On the morning of March 19, the 15th Shanghai-Singapore Primary Education Round-table Conference was held in the Entertainment and Sports Center of Luwan Education Bureau. Officials and experts who attended this conference included YUAN Yuan, deputy district mayor of Huangpu District People’s Government, ZHU Yu, Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Primary Education Division, Becky Neo, School Cluster Superintendent of Singapore Ministry of Education Schools Division, Schools Branch North along with the Singapore education delegation, GUO Jinhua, Director of Huangpu District Education Bureau, Deputy Directors of the Bureau YANG Yan and JIN Yi, and GU Xiaoqing, Head of East China Normal University Department of Education Information Technology. The conference was chaired by JIN Yi, Deputy Director of Huangpu District Education Bureau.

This conference was jointly organized by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the Singapore Ministry of Education, undertaken by the Huangpu District Education Bureau and Singapore Ministry of Education Schools Division, Schools Branch North, and was successfully convened under the strong support of the Huangpu District People’s Government. Students of Shanghai Luwan Middle School presented distinctive traditional Chinese folk music and dancing performances to warm up the conference. ZHU Yu, Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Primary Education Division and Ms. Becky Neo, School Cluster Superintendent of Singapore Ministry of Education Schools Division, Schools Branch North made remarks as the host and the guest respectively. Both sides expressed that through this activity, they hoped to provide new thoughts, explore new routes and inject new vitality to the exchange and mutual learning in education, especially the empowerment of high-quality development of primary education with digital technology in both Shanghai and Singapore.

GUO Jinhua, Director of Shanghai Huangpu District Education Bureau and Ms. Becky Neo, School Cluster Superintendent of Singapore Ministry of Education Schools Division, Schools Branch North presented souvenirs as gifts to each other on behalf of the host and the guest respectively. The principals of 4 schools of both Shanghai and Singapore carried out high-quality and in-depth exchanges and dialogues around the topic of “Education and Teaching Reform in the Era of Digitization.” With the theme of “Learner-centeredness, Building a Boundaryless New Learning Ecology Supported by Digital Technology, ” ZHANG Yi, the principal of Shanghai Luwan Middle School shared the results of her school in building a new learning ecosystem based on resources, technologies and platforms. WU Rongjin, the headmaster of Shanghai Huangpu Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School displayed the practices and explorations of her school in the talent cultivation model driven by both digital-intelligent technology and emotional education from the perspective of tackling the “all technology but no human” problem in the practices of information technology. Combining national policies with school practices, Ms Tham Yoke Chun, the principal of Riverside Secondary School of Singapore guided the participants through a multifaceted and insightful journey of on-campus education and technology. Mrs Ong Jia Miin, the principal of Nan Chiau Primary School of Singapore, showcased the school’s practices of cultivating talents in the digital age with the goal of nurturing “future-ready leaders,” and through multidimensional collaboration including integrated teaching, curriculum design, innovative practices and teacher training.

Professor GU Xiaoqing, the head of East China Normal University Department of Education Information Technology, was invited to this round-table conference also to provide expert feedback. Professor GU highly praised the conference and the proactive exploration of a new educational model by the four schools in response to social changes. He transformed the schools’ practices into case studies, leading participants to reflect on the key factors of education reform in the digital age through three key questions: “What kind of society are we facing today?”, “What kind of talents should today’s education cultivate?”, and "What new teaching models are we exploring?” He also encouraged the schools to continually explore through practice and to move forward in their exploration.

Deputy District Mayor YUAN Yuan of the Huangpu District People’s Government delivered the closing remarks at the conference. She stated that this round-table conference facilitated fruitful exchanges and discussions between Shanghai and Singapore, and established a “digital bridge” for the education professionals from both sides to share experiences and transfer high-quality educational resources. The conference created “a real-time platform” to support multifaceted face-to-face exchanges, foster idea collisions, and promote the extensive application of digitized education. She envisioned a “vast expanse” of educational innovation benefiting more countries and regions under the guidance of digital technology. She believed that Huangpu District’s education will continue to deepen its understanding of digitization education reform and continuously explore new education models and methods based on its “one main line, three layers, six tasks, and demonstration by five schools of one district.” Through innovative collaboration and practice with Singapore, Huangpu District aimed to carve out new pathways, shape new advantages, and achieve new breakthroughs in education and teaching reform in the digital age.

From March 20 to 21, the Singapore delegation will visit several high-quality elementary and secondary schools in Huangpu District to further enhance their understanding of primary education in the district. This would lay a solid foundation for the long-term promotion of educational exchanges and cooperation between Shanghai and Singapore and for the creation of a bright future for education together.