Opportunities for Students to Interact with Peers of Other Nationalities

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Education (a) what measures are taken to ensure that our students have a good amount of interaction opportunities with peers from other nationalities to enhance their holistic learning experiences; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider immersion programmes for students from local and international schools as well as local schools with skewed enrolments to strengthen the opportunity of interactions between Singaporeans and other nationalities.

Mdm Speaker, Mr Gan has highlighted an important area of learning for our students. They will need to acquire global

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and cultural literacy, feel comfortable interacting with one another, and share common experiences.

Schools play an important role in promoting mutual understanding and respect between local students and international students. This is achieved through both the formal curriculum and co-curricular activities (CCA).

Subjects, such as History, Geography and Social Studies, help broaden the world view of Singapore students. Through these subjects, students learn about the cultures of other countries. They are also taught the importance of respecting others through Character and Citizenship Education. School programmes, such as CCAs, provide opportunities for students to interact and work with international students and people of different nationalities.

Schools also carry out school-wide programmes to provide opportunities for students to interact and develop friendships with students of other races and international students. Annually, schools commemorate International Friendship Day where they learn the importance of global flow of trade, ideas and talent, and how to work with others from different cultures. At Hua Yi Secondary, as a follow-up to lessons on the significance of International Friendship Day, international students shared with their local schoolmates about their respective cultures, and the trade links between Singapore and their countries. Local and international students also worked together to put up exhibition booths which featured products from different countries in Asia and highlighted the importance of good relations with other countries.

Our schools also have various types of collaborations with both local and overseas institutions to provide our students opportunities to interact with international students. Our local schools and Foreign System Schools regularly hold joint activities, such as cultural celebrations and student exchanges. Many schools also have exchange programmes with overseas schools, where international students would come to Singapore schools for a short stint. In turn, our schools would organise programmes to schools overseas to allow our students to experience a different culture and learning environment.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. Enabling Singapore students to have a deeper understanding of our diverse cultures and perspectives is quite important. In fact, some parents have actually shared with me their concern that in the current Primary 1 admission system, it is quite highly possible that some schools will end up with all Singaporeans while others may end up with a high

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percentage of Permanent Residents (PRs). With that in mind, what MOE can do to help Singapore children have a better understanding of each other and between Singapore PRs, and how to deepen their interaction and sharing of personal experiences?

As I mentioned in my earlier reply, the interactions and opportunities for interactions given are numerous. If the students are in the same school, they will have the opportunity to interact with each other. If they are not in the same school, then there are events in which they have the opportunity to meet and interact. The local students also have the opportunity to travel overseas where they can experience different cultures and exchanges with students in their own countries.