| Professor Ho Lai Yun |
Vice-Chairperson of Singapore Children’s Society |
Singapore presented our initial report to this Committee about 8 years ago in 2003.
Singapore’s Vision for Children
Singapore believes that children can best fulfil their potential in the presence of strong traditional family relationships; a harmonious and cohesive community; and a safe, healthy and nurturing environment that maximises opportunities for all in a fair and just society. Our operating principles include:
- Placing the interests of the child as paramount
- Empowering the child to achieve his or her full potential;
- Enabling the family to fulfil its duty to be the primary source of support and nurture of children;
- Many Helping Hands – the community plays a crucial role in supporting children and their families; and
- The role of government is providing security, safety, education, healthcare, environmental protection, physical infrastructure, economic opportunities, conducive social policies and honest competent stewardship of public resources.
Our performance in attaining the goals of the UNCRC is evident in our key outcome indicators.
Legislative Enhancements and Amendments
Since the last session with the Committee, as highlighted in our report, I am pleased to report that Singapore has made significant changes on several key pieces of legislation, namely the Children and Young Persons Act, the Women’s Charter, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Penal Code to enhance the protection and care of children. We have also introduced two new Acts, the Mental Capacity Act; to provide for the Court to appoint deputies for minors who lack mental capacity, and the International Child Abduction Act to implement the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. I will be happy to share further details with the Committee in the course of the presentation.
Developing Healthy and Safe Children
In the area of healthcare, I am pleased to share with you today that children in Singapore enjoy a high quality of health care, with low infant mortality rate and high immunisation rate against infectious diseases. In 2009, Singapore’s infant mortality rate was 2.2 per 1,000 live births. We also have one of the lowest under-5 mortality rates in the world. According to UNICEF’s report on "The State of The World's Children 2010", this ranks Singapore alongside together with countries such as Finland, Iceland and Sweden. Over 9 in 10 of Singapore children are immunised against Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Poliomyelitis, Hepatitis B, and Measles, Mumps and Rubella. With Singapore’s advancement and development, our children enjoy high levels of nutrition today. As a result of better nutrition, there are now fewer school-going children in Singapore who are overweight; in 2006 there were 9.5% of school going children who were overweight as compared to 14.0% in 1992. Nutrition plays a pivotal role in the healthy growth and development of children. Dietary habits are shaped from a young age and persist into adulthood and children benefit from healthier dietary choices in the longer-term.
In recent years, Singapore has also placed increasing emphasis on the promotion of mental wellness among its population. A National Mental Health Workgroup was convened in 2006 to develop a national framework to improve the mental wellbeing of children and adolescents.
Providing Quality Education
10 In the area of education, we are committed to providing quality education for our children in Singapore. Our people are our main asset and it is imperative that adequate support and resources are allocated for education and human capital development. For this purpose, more than 20% of Singapore’s government budget is allocated to schools each year. Singapore’s overall literacy rate is 96% and more than 92% of each primary school cohort complete primary education and go on to secondary and post-secondary education. Singapore also provides diverse educational pathways to recognise different talents and needs. We have set up specialised schools catering to different talents and needs of students such as the Singapore Sports School, the School of the Arts, Vocational Institutes and Special Education Schools.
In educational attainment, Singapore students have fared well in international benchmarking studies and competitions. In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 conducted under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Singapore students ranked fifth in Reading, second in Mathematics and fourth in Science, out of 65 countries and economies that took part in the Programme. Singapore also had the second highest proportion (12.3%) of students who are top performers in all three domains for Reading, Mathematics and Science. Singapore was highlighted by OECD as a high performing education system with features that other systems could learn from. Singapore’s school dropout rates have decreased from 5.3% in 1997, to 1.2% in 2009.
Ensuring Safety and Equal Opportunities
Singapore has adopted a many helping hands approach to reach out and educate the public on child protection and abuse. We engage our partners through various platforms such as the National Family Violence Networking System, and the Inter-Ministry Work Group on Child Abuse. Our partners include the police, schools, hospitals and social service agencies, which help ensure an integrated system of timely intervention for victims of child abuse or neglect. Victims are counselled and provided support services from Voluntary Welfare Organisations, medical treatment and assessments and remedial care. We recently amended the Children and Young Persons Act to enhance the legislative provisions on the care and protection of children.
Singapore has in recent years accorded more attention and resources to children with special needs. We have in place the Enabling Masterplan, which uses a multipronged, multi-agency approach to ensure that appropriate medical care, education and social support are available for these children. For children with special needs from birth to 6 years old, the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children provides social, educational and therapy services. Government subsidies are provided to citizen children who attend these programmes. For older children with special needs, we now have 20 special schools. Currently there are 12,500 students with disabilities attending school and of this, about 60% (7,600) have been integrated into regular schools. The other 40% (4,900) are enrolled in special schools and satellite classes sited in mainstream schools. Since 2008, to promote integration, special education schools have established satellite partnerships with mainstream schools to provide students with special needs the opportunity to interact with other mainstream children through joint-Core Curricular Activities, Community Involvement Programmes, National Education Activities as well as academic programmes.
Nurturing Families
Madam Chair, we know that children thrive in close-knit, supportive and loving families. As such, we work towards creating a pro-family environment in Singapore, to make Singapore the best place to bring up children and guide them into adulthood. We initiated the Dad’s for Life Movement in Singapore to raise awareness of the crucial roles that fathers have in ensuring the healthy development of our children. Besides the Dad’s for Life Movement, we also have consultative Non-Governmental bodies in Singapore, such as the National Family Council, which has also been active in promoting family life and importance of family.
Early intervention is crucial for families who may need more support, especially where the welfare of a child is in question. Social assistance schemes are available to provide assistance to families with financial difficulties through services such as helpline and financial or job assistance.
Promoting Leisure and Culture
Lastly, we also believe strongly in promoting diversity and exposing our young to the myriad cultural life present in Singapore. As a multi-racial and multi-religious city-state, Singapore encourages cross-cultural exchange both in schools and in the community. In August 2010, Singapore hosted the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG for short). The YOG, a new initiative introduced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), sought to engage youths through sports, and culture and education. Young athletes, aged between 14 and 18 years, competed in 26 sports and took part in cultural and educational activities. The YOG encouraged children and youth to learn more about global issues and to form friendships amongst diverse cultures. The games also helped develop the sporting culture locally and regionally.
Madam Chair, I have attempted to give a brief overview on our latest developments on the state of children in Singapore. I look forward to your comments and a fruitful discussion.