LESSONS FROM 'HALAL INCIDENT'

THERE is a silver lining to the halal incident at Boon Lay Garden Primary School last month, said Minister of State (Education) Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.

The saga 'has been a useful learning point for the school community and has led to greater clarity on the concept of common space', he said.

He was responding to MP Hri Kumar (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), who had asked how the incident had shaped the views of the school's students on racial and religious matters.

Last month, its principal banned pupils from taking non-halal food into the school canteen.

The decision was reversed, following a furore.

But has anything been done 'to assess to impact of the incident on the students', asked Mr Kumar.

Mr Lui replied that feedback shows the students of different races are getting along well with one another as before, adding that the ministry will monitor the situation closely.

ARE CCAs GETTING TO BE ELITIST?

IN SOME schools, students have to audition to join certain co-curricular activities (CCA) such as drama and choir.

In others, they can take up certain sports only if they have represented their primary school in national competitions.

Sembawang GRC MP Mohamad Maliki Osman asked if such practices represented 'elitism' or a pursuit of excellence.

He also pointed out that CCAs are meant to help students develop character and instil core values.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education) Masagos Zulkifli replied that the problem may be one of a lack of resources, which made it difficult for all students to take up the CCA of their choice.

'This problem exists in all instances when demand exceeds supply or when supply cannot or should not be expanded for good reason.'

Besides the formal CCAs, other 'complementary alternatives' exist, for instance, inter-house activities and modular CCAs, he said.

One example is the Sports Education Programme under which schools run activities such as sports clinics. Over 140,000 students from 311 schools have benefited.

MP Cynthia Phua (Aljunied GRC) asked if there is a target participation rate for CCAs.

Said Mr Masagos: 'For secondary school, it's compulsory; for primary school, it's not compulsory yet.

'We want them to participate, at this point of time, voluntarily, because there are logistics issues for primary school students to attend CCA, especially since it's after school hours.'

SMALLER CLASSES, BETTER LEARNING

THE smaller class sizes in Primary 1 and 2 have led to students who are more willing to speak up in class.

Weaker students, in particular, have benefited, Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.

They are now 'a lot more engaged in their learning', and thus better able to catch up with their classmates.

MP Alvin Yeo (Hong Kah GRC) had asked about the benefits of smaller class sizes and if there were plans to extend the change to other primary levels.

In 2005, the class size for Primary 1 and 2 went down from 40 to 30. 'The results have been positive,' Mr Tharman said.

The schools with the best results were those that made use of a smaller class size to teach students in new ways, through more group work, and more time for questions and interactions, he said.

But Mr Tharman ruled out extending the change beyond Primary 1 and 2.

'I don't think we should go for the same model of mandating a fixed class size across schools.

'What we are doing is improving our pupil-teacher ratios - fewer pupils for each teacher - by providing more teachers to every school and then letting the school decide (how they should be allocated) because the schools are different.'