Balancing Academic Riqour Required to Excel at PSLE With Skills to Thrive in AI-Driven Economy

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong, Hougang SMC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education whether the Ministry considers that the academic rigour required to excel in the PSLE, such as rote memorisation and test-taking abilities (i) reflects the skills our youths need to thrive in the AI-driven economy, (ii) nurtures a lifelong love of learning and (iii) compares favourably with inquiry-based and collaborative learning approaches more common in other internationally recognised primary school curricula.

Response

1. The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) serves as a useful checkpoint on students’ mastery of the primary school curriculum. It is designed to assess core concepts and skills in the primary school curriculum, including the ability to think critically and apply concepts in different contexts. The PSLE does not emphasise rote learning or test-taking skills.
2. To prepare students for the future, schools also design Co-curricular Programmes, Applied Learning Programmes, Character and Citizenship Education lessons and leadership opportunities to nurture students’ 21st Century Competencies (21CC). While not all of these competencies such as collaboration skills and inventive thinking can be measured through a single exam, they are developed in the course of learning the curriculum. Our teachers use a range of pedagogies, such as inquiry-based, collaborative, and experiential learning, to facilitate students’ learning.
3. We are heartened that international benchmarking studies like Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) have found that our primary school students are adept in reasoning and applying concepts and skills to navigate non-routine situations and solve more complex problems.