EXPANSION OF RANGE OF ‘O’ LEVEL SUBJECTS OPEN TO NORMAL (ACADEMIC) STUDENTS

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EXPANSION OF RANGE OF ‘O’ LEVEL SUBJECTS OPEN TO NORMAL (ACADEMIC) STUDENTS

1. Normal (Academic) [N(A)] students will soon be able to offer an expanded range of ‘O’ level subjects as part of the 2 ‘O’ level subjects that selected[1] N(A) students may take. The provision to offer an expanded range of ‘O’ level subjects will be made available from 2006, beginning with the 2006 Sec 3 N(A) cohort. Schools that are ready can offer the option to their students from 2005. In addition, schools may select the ‘O’ level subjects they want to offer depending on their resources, beyond ‘O’ level Mathematics and Mother Tongue Language (MTL) which schools already offer to selected N(A) students. The expanded range of ‘O’ level subjects is at Annex.

2. The change was announced by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, at the MOE Work Plan Seminar 2004 on 29 Sep 2004.

3. The decision to expand the range of ‘O’ level subjects open to N(A) students is in response to the positive feedback from schools and students. About 2,400 Sec 4N(A) students are offering either Mathematics and/or MTL ‘O’ level examinations this year. This is about 23% of the N(A) cohort. The number of ‘O’ level subjects that N(A) students may offer remains at up to 2 subjects to ensure that students can cope well with both their ‘N’ and ‘O’ level subjects.

4. The flexibility for N(A) students to offer ‘O’ level subjects is part of MOE’s continual efforts to improve educational programmes to better cater to students’ different needs, abilities and aspirations. Mathematics and MTL at ‘O’ levels were first chosen as these are subjects that N(A) students are more likely to do well in.

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ANNEX – Expansion of Range of Subjects

‘O’ LEVEL SUBJECTS THAT MAY BE OFFERED TO N(A) STUDENTS

N(A) subject		`O’ level subject which can replace the N(A) subject in the left column
Core Examinable subjects	English Language (Syllabus A)	English Language
	Chinese/Malay/Tamil	Chinese/Malay/Tamil Higher Chinese/Higher Malay/ Higher Tamil[1]
	Mathematics (Syllabus A)	Mathematics[2]
	Combined Humanities Elective options: - Social Studies/History - Social Studies/Geography - Social Studies/Literature	Combined Humanities Elective options: - Social Studies/History - Social Studies/Geography - Social Studies/Literature
Elective Subjects (Choice of 2 to 4)	Humanities Subjects § Literature in English § History § Geography Science Subjects · Combined Sciences Options: - Science (Physics/Chemistry) - Science (Physics/Biology) - Science (Chemistry/Biology) Other Subjects · Additional Mathematics · Food & Nutrition · Design & Technology · Art & Design · Principles of Accounts	Humanities Subjects[3] § Literature in English § History § Geography § Chinese Literature[4] Science Subjects § Combined Sciences Options: - Science (Physics/Chemistry) - Science (Physics/Biology) - Science (Chemistry/Biology) Other Subjects § Additional Mathematics § Food & Nutrition § Design & Technology § Art & Design § Principles of Accounts § Music § Chinese (Special Programme)/ Malay (Special Programme)[5]
Elective Subjects (Choice of 2 to 4)	· Elements of Office Administration Computer Applications	No corresponding subjects at `O’ level.

[1] Schools select N(A) students whom they assess as suitable, committed and able to benefit from the option.

[2] Offered from 2003 and first year of examination is 2004

[3] Offered from 2003 and first year of examination is 2004

[4] Revised syllabuses scheduled for implementation in 2007

[5] Only for Higher Chinese Language students and offered from 2003

[6] These are Third Language subjects and scheduled for implementation in 2005.