Awareness among School Leaders for Importance of Tripartism

Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) whether there are efforts made to familiarise senior management and school leaders on the importance of tripartism and its role in creating an environment conducive for Singapore's growth; and (b) whether the Ministry has plans to collaborate with NTUC and its affiliated unions, through its current zonal-level sharing platforms, to understand and strengthen knowledge in tripartism further.

The Ministry of Education’s (MOE) senior management recognises the importance of tripartism for Singapore. At the Ministry level, there is strong partnership between MOE senior officials and the unions representing our employees. These include four teachers’ unions (Singapore Teachers' Union, Singapore Chinese Teachers' Union, Singapore Malay Teachers' Union and Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union) and the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees. Regular dialogues are conducted, during which the Ministry shares its plans and policies with the unions, and the unions share their ideas, plans and feedback with Ministry officials. Collaboration opportunities are also discussed during these dialogue sessions.

To reinforce the importance of tripartism among our school leaders, we have introduced a labour-management relations module in the leadership programme for senior educators. This newly introduced module helps senior educators to better understand the role of tripartism in Singapore and how strong employee-management relations in MOE help contribute to a strong education system.

The Member has suggested that MOE strengthen knowledge of tripartism through its zonal-sharing platforms. I am glad to share that MOE has been engaging our cluster superintendents to enhance their understanding on the role of tripartism and our collaboration with the unions.