NEED FOR MORE SOCIAL MIXING
Efforts have been made to improve social mixing through policies such as the provision of financial aid to ensure affordability of school fees for low-income. In addition, opportunities for interaction have also been made available through co-curricular activities and values-in-action projects.
Essentially, social mixing benefits low-income students by increasing their exposure to positive influences and role models. Similarly, it provides the opportunity for the rest of the student body to understand situations in life to which they would not have been exposed.
However, a 2018 report by OECD noted that almost half of Singapore’s low-income students are concentrated in the same schools.
This followed a 2017 Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) Study On Social Capital In Singapore, which suggested the presence of a class divide among Singaporeans. The authors of the study called for more efforts by the government and community to create structures that will encourage social mixing.
Therefore, school admission policies must be tweaked further to ensure that the proportion of low-income students are more spread out across all schools in Singapore.
ENHANCING PARENTS’ SOCIAL NETWORKS
Children’s learning can also be enhanced by their parents’ social networks.
Research has shown that parents who form ties with other parents will likely become one another’s sources of knowledge. Through social networks, well-connected parents can exchange information and seek advice on ways to help their children.
Unfortunately, this resource is out of reach for low-income parents, who often have weak social networks.
Schools could do more to reach out to these parents and introduce them to social networks comprising other mums and dads, such as their Parent Support Groups (PSG).
Understandably, participation requires time and sacrifice, especially from parents who are bound by less flexible work schedules or loaded with caring responsibilities. Necessary provisions could be made by schools to incentivise them, whilst emphasising the importance of commitment to their children’s educational journey.