Singapore’s Ministry of Education said Wednesday its Singapore school AI framework will keep artificial intelligence use age-appropriate, supervised and focused on learning rather than shortcuts.
Education Minister Desmond Lee told Parliament that the approach aims to help students use AI for learning, assess AI output critically and guard against “cognitive offloading.”
Under the framework, Primary 1 to 3 students will learn basic AI concepts, but teachers will not assign work that requires direct AI use. The ministry said physical, hands-on learning remains the priority at that stage.
From Primary 4, students may use supervised educational AI tools, including AI-enabled features in the Singapore Student Learning Space. Lee said students at that level would have developed foundational literacy, numeracy and basic metacognitive skills.
For secondary schools and above, some assignments may permit AI use, but students must disclose and cite AI-assisted work. Lee said students who pass off AI-generated content as their own will face consequences for academic dishonesty.
National examinations will remain AI-free, while teachers will monitor AI-assisted coursework to ensure it meets assessment objectives.
MOE-built tools use anonymised data and do not train external models, Lee said. Schools using commercial tools must ensure that students and staff do not enter any personal or personally identifiable information.
In response to Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Kenneth Tiong of Aljunied, Lee said the use of SLS-enabled tools in classroom learning is part of teaching and learning, while external tools would require parental consent where applicable.
