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Singapore
Community and Parents in Support of
Schools (COMPASS)
COMPASS
is the national advisory council established in
December 1998 to advise the Ministry
of Education on ways in which home-school-community
collaborations could be strengthened and promoted
to help children learn better. COMPASS serves
as the venue in which the best practices on collaborative
efforts of school, home and community surface.
COMPASS aims to develop a common understanding
among the students, the parents, the schools and
the community about the part that each group should
play in a concerted effort to achieve their “Desired
Outcomes of Education.” It serves as an
advisory body to the Ministry of Educaiton which
membership is composed of representatives from
the parents, self-help groups, alumni and business
community.
Singapore’s Ministry of Education is proud
to report that COMPASS has increased the number
of Parent Support Groups (PSG) and Parent-Teacher
Associations (PTA) in Singapore schools. The 60
PSGs and PTAs which exist in 17 percent of Singapore
schools prior to the formation of COMPASS in 1998
has already ballooned to a total of 255 in 2003.
This figure, furthermore, represents 76 percent
of all the schools in Singapore.
The
Case of Admiralty Primary
Admiralty
Primary School gains the support and trust
of parents and the community by forging links
with them. The school informs residents living
in the vicinity of school activities for example,
overnight camps, which may cause some inconvenience.
The Principal distributes his name cards to shopkeepers
around the housing estate. He visits them regularly
to get feedback from them on the behaviour of
his students. The school welcomes parents, the
PAP Community Foundation and other kindergartens
to tour the school, look at the facilities and
display of students' work. The school permits
the Residents' Committee, the Citizens' Consultative
Committee and Self-Help Groups to use the school
premises to organise their activities.
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