Crafting a Future-Ready Education System - for Every Child
Parenting
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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 their and Singapore’s 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.
Come join our experts and practitioners to explore this critical topic of creating a future-ready education system, for every child. Our future depends on it.
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 Foundation, the not-for-profit family foundation 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.
Since launching in October 2012, OTR has been a pioneer and trailblazer in the space of youth mental wellness - innovating and pushing the mental health envelope with outreach events, community initiatives, media projects, mental wellness programs, workshops and festivals, volunteer training programs, peer support systems, online support platforms, mental wellness magazines, newsletters and social media campaigns. These initiatives and activities collectively have touched nearly a million lives through both online and offline touch-points, and transformed many others.
From an organization that pioneered mental wellness as a journey and championed prevention and preemption over clinical intervention with innovations such as Holistic Self-Care, Circle-of-Care, Guardian Angels, Wellness Space, Mental Wellness Festivals, Youth Matters, OTR Listens, Rainbow Connection magazines, Think x Rainbow, and a change inside-out approach to life and human wellbeing, innovation is a constant driving force for positive change.
What 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.
About Think Psychological Services 
Think Psychological Services is a private psychological and counseling practice founded in 2011. We provide a full range of psychological and counseling services for both adults and children.
Since our inception, the practice has grown to become one of the leading providers of private psychological and counseling services in Singapore. Our team of qualified professionals include clinical psychologists, child psychologists, educational & developmental psychologists, counselors and behavior therapists.
At Think Psychological Services, we take a holistic approach to empower individuals by helping them address their immediate concerns, building on their strengths and preparing them to overcome future challenges. We firmly believe that any patient at Think Psychologist Services deserves nothing less than the best psychological and counselling services to improve their quality of life.
Aarathi Arumugam
Changemaker | Connector I Keynote Speaker | Entrepreneur | COO, EveryChild.SG
Aarathi Arumugam is a trained accountant, an entrepreneur and a passionate community builder. Her career trajectory includes corporations, start-up organizations and raising a family. Aarathi left the corporate workspace in search of an environment that was inclusive, one that did not always put the onus on women asking to be given permission to be there, but rather help build environments where their right to be there was implicit.
To this end, she puts her skills and experience gained to nurture and connect communities so that they may thrive. She is an active volunteer with AWARE, and currently serves as the President on the Board. Aarathi has assumed the role of COO for EveryChild.SG, an organization with no political affiliation, recommending changes to ensure a future ready education for every child.
Dawn Fung
Founder of Little U | Core Member of EveryChild.sg | Educator | Consultant | Writer | Thought Leader
Dawn Fung is an educator, consultant, writer and thought leader. She is the founder of Little U and a core member of EveryChild.sg. Dawn is well known for her sharp analysis in alternative education in Singapore. Her opinion has been sought by political and grassroots leaders, educators, parents and content creators. She has spoken at international and local events. Dawn is the author of the book, Homeschooling in Singapore: An Education. She homeschools her three children and is based in Singapore.
Dawn founded Homeschool Singapore and became a key leader in the Singapore homeschooling landscape in the early 2010s-2020s. She organised activities, co-ops, Homeschool Conventions, and wrote extensively for the website, HomeschoolSingapore.sg, until it became the first portal for homeschooling matters in Singapore.
She founded Little U as a teaching arm of Homeschool Singapore, a microschool consultancy specialising in designing personalised education. Each journey is conceptualised with the team to achieve the most impact for every stakeholder.
Prior to being a homeschooler, Dawn taught O Level English, the IB MYP Personal Project, speech and drama. She was the head of English and Professional Development for the faculty at City College. She is a core member at EveryChild.sg (EVC) that advocates for children’s rights in Singapore by transforming the education system.
Pamela See
Founding Partner of Think Psychological Services; Registered Educational and Developmental Psychologist with the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS), AHPRA – Psychology Board of Australia and is a full member of Singapore Psychological Society (SPS)
Pamela is a founding partner of Think Psychological Services, a leading private psychological practice for children and adults in Singapore.
She is a registered Educational and Developmental Psychologist with the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS), AHPRA – Psychology Board of Australia and is a full member of Singapore Psychological Society (SPS).
Pamela specialises in Educational and Developmental Psychology at Think Psychological Services and has extensive experience working with children with autism and other learning difficulties in Australia and Singapore. She is extensively trained in designing behavioural programs in all areas of development, education and behaviour. In addition she is certified to administer a wide range of psychometric assessments for children such as Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R), Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Stanford Binet, WISC and various other abilities tests.
Pamela has worked closely with Singapore schools (local and international) and government agencies where she assessed children with learning difficulties, attention problems, language difficulties and intellectual disabilities. She has helped successfully integrate many young expat and local children with special needs into the mainstream school system (both public and private), in addition to providing on-going counseling and support services to their families. For expat families that come to Singapore for services, Pamela continues to provide support via Skype to ensure that therapeutic plans are kept in place. She also provides counselling and intervention plans for children who have been bullied, have low self-esteem, poor social skills, anxiety and depression. She regularly conducts workshops for both parents and teachers on topics such as challenging behaviours and managing students with learning and developmental difficulties.
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.
Yuanhui Chen
Educator of the Heart, Storytelling using the Arts
Yuanhui Chen is the Founder of Stories By Children. She nurtures children in their authentic and creative expressions through art and writing.
A former MOE HOD (Aesthetics Education) and language teacher, she believes every individual is born with a distinct and unique blueprint, color and timbre. To positively and fully live one’s life, is to be in touch with the inner voice within, and to follow its gentle nudging.
Yen-Lu Chow
Founding Executive Chairman WholeTree Foundation; Over-The-Rainbow; Asia Institute of Mentoring | Founding Partner Fatfish MediaLab | Executive Mentor YSI SEA | Founder of the Deep Human Movement
About Asia Institute of Mentoring
Asia Institute of Mentoring (AIM) is a non-profit volunteer based organization with a mission to bring mentoring to the spotlight in Asia, raise the quality of mentors and the standard of mentoring, bringing mentoring to all facets of society to impact millions of lives.
We are committed to create an Asia-based people-powered mentoring movement to move people … to learn, to share, to give forward, to transform, to harness the deep human potential, and create social impact – bringing about a kinder, gentler, more inclusive, just and sustainable world for all.
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