CHANGE IN PSLE SYSTEM
However, another high-ability enhancement heart, Future Academy, said requests for its GEP prep courses for Primary 2 and 3 have gone away by 15 to 20 per cent since 2021.
Some parents asked to sign up their children, and enrollment increased 10 %.
According to Ms. Yvonne Chen, principal tutor at Future Academy, this was partially due to changes in the Primary School Leaving Examination ( PSLE ) grading system that was implemented in that year.
In a shift to put less emphasis on test results, the old T-score overall system was replaced by wider ranking rings known as Achievement Levels.
Ms. Chen noted that students who excel in one subject and struggle in another could still do fairly well under the previous system.
” But due to this new technique, kids feel it is more difficult, in the sense the student has to do well in all four content”, she said, referring to English, mathematics, science, and mother tongue.
” The parents want their child to be ready sooner. One of the ways is to get the kid into so-called major courses in a major class, which is the GEP programme”, she added.
Both Terry Chew Academy and Future Academy both emphasized that children’s higher-ability lessons are just appropriate when they are already interested in learning more.
Ms Chen said:” We tell the parents, for K1, K2 or P1, what we believe is – it is more of the day for the kids to sit down in key college, get used to the more conventional learning environment and enjoy class. ( They should not ) worry about studies yet”.
For its GEP prep classes, the center just accepts children from Major 2 onwards, according to the coordinator, to avoid stressing them out.
We do n’t want students to be stressed out at a very young age because we think there needs to be a balance between their academic success and their well-being,” she said.