Secondary School Streaming
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Liang Eng Hwa, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education in view of the introduction of subject-based banding to replace the EM3 stream (a) whether his Ministry has plans to refine streaming in secondary schools; and (b) whether categories such as Normal (Academic) are still necessary.
Response
1. Streaming in schools is an educationally sound approach that has served us well. By offering teaching and learning approaches based on students’ different abilities and learning styles, it allows students to learn at an appropriate pace and progress as far as possible in their studies. This is how we have brought the attrition rate in schools down, to about 3% currently.
2. Through the years, MOE has been regularly reviewing and refining our approaches to streaming, so that we can help our students learn as best as they can.
3. At the primary level, we have made several refinements to the system, including as Mr Liang has noted, the introduction of subject-based banding to replace the current EM3 stream, starting from 2008.
4. At the secondary level, students currently take the Express, Normal (Academic) [N(A)] or Normal (Technical) [N(T)] courses. The N(A) course which Mr Liang asked about has allowed students who will have difficulty taking the ‘O’ levels in 4 years to prepare for the ‘N’ levels instead. Many of them go on to take their ‘O’ levels in Sec 5. By doing this over 5 years, they learn at a more comfortable pace, and are able to do better.
5. Similar to the primary level, we have been introducing greater flexibility for students in secondary schools. To cater to late developers, we allow for transfers between the Express, N(A) and N(T) courses. For the N(T) students, we now allow for lateral transfers after Secondary 2, and beyond[1]. N(A) and N(T) students are also able to take up to two of their subjects at a higher level[2]. Over 2400 (or 20%) N(A) students sat for one or two ‘O’ Level examinations while in Secondary 4 in 2005. From this year, schools that are ready have also been able to allow selected N(A) students to skip the 'N' level examinations altogether, and take a 5 year course aimed at preparing them for their ‘O’ level examinations[3].
6. Some of our secondary schools have introduced further innovations to customise learning for their students. For example, Dunman Secondary School has adopted a form of subject-based banding for their students. Secondary 3 N(A) students who are strong in Mathematics attend classes with the Express students, while Secondary 3 N(T) students who are good in Mathematics attend classes with the N(A) students.
7. MOE will continue to review our secondary school landscape and streaming policies. We will learn from experience with the various flexibilities that have been introduced in schools, and explore ways to further refine secondary school education over time.
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[1] From 2005, there are provisions for lateral transfers to N(A) course i.e. Sec 2N(T) to Sec 2N(A), Sec 3N(T) to Sec 3N(A) and Sec 4N(T) to Sec 4N(A). This change resulted in an increase in the number of N(T) students promoted or transferred to the N(A) course, from 210 in 2004 to 370 in 2005. The year refers to when the transfer was effected, i.e. 370 N(T) students transferred from 2004 N(T) to 2005 N(A).
[2] For a start, Mother Tongue Languages (MTL) and Mathematics were offered. In 2004, it was decided that the range of examinations that N(A) students could sit for be expanded to the full range of ‘O’ Level subjects from 2006. Schools that were ready could offer the option to their students from 2005.
[3] The first batch of Secondary 4 N(A) students, who will be selected at the end of Secondary 3 in 2006, will skip the ‘N’ level examinations in 2007
