Students to face more emotive topics in future, says Chan

He says including such issues in CCE is to help them understand diversity of perspectives

- Elisha Tushara

Students will need to grapple with more potentially sensitive or emotive topics such as geopolitical conflicts in the coming years, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said on April 2 in Parliament.

Responding to Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), who asked how the Ministry of Education (MOE) decides which complex issues to address in schools as part of character and citizenship education (CCE) lessons, Mr Chan said that the Israel-Hamas conflict will not be the only sensitive or emotive issue that students will come across in the future.

The CCE lesson on the Israel-Hamas conflict had been rolled out for upper-primary, secondary and pre-university students since February 2024.

Slides from the CCE lesson were circulated online, igniting discussion on social media over how the topic had been taught and whether it was appropriate to address this issue in schools.

Mr Sharael asked Mr Chan if it would be useful for students to discuss topics like worsening geopolitical conflicts before tensions are significantly heightened.

"There will be other equally, if not more, challenging circumstances that we have to deal with, and (we have to) allow our students a safe space to understand their emotions, grapple with the issues, verify the information they come across and take positive actions," said Mr Chan.