Interim report on the six-day school week is submitted

On 13 March 1962, a nine-man commission, chaired by then acting vice-chancellor of the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore), Lim Tay Boh, was appointed to inquire into the government’s education policy, its content and administration in all fields except vocational and technical education, and make recommendations.^[1] The commission submitted an interim report reviewing the effectiveness of the six-day week for schools on 6 July 1962, followed by a final report covering other aspects of education on 28 August 1963.^[2]

The six-day school week was introduced in September 1959 to provide more time for the study of language, mathematics and science.^[3] The policy brought about an increase in the total weekly hours of instruction while reducing the daily hours of instruction such that the school day would end earlier.^[4] While some preferred the six-day week, many in the teaching profession felt it overloaded the weekly curriculum, and favoured a five-day week instead.^[5] This prompted the Joint Consultative Council, which was formed to study the recommendations of the report and comprising representatives from teachers’ unions and officials from the Ministry of Education, to discuss proposals for a revised school curriculum.^[6] The talks failed to reach a consensus as the six-day week continued to be the main point of contention.^[7]

The commission felt that the choice of a five- or six-day week was secondary to the fundamental question of providing an educational programme that could best meet the needs of school children in terms of cultivating national loyalty as well as their intellectual, physical and moral development.^[8]

While the interim report affirmed the government policy of emphasising the study of local languages, mathematics and science, it stressed that subjects grouped under “social studies” (such as geography, history and civics) should not be neglected.^[9] It also recommended that the structure of the school curriculum be periodically reviewed by leaders of the teaching profession, and that methods of instruction be updated with greater focus on teaching techniques involving activity, observation and experimentation.^[10]

The report also recommended that schools provide a wide range of extra-curricular activities, preferably outside of school hours.^[11] To facilitate this, each school should be open and its facilities made available to school children for five and a half days per week.^[12] Students should be encouraged to make use of school facilities on Saturday mornings for supervised self-study, revision and supplementary classes, physical education, games and other extra-curricular activities.^[13]

In addition, the commission worked out a daily time-table based on five days of classroom instruction per week.^[14] It felt that the revised primary and secondary school curriculum could be carried out in a five-day week without overloading the daily time-tables.^[15]

Lastly, on the subject of staffing, the commission proposed to ease the load of trainee teachers, who were then teaching full-time while undergoing intensive training, so that they could focus on their studies.^[16] The distribution of untrained and trained teachers among the schools was also recommended to be made more equitable.^[17] Further, relief or substitute teachers should also be provided on top of the normal staffing quota. ^[18]

The five-day week with extra-curricular activities on Saturday mornings was implemented on 3 September 1962 in English, Tamil and Malay schools.^[19] The Chinese schools chose to retain their prevailing arrangement where extra-curricular activities were integrated into the school curriculum, evenly spaced over five-and-a-half days of classroom instruction.^[20]

References
1. Professor Lim to head probe on education. (1962, March 14). The Straits Times, p. 18. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
2. Interim report on 6-day week. (1962, July 7). The Straits Times, p. 11; 10-year blueprint for education. (1963, August 29). The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Lim, T-B., & Singapore. Commission of Inquiry into Education. (1962). Interim report on the six-day week. (p. 3). Singapore: Govt. Printer. Call no.: RCLOS 370.95957 SIN
4. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 3.
5. Lim,& Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, pp. 4–5.
6. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 5.; It’s Happy Monday for start of 5-day week. (1962, September 3). The Straits Times, p. 9. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 5.
8. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, pp. 6-7.
9. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 8.
10. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, pp. 8–9.
11. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, pp. 10–11.
12. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 11.
13. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 11.
14. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, pp. 12–16.
15. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 16.
16. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 18.
17. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 18.
18. Lim & Commission of Inquiry into Education, 1962, p. 18.
19. The Straits Times, 3 Sep 1962, p. 9.
20. The Straits Times, 3 Sep 1962, p. 9.