Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, hopes that it will be a place where everyone is valued; where everybody knows his or her strengths and weaknesses and contributes to society; and where everybody is respected and lives in harmony with everyone else.

He also feels there is still some way to go before we achieve this goal.

A few months ago, during an interview with The Straits Times, Mr Tharman talked about the two kinds of students Singapore produces — those who go through our education system and do well are very aware of their strengths and achievements but not sufficiently aware of their weaknesses or the strengths of others. The other group goes through the system very aware of their weaknesses and of what they didn’t achieve, but not enough of them have discovered their strengths. Mr Tharman believes that very few people are either strong or weak in everything.

Five years ago, on the eve of his new appointment as the Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman said, during an exclusive interview with me, “People who are strong in one area will be weak in another. What I am more worried about now is that our academically strong students may not sufficiently understand their own weaknesses.”

Mr Tharman believes that those who do well in their studies need to undergo a comprehensive honing of their skills.

In his opinion, grooming exceptionally able and fearless students was a natural thing to do when times were tough, but now that things have improved, schools must “create” the kind of environment that allows students to interact with all kinds of people and be honed in all kinds of skills. By the time they graduate and step into society, these students must be armed not only with content knowledge but should also bring with them a wealth of colourful experience in people skills. This kind of experience will cultivate grit and strength of character in the next generation, equipping them with the courage to face life.

At the time I interviewed him, Mr Tharman thought that too many of our students were of one type and that they tended to congregate together. Sadly, he felt that getting back to Singapore’s old level of diversity in the student population was going to take some time. Mr Tharman’s words, I realise now, explain why our wealthy international schools — featured in our last issue — give out scholarships to attract students from other countries and from less well-to-do families into their schools.

And students who are not academically strong are not necessarily weak or stupid. Mr Tharman has a theory that children’s abilities “shift” according to external influences. He firmly believes that different teachers or different teaching methods, or sometimes even the students’ own evolving powers of insight, will allow them to develop a love for a particular subject and their abilities will then rise in tandem with this newfound interest.

Because Mr Tharman believes that children’s abilities will change, he has always, either as Minister for Education or as Minister for Finance, provided strong support for students who are not doing so well in their academic studies. Besides giving out more scholarships and bursaries, Mr Tharman also changed the Normal (Technical) curriculum to allow outstanding students the chance to switch to the Normal (Academic) stream. Normal (Technical) and Normal (Academic) students who do well at the N levels have also been made eligible for the Lee Kuan Yew Award. In 2006 $48 million was allocated to the Opportunity Fund which gives students subsidies and allows them to make necessary educational purchases and go on overseas exchange programmes. Significantly, the amount of money that was made available to neighbourhood schools was twice the figure that was open to autonomous or independent schools. This year he increased the Opportunity Fund to $72 million to allow for more money to be allocated to schools with a higher proportion of poor students.

During his term as Minister for Education Mr Tharman also created two schools specially for those students who fail their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) — Northlight School and Assumption Pathway School. That this was not a one-off decision can be seen from the fact that two more — Crest and Spectra secondary schools — will cater exclusively to Normal (Technical) students. These four schools are proof of Mr Tharman’s efforts on behalf of youngsters who have been branded as “bad”, “useless” and “inferior” for the last four decades.

In the same interview with The Straits Times Mr Tharman pointed out that the Singapore government is now a little left of centre. Given its present worry over inequalities in the system it is likely to play a bigger role in the near future as regards social welfare. In fact, this year’s “Robin Hood Budget” clearly favours the poor. In terms of education, more resources have been allocated for weaker and poorer students, all the way from early childhood up to the pre-university level, so that they, too, may realise their potential and get good jobs.

The theme of this issue of EduNation is early childhood education, and it comes on the back of the announcement made in this year’s Budget of a $3 billion investment in this sector. This money will be released over the next five years with the aim of preventing any child from losing out at the starting line.

For this issue we have interviewed Dr Lee Tung Jean, CEO of the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), a statutory board set up on 1 April 2013 to oversee the development of the early childhood sector. Dr Lee’s background is in Economics — a BA (Hons) from Harvard University, an MA from Yale University, and a PhD from Oxford University — and she talked to us about her ideas for a comprehensive Master Plan for early childhood education in Singapore.

We are happy to see the Housing Development Board (HDB) accept the ECDA’s suggestion to revise the tender evaluation process for commercial childcare centres hoping to establish themselves on HDB premises. The new model will not be based solely on bid price, but will also be dependent on the operator’s track record, its proposed childcare fees, the quality of its programmes and the perceived levels of its community assistance and integration. This will change the existing practice of spaces going to the highest bidders, which causes rentals and school fees to skyrocket, and the resulting conception that higher fees mean higher quality. Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing says that this new tender process will stabilise school fees and give parents peace of mind.

