Refinements to NE (Budget debate 2007)

During the Budget debate in 2007, Minister of State RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew described the refinement in the direction for NE. He said that "We need to refine, not increase, our NE programmes; we have to customise them to suit our students’ age, interests and inclinations." Read more about the refinement to NE:

• MOS Lui's speech (7 March 2007)
• Press Release for Enhancing NE
• Executive Summary of Report by Committee on NE

While there are refinements to NE, the conceptualisation of core programmes remains sound. The refinement is not about adding more activities, but improving the quality of what schools do to strengthen the sense of belonging by engendering ownership to both teachers and students, and customising the programme to suit students' different age, maturity and interests.

One recommendation from the Committee on NE is the "Head, Heart and Hands" framework that articulates the outcomes of and approach to NE. You can find this framework at here.

Principles and Approach

Some key principles in NE should frame the planning and development of NE activities, which can be found here . These include:

• "Head, Heart, and Hands" framework
• NE Messages (please note that the subtext of the NE messages were refined in 2007)
• Principles of Governance
• Policy on NE