MOE to explore smaller classes where needed for more students in pilot with six schools

Education Minister Desmond Lee said smaller classes could allow teachers to give students closer attention and more timely feedback.

Published Sep 16, 2026, 03:30 PM

Updated Sep 16, 2026, 03:30 PM

SINGAPORE - More students could benefit from smaller class sizes, as part of a pilot to improve teaching and learning, starting with six schools from January 2027.

Education Minister Desmond Lee said on Sept 16 that smaller classes could allow teachers to give students closer attention and more timely feedback.

But it must be part of a broader redesign of teaching and learning, including reviewing teachers’ other duties and using technology to support their work, he said, addressing about 1,900 school leaders and teachers at the Schools Work Plan Seminar held at the Singapore EXPO.

The pilot schools are St Anthony’s Canossian, Woodgrove and Zhangde primary schools, and Commonwealth, Deyi and Jurongville secondary schools.

“This is a complex pilot, so we will proceed carefully. We will keep schools updated and share what we learn, before considering how these approaches can be applied more widely,” said Lee.

MOE will assess whether the changes improve learning and enable teachers to teach and nurture students more sustainably, he said.

Lee n oted that smaller classes do not necessarily mean less work. Teachers may have to take on more teaching, as they do in some other countries, he said.

“Nor can we simply hire many more teachers alone as a strategy. Our workforce is limited, and even if we were to hire more teachers, it must be done in a sustainable manner, without compromising quality,” he said.

“If teachers need to teach more classes, then we must create the capacity and conditions for them to do so,” he added.

Reviewing teachers’ duties would help them devote more time to teaching, but this must be complemented by tools such as technology, he said.

To simplify teachers’ daily work, MOE will roll out an online platform Teacher Workspace to all MOE schools by 2027, following a pilot in around 20 schools.

The platform brings together student information, tools and daily work processes through a single login, reducing the need to navigate different systems. It will help teachers build a fuller picture of each student, coordinate support and communicate with parents and partners.

More functions will be introduced progressively. These include using AI to bring together relevant student information and generate first drafts of commonly used administrative reports.

AI is already helping teachers plan lessons and understand students’ learning, Lee said.

At Bukit Panjang Primary School, science teachers previously spent considerable time analysing pupils’ written responses for patterns and misconceptions. The AI-enabled Data Assistant in the Student Learning Space can now help identify common gaps and strengths almost instantaneously, he said.

Education Minister Desmond Lee speaking at the Schools Work Plan Seminar on Sept 16. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Education Minister Desmond Lee speaking at the Schools Work Plan Seminar on Sept 16.

ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

On class sizes, Lee said MOE would explore where smaller groups can best support teaching approaches that involve students investigating problems and learning together.

The question, he said, is not just what the ideal class size is, but what learning schools want to enable and what environment best supports it.

This builds on its existing approach of providing smaller classes according to students’ needs.

Primary 1 and 2 form classes have been kept at around 30 pupils since 2006 to give children closer attention as they move from pre-school to primary school.

Learning Support Programme classes have about eight to 10 students, while the typical class size at Crest and Spectra secondary schools is 20.

Under Full Subject-Based Banding, secondary subject class sizes can also vary according to students’ learning needs and the nature of the subject.

“We have observed positive experiences on the ground,” Lee said, adding that smaller classes allow teachers to cater to individual learning needs and engage students.

One of the six pilot schools, Woodgrove Primary, will explore having smaller classes aligned with pupils’ learning needs. This will create more avenues for teachers to try innovative teaching methods , provide targeted support, and equip pupils with a broader range of competencies, such as critical thinking and social-emotional skills.

For instance, the school has been redesigning its curriculum to stretch pupils with academic strengths and talents.

Ministry of Education

教育部长李智陞表示，小班授课可以让老师给予学生更多关注和更及时的反馈。

发布于2026年9月16日下午3:30

更新于2026年9月16日下午3:30

新加坡——作为一项旨在改善教学的试点项目的一部分，小班化教学模式将使更多学生受益。该项目将于 2027 年 1 月起在六所学校启动。

教育部长李智陞9月16日表示，小班授课可以让教师给予学生更多关注和更及时的反馈。

但他表示，这必须是教学和学习更广泛的重新设计的一部分，包括审查教师的其他职责以及利用技术来支持他们的工作。他在新加坡世博会举行的学校工作计划研讨会上对约 1900 名学校领导和教师发表了讲话。

试点学校包括圣安东尼嘉诺撒小学、伍德格罗夫小学和张德小学，以及联邦中学、德义中学和裕廊维尔中学。

李说：“这是一项复杂的试点项目，所以我们会谨慎行事。我们会及时向学校通报最新情况，分享我们的经验，然后再考虑如何更广泛地应用这些方法。”

他说，教育部将评估这些改变是否能改善学习效果，并使教师能够以更可持续的方式进行教学和培养学生。

李指出，小班授课并不一定意味着工作量减少。他说，教师可能需要承担更多的教学任务，就像其他一些国家的情况一样。

“我们也不能仅仅依靠增加教师人数作为策略。我们的师资力量有限，即使要增加教师人数，也必须以可持续的方式进行，不能降低教学质量，”他说道。

“如果教师需要教授更多课程，那么我们必须为他们创造能力和条件，”他补充道。

他表示，重新审视教师的职责将有助于他们投入更多时间进行教学，但这必须辅以技术等工具。

为了简化教师的日常工作，教育部将在2027年前向所有教育部下属学校推出在线平台“教师工作空间”，此前将在约20所学校进行试点。

该平台通过单一登录方式整合了学生信息、工具和日常工作流程，减少了在不同系统间切换的需求。它将帮助教师更全面地了解每位学生，协调支持工作，并与家长和合作伙伴进行沟通。

更多功能将逐步推出。这些功能包括利用人工智能技术整合相关的学生信息，并生成常用行政报告的初稿。

李说，人工智能已经开始帮助教师规划课程和了解学生的学习情况。

他说，以前武吉班让小学的科学老师要花大量时间分析学生的书面回答，找出其中的规律和误区。现在，学生学习空间里的人工智能数据助手几乎可以瞬间识别出学生的常见差距和优势。

教育部长李智陞于9月16日在学校工作计划研讨会上发表讲话。（海峡时报摄影：林耀辉）

教育部长李智陞于9月16日在学校工作计划研讨会上发表讲话。

ST 照片：林耀辉

关于班级规模，李表示，教育部将探索小班教学如何更好地支持让学生共同探究问题和学习的教学方法。

他说，问题不仅在于理想的班级规模是多少，还在于学校想要培养什么样的学习能力，以及什么样的环境最能支持这种学习。

这是在其现有根据学生需求提供小班授课方式的基础上建立起来的。

自 2006 年以来，小学一年级和二年级的班级人数一直保持在 30 人左右，以便让孩子们在从幼儿园过渡到小学的过程中得到更多关注。

学习支持计划课程的班级规模约为 8 至 10 名学生，而 Crest 和 Spectra 中学的典型班级规模为 20 人。

在完全基于学科的分班制度下，中学各科班级的规模也可以根据学生的学习需求和学科的性质而有所不同。

李说：“我们已经观察到一些积极的实际经验。”他还补充说，小班授课可以让老师更好地满足学生的个性化学习需求，并激发学生的学习兴趣。

六所试点学校之一的伍德格罗夫小学将探索小班化教学模式，以满足学生的学习需求。这将为教师创造更多机会尝试创新教学方法，提供针对性支持，并培养学生更广泛的能力，例如批判性思维和社交情感技能。

例如，该校一直在重新设计课程，以充分发挥学生的学术优势和才能。

教育部