Going forward, the ECDA will increase the number of anchor operators, adjust the salary of early childhood educators, improve the qualifications and career progression models of these professionals, add more teacher training places, conduct large-scale surveys of parents’ opinions, and generally ramp up investment in the whole sector — all in a concerted attempt to improve early childhood care and education.

Mr Lee Poh Wah, CEO of the Lien Foundation, one of Singapore’s largest philanthropic organisations, is in the middle of all the controversy surrounding early childhood developments. After commissioning five projects in this area, Mr Lee discovered that the qualifications of pre-school teachers are too low, and however sophisticated the IT infrastructure becomes, it will not help students until this problem is addressed. This finding has seen him embark on independent research and reviews of early childhood education in countries around the world, so as to stimulate more awareness and concern for the issue locally.

Indeed, the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by the Lien Foundation, published the Starting Well Index in June last year, and ranked 45 countries for their provision of early childhood education. When Singapore came in at 29th consternation and outcry followed — but so also did action. When Mr Lee spoke with us, he revealed the Lien Foundation’s own plans for the development of early childhood education in Singapore.

In this issue we have also interviewed several well-regarded individuals in the early childhood education sector, including Mrs Adeline Tan, General Manager of NTUC’s My First Skool; Ms Ho Yin Fong, Academic Director of SEED Institute; Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Founder of NTUC Childcare; Ms Tan Lee Jee, Senior Director, PAP Community Foundation (PCF); Ms Victoria Newman, Principal of EtonHouse Mountbatten 718 and Mrs Ng Gim Choo, Founder and Group Managing Director of EtonHouse; Mr David Chiem, Founder of MindChamps; and early childhood specialist Ms Peggy Zee. We invited them all to talk about their experiences of and suggestions for this important area of education.

Also featured is Mdm Heng Boey Hong, Principal of Nanyang Girls’ High School, who spoke to us about how she set up the Strategic Alliance of Global Educators to establish a platform for her students to flourish in the 21st century, thus marking another peak in the distinguished history of this nearly 100-year-old school.

In our section Inspiring Lives, we interviewed philanthropist-entrepreneurs Mrs Wong-Mah Jia Lan and Mr Jackson Teo about how they built up their businesses and later gave generously back to society.

EduNation is a bilingual bi-monthly education magazine, and the language medium used by our interviewees and our contributors will be the first language in our layout while the corresponding translations will follow. This typesetting arrangement is to respect the interviewee and author, and I hope that our readers can understand and respect this decision.

As the very first bilingual magazine on education in the region, EduNation is in need of your support. If you have any feedback or comments, please feel free to email us at contactus@edunationsg.com.

Translated by: Lee Xiao Wen

新加坡副总理兼财政部长尚达曼希望那是一个人人都是宝，人人都有价值，人人认识自己的长处，能对国家作出贡献；也人人都了解自己的短处，能谦虚尊重他人、和睦共处的国家。

他认为要达到这个目标，新加坡还需要加一把劲。

月前，他在接受新加坡《海峡时报》访问时表示，新加坡教育系统培育了一批成绩优秀学生很清楚自己的优势，却对自己的短处了解不多，同时也未能认识别人的长处。另一批成绩一般的学生则对自己的短处耿耿于怀，却不知自己原来是有着别人没有的潜力，如果能发挥起来，将光辉灿烂，势不可挡。尚达曼相信每个人都有优点，极少人是全能，也极少人是蠢才。

五年前，他卸任教育部长，出任财政部长前夕，接受我的独家专访曾说：“人在某方面强，一定会在某方面弱。我现在比较担心的，却是我们的学术优秀的学生，对自己的弱点，知道得不够详细。”

对学术优秀的尖子，尚达曼认为必须给他们全面的磨练。

他指出从前环境艰苦，培育出无惧无畏的精英是自然而然。现在，环境改变了，学校有必要去“制造”这样的环境，让学生认识各种人，接受全面的磨练。到毕业的时候，不只是带着书本知识离开学校，还是带着丰富的、多姿多彩的与人相处的经验踏进社会。这些经验能培养新一代坚韧不拔、不容易被摧毁的个性，日后勇敢地面对人生。

当时尚达曼认为教育部所面对的困难是学校里学生的面貌不够多样化，有同样人过度集中在一起的现象。要回到从前各式人等都有的状态，还需要一段时间。尚达曼的话，也让我明白为何本刊上期专题报道集中了经济富裕子弟的国际学校，要坚持发放奖学金，吸引来自不同国家、不同经济背景的学生到校园来同窗共学的原因。

至于学术方面不够强的学生，并不表示他们是弱的、是笨的。尚达曼有一个理论是“孩子的能力会因为外在引发的力量而‘流动’起来。”。他认为不同的教师、不同的教学法，或者孩子自己的突然灵光一闪，有所顿悟，会让孩子热爱起某个学科，能力会突然“流动”起来。

