S'pore schools seen as inclusive, offering equal access to all

Education leaders praise Republic’s approach after visiting local schools

- Gabrielle Chan

In other countries, where one is born into poverty, or in a rich or poor neighbourhood - often determines one's access to resources in schools, but it is different in Singapore, said a leader of a global federation of teachers' unions.

"There is that equality of funding as a baseline, so there's no constant worry about whether you are going to have enough teachers or support," said Dr David Edwards, the general secretary of Education International.

He was speaking to The Straits Times on April 24 about his key takeaways from the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, a gathering of education leaders focused on improving teacher quality and education standards.

Singapore, for the first time, hosted the summit's 14th edition, which ran from April 22 to 24 at Raffles City Convention Centre.

It was attended by 140 delegates from 18 other countries, including Estonia, China and Australia, who visited Singapore's primary and secondary schools as well as institutes of higher learning and other training institutes.

Dr Edwards recounted his visit to Si Ling Primary School in Woodlands on April 22, where he visited the school's rooftop garden and noticed that each pupil had an iPad to assist them with lessons.