A 10-point Plan to Transform Singapore Education – with EveryChild.SG
Parenting x Personal Well-being Series
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Synopsis
Is our Singapore education system really nurturing every child to their fullest? Are we building their creativity, critical thinking, mental resilience and social-emotional skills, to meet the challenges of the future?
The answer to this question, sadly, is not any more.
The Forward SG Report calls for our approach to education to evolve to equip our children to navigate a world that will be very different in 20 to 30 years.
There are some concrete changes we can make to bring our primary education system back on track, and in line with our Forward SG vision. These are based on extensive conversations with other parents, teachers, academics and students, our own experience of other education systems, and the latest in the science of learning and child development.
Join us as we unpack A 10-point Plan to Transform Singapore Education – directly with the founder of EveryChild.SG and the author of this groundbreaking proposal, together with education leaders from around Singapore, moderated by Yen-Lu Chow, the founding executive chairman of WholeTree Foundation / Over-The-Rainbow & Asia Institute of Mentoring.
We will unpack:
What’s in the 10-year plan? How will it help relieve teachers’ (and parents’) most common pain points?
How EveryChild.SG proposes redesigning primary education through reducing class sizes, making PSLE optional, and centralizing primary school admissions
From a practical standpoint, how will these changes make life easier for teachers (and parents)
Dispelling some common myths about education reform (e.g., if PSLE were optional, the competition would just move down to primary school admissions)
EveryChild.SG comprises a group of Singaporeans, mostly parents, concerned about the ability of our education system to prepare Singapore’s children for the future economy. We have come together in service of Singapore to compile these recommendations, based on our experiences and conversations with other parents, educators, academics and students. We have done so in a personal capacity, independent of our professional roles, and have no political affiliations.
Over-The-Rainbow (OTR) is the mental wellness initiative of the WholeTree Limited, the not-for-profit family charity of Yen-Lu & Yee Ling Chow founded in loving memory of their dear son and only child who ended his own life at the age of 26 after suffering for many years from manic depression.
At OTR, an IPC charity and one-stop for youth mental wellness, we believe no one needs to figure things out alone. That's why we offer various initiatives to support youths and their families on their mental wellness journey. For nearly 14 years, we’ve walked alongside communities across Singapore — creating spaces to be heard — equipping people with the skills to show up for the ones they love – and building a culture where empathy and care is something we actively practise. No one needs to navigate life alone.
Our mission is to transform mental wellness for the 21st century. We provide an environment where young people can find themselves, discover their higher self, connect to their purpose and spread their wings — where they can transform and transcend — and thrive — via holistic self-care and a supportive community. No one is alone on this journey.
What was started from the ashes of a heart-shattering family tragedy has transformed into a thriving organization with a mission that turned into a movement to transform mental wellness for the 21st century.
Pooja Bhandari
Founder, EveryChild.SG
Pooja heads Impact and Special Projects for AWWA, a large multi-service charity. She is also the Founder of EveryChild.SG, an NGO working towards a loving and nurturing upbringing for every child in Singapore, through research, public education and advocacy. Pooja spent 6 years at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), heading policy on disability early intervention for children, and then manpower planning for the social service sector. In her prior life, she was a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). She also serves on the Board of Tasek Academy and Social Services (formerly Tasek Jurong), a charity focused on grounds-up engagement of children and youth from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and is on the UNICEF International Council. Pooja believes every child should have a loving and nurturing childhood, so they can bloom into their best selves as adults. She advocates for the system-level change and cultural shifts needed to achieve this.
Sreedharan Vijayamohan
Specialist Educator and School Leader
A specialist educator and school leader with sixteen years of experience spanning Singapore and international contexts, Sreedharan Vijayamohan currently serves as Dean of Student Life and Designated Safeguarding Lead at XCL World Academy.
Trained in Orton-Gillingham, UDL, and multisensory instruction, and holding a Master of Education in Inclusive and Special Education from Monash University, Sree is currently pursuing a Master's in Educational Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work sits at the intersection of inclusion, safeguarding, and whole-school culture, grounded in a core belief: that truly inclusive schools are inclusive by design, not by exception.
Increasingly, Sree's focus has shifted from classroom-level intervention to systems-level design, asking not just who needs support, but how schools can be deliberately structured so that fewer learners fall through the cracks in the first place.
Yen-Lu Chow
Founding Executive Chairman WholeTree Limited / Over-The-Rainbow; Asia Institute of Mentoring | Founding Partner Fatfish MediaLab | Executive Mentor YSI SEA | Founder of the Deep Human Movement
A former Apple Distinguished Technologist, Yen-Lu is an award-winning entrepreneur, technologist, venture catalyst & angel investor, mentor & advisor turned author and keynote speaker, mental wellbeing champion, social innovator & change-maker, ecosystem builder, philanthropist and humanist.
As an angel investor and venture catalyst in the tech ecosystem, Yen-Lu has mentored young entrepreneurs and businesses for many years. He has made significant contributions to the Singapore tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem, serving on countless startup business plan competitions internationally, government panels on innovation and entrepreneurship, and as mentor and advisor to the major universities. He co-founded a business angel fund in partnership with the Singapore government, served as a director of Business Angel Network SEA, executive mentor and adjunct professor to NUS Enterprise, mentor to INSEAD, plus numerous panels on entrepreneurship and innovation internationally. As an expert and practitioner in speech recognition and language processing (with 6 international patents and having worked in the field for over 20 years since early 1980’s while leading Apple’s initiative in this area in the early 1990’s), he was an early pioneer in the application of AI with a strong base in the tech space.
He is on a life mission to help bring about a kinder, gentler, more inclusive, more just, and sustainable world.