The Education Ministry is studying the possibility of letting
secondary school students skip their 'O' levels and be admitted to
polytechnics directly.
And, from next year, schools can start selecting capable Secondary
4 Normal Academic stream students to skip the 'N' levels
examinations and go straight to Secondary 5 for their 'O'
levels.
Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam revealed this at his
Ministry's workplan seminar on Thursday.
Mr Gan Kim Yong, who will be Minister of State for Education from
October, will chair a Review Committee tasked to study the
feasibility of direct admission to the polytechnics for Secondary 4
students.
The Committee hopes to complete its work in four months.
For Secondary 4 Normal Academic stream students skipping the 'N'
level exams, schools will have the flexibility to pick them at the
end of Secondary 2 or 3, based on their performance in
school.
The Ministry said allowing students to skip the 'N' levels would
free up time preparing for the exams, time which could be better
spent in enrichment and broadening learning experiences.
Currently, about three-quarters or 70% to 80% of the 10,000 Normal
Academic students in each cohort do well enough at the 'N' level
exams to proceed to Secondary 5 for the 'O' levels.
From next year, Elective Modules will no longer be restricted to
the Normal Technical curriculum, but open to Normal Academic
students too.
Also from next year, new 'O' level subjects like Drama, Economics
and Computer Studies will be offered by 12 selected schools,
including Tanjong Katong Girls' School, Boon Lay Secondary and
Commonwealth Secondary.
And as part of the push to "Teach Less, Learn More", teachers and
school leaders will get more space and support so that they can
focus on improving the quality of interaction with their students
both in the classroom and beyond.
For a start, 10 to 20 percent of some subject contents will be cut
at the primary and lower secondary levels.
This means curriculum time could be freed up as 'white space' for
teachers to customise their teaching.
This will be extended to all subjects eventually.
The Ministry will also get 1,700 more teachers to ease the teaching
load.
Mr Tharman said: "Together, our two thrusts - providing greater
support for initiatives owned by teachers and leaders in school,
and giving our learners greater flexibility and choice - will allow
us to create new peaks of excellence in Singapore education.
"Together with the other initiatives we have taken in recent years,
they will bring a level of quality, diversity and choice into
education - rare for a centrally-funded education system elsewhere
in the world.
"Every school must own this drive for quality, diversity and choice
in education. Then our school landscape will itself be a mountain
range of excellence - not just an Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga, but
an entire Himalayan range, with different shapes and colours,
inspiring all our young to follow their passions and climb as far
as they can."
Another change is for the polytechnics to take in some students
based on a broader measure of merits beyond performance in the GCE
'O' level results.
Under the Joint Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise (JPSAE),
which will be introduced from next year, polytechnics can take in,
for a start, these students up to 5 percent of their annual
intake.
Aptitudes such as leadership, entrepreneurship, and talents in
areas like sports, arts and community service will all be
considered.
Currently, the Special Admissions Exercise admits students into
specific courses with special course requirements.
The introduction of JPSAE extends the special admission to all
courses offered by the polytechnics, and allows for a more diverse
range of talents to be considered. - CNA /ch/ir
