1Ms Seah Jiak Choo, 57, the Director-General of Education in the Ministry of Education, will be retiring from the Education Service after completing her term as DGE on 31 Mar 2009. Ms Ho Peng, 54, the current Director of Curriculum Planning & Development (CPDD) will be appointed as Director-General of Education (Designate) [DGE-Designate] on 15 Dec 2008 and will assume appointment as Director-General of Education on 1 Apr 2009.
2Ms Seah will continue to contribute to MOE in the capacity of an advisor with effect from 1 Apr 2009. In this capacity, Ms Seah will be advising the Ministry on the professional and leadership development of the teaching profession and in other education matters.
3Ms Seah has had a distinguished career in the Education Service spanning 32 years. She joined the Education Service as a teacher in 1977. She taught in Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, and was Principal of Tanjong Katong Secondary School from 1990-1993. She also held various appointments in MOE, in curriculum planning, testing and assessment, and school supervision. She rose to become the Director of Schools in 2002 and was appointed as Director-General of Education on 1 Apr 2004.
4Ms Seah has contributed significantly to the advancement of education in Singapore. Today, there are more options and greater flexibility in our school system, accompanied by a more innovative mindset among teachers. As the Director-General of Education, she has engendered greater school and teacher ownership and fostered a higher sense of professionalism among the 29,000-strong teaching force.
5She put in place many innovations that have had lasting impact on education in Singapore. She led the transformation of lower primary education through the introduction of the SEED (Strategies for Effective Engagement and Development of Pupils in Primary Schools) programme, which is a ground up approach for teachers to design the most appropriate strategies and programmes to provide primary school students with a more stimulating learning experience. She also played a key role in realising the “Teach Less, Learn More” (TLLM) approach which aimed at teaching better, engaging the learners, building their character and preparing them for life. She also contributed significantly to the enhancement of teaching using IT through the development of the Masterplans for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education. Ms Seah is an advocate of professional and leadership development of teachers, and played significant contributions to the two comprehensive reviews to enhance the recognition of the teaching profession in recent years.
6The Ministry is deeply appreciative of Ms Seah’s significant contributions over the three decades, which have helped to make our education system the highly regarded system that it is today. The Ministry would like to thank Ms Seah for her many years of meritorious service to the Ministry and to Singapore.
7Ms Seah has also served on a number of statutory boards such as the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board [SEAB] Board of Governors (which she chairs) and the Institute of Technical Education Board of Governors.
8Ms Ho Peng joined the Education Service in 1979 as a teacher. She taught in National Junior College, and was Principal of Gan Eng Seng School during 1994-1997. She also contributed in various capacities in MOE, having been a curriculum planning officer, and as Deputy Director (Schools West), Director of Education Programmes and in her current appointment as Director of Curriculum Planning & Development. She played a pivotal role in the planning and implementation of many major reviews such as the review of Junior College/Upper Secondary Education, reviews of the Mother Tongue Languages and the English Language and the scheme for senior specialists in MOE.
9Ms Ho serves on a number of institutions such as the SEAMEO Regional Language Centre (which she chairs), the National Institute of Education Council, and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
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