MOE lessons on Israel-Hamas conflict aim to help students reflect on safeguarding cohesion, respecting diverse views: Chan Chun Sing

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lessons on the Israel-Hamas conflict are designed to help students reflect on how to safeguard cohesion and harmony in a multiracial society.

These lessons also aim to help students understand their own emotions and empathise with others, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Sunday (Feb 25) in an interview.

Mr Chan’s remarks come after concerns arose online this week about what schools are teaching students about the conflict in Gaza. 

Some of the posts claimed that students were presented with a narrative that was not neutral or objective as it only covered the developments from October, without giving a historical context of the wider conflict between Israel and Palestine that dates back several decades.

The posts also claimed that teachers were not allowed to give further input beyond what was prescribed to them.

In response to queries from TODAY, the ministry said on Friday that teachers do not impose their personal views, "nor do they advocate for the interests of any particular parties involved in the conflict".

For younger students, the lessons hone in on empathy for the victims of the conflict, while lessons for older students also focus on verification of information sources and appreciating diversity in perspectives, said MOE. 

Mr Chan reemphasised this on Sunday and said that CCE lessons aim to achieve four things for students.

First, to help them understand their own emotions and empathise with others and second, to reflect on how to safeguard cohesion and harmony in a multiracial society.

The lessons also aim to help students learn how to verify information sources before sharing them responsibly, and to “appreciate the diversity of views and conduct conversations sensitively and respectfully”. 

“Though this conflict may be geographically further away, we work very hard to not let this divide us or allow it to fragment our social fabric and hard-earned harmony,” added Mr Chan. 

He cited examples of people, including youth, getting into heated conversations as well as unverified information and misinformation on social media stirring strong emotions. 

“We also have people telling us what we should or should not teach our children on this issue. So we have to be very careful to not let the seeds of hatred and distrust be planted in our younger generations. 

“We must understand Singapore’s vulnerabilities and interests, and work hard to preserve our cohesion, mutual tolerance and acceptance, and find ways to preserve our multi-racial and multi-religious harmony,” he said, noting that education must contribute towards this goal. 

Mr Chan also provided some background on why schools are providing lessons on this.

"Many Singaporeans are affected and feel deeply for the victims of the conflict," he said.

"It pains us, including our young, who feel for humanity. We hope and pray for peace. Not just a temporary ceasefire, or the end of the conflict only, but a long-term solution: A two-state solution where Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace. This is not easy, to say the least. Many have tried and failed, but what other choice is there? This is why Singapore has joined many countries in the UN to support calls for a ceasefire and humanitarian support to the victims, and support calls for a long-term two-state solution, no matter how hard it is to achieve it."

MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING, SOCIAL HARMONY

In response to concerns that some teachers may feel conflicted that the CCE lessons may be against their personal beliefs, Mr Chan said this conversation topic had come up in MOE’s internal sessions. 

“We understand that different teachers may have their individual concerns and this is not just about the Malay Muslim community. It can also apply to the Jewish community, the Christian communities, or any other people of different faiths, or from different backgrounds.

“Our school leaders will therefore systematically facilitate the process by forming teams who are able to deliver the lessons. We make it a point to make sure that we help the schools to form the teams to deliver it as a team rather than individuals.”

OPT-OUT OPTION FOR CONCERNED PARENTS?

In response to a question about whether MOE would consider an opt-out option for parents who do not feel comfortable about their child’s participation, Mr Chan reiterated the purpose of the CCE lessons. 

“I think we have to go back to what's the purpose of the CCE lessons,” he said, emphasising that these are not intended to be history lessons. 

“Nor is it meant to ascribe who is right or wrong at which period of history. As mentioned, we are trying to promote mutual understanding and social harmony. I think we want all our students to be able to appreciate this.

“If we approach it from this perspective, then we can understand the importance of inculcating such values to our students. It is not issue-specific; it is not conflict-specific. It is a set of values on how we work together with people from diverse backgrounds to promote our social harmony and cohesion, how we work together to verify facts, how we work together such that at the end of the day, even if we hold different perspectives, we can have a respectful conversation.”

Although these objectives are not easily achieved, Mr Chan said the effort must be made by MOE for the sake of the students so that they do not grapple with external influences on their own.

The minister said MOE held discussions at length since the outbreak of the latest round of conflict last October. The considerations were how to guide students and what materials to curate for different levels to help them understand in age-appropriate ways. 

Materials were subsequently curated with the help of other agencies like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

MOE’s first tranche of materials was updated until December 2023, and the ministry will continue to update these materials as events unfold, he added.  

Discussions were also held with professional educators such as principals and CCE teachers on how to conduct these lessons for students at different levels. School leaders then helped to prepare and select educators.

“All of us, teachers and principals, acknowledge the challenges and risks involved. I must credit them for the conviction to do this well, despite the challenges, for the sake of our children and country. To help our children understand complex issues happening around the world today,” said Mr Chan. 

He also thanked all principals and teachers for carrying out their duties professionally. 

“They too have personal feelings and convictions about issues but they do not impose their personal views on our students.

“As professionals, they are committed to guide our children to the best of their abilities to understand the importance of upholding our social harmony, verifying information as a life-skill, appreciating diverse perspectives respectfully.”