Australian Teacher Magazine pulls out article MOE called 'fake news'
Managing editor of publication apologises 'without reservation'
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 30 Aug 2017
The article, which was published in its August issue and was widely shared, had quoted MOE director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong as telling an international conference here in May that Singapore is "building compliant students just as the jobs that value compliance are beginning to disappear".
But MOE on Monday described the statements in the article, written by Mr Walter Barbieri, as "completely false" and " fake news". According to his Linkedin profile, Mr Barbieri is the director of eLearning at St Peter's College in Adelaide.
In the interest of "full transparency", MOE yesterday released an unedited video and the transcript of Mr Wong's 35-minute speech he delivered on the first day of the National Institute of Education's (NIE) Redesigning Pedagogy international conference.
Mr Grant Quarry, Australian Teacher Magazine's managing editor, told The Straits Times yesterday that it is investigating the matter and has been trying to contact the author for clarification.
In the interim, the report's webpage on EducationHQ, which publishes the magazine, was updated with an editor's note explaining why the article had been withdrawn.
"In the light of the evidence presented, and in the absence of alternative evidence to support the author at this stage, EducationHQ has withdrawn the story and apologises without reservation for any offence caused," said the note.
Mr Barbieri did not respond to queries from The Straits Times.
In his article, he had claimed that Mr Wong compared Singapore's stellar academic results in 2015's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with the data on student well-being and innovation in the economy, which placed Singapore in the lowest quartile.
According to the article, Mr Wong attributed Singapore's PISA success to standardised test drilling and a culture of compliance, and said at the conference: "We've been winning the wrong race."
The online article chalked up about 3,500 shares earlier this week. The earlier print version of the article had also mistakenly attributed the quotes to Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng before it was edited and attributed to Mr Wong instead in the online article.
According to the transcript and video recording provided by MOE, Mr Wong did not refer to the PISA rankings - which Singapore students topped for reading, mathematics and science - in his speech. Instead, Mr Wong said that the literacy levels of Singapore students have "improved tremendously".
"They are now reading, writing, speaking in a very high level. They are learning their mathematics well, they're able to solve a lot of mathematical problems very competently," he added.
NIE said that this was the only speech that Mr Wong gave at the conference and that no other speakers had made comments similar to what was purported in the article, to the best of its knowledge.
NIE said that this was the only speech that Mr Wong gave at the conference and that no other speakers had made comments similar to what was purported in the article, to the best of its knowledge.
Writer: Quote attributed to wrong speaker
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 31 Aug 2017
The author of an article containing statements that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has branded as "fake news" maintains that they were said but he might have attributed them to the wrong person.
In a statement published on the website of EducationHQ Australia yesterday, Mr Walter Barbieri, a freelance contributor with the publishing company, apologised but stood by his article.
He said: "I wrote the article in good faith and did not intend to cause any offence.
"I maintain that the words quoted were delivered at the conference, and convey my genuine apologies if I have attributed them to the wrong speaker."
Mr Barbieri's widely-shared article, published in the August issue of Australian Teacher Magazine, which comes under EducationHQ, had quoted MOE director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong as telling a conference here in May that Singapore is "building compliant students just as the jobs that value compliance are beginning to disappear".
On Tuesday, MOE said that the statements were false and Mr Wong had not delivered those comments. It also released a full transcript and video recording of his speech.
The conference organiser - the National Institute of Education - had said that no other speakers had made comments similar to what was purported in Mr Barbieri's article, which EducationHQ withdrew online on Tuesday.
Mr Barbieri, the director of eLearning at St Peter's College in Adelaide, did not provide evidence indicating that the statements had indeed been made by a speaker at the conference. He did not respond to queries from The Straits Times.
In its statement, EducationHQ acknowledged that the quotes were wrongly attributed to Mr Wong, and apologised. It also said that it will be publishing a correction for the print edition of the article, which had wrongly attributed the quotes to Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, in its next edition of the magazine.
Additional reporting by Daniel Ong
Article carrying MOE remarks on Singapore's 'culture of compliance' is fake news, says MOE
Ministry says director-general's purported remarks on compliant students in Singapore are false
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has decried as "fake news" a series of statements purportedly made by its director-general of education that attributed Singapore's educational success to "standardised test drilling and a culture of compliance".
An article in the August edition of Australian Teacher Magazine made the rounds online yesterday, when it published comments reportedly made by MOE's director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong at an international conference about three months ago.
Written by Mr Walter Barbieri, the article claimed Mr Wong had juxtaposed Singapore's stellar academic results in the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study with the data on student well-being and innovation in the economy.
The article said that data for the latter two categories placed Singapore in the lowest quartile.
The PISA study, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), polled 540,000 students from 72 countries and economies.
The results on student well-being were released recently. It emerged that the anxiety levels of the 5,825 15-year-old Singapore students polled were significantly higher than the OECD average.
For instance, 66 per cent of students across all OECD countries said they were worried about poor grades. Among Singapore students, 86 per cent said they were.
Results from the study that were released last year ranked Singapore's students No. 1 for mathematics, science and reading.
