Third Committee

STATEMENT BY MR CHAN YING YIN, DELEGATE TO THE 64TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON AGENDA ITEM 65: PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN, THIRD COMMITTEE, THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2009

Thank you, Mr Chairman, for giving me the floor.

2 Every country's future lies in the hands of its children. Every society puts its hopes in its children and every community wants to give its best to develop its children. Singapore believes that it is through developing our children today that we secure a better tomorrow. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Singapore acceded to in 1995, clearly states that all children have the right to be developed healthily and to the fullest of their personality, talents and abilities. Singapore is firmly committed to fulfilling this goal. Since gaining independence 44 years ago, we have been progressively improving our social systems and structures to give our children a good start in life and to support their development as responsible citizens. Through improvements in our healthcare and paediatric expertise, child mortality rates have been brought down to 2.1 per 1000 live births. We also have a high proportion of children immunised against infectious diseases. Indeed, more than 95% of our children are immunised against diseases such Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B.

Quality Education

3. To build on this healthy start, we believe that children should receive quality education in a healthy and nurturing environment. As a teacher and a Vice-Principal back home in Singapore, it is my honour to share Singapore's experience and achievements in providing quality education and in fostering a supportive environment for our children. In the area of education, Singapore believes in developing our children according to their strengths and interests. This underpins the foundation of our ability-driven education system, which provides different pathways for children to achieve success in their academic pursuits and character development. Arising from our Compulsory Education Act, all children first begin to build a strong foundation for further learning and development through 6 years of primary school education. Next, our children continue to develop their potential in our secondary schools which offer different programmes to suit different learning abilities and aspirations. Almost all Singaporean students receive ten years of education and more than 90% of each cohort progresses to post-secondary education.

Support for Families

4. To complement a good education system, Singaporeans know that we need to provide our children with a healthy and nurturing environment at home for them to enjoy holistic development. We believe that families must play the main role in directing and guiding their children. However, we recognise that there may be families which require more assistance than others in providing a nurturing environment for their children. In this regard, we have established social organisations such as Community Development Councils and Family Service Centres to be in the frontline of promoting family life education as well as rendering financial and other assistance to needy families, so that all families are able to support the development of their children effectively.

Passionate Teachers

5. Every education system relies heavily upon the quality and dedication of its teachers. Singapore recognises this and spares no effort in supporting the development of our teaching force so that our children receive the best from their teachers. Our teachers have recently come together to formulate a vision statement for the teaching service in Singapore. It reads, "Singapore Teachers: Lead. Care. Inspire. We Lead, Care and Inspire, For the Future of the Nation Passes through Our Hands." Mr Chairman, we recognise the solemn duty of the teaching profession and we are confident that every Singaporean child will be developed under the passion, care and strong sense of professionalism of our teachers.

Holistic Health Education

6. Our schools have also developed a holistic health framework to ensure the well-being of our children in mental health, social health and physical health. Every school is staffed with a full time counsellor to equip students with essential life skills as well as to provide counselling and assistance to students in distress. To develop our children in the social domain, all students are strongly encouraged to participate in co-curricular activities at all levels such as sports and games, social clubs and societies, and community service. We promote the physical health of our children through designated school time for them to build up their physical fitness and participate in sports and games.

7. Our schools promote students' social and physical health through encouraging them to take part in national and international sports events. This year, Singapore hosted the first Asian Youth Games from 29 June to 7 July. More than one thousand children and youth from 45 Asian countries participated in this event to show their passion and talent in sports. Many Singaporean children and youth took part in this event as competitors, organisers and volunteers. For them, many life lessons were learned and many friendships built.

8. Singapore is very honoured to have been selected as the host country for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in August next year. Preparations are well underway to ensure a successful Games for young athletes from the world over. In this context, Singapore has started an initiative called the Friends@YOG, in which all Singapore schools will be paired up with two schools from the home country of each of the 205 National Olympic Committees. This twinning programme allows children and young people of the world to come together to connect to the Olympic values of Friendship, Excellence and Respect. They will also learn about each other's cultures and more importantly, they will build lasting friendships. We are confident that the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore will open a new chapter in the world's effort to deepen international friendship among children of the world.

Internationally-recognised Education System

9. Mr Chairman, while our education policies are geared towards domestic priorities, namely, the development of our citizens, Singapore is also honoured that our education system is well-regarded internationally. In the recent Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, Singapore was ranked first in the category ranking educational systems' ability to meet the needs of a competitive economy. In the 2007 McKinsey Report, Singapore was identified as one of the world's best-performing school systems. Singapore students were also ranked among the top achievers in Mathematics and Science in the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study or TIMSS.

Continued Commitment

10. Mr Chairman, I hope that the Singapore experience in developing our children can provide some useful material to other delegations. I would also like to take this opportunity to share a quotation from the Little Book of Big Quotes by Zig Ziglar, who said, "Our children are our only hope for the future, but we are their only hope for their present and their future." Singapore is committed to providing our children the best for their present and securing them a good start for their future; and in doing so, securing a future for ourselves. Thank you very much.

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