A quality arts education for all

Mrs Rosa Daniel, Deputy Secretary, MCCY 

Ms Kathy Lai, CEO, NAC 

Ms Liew Wei Li, Director, Student Development Curriculum Division, Ministry of Education 

Distinguished Guests 

Ladies and Gentlemen 

1. Let me first congratulate this year’s recipients of the National Arts Education Award (NAEA). Thank you for your commitment to giving your students a quality education. You have given them a good head start in their lifelong journey of engagement with the arts.

A quality arts education for all

2. What we want in Singapore is for all our students, regardless of their background, is to have a high quality education in the arts. The arts help to build empathy and creativity. In fact, research suggests that the arts also benefit academic achievement. But the benefits of the arts go far beyond examinations and formal education. They extend into a lifetime of learning, thinking and discovery

3. So we want every child to enjoy a quality arts education in our schools. And the government is committed to providing you with the resources and the tools to make this happen.

4. This year, through the Arts Development Fund (ADF), 13 schools will receive a total grant of over $160,000 to implement arts initiatives customised to the school’s needs and aspirations. One such school is Nan Chiau Primary School, which will use the money to develop digital art workshops for its students. Through the workshops, students will create mural designs on walls around the school for all to see and be inspired by.

5. The ADF is just one of the many ways that MCCY and the National Arts Council (NAC) support arts education efforts in partnership with MOE. For example, the NAC’s Arts Education Programme (NAC-AEP), reaches out to about 300,000 students every year, enabling them to attend shows and workshops at highly subsidised rates.

6. I am glad to hear that the overwhelming majority of students who have benefitted from the programme go on to say they want to learn more about the arts. I had a dialogue with arts educators last year and they said they had found this programme very useful in giving exposure to the students to arts. So I think if we continue to provide broad-based access to the arts among our students, the rest will take care of itself and the students will on their own accord want to learn more about the arts because of the interest that has been sparked in them.

7. I also want to highlight the fairly new Arts & Culture Presentation Grant that all schools can apply for. It will enable students to showcase their very own artworks to the public.

8. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit one such showcase by Bedok Green Primary School. Under the mentorship of artist Ika Zahri, the Primary 4 students learnt about batik art and also about Singapore’s rich cultural heritage. The students shared their Batik artworks at Bedok Community Centre, as part of the National Day celebrations.

9. What made the programme even more meaningful is that parents were also involved in the batik-making. Such experiences create fond and shared memories that help to bring us closer as a community. I believe they will leave a lasting impression, spurring students, their families and friends to engage with the arts far beyond the halls of formal education.

10. While we have in place a series of strong and impactful initiatives that have helped arts education to flourish over the years, more can still be done. In the coming months and years, we will continue to provide more opportunities and platforms for every Singaporean child to engage with the arts from a young age. This is what MCCY and NAC are committed to doing, and we will be very happy to hear feedback and suggestions from all our art educators, in terms of how we can continue to improve arts education in Singapore and in our schools.
    

Trailblazers for arts education: The role of Singapore schools 

11. What the government does is only a part of the story. We also need the teachers, the leaders and the administrators in every school to see the value of an arts education in order to secure full commitment to this journey together.

12. We must be passionate about integrating the arts with learning experiences in every corner of our little island. In turn, every school in Singapore must be able to share the benefits of a quality arts education with its students, allowing each child to maximise his or her potential.

13. So I am glad to see the arts flourishing in our schools. Three in five schools in Singapore have stepped up to adopt the principles and practices championed by the NAEA, since it was launched in 2002. And our momentum has grown of late: this year, almost half of the 56 award recipients today are first-time applicants.

14. One example is East View Primary School, a recipient of the Spark Award. The school has embraced an arts-in-education approach to reach out to all students, and not just the ones who sign up to participate.

15. The school works with theatre artist Elvira Holmberg as part of the NAC’s Artist-in-School Scheme, to adopt a new teaching methodology that makes learning come alive. As a result, East View students are able to learn English and Mother Tongue languages through the use of drama and role-playing. This is a wonderful way to build confidence and communication skills, to learn-by-doing, and to nurture the imagination.

16. I am also encouraged to see schools applying again, year after year, and improving their practices along the way. One school whose persistence has seen rewards is Chung Cheng High School (Main), which has progressed from a Bronze award to being a Blaze recipient this year.

17. In 2012, Chung Cheng worked with the National Library Board to showcase students’ Chinese Calligraphy and Chinese Painting to the public through exhibitions at the National Library Building. Recently, the school also worked with the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall to put on drama performances as part of the Anniversary Celebrations of the Sun Yat Sen Villa. These collaborations are heartening, as the “real world” becomes our students’ classroom, and their theatre for self-expression. Both the students and the public benefit from this.

18. So I thank the educators at East View Primary School, Chung Cheng High School (Main), and all other schools represented here today for your innovative mindsets, your passion for education, and your commitment to your students. I encourage you to make full use of the government funding and support to give all our students the learning opportunities they deserve.
    

Everyone has a part to play 

19. For the arts to take root in our lives, we need close partnerships across the people, private and public sectors. For we can accomplish much more together, than what we can do alone.

20. For instance, I am glad to hear of Far East Organisation’s contribution to the Youth Division of the Little Arts Academy. Far East Organisation has gifted over 13,000 square feet of space at Orchard Central, which will be transformed into a training centre for Youth Arts featuring a Black Box theatre, café and studios for dance, music and visual arts. The Centre is slated to open soon in May.

21. Such collaborations go a long way in transforming Singapore into a vibrant city of arts and culture: where Singaporeans are excited to live, work and play, and have the space to pursue their aspirations.

22. I would also like to give a special word of thanks to our artists, for bringing your knowledge, skills and love for the arts back to the community. We have just enjoyed a performance by SA (pronounced “sah”) , a trio of musicians, this afternoon. The members of SA – Andy, Cheryl and Natalie – are active in schools as artist instructors, on top of their professional practice. We must sustain the presence of such artists in our schools. Artists possess an infectious enthusiasm for their craft, which inspires and energises our children to be a part of the creative process. I believe that artists also benefit from the chance to hone their practice, and to see their students grow.

23. And to see the lasting impact of arts experience in schools, just look at Andy, Cheryl and Natalie. They first met during their secondary school days as members of their schools’ Chinese Orchestra. What is also notable is that each of them came from schools that are NAEA recipients: Nanyang Girls High School, National Junior College, both Blaze Award recipients for NAEA 2013, as well as Ngee Ann Secondary School, a Spark Award recipient in 2011.
    

Conclusion

24. In closing, I would like to thank all the visionary educators in our midst, our artist collaborators, NAC’s dedicated staff as well as our committed parents and community partners. Together, you are nurturing a new generation of confident, creative and active citizens with a deep understanding of Singapore culture. With all hands on board, I look forward to a future that provides a quality experience in arts education for every Singaporean child.