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Reference No : Edun N25-02-033 Vol 5

Press Release No : 03097

Date : 02 Aug 97

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1997

1. Primary Six pupils will be choosing their secondary schools next week. To help them and their parents make informed choices, the Ministry of Education is providing, as in previous years, information on the performance of selected secondary schools. Also provided are range of PSLE aggregate scores of pupils admitted into these schools in 1997.
   
   New Ranking Criteria
   
2. Since 1992, the Ministry has been using the mean subject grade (MSG) as an indicator of academic performance. This indicator is the average of the grades of all subjects offered by a pupil. While MSG is a broad-based indicator of performance, feedback from schools suggests that it does not provide an incentive for schools to encourage pupils to offer subjects which are more difficult to obtain a good grade in, or in which they are not especially strong. The Ministry has decided to fine-tune the ranking system and to use a different measure of school academic performance.
   
3. For this year's ranking exercise, schools will be ranked on the following criteria:
   

   	Special/Express Course: L1 and best 5 subjects (L1B5)
   	Normal Course : L1 and best 4 subjects (L1B4)

4. These criteria do not include all subjects offered by pupils. Instead, they are based on the L1 grade and the best 5 grades (for Special/Express course) or the best 4 grades (for Normal course). They are also a closer reflection of the criteria used for entry to the next level - for example, the criteria for JC admission, which is L1 and best 5 relevant subjects.
   
   Top Schools
   
5. The top schools in the 1996 O-level examination are listed in Tables 1 - 2. For the Special/Express course, the top school last year was Raffles Institution, followed by Raffles Girls' Secondary and The Chinese High. Ranked fourth jointly were Dunman High and Nanyang Girls'. The best non-Independent and non-Autonomous schools last year were Ang Mo Kio Secondary (ranked 18) and Swiss Cottage Secondary (19).
   
6. For the Normal course, the top five secondary schools were Zhonghua, Anderson, Commonwealth, CHIJ Katong and Paya Lebar Methodist Girls'.
   
   High Value-added Schools
   
7. The high value-added schools are shown in Tables 4 - 5. These are schools which have helped their pupils performed better than expected based on their PSLE scores. In recognition of the effort put in by these schools, the Ministry will award $20,000 to each of the top 10 schools and $10,000 each to those in the next 10.
   
8. Four schools, CHIJ Katong Convent, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls', Xinmin and Zhonghua Secondary, were ranked top 10 for value-added performance in both the Special/Express and Normal courses. Three other schools, Christ Church, Holy Innocent's High and Rangoon Secondary also qualified for double awards.
   
   Top Schools in Fitness
   
9. Shown in Tables 6-8 are the top schools in terms of pupils' physical fitness, lowest percentage overweight and Fitness Index. These indicators, unlike those in Tables 1-5, are based on all pupils in the school, and not just those in the graduating classes .
   
10. Overall, based on Fitness Index, the top 5 schools last year were Cedar Girls', Singapore Chinese Girls', Nanyang Girls' High, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' and The Chinese High.
    
    
    

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

EXPLANATORY NOTES FOR TABLES ON RANKING OF SCHOOLS

1. The following eight tables provide information on the performance of selected secondary schools in the 1996 GCE O-level examination and the top schools in Physical Fitness, Lowest Percentage Overweight and Fitness Index.
   

   	Table 1: Top 50 Schools (Special/Express Course)
   	Table 2: Top 40 Schools (Normal Course)
   	Table 3: Performance of SAP Schools (Special/Express Course)
   	Table 4: Top 20 High-Value Schools (Special/Express Course)
   	Table 5: Top 20 High-Value Schools (Normal Course)
   	Table 6: Top 50 Secondary Schools by Physical Fitness Level
   	Table 7: The 50 Secondary Schools with Lowest Percentage Overweight
   	Table 8: Top 50 Secondary Schools by Fitness Index

2. For Tables 1-5, the performance of each school is based on pupils who took the O-level examination for the first time. Schools with small candidature (fewer than 40 pupils) and those not admitting Secondary 1 pupils in 1998 are not included in the tables. Not included in the ranking exercise are the following new schools which did not have any O-level pupils last year:
   

   Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)	Juying Secondary
   Chong Boon Secondary	Kranji Secondary
   Damai Secondary	Ngee Ann Secondary
   Fajar Secondary	Northland Secondary
   Greenview Secondary	Peirce Secondary
   Hong Kah Secondary	Pioneer Secondary
   Jurongville Secondary

   Description Of Terms Used In Tables
   

3. Number of Pupils : This column shows the number of pupils who took the O-level examination for the first time.
   
4. Mean L1B5 : Mean of pupils' aggregate grades in L1 (English or Higher Mother Tongue language) and best 5 subjects. This is the ranking criterion for Special/Express course.
   
5. Mean L1B4 : Mean of pupils' aggregate grades in English and best 4 subjects. This is the ranking criterion for Normal course.
   
6. Mean Subject Grade (MSG): Mean of all grades obtained by pupils in a school. This is the old ranking criterion for Special/Express and Normal course.
   
7. Percent 5 O-Levels : Percentage of pupils with 5 O-level passes or more.
   
8. Percent 3 O-Levels : Percentage of pupils with 3 O-level passes or more.
   
9. PSLE Scores of 1997 Sec 1 Intake : Aggregate scores of Sec 1 pupils admitted in 1997 from non-affiliated and affiliated schools, for difference courses.
10. Percent S4N Eligible for S5N : Percentage of Sec 4N pupils who were eligible for Sec 5N in the previous year's N-level examination.
    
11. Performance of SAP Schools : In Table 3, the mean L1B5 is computed based on all subjects including mother tongue language taken in Sec 3.
    
12. High Value-added Schools : Tables 4-5 show the top 20 schools with high value-added performance for Special/Express and Normal courses respectively.
13. Fitness Level : The "Physical Fitness Percentage" in Table 6 gives the percentage of pupils who passed the National Physical Fitness Award test. The NAPFA test consists of 6 test items developed by the Sports Medicine and Research Centre of the Singapore Sports Council in 1981.
    
14. Overweight Percentage : The "Overweight Percentage" in Table 7 gives the percentage of pupils who are overweight by 20% or more according to standards provided by the Ministry of Health.
    
15. Fitness Index : In Table 8, the Fitness Index (FI) of each school is based on the height and weight measurements of its pupils and their performance in the NAPFA test. The FI is defined as the average of: 

    	the percentage of pupils within the acceptable weight range according to the Weight for Height Table compiled by School Health Service, and
    	the percentage of pupils who pass the NAPFA test.