Chairman

School Advisory Committee

Mrs See Chak Wah

Principal

Ladies and Gentlemen

Boys and Girls

It is my pleasure to join you this morning to celebrate the official opening of Evergreen Primary School.

Evergreen Primary started serving the Woodland community in January 1999. As a new school, you face many challenges. For example, the need to be housed initially in two separate campuses must have presented some difficulties in program coordination and resource management. I am pleased to see that the school had risen to these challenges. The near doubling in enrolment, from about 1,300 students in 1999 to about 2,300 students this year, clearly reflects the confidence that the community has in your school. This is certainly a very good start.

For a young school, Evergreen Primary has already made commendable progress in providing opportunities for pupil enrichment and in rolling out imaginative programmes to develop the children holistically. The move to the new premises, with its beautiful environment and excellent facilities, will surely strengthen the school’s ability to serve the pupils and community well in the years ahead.

However, brick and mortar alone cannot make a good school. The single most important factor that determines the quality of education in a school is the role played by its principal and teachers. For the school to achieve greater successes in the future and be able to sustain them, it must put in place good internal processes and management practices, so that the talents of the school community can be effectively harnessed to achieve the vision of the school.

Ultimately, a good school should provide children with an education that maximises their potential, prepares them adequately for the future, and develops them to be responsible citizens. To achieve this, schools have to effectively face two challenges.

First, schools will have to nurture their pupils to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. Globalisation, driven by rapid advances in technology, has re-defined the competitive framework. In the past, where economies were powered by the production and sale of goods and services, economic growth was largely driven by capital and labour. In the new economy, we are beginning to see a reduced role played by these traditional factors, as growth is increasingly being powered by the discovery and application of new and marketable ideas.

This transition to a knowledge-based economy shifts the emphasis of value away from production and towards innovation and creativity. There is no set and tested formula for success in this new economy. To do well, our people need to be flexible enough to respond to frequent and discontinuous changes, and be able to create new opportunities for themselves. If our pupils are to be prepared adequately for competition in this new economic environment, schools will have to imbue them with the ability to innovate, the critical skills to exploit ideas, the confidence to dream big and take risks, and the courage to persevere in adversity.

Related to this need for pupils to be innovative and enterprising is the importance of lifelong learning. As there is no longer a set and tested formula for success, the key to lifelong employability is continual learning. Our schools will have to equip pupils with the skills to be independent and self-motivated learners, and develop in them a positive attitude towards lifelong learning so that they can remain relevant in a continually changing economic landscape.

The second key challenge for schools revolves around their role in National Education. Going forward, as we further globalise our economy, our population will become more cosmopolitan and mobile. This will make our nation-building efforts even more challenging. While we want our pupils to have a global outlook and be internationally competitive, we must also ensure that they will continue to regard Singapore as home and contribute to her well being. Fostering among our young a sense of rootedness to Singapore, as well as a keen appreciation of our unique constraints and way of life is therefore crucial.

Aside from the forging of national identity, Education also plays a critical role in integrating the pupils from different races during their formative years. By promoting stronger ties between the races and inculcating in them the right social values, such as the need to place national interests above communal interests and the obligation for successful Singaporeans to help those who are less fortunate, we will be able to sustain the current strong social cohesion and excellent racial and religious harmony in our society.

It is particularly important for primary schools to place a premium on National Education, as it is at this level that pupils tend to be more impressionable and form instinctive attachment to their friends and environment. While an instinctive sense of belonging to Singapore will necessarily take time to evolve, we have to ensure that our educational programmes facilitate the development of such emotional bonds. Our schools must therefore create a warm and caring learning environment where pupils naturally develop fond memories about their schooling, forge lifelong friendships with peers and establish an emotional association with their alma mater.

It is heartening to note that the school mission, which aims to provide a quality education in an environment of care and acceptance and prepare pupils to be responsible citizens who find joy in learning, already encapsulates many of the challenges that I have just mentioned.

However, overcoming these challenges can be a very daunting task if a school has to do it alone. The task becomes more manageable if the school is able to mobilise the different stakeholders and empower them to contribute towards the attainment of the school goals.

I am therefore happy to see that Evergreen Primary has taken an active approach in building collaborative relationships with both parents and the community. For example, besides the link up with parent volunteers, the school is also working in partnership with the Woodlands Regional Library in the area of language learning and with various welfare organizations in the area of community service. Through the building of such partnerships, Evergreen Primary will be able to draw upon the concerted efforts of her stakeholders and community in achieving the desired outcomes of education. The school has already benefited greatly from such collaborations, and I am confident that you will continue to strengthen your relationship with your stakeholders and the community.

On this note, I would like to wish Evergreen Primary every success in providing her pupils with a quality all-round education. It now gives me great pleasure to declare Evergreen Primary School open.

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