The Big Read: ‘Excuse me, are you gifted?’ A deeper look at gifted education and its relevance to society

In 1981, Dr Tay Eng Immediately, subsequently Minister of State for Education, led a team to examine brilliant training programs in Germany, Israel and Russia. The team determined that Singapore’s best fit for the Jewish model, which features classrooms designed specifically for professionally inclined students, was the model.

In May 1983, MOE established the Gifted Education Branch to choose teachers and students for the GEP, organize teacher training programs, and create a education.

Around 40, 000 Primary 3 kids took part in the first choice test, of which 100 students were chosen for the program aircraft at Raffles Ladies ‘ Main and Rosyth School.

100 students are chosen for the pilot GEP in secondary schools conducted at Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls ‘ Secondary, out of which the top 5 percent of pupils taking the Primary School Leaving Examination ( PSLE ) were also tested.

The selected students just made up 0.25 percent of their cohorts when the program first began.

According to a book released on the program in its 10th anniversary, MOE’s GEP faced difficulties in its early years, such as meeting the needs of brilliant children with” a wide range of abilities and interests” and understanding Singapore’s different gifted children.

The GE P’s early years ‘ curriculum was also different. For instance, in their PSLE, first-year GEP students were required to sit for social research publications.

In 1987, it was decided not to extend the GEP to young universities because these institutions already had the resources to adequately meet the educational needs of students with diverse academic backgrounds and interests, and these individuals may also participate in initiatives like conducting exploration with the National University of Singapore.

But by the 20th month level of the GEP, the training program had shifted “from an efficiency-driven learning to ability-driven training model”, then-acting Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam wrote in a publication commemorating the show’s celebration. &nbsp,

To this end, the GEP was more expanded, and by 2003, 1, 393 major students and 1, 954 intermediate students were in the show’s nine key and seven extra schools.

Additionally, GEP students were given more enriching opportunities, like the 2003 Moot Parliament Project, which was piloted.

The 20th anniversary text also examined the GEP students ‘ progress toward scholarships. Between 1991 and 2003, 22 GEP individuals became President’s Scholars. During the same time, there were also three Rhodes Scholars and three Lee Kuan Yew Scholars.

In 2004, MOE introduced the Integrated Programme ( IP ) for secondary school students, allowing selected students to skip the GCE O-Level examination as part of a through-train six-year programme. Depending on which college they enroll in, these students graduate with a GCE A-Level certification, an International Baccalaureate certification, or an NUS High School diploma.

With this walk, attendance into the GEP in extra schools declined. In consequence, the government discontinued the GEP in secondary colleges in 2008, but students may enroll in a school-based GEP in IP-offered schools. &nbsp,

GEP kids started putting half of their curriculum time with non-GEP kids the same year to counteract growing criticism that the program varieties pretentiousness.

The revamped GEP will then cover all 180 major schools, allowing students to enroll in the program based on their academic strengths.

With the remodel, MOE estimates that about 10 per share of students will be able to gain across 180 institutions. Now, only 1 per share- around 370 to 400 learners- of each batch participates in the GEP, while school-based higher-ability programmes benefit 7 per share of the population.

In the new GEP, individuals will only get English language and algebra papers in addition to two rounds of choice assessments involving English language, mathematics, and basic capability papers at Pri 3.

Teachers ‘ day-to-day studies and students ‘ function will also be taken into account in assessing their applicability. Instead of just starting Main 4, students can enroll in the program from Major 4 to Primary 6.