(From bottom left) Mrs Ong Yong Peng, widow of the late Dr Ong Yong Peng and NIE Director, Professor Christine Goh. (From top left) Mr Cheng Shoong Tat, son-in-law of the late Dr Ong and NTU Executive Director, Development Office, Ms Liza Boffen-Yordanov at the Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize for Character and Citizenship Education Recognition Tea Session held on 26 Oct 2020.
Photo credit: NIE NTU Singapore
(From top right anti-clockwise) Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Heng Swee Keat; NTU President, Professor Subra Suresh; NTU Vice President, Advancement, Ms Lien Siaou-Sze; and NIE Director, Professor Christine Goh speaking at the Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize for Character and Citizenship Education Recognition Tea Session held on 26 Oct 2020.
Photo credit: NIE NTU Singapore
The Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize is awarded to outstanding final-year student teachers who excel in Character and Citizenship Education (CCE). The award is presented to the best graduating students from the following programmes:
- Diploma in Education (Primary) (Chinese Language)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary) (Chinese Language)
- Bachelor of Arts (Education) (Primary)
Valued at $1,000 each, the Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize was made possible through an endowment of $120,000 by the family of the late Dr Ong, a former Associate Professor who had taught at the National Institute of Education for 25 years.
A strong advocate of traditional values such as perseverance, filial piety and students’ respect for teachers, Dr Ong was deeply involved in the teaching of moral and character education. He was also the personal Chinese language tutor in 1984 to the late Minister Mentor Mr Kuan Yew.
The Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize was formalised over a CCE Recognition Virtual Tea Session held on 26 October 2020. The session was attended by Mrs Ong Yong Peng, the widow of Dr Ong and her son-in-law, Mr Cheng Shoong Tat.
In a pre-recorded message, Guest-of Honour Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said, “CCE has been critical in developing our students holistically, anchoring them on core values, growing their social emotional competencies, and developing in them a deeper appreciation of Singapore...This Book Prize is a timely award to recognise the significant role that teachers play in shaping the future of our nation.”
The National Institute of Education Director, Professor Christine Goh said, “The importance of values and character development for student teachers is recognised through NIE’s values-based education framework. The spine of this framework is CCE, which is reinforced through three values-based core courses for every NIE Student Teacher, i.e. the Meranti Project, Group Endeavours in Service Learning (GESL), and the Singapore Kaleidoscope (SgK). The Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize is timely and apt in reinforcing NIE’s plans to further strengthen the delivery of CCE to the student teachers, especially through Mother Tongue languages.”
The inaugural Dr Ong Yong Peng Book Prize will be presented during the National Institute of Education Teachers’ Investiture Ceremony in 2021.
