference to be held on 6-7 March 2006 in London to focus attention on building new forms of partnership to eradicate poverty in Asia.

Asia has raised more people out of poverty than any other region at any time in history.  Growth has been strong, and though currently two out of three of the world's poorest people live in Asia, by 2015 this could fall to one in three if current trends continue.

With continued efforts, it is possible to eradicate poverty in Asia in the next generation. Yet Asia still faces huge challenges in nutrition, health, education, social exclusion, water and sanitation and almost 1.1 billion people still live on less than $1 a day.

Asia 2015: Promoting Growth, Ending Poverty will bring together high-level international figures, including ministers of finance and planning and senior officials from across Asia, as well as influential figures from civil society and the private sector, to discuss the changing face of development in Asia over the next decade.

The aim of the two-day event is to agree how Asian countries, together with development agencies and the international community will meet the remaining Millennium Development Goals.

Rapid growth in Asia has and will continue to have an enormous impact on the global economy. Markets such as China and India are undergoing tremendous economic and social development. Trade within the continent is growing at nearly three times the global rate and Asia's share of world exports rose from 23% in 1985 to 38% in 2002.

Despite this recent economic growth in some countries, Asia still faces huge challenges and risks. This conference will raise the profile of both development challenges and opportunities and offers a platform for Asian countries to present and talk about their own experiences and perspectives.

The Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn MP, comments: "The world has a lot to learn from Asia's development successes - not only South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, but, more recently, in China, India and Vietnam. But Asia still faces many major challenges which need the world's support.

Like a silent tsunami, poverty kills through diseases, increasing the likelihood of mothers dying in pregnancy and childbirth and malnutrition, all of which we can prevent. If the global community addresses such challenges now, in a generation, poverty eradication in Asia could be one of the world's great success stories."

A dedicated conference website has been launched: www.asia20l5conference.org. All conference discussion papers will be posted on the site in advance of the conference and the site will also host a discussion forum allowing the public to have their say on Asian development issues.

Putting Words into Action:  Speeches and Essays from Leaders in the World of Education, Social Development, and Positive Change

Speech by the Minister of Education from Singapore, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, at the Taman Jurong GRC Lunar New Year Celebration Dinner on February 5, 2006.

Grassroots leaders, residents and friends

I am very happy to join you this evening in our Multiracial and Multi-generational celebration of the Lunar New Year in Taman Jurong.

1.  Building Cross Cultural Kinship

Each of the festivities during the Lunar New Year, at home or in the community, has deep meaning for our Chinese residents.   I am so glad to see also that we have fellow Malay and Indian Taman Jurong grassroots leaders and residents joining in the celebrations this evening. The fact that we have a gathering of residents of different races shows how much we appreciate and enjoy each others’ festivals and culture.

Last night, I had the fortune to be at the Chingay Parade at Orchard Road.  As many of you know, the closing item of the Parade was performed by the vibrant multi-racial troupe of 34 dancing dragons from Taman Jurong, including students from Yuan Ching Secondary, Jurong Secondary and Lakeside Primary. It was a wonderful spectacle--young Singaporeans of all races taking part in a Chinese tradition, taking part as one and feeling as one.  Most of them were first timers. They had trained hard. It was not easy to have 34 dragons prancing around in a short segment of Orchard Road, so they had to be very well-coordinated.

But all the effort was small compared to the reward of taking part in a national event together. The students told me that when I met them at their rehearsal. This year’s Chingay was called Parade of Dreams. For the Malay and Indian students especially, taking part in a Chinese dragon dance on a national stage really was a dream.

This is how we are strengthening multiracialism all over Singapore. Through our schools, in the community and on the national stage, we are giving our young opportunities to interact, to train and sweat together, to go through successes and setbacks together. We have to step this up, create opportunities wherever we can for people of all races to intermingle and make friends with each other.

2.  Preserving Our Ethnic Cultures As We Build Up Multiracialism

But our efforts to bind together as Singaporeans do not mean that we should let our ethnic cultures weaken. We must keep the richness within each of our ethnic cultures. This is what makes Singapore special - that we have deep roots in Asian cultures, and we keep each culture alive for future generations.   We do not build multiracialism by diluting our cultures so that they become more like each other. We build it by encouraging Singaporeans of all races, from young, to appreciate each others cultures, feel that all our cultures are part of our unique identity as Singaporeans, and provide them opportunities to take part in each others cultures like the young dragon dancers at the Chingay parade last night. If Chinese Singaporeans ever get to feel just like Chinese in China, or Malay Singaporeans feel just like Malays in Malaysian or Indonesia, or Indian Singaporeans like those in India, we would all lose our special sense of identity. It is our shared identity that gives us pride as Singaporeans, makes us special and distinct from the rest of the world.  

So we must preserve our ethnic cultures even as we build up opportunities for Singaporeans of all races to interact, appreciate each other and participate in each other’s cultures.

This is why we are improving the way we teach our mother tongue languages - Chinese, Malay and Tamil in schools. We are making changes to help make sure the mother tongue languages come alive for our students, and that they take pride in being able to speak and use their languages. 

25 primary schools are off to an exciting start to the new school year, as they pilot the new Chinese Language curriculum in Primary One. These schools will try out the new instructional materials, and the modular approach to cater to pupils from different home language backgrounds.  We are also giving teachers in our schools more room in the Chinese curriculum to introduce their own strategies to help their pupils learn Chinese effectively.