According to the article, Mr Wong said to more than 1,500 delegates at the National Institute of Education's Redesigning Pedagogy conference: "We've been winning the wrong race."
It said he attributed Singapore's PISA success to standardised test drilling and a culture of compliance, and said that Singapore is "building compliant students just as the jobs that value compliance are beginning to disappear".
A video recording that The Straits Times obtained of his 30-minute speech showed that he did not make the remarks attributed to him. It is not clear if he made other speeches then.
Ministry says director-general's purported remarks on compliant students in Singapore are false
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017
An article in the August edition of Australian Teacher Magazine made the rounds online yesterday, when it published comments reportedly made by MOE's director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong at an international conference about three months ago.
Written by Mr Walter Barbieri, the article claimed Mr Wong had juxtaposed Singapore's stellar academic results in the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study with the data on student well-being and innovation in the economy.
The article said that data for the latter two categories placed Singapore in the lowest quartile.
The PISA study, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), polled 540,000 students from 72 countries and economies.
The results on student well-being were released recently. It emerged that the anxiety levels of the 5,825 15-year-old Singapore students polled were significantly higher than the OECD average.
For instance, 66 per cent of students across all OECD countries said they were worried about poor grades. Among Singapore students, 86 per cent said they were.
Results from the study that were released last year ranked Singapore's students No. 1 for mathematics, science and reading.
According to the article, Mr Wong said to more than 1,500 delegates at the National Institute of Education's Redesigning Pedagogy conference: "We've been winning the wrong race."
It said he attributed Singapore's PISA success to standardised test drilling and a culture of compliance, and said that Singapore is "building compliant students just as the jobs that value compliance are beginning to disappear".
A video recording that The Straits Times obtained of his 30-minute speech showed that he did not make the remarks attributed to him. It is not clear if he made other speeches then.
The comments were reproduced by local news site Mothership.sg. Last night, the MOE said in a comment on Mothership.sg's Facebook post that Mr Wong did not make the statements in the article.
"This is fake news," said MOE.
"We are disappointed that your website would circulate such false comments. We would appreciate it if you could remove the article immediately or at least print a correction."
MOE has also asked Australian Teacher Magazine to take down the article, or print a correction.
The magazine and Mr Barbieri did not respond to The Straits Times by press time.
Keep eyes open for fake news
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 2 Sep 2017
Eyebrows were raised earlier this week when an Australian magazine for teachers reported that Singapore's director-general of education, Mr Wong Siew Hoong, had made remarks that were critical of his own ministry.
The article in Australian Teacher Magazine, which is distributed to schools in every Australian state, said Mr Wong had attributed Singapore's success in academic rankings to a "culture of compliance", and had said at a conference: "We've been winning the wrong race."
Local news sites such as Mothership.sg later reproduced the quotes from the widely shared article.
As it turned out, Mr Wong did not make the remarks attributed to him, and the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the article was "fake news".
After MOE posted a full transcript and video recording of Mr Wong's speech, the magazine withdrew the article.
To this day, writer Walter Barbieri has not fully explained how he came to attribute the remarks to Mr Wong.
The episode underscores the need for media outlets to verify their sources to avoid spreading falsehoods, and for readers to examine what they read with a critical eye. This is even more pertinent now that articles can be easily shared on social media and can go around the world.
Even if a story is taken down, the misinformation may still be floating somewhere in cyberspace.
Fake news, which came under the spotlight during the United States presidential election last year, is a growing problem that media outlets and governments have to grapple with. Earlier this week, Facebook said pages on its platform that post hoax stories will be banned from advertising on the social networks.
Singapore is likely to introduce legislation to tackle fake news next year. But the best way to counter fake news is for readers to hold media outlets accountable and demand that they verify their news sources.
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 2 Sep 2017
Eyebrows were raised earlier this week when an Australian magazine for teachers reported that Singapore's director-general of education, Mr Wong Siew Hoong, had made remarks that were critical of his own ministry.
The article in Australian Teacher Magazine, which is distributed to schools in every Australian state, said Mr Wong had attributed Singapore's success in academic rankings to a "culture of compliance", and had said at a conference: "We've been winning the wrong race."
Local news sites such as Mothership.sg later reproduced the quotes from the widely shared article.
As it turned out, Mr Wong did not make the remarks attributed to him, and the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the article was "fake news".
After MOE posted a full transcript and video recording of Mr Wong's speech, the magazine withdrew the article.
To this day, writer Walter Barbieri has not fully explained how he came to attribute the remarks to Mr Wong.
The episode underscores the need for media outlets to verify their sources to avoid spreading falsehoods, and for readers to examine what they read with a critical eye. This is even more pertinent now that articles can be easily shared on social media and can go around the world.
Even if a story is taken down, the misinformation may still be floating somewhere in cyberspace.
Fake news, which came under the spotlight during the United States presidential election last year, is a growing problem that media outlets and governments have to grapple with. Earlier this week, Facebook said pages on its platform that post hoax stories will be banned from advertising on the social networks.
Singapore is likely to introduce legislation to tackle fake news next year. But the best way to counter fake news is for readers to hold media outlets accountable and demand that they verify their news sources.
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