New era in education: Desmond Lee revamps teacher training and MOE's direction to prepare students for a changing world

Independent Singapore

2 days ago

SINGAPORE: Teachers, long seen as the quiet engine of Singapore's education system, may soon experience a shift in how they are trained — and recognised. At the 12th Teachers' Conference and ExCEL Fest (TCEF2025) held at the Singapore Expo this week, newly appointed Education Minister Desmond Lee announced a revamp of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), the foundational training programme for degree holders entering the teaching profession.
In his first major policy address since taking the helm at the Ministry of Education (MOE), Lee framed the overhaul as both practical and philosophical — a way to future-proof the system not just for students, but for the educators guiding them.
'We learn by doing,' he said. 'And we will walk alongside our new teachers as you hone your craft to help our students learn and grow.' From theory to practice: A faster, flexible pathway
The PGDE, currently a 16-month course administered by the National Institute of Education (NIE), will be shortened to a one-year programme.
For decades, the PGDE has served as the professional gateway for aspiring teachers, covering education studies, curriculum specialisations, practicum stints in schools, and language training. Its broad-based academic rigour has trained generations of teachers, but it has also drawn critique for being rigid, overly theoretical, and misaligned with the fast-evolving challenges of today's classroom. See also Leon Perera asks: Do we have true meritocracy in Singapore?
The new model hopes to change that, not by discarding theory, but by embedding it meaningfully in hands-on teaching environments. For many in the education space, this signals a long-overdue shift away from a passive, credential-heavy pipeline towards one that privileges agility, creativity, and real-world responsiveness. Teaching in the age of AI, fragmentation, and climate crisis
But this wasn't just a bureaucratic update to a diploma. In a speech delivered to a packed hall of teachers and parents, Lee used the moment to reflect on what Singaporean education must become — and what teachers must be equipped to face.
'The world our children will inherit will be very different from the one we now know,' he said. Pointing to global conflict, rising protectionism, the encroachment of AI, and the misinformation glut on social media, Lee described a landscape of seismic change — one where traditional answers no longer suffice.
'Intelligence will tell us to push the boundaries,' he added. 'But we will also need moral judgment to tell us where to stop.'
That dual charge — equipping students with both capability and conscience — now falls more heavily on educators. It is, in Lee's words, a call for teachers to 'nurture values-driven pioneers, innovators, problem-solvers, bridge-builders, connectors and contributors for the betterment of our community, our nation, and even the region and the world.' From 'good workers' to thoughtful designers?
Critics of Singapore's education system have long argued that it focuses too heavily on producing efficient workers rather than original thinkers. In that light, Lee's address — and the structural reforms it accompanies — reads as more than an administrative refresh. It may mark a deeper shift in ethos.
In workshops held during the conference, teachers explored everything from the chemistry behind cooking to nature journaling as a medium for building a sense of place — activities that subtly underscore the move toward creativity, experimentation, and context-rich learning.
Lee has said, 'Not only do we want our students to learn how to navigate a more complex world, we hope that our students will also grow up to be values-driven pioneers, innovators, problem-solvers, bridge-builders, connectors and contributors for the betterment of our community, our nation, and even the region and the world. Only then can Singapore continue to be a shining light far beyond SG60.'
For a system often accused of being rigid, this growing encouragement of flexibility and design thinking feels intentional. And with Lee — one of the younger ministers in Cabinet — now overseeing the ministry, MOE may finally be signalling a generational turn in tone and ambition. Opening the classroom to second careers
The refreshed PGDE also opens the door wider to mid-career professionals — individuals who bring with them industry experience, life lessons, and alternative worldviews. Lee expressed hope that more such professionals will join the teaching fraternity, noting their potential to 'bring values, industry experience, and heart into the classroom.'
In a time when moral literacy, critical reasoning, and interdisciplinary fluency are increasingly vital, the inclusion of diverse teaching profiles could prove to be a quiet revolution in bureaucratic Singapore — one built not from the top down, but from the evolution of the classroom up. What this means for the road ahead
As Singapore looks to its post-SG60 future, education reform remains one of the most sensitive yet vital fronts. The PGDE revamp — while technical in nature — may be the first step in a larger reimagining of what it means to teach, and what it means to learn, in the republic.
It's not just about shortening a course. It's about reshaping the journey.
Because if, as Lee says, the classroom is where the next generation learns how to navigate complexity, then teacher training is where the map gets drawn.
And now, it seems, that map is beginning to evolve for the students it hopes to guide.