Education

How do you teach artificial intelligence (AI) humanity? That’s the challenge some 1,200 students aged 11 to 16 tried to tackle at the ‘Caltex Fuel Your School – Tech Jam 2019’ program on Thursday (30 Oct), organized by the Science Centre Singapore in partnership with Caltex Singapore. In the midst of designing emotionally sensitive chatbots, a “junk food recognizer”, and …

by Martin Abbugao Yale’s Singapore college has become embroiled in a row about academic freedom after axing a course on dissent, with the controversy fuelling a wider debate on whether universities are compromising their values to expand abroad. The Yale-NUS College, a partnership with the National University of Singapore, opened in 2013, drawing criticism from activists and its own faculty …

The Finance Ministry (MOF) released a report yesterday (22 Oct), reporting on the socio-economic outcomes of Singaporeans born between 1940 and 1979. MOF said that compared to older age groups, Singaporeans in their 40s today are more educated, better able to find jobs, earn more, save more, and live longer and healthier years. In the case of education, MOF noted …

Starting early next year, secondary schools in Malaysia can expect to do away with Science and Arts/Commerce streaming, according to a report by leading Chinese-language Malaysian newspaper Sin Chew Daily on Thu (10 Oct). Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching reportedly told Sin Chew Daily in an interview that with the implementation of the Standard Secondary School Curriculum (KSSM), students will …

In the aftermath of the Yale-NUS saga, playwright Alfian Sa’at has encouraged the public to refrain from making personal attacks and “derogatory comments” against Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, following the latter’s comments in Parliament on Mon (7 Oct). In delivering his speech on the cancellation of the Yale-NUS programme and guiding principles for educational institutions in Singapore, Ong quoted part of …

Yale-NUS College’s cancellation of the “Dissent and Resistance in Singapore” programme has attracted much controversy and criticism from academicians, as well as practitioners in media and the arts. The programme, which has been since renamed “Dialogue and Dissent in Singapore”, was scheduled to be run by Alfian and programme manager Tan Yock Theng of NUS. It was originally slated to …

Playwright Alfian Sa’at last Fri (4 Oct) gave his account of the events, following a report by Yale regarding findings from its review on Yale-NUS College’s cancellation of the “Dissent and Resistance in Singapore” programme. The programme, which has been since renamed “Dialogue and Dissent in Singapore”, was scheduled to be run by Alfian and programme manager Tan Yock Theng …

Playwright Alfian Sa’at, who was slated to be the instructor for the “Dissent and Resistance in Singapore”, broke his silence today (2 Oct) following a report by Yale regarding findings from a review on the cancellation of the programme. The programme, which has been since renamed “Dialogue and Dissent in Singapore”, was scheduled to be run by Alfian and programme …

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) revealed that one in five childcare centres in Singapore will be increasing their fees for full-day programmes in 2020. It explained that 330 childcare centres will be raising their full-day fees for Singapore citizens from next year. The median hike is “within 5 per cent of fees” and “broadly comparable” to years before this, …

While Yale-NUS College remains keen on upholding academic freedom, the institution remains steadfast in doing so within legal boundaries, in light of the cancellation of a programme aimed at introducing its students to dissent and resistance in Singapore. College President Tan Tai Yong told TODAY yesterday (17 Sep) that while dissent and resistance are “legitimate objects of study and investigation …