Third Committee

STATEMENT BY MR STEVEN TAY, DELEGATE TO THE 65th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON AGENDA ITEM 64, ON PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, THIRD COMMITTEE, 14 OCTOBER 2010

Mr Chairman,

As a nation without any natural resources, people are our only asset. Hence the well being of our children is the wellspring of our future. As an educator and a father, I fully subscribe to this philosophy and I am glad to share that Singapore is fully committed to fulfil our obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and ensure a safe, secure and nurturing environment for our children.

Singapore promotes the interests and welfare of our children through an extensive series of laws, which includes the Children and Young Persons Act, the Compulsory Education Act, the Child Care Centres Act, the Adoption of Children Act and the Guardianship of Infants Act. Moreover, the Juvenile Court was established to administer these laws. This year, we will accede to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in recognition of the need to protect children from wrongful removal and retention after the dissolution of cross-border marriages. Singapore has also promulgated the International Child Abduction Bill to give effect to the Convention.

Over the years, Singapore has allocated an increasing budget to improve the preventive aspects of child healthcare. As a father, I am happy to share these good results. In the 1960s, infant mortality at birth was 31 out of every 1,000 live births. Today, the rate is 2.2 out of every 1,000 live births. UNICEF's report on "The State of the World's Children" 2009, ranks Singapore with Sweden, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Andorra for the lowest under-5 mortality rate in the world. Nonetheless, we are continuing to work at improving the survival rate of our children who are very precious resources.

Our education system strives to develop the talents of every child to its fullest. We identify the talents and abilities of children and develop educational programmes to cater to different needs, abilities and aptitudes. We have set up four specialised independent schools catering for students with particular talents in Sports, Mathematics, Science, Technology, and the Arts. For children with special needs, we are committed to provide greater support in terms of recognition, resources and curriculum support to enhance the quality of education for this group.

Our ability-driven education emphasizes learning at a child's own pace and ability. In this way, we have reduced drop-out rates and successfully raised the educational attainment of our students. In 1980, 2 out of 10 students proceeded to post-secondary education; the figure has increased to almost 9 out of 10 students today. Our students also do well by most international comparisons. In the 2007 International Mathematics and Science Study, our students came in third in Mathematics and first in Science. For the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, we were ranked 15th in 2001 and improved to 4th in 2006.

Despite these achievements, we continue to review our education system to ensure that we develop our children to be "future-ready". To better position our children to take advantage of opportunities in a globalised world, we have implemented a new framework to enhance the learning of 21st century competencies. We will also enhance the learning and teaching of languages in schools to build strong communication skills. We continue to improve the quality of our teachers through recruitment and training. We are gratified that this was recognised in a recent McKinsey report which cited Singapore, alongside Finland and South Korea, as a country with a top-performing education system that has achieved extraordinary results in attracting and retaining the top third graduates to a career in teaching.

We are a plural and diverse society, a nation of many races, many languages, and many religions - all living close together. Our children today mix freely and happily with each other. In school, they are taught that this state of affairs should not be taken for granted. They learn the importance of understanding and respecting different races, cultures and religion. Every day, schoolchildren say the national pledge, where they undertake to be, and I quote, "one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation." Every year, our children are taught to celebrate this diversity during Racial Harmony Day.

When Singapore hosted the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in August, we took the opportunity of initiating a unique Culture and Education Programme to encourage a global commitment towards racial and religious harmony. During the period of the Games, we brought 500,000 local students and overseas athletes together, providing opportunities for interaction through various activities. Our Youth Olympic Village was designed such that our students set up Culture Booths of all the countries that participated, to better educate them and others about the different nationalities all over the world. In this way, we hope to transmit the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.

Mr Chairman,

Efforts to safeguard the welfare of our children cannot be short-changed or postponed, as they will be entrusted with the task of building the future. Singapore will continue to improve our policies in order to develop the potential of our children to the fullest.

Thank you.

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