SINGAPORE: The Education Ministry is looking at ways to give
teachers here more say in assessing their students.
Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said this when he was quizzed by
students at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum at the National
University of Singapore.
Mr Tharman said the Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) is
already a local exam.
And, in two years, junior college students here will sit for an
entirely Singaporean version of the "A" level exam.
Mr Tharman said: "We will do the same for our 'O' levels. We are in
the process of working on that now that we have got the new 'A'
level system coming into place. Over time, there will be a greater
independence in the conduct of the 'O' level exam, in the syllabus
and the design of the 'O' level exam itself."
But the Minister said there are still pluses to being under the
Cambridge umbrella.
Mr Tharman added the MOE is also looking to give teachers a greater
say in assessing students.
"If you look at the mother tongue learning, for instance. As we
move towards greater emphasis on speaking and listening, for the
oral dimension, we'll have to consider what is the best form of
assessment at the end of the year - a 15-minute test whereby the
child comes in sweaty palms, sits down and tries very hard to be
his normal self, or give the teachers a bit more leeway to assess
the child's proficiency in the spoken language over the course of
the year? It's a complex issue which we are studying. Let's
experiment by having some schools move faster than others." -
CNA
