CDAC cuts primary school tuition curriculum by 30% to encourage play-based learning

SINGAPORE – The Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) is adopting a new approach that will cut the curriculum in its tuition programmes for Primary 1 to 4 pupils by 30 per cent to allow them more time to learn through play.

For instance, pupils can compete to build a Lego car that moves the fastest down a ramp without breaking apart to learn about speed and aerodynamics.

“By reducing the syllabus by 30 per cent and focusing on key areas, we empower students to take charge of their learning, foster collaboration, and develop essential self-regulation skills through play,” CDAC announced at its 32nd annual general meeting at its Tanjong Katong headquarters on June 21.

Play- and activity-based learning has helped 89 Primary 1 to 3 pupils since it was piloted in 2022, and will be expanded to Primary 4 pupils in financial year 2024.

In 2023, CDAC helped 15,300 households, spending a total of $34 million. It gave out more than 11,000 bursaries and more than 11,000 tuition places at its centres and partner schools.

It also supported more than 1,500 households through case management, helping mainly families with school-going children.

The overall expenditure in 2023 was more than that in 2022, when $31.63 million was spent to help 16,600 households.

CDAC executive director Tan Yap Kin said the focus in 2023 was on strengthening support for beneficiaries and providing quality programmes.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who is chairman of the CDAC’s board of directors, said the purpose of the council is to improve social mobility through means such as education.

“In any society, there will be families that are in trouble, that are low-income, that struggle with the day to day, but I think the next generation can do better than the last,” he said.

CDAC started its play-based learning approach with a nine-month programme in 2022 to enhance communication and creativity among children in Kindergarten 1 and 2. Around 60 pre-schoolers went through the programme in 2023, and the aim is to reach 100 children in 2024, said Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.

CDAC said play-based learning, incorporated in its tuition programmes, helped the pupils conduct self-directed and collaborative learning.

It added that the reduced curriculum focuses on fundamental concepts and allows time for tutors to build bonds with pupils to facilitate learning.

Ms Sun said CDAC observed that many children from lower-income families grow up in environments with limited space for play, and almost 60 per cent of the families have one foreign spouse – which could affect the children’s language competency.

The weekly play-based programme enables the children to have fun interacting in English or Mandarin in a relaxed environment and hence improves their language ability more easily, she said.

CDAC has other educational initiatives to help pupils from lower-income families, such as a long-term mentoring programme, focusing on developing socio-emotional competencies. The programme is helping 52 children in their transition from primary school to post-secondary.

Another 200 students were given weekly guidance on their schoolwork under various programmes in 2023.

To help children and young people who come from vulnerable families or have special learning needs, a team of learning support officers, comprising a counsellor, an education therapist and former educators, provided targeted interventions for 129 of these young people, for instance, by working with their families and schools.

CDAC also used technology to cut the processing time for bursary applications from four months to one month. Some administrative staff who processed the applications were among 16 employees trained to become mentors to the students.

Mr Tan said CDAC has set a target of about $38.69 million to support about 17,000 households in the current financial year.

Mr Ong said the small size of the self-help group allows it to better help the community. Most of the council’s resources come from monthly donations from members of the Chinese community here.

“Because we are small, we can identify a pupil who needs help in primary school and commit ourselves to helping him until he finishes secondary school or beyond, without having to... reassess eligibility every year,” said the minister.

“Hopefully... the next time we meet, we can report bigger numbers, more people we have helped, more lives that we’ve changed.”