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

values not from the ICT goods, but also application[s related to technology. For example, the introduction of
broadband technologies in a country requires investment in the infrastructure, which stimulates related industries
like development of applications that tap into broadband, and consequently brings about improvement in the
service industry, including customer benefi ts (OECD, 2007). Thus, ICT creates a whole new ecology in raising the
demand on ICT specialists and ICT-using occupations, which make up a high percentage of total employment in
most advanced economies (OECD, 2009) (e.g., 20.2% in the United States and 28.0% in the United Kingdom). The
introduction of technologies also permeates to all sectors in a society and creates profound impact on education.
Thus, the fi rst ICT Master Plan was driven by the vision of Thinking Schools, Learning Nation Vision, one that is
underpinned with maintaining the country’s economic competitiveness and advantage through the development of
human capital, in schools and in the whole nation. The fi rst ICT Master Plan reinforced this message by stating its
philosophy: “education should continually anticipate the future needs of society and work towards fulfi lling these
needs” (Singapore Ministry of Education, 1997). - It is worth noting that although MP1 is politically driven, the focus
is on improving education through the use of ICT. This is clearly refl ected in the four goals of MP1 presented in the
earlier section. It implied a belief in the potential benefi ts of using ICT for education in improving curriculum and
pedagogy, administrative effi ciency, lifelong learning and social responsibility.
MP2 was launched by Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who later became the Minister of Education, in his keynote
speech for a local conference called iTopia. In his speech, it is clear that the philosophy to prepare the people for
the future needs of the society remained unchanged. MP2, however, has a much stronger emphasis on the use of ICT
to enhance teaching and learning. This is refl ected in the focus on engaged learning, as discussed earlier. There is
also a greater emphasis on systemic approach by engaging not just the students, but also the teachers, the schools
and the wider community in the Master Plan.
MP3 was similarly launched by the Minister of Education, Mr. Ng Eng Hen, in 2008 in a local conference called
iCTLT. The Minister reviewed the learning experiences in the fi rst two Master Plans and again stressed that MP3
is a continuum of the vision of the fi rst two Master Plans. There is, however, an even stronger emphasis on the
innovative use of ICT for teaching and learning, particularly in developing twenty-fi rst century skills in students.
The Policy Development Process
The ICT in education Master Plans are blueprints and frameworks for the directions on the use of technology
in education. Each Master Plan provides a guide for a period of fi ve years, although during that period, new
technologies may be introduced. However, the plans are not dependent on technologies alone but also overall
strategic pedagogical thrusts for teachers and educators in the use of technology for teaching and learning. As
mentioned in the previous sections, the ICT Master Plans are based on strong pedagogical principles for the use
of technology for administration, assessment, teaching and students learning. The strategies in the Master Plans
are all related to education, and thus, they have to be crafted by educationists with inputs and advice from various
experts in the ICT fi eld. The following section describes some of the processes applied in developing the Master
Plans. These processes are not sequential and many of these processes are conducted concurrently.
Setting Up a Master Plan Steering Committee
The ICT Master Plan is an educational plan and thus it must have the support of all the offi cials in the MOE. This
Master Plan has to be aligned with other learning initiatives of the Ministry. For example, the Master Plan is aligned
with other working groups within MOE, such as the committee that is overseeing the professional development
programmes for principals and teachers, the curriculum committee that is designing a new curriculum, the
assessment committee which is exploring alternative and authentic – an acceptable educational term in education
assessment – means based on real-world challenges that require students to apply their knowledge and skills.
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