Transforming education: the power of ICT policies - Commonwealth ...

the schools’ initiatives by providing professional advice such as technical requirements of projects or assisting
schools with experimentation on emerging technologies.
In addition, to building schools’ capacity in evaluating their ICT programs, a self-assessment rubric was developed
and shared with schools. The rubric, Benchmarking Your ICT Practices for Excellence in Schools, or BY(i)TES, has
been used by all schools as part of their schools’ annual self-evaluation exercise.
4. Research and Development
To promote active experimentation on the use of ICT for engaged learning, a research and development (R&D) unit
was set up in the Educational Technology Division in the MOE. This unit focused on applied research works that
could inform pedagogical practices in schools. Complementing the R&D unit, the Learning Sciences Laboratory
(LSL), located in the National Institute of Education, was set up in 2005. Partial funding for the set-up of the lab was
drawn from the research budget of MP2. LSL’s mission is “to foster deep student learning with technology-enabled
pedagogical practices for cultivating twenty-fi rst century knowledge and skills through learning sciences research
in Singapore schools” (http://www.lsl.nie.edu.sg/about.htm). Researchers in LSL worked with schools to explore
innovative practices with the use of technology and to investigate how these practices can be made sustainable
and scalable. There were fi ve signature research models in LSL: New Literacies, Science as Systems, Mathematics
& Problem-Solving, Knowledge Building Community, and Emerging Research & Pedagogies.
5. Infrastructure and Support
While MP1 provided the schools with basic ICT infrastructure and equipment mainly through centralized control by
the MOE, under MP2, schools had greater autonomy to enhance their ICT infrastructure to meet their varied modes
of lesson delivery. Three key strategies were adopted by the schools:
apple to enhance Internet access;
apple to enhance ICT-enriched environments, both in schools and at home; and
apple to provide greater technical support.
In MP1, all school networks were connected to the MOE’s network, including Internet access. In MP2, while the
schools maintained the connection to the MOE’s network for offi cial works and data communication, a separate
network was provided with higher bandwidth to allow schools better access to multimedia content and to experiment
with newer technologies. The schools’ individual bandwidth ranged from 3 Mbps to 5 Mbps which is complemented
by a shared bandwidth of 200 Mbps among all the schools.
To provide an ICT-enriched learning environment for all students, suffi cient funding was provided for schools to
achieve a student/computer ratio of 6.5:1 for primary schools and 4:1 for secondary schools and Junior Colleges.
In addition, students from low-income families continue to benefi t from the NEU PC scheme, a collaborative
project under the Infocomm Development Authority and the IT industry, to purchase a new desktop and three-year
unlimited broadband access for under S$300 (US $200).
The schools continued to enjoy the basic ICT support provided by the MOE, including a central helpdesk, an on-site
technical assistant, and network and asset management support. The schools were given the option to purchase
additional support service, including hiring an ICT Executive.
Budget
MP2 was announced at iTopia in 2002, and further articulated in 2003. The overall MP2 budget for 2003-2009, was
$600 (US $400) million, breaking down to $300 (US $200) per student or roughly $450,000 (US $300,000) per school.
The initial amount budgeted for the Financial Year (FY – 1st April to 31st March) 2003 and 2004 was $120 (US $80)
million. This covered various expenditure areas, such as the replacement of ICT equipment, deployment of new ICT
infrastructure, courseware development, training, and selected pilot projects on ICT in curriculum and assessment.
This amount was small compared to the fi rst ICT Master Plan because most of the infrastructure had already been
Case Study: Singapore | 51