AI cannot supplant learning; it must enable it: Desmond Lee

Straits Times

5 days ago

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SINGAPORE – Young people need to develop strong judgment, reasoning abilities and foundational knowledge, even as artificial intelligence (AI) tools are able to perform both mundane and complex tasks, said Minister for Education Desmond Lee.
AI cannot supplant learning – it must enable it, he said to the media on July 8 at Oasis Primary School in Punggol, in his first school visit since his appointment as education minister.
Other key priorities for the Ministry of Education (MOE) include helping students develop social and emotional skills and effect a 'generational shift' away from competition based on grades and towards a passion for learning.
Mr Lee cited the example of how AI could help young lawyers draft submissions, but only those with proper training and experience are able to assess and improve on the AI output.
Mr Lee, accompanied by Oasis Primary School principal Danny Poh and Oasis Primary English head of department Munirah Eszham, during his first school visit in the role.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
'You can tell what is right, what is wrong. What is real and what is not, and what is right for your situation,' he said.
To this end, Mr Lee said it is important to prepare children for an AI-pervasive future, while also fostering in them curiosity and social-emotional skills.
This would first require the age-appropriate use of AI in classrooms and teaching children about what AI is and its limits.
With social and emotional skills becoming increasingly important – not just in school, but also in workplaces and the wider community – this is another area of focus for MOE .
Mr Lee said: 'All these social-emotional skills can be more important than just your academic hard knowledge.'
These include compassion, expressing oneself appropriately, navigating challenging environments and being able to self-regulate and empathise with others.
At Oasis Primary School, Mr Lee observed Primary 4 English and art lessons that demonstrated how the school integrates social-emotional skills into these subjects.
During the English lesson, pupils used the popular young adult book Wonder – about a boy with facial deformities – as a springboard to share how they would feel if they faced discrimination.
For the art lesson, pupils worked in groups to come up with a superhero logo based on values.
Mr Lee said such approaches bring lessons to life.
'It doesn't just give our children the foundation in the subject, but also uses the opportunity to get them to think critically, think thoughtfully, to engage with classmates and to think about how they relate to people who are different from themselves,' he said.
By including group work, these activities go beyond nurturing individual creativity, and encourages pupils to collaborate and share ideas with each other, he added.
'You can see leadership in action. You see collaboration in action, cooperation, give and take and also working towards a product that is bigger than the sum of the individual parts. So that was very encouraging,' the minister said.
On MOE's efforts to shift away from an emphasis on competition around grades so that students can develop a lifelong passion for learning, he said: 'It will take time, and we require three parties to play a part – our pre-schools, primary schools as well as our parents.'
Another key area is how schools can better partner with the community to support children from more challenging backgrounds, such as those whose families are beneficiaries of ComLink+, a scheme to support lower-income households.
Likening the approach to a triangle comprising housing, education and jobs and skills, Mr Lee said these areas are where these families need help.
'I think it will give them a better shot in achieving stability, self-reliance and, ultimately, social mobility.'
Mr Lee said there is a need to strengthen the transition from pre-school to primary school, especially through MOE kindergartens.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Visiting the MOE Kindergarten (MK) located at Oasis Primary School, Mr Lee also said there is a need to strengthen the transition from pre-school to primary school, especially through MKs.
'Our pre-school landscape is diverse and rich, and we are the better off for it. But MKs allow an opportunity to test-bed ideas for us to be able to look at enhancements to pre-school pedagogies,' he said.
He noted that many parents appreciate MKs sitting within primary schools, as many pre-schoolers go on to attend primary schools near their homes.
Madam Nur Liyana Saine, 38, whose daughter Faiha Fatiha, eight, had moved from MK@Oasis to Primary 1 in the same school, said the child's familiarity with the environment made the move easier.
Mathematics and science teacher Nur Liyana Saine at Oasis Primary School, with her daughter Faiha Fatiha.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
'She knew what to expect, like where to go during morning flag-raising and reading time, because she had experienced it in MK,' said Madam Liyana, who is a mathematics and science teacher at Oasis Primary School.
'For a six-year-old, big spaces like the school hall can be intimidating. But because she had been there for events like Chinese New Year celebrations, it felt familiar,' she added.
The MK programme was started in 2014 to provide quality pre-school education that is affordable to Singaporeans. Among other goals, it aims to 'encourage bilingualism in the early years and help lay a strong foundation for language learning in the later years', the ministry had said previously.
An MOE spokesperson said the ministry plans to open 60 MKs by 2029.
After observing mother tongue lessons at MK@Oasis, Mr Lee reiterated that bilingualism remains a key strength for Singapore and that early exposure to mother tongue languages is crucial.
'It gives us a cultural ballast and richness in our identity. And from a utilitarian, pragmatic point of view, it connects us with the region and the world,' he said.
He added that as a largely English-speaking environment, schools must be deliberate in supporting the use of mother tongue languages.
'When you start young, we have a better chance of that following us all through life.'