Singapore to Pilot Smaller Classes in Six Schools From January 2027

Singapore's Ministry of Education will pilot smaller class sizes and a redesigned teaching workload across six primary and secondary schools from January 2027, Education Minister Desmond Lee announced on Sept 16 to about 1,900 school leaders and teachers at the Schools Work Plan Seminar.

The six schools are St Anthony's Canossian Primary, Woodgrove Primary and Zhangde Primary, together with Commonwealth Secondary, Deyi Secondary and Jurongville Secondary. MOE said they were chosen for their geographical spread and student profiles, so the ministry can observe how the pilot works in different school contexts.

Lee framed smaller classes as one element of a broader redesign rather than a standalone fix. Class size, he said, must be weighed alongside space, teaching loads and how teachers spend their time: "The question is not just what the ideal class size is, but what learning schools want to enable and what environment best supports it."

Singapore is not starting from scratch. Primary 1 and 2 form classes have been held at about 30 pupils since 2006 to ease the transition from pre-school, Learning Support Programme classes run at eight to 10 students, and Crest and Spectra secondary schools typically teach classes of about 20. Under full subject-based banding, secondary subject class sizes already vary by student need and by the nature of the subject.

Woodgrove Primary will align class sizes with pupils' learning needs, giving teachers more room to try new methods and build critical thinking and social-emotional skills. Principal Adeline Ng said form classes will remain, but pupils may be regrouped into smaller English or mathematics groups for support or stretch, while deliberately keeping children of different abilities learning together.

At Deyi Secondary, principal Chow Weisi said the school is discussing cutting curriculum time for some core subjects to free teachers to design lessons and give students more time to explore. Class sizes there will depend on subject and academic level: General 1 classes will run at 15 to 17 students, while subjects such as design and technology or food and consumer education will sit at about 20.

Smaller classes do not automatically mean less work, Lee cautioned, since teachers may end up teaching more classes. "Nor can we simply hire many more teachers alone as a strategy. Our workforce is limited, and even if we were to hire more teachers, it must be done in a sustainable manner, without compromising quality," he said.

The workload side matters as much as class size. Teachers in Singapore typically juggle form-teacher duties, co-curricular activities and school committee work. MOE will explore letting teachers focus on two of those three areas according to school needs and individual strengths, and bring in coaches, instructors, non-teaching staff and external partners. For every school task, Lee said, the ministry is asking whether it is still necessary, whether it can be simplified, whether technology can help, and whether a teacher must do it at all.

Technology is the third lever. MOE is piloting Teacher Workspace, an online platform that pulls student information, tools and daily workflows behind a single login, in about 20 schools before extending it to all MOE schools by 2027. AI already assists with lesson planning, and planned additions include generating insights and first drafts of routine administrative reports. At Bukit Panjang Primary, an AI Data Assistant in the Student Learning Space portal already identifies gaps in pupils' written science answers almost instantly.

"This is a complex pilot, so we will proceed carefully," Lee said. MOE will assess whether the changes improve learning and let teachers teach more sustainably, updating schools and sharing what it learns before considering wider application.