Speaking at the Committee of Supply debate on the Ministry of Education’s budget on March 4, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung described Southeast Asia as one of the fastest growing regions in the world, adding that Singapore-based enterprises need to be able to venture outside of the region to succeed.
That is why in the next three years, the ministry will be enhancing the content and coverage of ASEAN countries in the humanities subjects at the high school level to help students better understand Singapore’s relationship with ASEAN in areas such as economics and geopolitics, he said.
Earlier, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat also mentioned the 70-70 target in his budget statement last month, which he said, will enable Singaporean students to acquire cross-cultural skills and understand the region better.
Accordingly, Singapore strives to have 70 percent of students take part in overseas exchange programmes, and 70 percent of them will travel to Southeast Asian nations, India and China.
