Ling Yuan, a key figure in the Singapore ministry of education who is also behind the country’s internationally acclaimed maths initiative, recently addressed South African teachers, curriculum advisers and developers, school governing bodies and parents on the successes of its teaching model. She serves as a special assistant to the zonal director of the Singapore ministry of education’s school division.
Singapore maths has taken the education world by storm following the consistently high marks pupils from that country have scored in crucial tests, such as trends in international mathematics and science studies. The tests are designed to enable countries to determine the level of their pupils’ performance in maths and science subjects. More than 50 countries, including South Africa, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Chile, Malaysia and Hong Kong, have subsequently adopted the Singapore maths model to benchmark their pupils’ performances.
<strong>Investing in maths</strong>
“In 1965, after we gained independence, our prime minister mobilised Singapore’s resources and identified education as a key vehicle through which people’s lives could be changed. The key objective of our education system is to invest in human skills with people as key resources and special attention is given to teacher training, particularly in maths and science,” Yuan said. “Professional teacher development is crucial because it empowers teachers to be on top of their game all the time. This is an aspect that is close to my heart, because I have always wanted to give back to the community what education gave to me, irrespective of my current social status.”
Although in Singapore the programme is simply called maths, it is widely referred to as “Singapore maths” internationally. The term gained currency during the late 1980s after the United States started using maths textbooks from Singapore.
<strong>Pupils predisposed to maths</strong>
Yuan said Singapore’s maths system was yielding good results because teachers had developed skills that make it easy for pupils to be receptive and develop a positive attitude to maths and science. The pupils do not perceive these subjects as difficult. In fact, they enjoy them because fun has been incorporated as one of the core features in the teaching of maths. Yuan said the system uses visually colourful and engaging materials because they enable pupils to develop “meta-cognitive” and “application skills”. These elements nurture competencies such as problem-solving and analytical skills, which are fundamental in the 21st century. Yuan said the ministry works closely with Marshall Cavendish International, a publishing company, to ensure it produces high-quality learning and teaching materials.
The company’s Josephine Tan Choon Hui said: “Our involvement is not driven by profit but by a commitment to help with teacher training and the production of excellent education materials to ensure there is a more effective education system in Singapore and the world.”
<strong>South African model</strong>
Jack Garb is a great admirer of the Singapore maths initiative. He has founded a project, Jade Education, through which South African schools can adopt the Singapore maths syllabus. “I admire the methodology and the materials developed to teach maths in Singapore,” Garb said. “The methodology focuses on three major elements that unlock the child’s potential to understand maths. These elements are concrete, pictorial and abstract and they lay a solid foundation for pupils before they delve into complex and formulaic terms.”
Jade Education targets pupils from grades one to three and has been implemented in schools in Alexandra and parts of Soweto. Another South African teacher, Elaine Cornish, from Waterkloof House Preparatory School in Pretoria, visited Singapore last year with a few colleagues.
Cornish waxed lyrical about her experience there. “A teaching method that sets Singapore maths apart from other curriculums is the emphasis on visual images and illustrations in lessons. In addition, Singapore maths presents a smaller number of basic lessons, but they are presented in greater detail. The explanations are easy and make use of graphs.”