PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed education as one of the important priorities for all Singaporeans during his National Day Rally Speech this year.

Held at the University Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore, PM Lee spoke about giving a "tailored, holistic education" and emphasised that more attention should be given to physical education (PE), art and music in primary schools, in order to "nurture the whole child".

More specialist teachers should be trained and recruited to improve teacher-student ratios for such subjects.

However, he also said that traditional strengths should be maintained in Maths and Science, and soft skills such as oral expression should be strengthened.

He also spoke about how schools in Singapore are equipped with modern facilities, each developed with its own specialties, such as arts, band, sports, robotics or uniformed groups.

PM Lee highlighted a few of the interesting programmes in schools, such as a wall mural in Haig Girls' in which sketches are conceptualised by students, Nusantara Orchestra from Siglap Secondary School and hip-hop dance integrated with physical education at Riverside Secondary.

In his speech, PM Lee also raised the issue of the Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) as a major hurdle, and that the PSLE is not "meant to be a do-or-die test that determines the whole future of a child".

He advised that there will be many good choices in secondary school and that students should not be dismayed.