SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) is still considering through-train programmes from primary school to secondary school, but there are still issues to be resolved, said Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing on Wednesday (Mar 1).
He was responding to Workers’ Party (WP) MP Jamus Lim and Progress Singapore Party NCMP Hazel Poa, who brought up through-train programmes in their speeches during the Committee of Supply debates.
“We have thought about this – should we pilot a few schools for through-train?” said Mr Chan, in response to further clarification from Mr Lim.
In her speech on Tuesday, Ms Poa called for MOE to consider piloting a through-train programme for primary and secondary school students that would bypass the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
“There should be no sacred cows in education. The learner, especially the well-being of the child, comes first,” she said.
WP’s proposal to introduce an optional 10-year through-train programme, first raised at the 2015 General Elections, would allow some children to learn at a pace that is more suitable to them, said Mr Lim in his speech on Tuesday.
“Importantly, offering the extra room for children to blossom and to reach their full potential before they turn 16, could actually be more important than allowing them to skip a major test at the age of 16,” he added, noting that some integrated programme schools already allow students to skip the O-Level exams.
“This proposal merely suggests an extension of that programme to a different high-stakes standardised test.”
In his clarification on Wednesday, Mr Lim agreed that the PSLE serves as an important checkpoint and allows parents to choose the secondary schools their children go to.
“But I wonder if he would not also agree that allowing a parent to choose for their child not to take the PSLE is yet another dimension of choice,” said Mr Lim.
“If so, then what are the inhibitions behind an optional through-train policy as the Workers’ Party has proposed?” he added.