Many schools have made use of this extra space to introduce their own programmes, for example to strengthen students’ conversational skills. Hougang Primary is an example. Its P1 and P2 pupils are exposed to folk songs, nursery rhymes, tongue twisters and Tang poetry. Students are also taught practical communications skills through role-playing. On top of that, the school started a broadcasting programme in which older students have the opportunity to report on school activities and events. Through these rich and engaging activities, the school hoped to enhance pupils' oral skills as well as their confidence to express themselves confidently in Chinese.

At some other primary schools (e.g. Raffles Girls’ Primary and Changkat Primary), that are piloting the new programme at P1, students who speak mainly English at home are getting a feel for the language in a fun way. Their teachers use songs, raps, and clapping instruments to make the lessons fun.

Our teachers will try different ways to engage and excite our students in the learning of their mother tongues. We will learn from these experiments, and spread the successful examples amongst more schools.

3.  The Bicultural Studies Programme

As China grows in importance, we want to nurture a core group of students who are not only highly competent in Chinese, but also have a strong understanding of China’s history, culture and contemporary developments. That is why two years ago, we introduced the Bicultural Studies Programme in Chinese – the BSPC – to nurture a group of students in each generation who can understand and engage the Chinese, as well as relate to the West. 

The four-year programme kicked off at 3 schools last year - Dunman High, Hwa Chong Institute and Nanyang Girls High. Teachers and students have since told us that they have benefited from the programme. They have gained insights and understanding of modern China.

The students were sent to different parts of China, to see how China is changing and interact with students in Chinese schools. A group of 38 Dunman High students went to San Francisco in November last year. They were asked to produce a short documentary on the lifestyles of the Chinese in San Francisco. Overall, the students are finding the programme meaningful. They are learning how China is evolving and the way Chinese language and culture is viewed in a wider global context.

4.  River Valley High School to offer Bicultural Studies Programme (Chinese)

This year, the number of students signing up to enroll in the programme remains high. In fact, more students want to come on board, to enjoy the exposure offered in the BSPC. That is why this evening, I am very pleased to announce that the BSPC will be extended to River Valley High School (RVHS) starting next year.  

River Valley is well-placed to make the BSPC available to more students, as the school has had a long and strong tradition in Chinese language and cultural studies. Like Dunman High and the Hwa Chong family of schools, RVHS has the resources and experiences of delving into Chinese language and culture, and many links in China. Their BSPC will add not just to numbers, but to the variety of programmes we have to develop a bicultural orientation among students. 

Let me conclude. Tonight, we have every reason to celebrate the Lunar New Year – as a festival not just for our Singaporean Chinese, but for all Singaporeans.   Our country is certainly off to a prosperous start this New Year – a buoyant economy, high employment rates – and our children having every reason to enjoy and make the most of school experiences as they get into the thick of another year of school.

Events

Teaching and Learning Forum 2006

February 1-2, 2006

Perth, Australia

The University of Western Australia invites you to attend the 15^th annual Teaching and Learning Forum.  The 2006 Forum will be held February 1st and 2^nd at the Crawley campus.

The theme for the 2006 Teaching and Learning Forum, Experience of Learning, embraces all that it means to be part of a community of learning. There are multiple perspectives on the Experience of Learning. We no longer confine our thinking about learning to what occurs through classroom interaction between teacher and student. We are all involved in learning and contribute to the learning of others.  The "classroom" is no longer four walls and a chalkboard.

The Forum welcomes everyone involved in learning and the many environments in which learning occurs – teacher and student, undergraduate and postgraduate, full-time and part-time, academic and support professional, researcher and clinician, within disciplines and across disciplines, the workplace and online, the classroom and the laboratory, the library and in the field.

The programme is designed to provide a range of opportunities for dialogue about teaching and learning. There will be keynote presentations, panel sessions, paper presentations and workshops and an activity session for posters and demonstrations. There will also be an opportunity to engage in loosely structured dialogue based around a number of current topics in teaching and learning which we are calling Pearls, Piths and Perils.

We aim to make the Teaching and Learning Forum 2006 an Experience of Learning for all!

World Sustainable Development Forum -Delhi Sustainable Development Summit

Linking Across MGDs:  Towards Innovative Partnerships and Governance            February 2-4, 2006  Delhi, India

DSDS is a global forum organized by TERI that seeks to provide long-term solutions to protect this planet and provide hope for communities lagging behind on development indicators. Held each year in February, DSDS is the only event of its kind in the world, involving participation by global stakeholders including multilateral and bilateral development organizations, governments, the corporate sector, NGOs, and academic and research institutions. Over 400 people participate in the Summit each year.

A must for decision-makers from governments, corporations, non-governmental organizations; pioneering researchers and scientists; leading media representatives; and senior executives from bilaterals, multilaterals, and the diplomatic corps.

DSDS brings together prominent leaders in government, corporate, non-profit and independent organizations, on one platform stimulating debate and discussions that offers both breakthrough ideas and direct action.

The themes of this year’s forum include:  Involving diverse stakeholders: partnering for change, Ensuring people’s participation: governance issues for meeting sustainability challenges, Applying science and technology for sustainable development, Energy the underlying MDG, Health and sanitation: a crucial determinant?, Agricultural threats: coping and adaptation strategies

Organization Profile:  This section highlights an organization or program that is making a difference in the fields of education or social development.

Academy for Educational Development (AED)

Founded in 1961, AED is an independent, nonprofit organization committed to solving critical social problems and building the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to become more self-sufficient. AED works in all the major areas of human development, with a focus on improving education, health, and economic opportunities for the least advantaged in the United States and developing countries throughout the world.  AED boosts more than 250 programs serving 150 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and throughout the United States.

For more information on AED programs, please visit their website at http://www.aed.org/.

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