Three years
ago, I requested information from Raffles Institution on its
decision to open an O-level class.
RI, which had
for years produced top O-level students, was among the first eight
schools to offer the six-year Integrated Programme (IP) when it was
launched in 2004. It is known as the "through-train" programme as
it allows students to bypass the O levels and aim for the A levels
or International Baccalaureate. The scheme was aimed at the top 10
per cent of students who are clearly bound for university. The
idea, when it was launched, was to provide a seamless secondary and
junior college education, giving students the space to develop
intellectual curiosity and other talents.
But, over the
years, a small group of RI students failed to thrive on the IP
track. They would leave quietly for polytechnics or lesser-ranked
junior colleges. Some would go on to sit the A levels, only to
perform poorly. Their parents complained that they didn't even have
an O-level certificate to fall back on.
So RI finally
decided to open an O-level class for them.
However, back
then, RI officials turned down my request for information on the
move, claiming that the parents of the boys routed to the O-level
class did not want their children to be interviewed for the
story.
I was
surprised to be turned down as, in a previous story, I had already
reported on other top IP schools such as Hwa Chong Institution and
Dunman High offering the O-level track and that RI was considering
the same scheme.
As well, I
was told that some of the boys were embarrassed and did not want to
be featured in The Straits Times.
It was not
just the parents and students. The school officials, too, did not
want me to report on the details of the scheme and refused to tell
me how many were routed to the track.
I checked
RI's website again last week, and failed to find any reference to
the O-level track, which leaves me to surmise that the school,
which publicises the A-level results of its students, wants to keep
mum about its O-level track and the students' results.
It is time to be
upfront about offering both schemes. RI and the other schools
should give full information on both programmes and how the
students performed in the final examinations. Parents who have
attended open houses at the top IP schools say they paint a rosy
picture by publicising the stellar A-level results of their
students. There is no mention of their O-level class, or of those
who fail.
They should also
look into deploying teachers who are familiar with the O levels and
good at preparing students.
A school
official, though, confirmed the results reported last month by
online site The Middle Ground - only one out of the 10 boys who
took the O levels last year did well enough to make it to a junior
college. The other nine qualified for polytechnic studies.
It is not
just RI keeping silent on its O-level offering. I don't see the
other top IP schools, including Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang
Girls' High - which now offer the two routes - mentioning the
O-level track or their students' results.
Why has the
O-level track become the track of shame at top IP schools?
THE RISE AND
RISE OF THE IP Because the IP scheme was run at premier schools
like Raffles and Hwa Chong family of schools, soon more pupils and
parents clamoured to get on board, and it gave rise to tuition
centres specialising in helping top students make the cut-off score
for IP schools. Several centres also launched courses to prepare
students for the Direct School Admission scheme, which allows all
schools, including those offering the IP, to take into account
other abilities, such as in sports or arts.
Soon, other
top secondary schools which were losing their best students to the
IP, also jumped on the IP bandwagon. Currently 18 schools are
offering the programme, although the schools that joined the scheme
later offer both the O-level and IP track from Secondary 1.
But 12 years
after the programme began, policymakers and educators face the
prospect of the "through-train" IP having become a runaway
train.
This is
because of the effects it is having on students and parents'
behaviour and the question of whether it still fulfils the original
objective - to allow students the space to develop intellectual
curiosity and joy for learning.
This is
because not all students, however well they do in the PSLE, are
suited for the IP.
The Ministry
of Education has released some figures to The Straits Times. It
said 6 per cent of students leave the IP before graduation. It also
revealed that another small number - less than 5 per cent - who go
on to sit the A levels or the International Baccalaureate do not do
well enough to qualify for local universities.
Indeed, over
the last two weeks, I spoke to over 20 students from the top IP
schools who failed to thrive when undertaking the IP. None, not a
single one of them, wanted to be named.
But they were
open about what went wrong with their studies.
Surprisingly,
those who fail to thrive on the IP are not just less academic
youngsters who were taken on because of their sporting or
co-curricular achievements. Several entered IP schools with Primary
School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scores well above 250.
But now in
hindsight, quite a few realised that they were not suited for the
IP. They needed a more structured programme and needed a major
examination, like the O levels, to hunker down and study.
One of them
described it as being "academically adrift".
"I liked the
IP. I got to do a lot of interesting things, but I also drifted -
going from one interesting project to another. It hit me only when
I failed my JC1 exams."
That means,
annually, between 200 and 300 fail to thrive on the programme.
All this
throws up the question of whether it is time for the top IP schools
- the likes of RI, Hwa Chong, Nanyang Girls' High and Raffles
Girls' Secondary - to openly offer both the IP and O-level track -
starting straightaway from Secondary 1. They should also allow
students to transfer across the two tracks.
Under the
plan quietly offered currently by top IP schools like RI, students
who lag behind academically are to be identified at the end of
Secondary 2, and prepared for O levels over the next two years. The
hope is that they would do well enough in the O levels to stay on
in the school. Failing that, they can move on to another JC or a
polytechnic.
The majority
are students who have excelled in sports and they had made it to
the school through the Direct School Admission scheme, which takes
into account other abilities of students.
But it is
time to be upfront about offering both schemes. RI and the other
schools should give full information on both programmes and how the
students performed in the final examinations. (Parents who have
attended open houses at the top IP schools say they paint a rosy
picture by publicising the stellar A-level results of their
students. There is no mention of their O-level class, or of those
who fail.)
They should
also look into deploying teachers who are familiar with the O
levels and good at preparing students.
Best of all,
having an O-level track at schools like RI is also likely to
increase the diversity of its student body. It would lead to a
better mix of children entering the top IP schools, not just those
with top scores and from privileged backgrounds.