因为对孩子的能力会“突然流动”起来的信念，尚达曼无论在当教育部长或任财政部长，都对学术能力较弱的学生给予大力支援。发放更多奖助学金不说，改革普通（工艺）课程，让优秀生可以转流去普通（学术）课程。让学术能力教弱的普通课程（学术和工艺）N水准优秀毕业生，也能获教育部颁发的“李光耀奖”。2006年拨款4800万元设立“进取基金”，津贴低收入家庭学生购买电脑和到海外浸濡的费用。“进取基金”给邻里学校的拨款比给自主和自治等名校多一倍。今年他再增加7200万元给“进取基金”，让比较多贫困学生的学校能获得更多资助。

还有，他在任教育部长期间，设立专录取小六会考不及格学生的北烁学校、圣升明径中学，这带动了后来专门为普通（工艺）学生而开办的裕峰中学和明年开办的云锦中学。这都是他领导教育部为在过去40年一直被社会贴上“坏孩子”、“没有用”的“次等”学生所做的努力。

尚达曼月前对《海峡时报》主动提出现在新加坡内阁成员的观点倾向“中间靠左”路线，政府更注重平等，在提供社会福利方面会扮演更大的角色。事实上，今年他的财政预算案“劫富济贫”，在教育方面，从学前至高中，为家贫、质差的学生投入更多资源，帮助他们发挥所长，出人头地，已被人冠以“罗宾汉预算案”的称号。

尚达曼年轻时候已是一位“进步”青年，从政后致力社会平等，为人民谋幸福，自不在话下。本期专题报道幼儿教育，即是在他的预算案宣布未来五年拨款30亿元发展幼儿教育，“绝不让弱势学生输在起跑线上”，所作出的跟进报道。

本期幼儿教育专题，我们访问了政府于4月1日新成立，专为发展幼儿教育的法定机构“幼儿培育署”（简称幼培署）的新署长李东瑾博士，听这位哈佛学士、耶鲁硕士、牛津博士的 经济学家，如何以具前瞻性、全方位的视角来规划能从“根本”造福国家的幼儿教育。

年轻人生气勃勃、充满干劲，我们很快就看到新加坡建屋局如何接受幼培署的建议，改变组屋区托儿所的竞标模式。竞标价格不再是唯一考量，业者收取的学费、提供的课程和师资的素质，还有能否照顾低收入家庭等等因素，都一并考虑。这将改变从前“价高者得”引起租金狂飙，导致幼儿园学费大涨，高学费等于高素质的状态。社会及家庭发展部代部长陈振声说，这样做，是致力“稳定学费，让家长安心”。

接下来幼培署还将增加更多主要业者、调整教师薪金、提升教师专业水平和事业前景、协助业者加大投资力度、增加幼师培训名额、进行大规模家长意见调查等等，为新加坡的幼儿教育做全面提升工作。

引爆新加坡一连串幼儿教育新行动的关键人物是新加坡慈善机构连氏基金的总裁李宝华。他在过去几年推动了五项与幼儿教育相关的活动后，发现新加坡幼儿教师的素质实在太低，无论怎样使用高科技也无济于事，这使他萌生找国际机构“检阅”世界幼儿教育状况，以此来刺激新加坡社会重视发展幼儿教育。

果然，由连氏基金委任的英国经济学人信息部，于去年6月发表了“优良起跑指数”，列出45国幼儿教育排名榜，新加坡排名29的消息一出，就像爆破了一锅热粥，新加坡领导人在揪心之余，马上行动。李宝华接受本刊专访，透露接下来还要为新加坡幼儿教育设计的新计划。

这个专辑我们还访问了多位新加坡从事幼儿教育的名人，包括职总幼乐园总经理汤秀香、新苗师范学院院长何燕芳、职总托儿所创建人符喜泉、人民行动党社区基金会高级总监陈丽玉、伊顿国际学校校长维多利亚·纽曼及创办人兼董事长胡锦珠、MindChamps冠军思维幼儿园创办人詹富安、幼儿特殊教育专家徐碧琪。请他们谈谈新加坡幼儿教育的现状和未来的发展。

南洋女子中学校长王梅凤则在接受本刊的专访里，道出了她如何发起国际教育联盟，为学生铺设好一个跨向世界的平台，为有接近100年历史的南洋女中教育再创高峰。

“奋斗一生”栏目，同属慈善企业家的“大德善女”黄马家兰和“舍得好汉”张仰兴向本刊详述他们如何克服人生起步时的坎坷，在事业成功后，尽力回馈社会的善心善德。

《新学》是一本双语教育双月刊，华英文先后，我们以受访者的语言和作者文章的语文来决定。受访者以英语受访，文章就以英文先排，华文排后。来稿是华文，翻译的英文就排后。希望这个尊重受访者和作者的排版原则，能获得读者的谅解。

这本区域第一本双语教育杂志需要各位关注教育的新加坡和国际朋友的大力支持。读后有任何回馈，欢迎电邮 contactus@edunationsg.com 赐教。