Parents: Are You Trying to Solve the Secondary School Posting Mystery?

Hi everyone! If you are reading this, i suppose you or your child has just received the PSLE results or am still preparing for PSLE. There are many routes to choose from and it is very much confusing form parents who have already lost touch with our education system. So for starters, lets look at an overview of Singapore's Education System. 

An Overview to Singapore's Education System ( Taken from the Ministry Of Education, Singapore Website)

In Singapore, students will have to attend 6 years of primary education in mainstream primary schools, or in specialized schools for students with special needs. At the end of the primary school education, students will have to take the Primary School Leaving Examination ( PSLE). Based on that results, the students will go to mainstream secondary schools, private schools or special schools as required by the needs of the students. 

In most mainstream secondary schools, students are streamed into Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal ( Technical). For students who score equal or more than 200, they will be streamed into Express. Students with scores between 160 and 187 will be placed in Normal (Academic) and finally students with a score lesser than 152 will be place in Normal (Technical). Students with T - score between 188 and 199 can choose between Express or Normal (Academic) while students with T - score between 152 and 159 can choose between Normal (Technical) and Normal (Academic).

There are also some other routes in the system that can be explored. For example, students who had performed well in the PSLE can consider the Integrated Programmes whereby students can proceed to pre - university without taking the 'O' Levels.  In some of the schools that offer Integrated Programmes, they might also offer alternative curriculums such as the International Baccalaureate instead of the 'A' Levels. 

Parents may also be concern if their children did not do well in the PSLE and end up in the Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) stream. All is not the end though, there is much more flexibility these days. For students who are in the Normal (Technical) stream, certain schools do offer subjects at Normal (Academic) level if they fulfill certain criterion. Students from N(T) can also be transferred to N(A) at the end of secondary one if they have met promotion criteria. Likewise, this is possible for N(A) to Express. You may not want to know this, but it is also possible for students who are in Express to retain or downgrade to Normal (Academic). 

So What is the difference between Express and Normal (Academic)? Firstly, students will spend 4 years in express and take the 'O' Level at the end, while students in Normal (Academic) will spend 4 years but take the 'N' Level. If they have fulfil the promotional criteria, they can spend another year in secondary school to do secondary 5NA, and then take the 'O' Level. They can also choose to sign up for Polytechnic Foundation Program (PFP), or Direct entry Scheme to Polytechnic Program via Higher Nitec (DPP). 

Multiple Pathways for N(A) and N(T) Students (Taken from the Ministry Of Education, Singapore Website)

Secondly, although the N(A) and Express students are studying the same subject content, the content is taught slower in the N(A) class than in the Express class. The questions used in the N(A) classes are also at a less challenging standard. Hence, this should be taken into consideration if the student requires more time or scaffolding in learning. However, this would also mean that depending on the school, 5N(A) students may also have a more difficult time keeping on par with their 4E peers during 'O' Levels. 

Thirdly, in terms of academic wise, when it comes to subject combination selection in secondary 3, Express students will have options of more subjects than N(A) students. (Subject combination is school dependent).

Finally, i would like to talk about the Normal (Technical), N(T) stream. When compared to Express and N(A), the subjects offered is slightly different. The content that is being taught for the similar subject is also scaled down. As such, this is more suited for students who are less academically inclined, but are keen to learn more skills based subject matter. The curriculum wise also provide a foundation for a more skills based career in the future. The students in N(T) only go through a 4 year secondary school education as compared to their N(A) counterparts. Then they will progress to the ITE for their tertiary education. However, that does not end there. Students can then progress to Polytechnics and then finally to Universities like everyone else, albeit in a slower manner. 

I hope this provides an overview for the general public and i will write more detailed content for the specific topics later on. =)