More pupils who sat the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE)
this year made it to the Express stream in secondary school
compared to last year.
Of the 43,047 Primary 6 students who took the exam, 66.7 per cent
qualified for the Express stream, up from 63.1 per cent last year.
Of the cohort, 19.9 per cent made it to the Normal (Academic)
stream and 10.9 per cent to the Normal (Technical) course.
Results released on Friday showed that overall, 97.5 per cent of
the cohort were assessed suitable to proceed to secondary school,
similar to last year.
But in a departure from previous years, the result slips handed out
to pupils on Friday came without the highest and lowest scores
achieved by pupils in the cohort. The Ministry of Education, which
announced the change earlier this week, said it was to allow pupils
to focus on their own achievements and holistic development. Last
year, the top and bottom scores were 285 and 43. This followed the
ministry's decision last year to end the practice of naming the top
PSLE scorer so as to bring balance to the over-emphasis on academic
results.
