I. Introduction
A rite of passage for every primary school student in Singapore, the PSLE is the quintessence of Singapore’s education system. That notwithstanding, the PSLE has been under fire for years. Parents criticise the difficulty of the examination and question whether the PSLE is necessary for students at such a young age.
Amidst the controversy surrounding the PSLE, the Ministry of Education (the “MOE”) has reaffirmed its position that academic merit is important in secondary school posting. The PSLE is needed to assess every primary school student and help them decide on the next step of their education journey that best suits their pace of development.
In other words, love it or hate it, the PSLE is here to stay.
Instead of doing away with the PSLE, the MOE has chosen to overhaul the PSLE scoring system. The new PSLE scoring system with its wider scoring bands broadly aims to (1) reduce exam stress and results obsession, (2) eliminate competition among students and (3) recognise the strengths of students so as to better match them to secondary schools that would be a good fit for their aptitudes.
Two batches of Primary 6 students have already gone through the new PSLE scoring system. It is perhaps timely to share our thoughts on whether the new PSLE scoring system has or will achieve the three broad objectives that the MOE has set out for it.
II. Objective 1: Reduce Exam Stress and Results Obsession
“We made a deliberate shift away from the old T‑score system so students do not chase the last mark. An obsessive over-emphasis on exam results is not healthy for the development of our children.”
Mr Wong Siew Hoong
MOE’s director-general of education
Because of the way the old PSLE aggregate score (or T‑score) was calculated, every mark lost or gained in any of a child’s English, Mathematics, Science and Mother Tongue paper mattered. This piled undue pressure on students to attain subject mastery, avoid careless mistakes and pursue perfection. In comparison, the new PSLE scoring system has wider scoring bands, supposedly giving students more room to make mistakes.
For example, a 5‑mark range score from 80 to 84 would be equivalent to an Achievement Level (“AL”) of 3. In this regard, not every mark matters now as students would have a 5 mark cushion. Following the logic adopted by the MOE, this would create less stress and obsession over exam results.
Chasing Every Mark
One year on, from what we have observed, the outcome is not what the MOE had envisioned. While full of good intentions, the wider scoring band has done little to ease the “chase for the last mark.” From our experience as educators, we are still witnessing students stressing over every single mark. This is because they do not know exactly what they are going to score or how exactly the PSLE papers will be marked. With the wider scoring bands, the issue is that one single mark could be the difference between an entire AL, which would be more detrimental than a difference of a few marks in the T‑score.
We too had hoped that the new PSLE scoring system would ease the stress and obsession over examinations and students’ performance. Unfortunately, we have seen minimal to no improvement in that respect when interacting with our students and parents. As educators, we do our best to align ourselves with MOE and what it tries to achieve. In this regard, we have previously written about how parents can help their child prepare for the PSLE so as to take some stress off their shoulders
As parents find ways to support their children in their academic journey, we hope our words of advice can not only provide them with much needed guidance, but also give them some comfort that we too are with them in this journey.
The Valley of Death
Further, as we go lower down the AL ranges, it is clear to see that the mark range becomes bigger. This fact has not escaped our students and their parents. A vast majority of them share the same sentiments. Students do not want to score 74 marks and be at the same level as another student who scored only 65 marks. Similarly, they do not want to score 64 marks and be awarded the same AL as another student who failed and scored 45 marks. In fact, a parent of ours once described the ALs 5 and 6 as “The Valley of Death.” This metaphor corresponds with our experience. The new PSLE scoring system has created an army of anxious parents who have made it their mission to ensure their children avoid these two dreaded ALs.
Moreover, the unfortunate reality is that a large number of students actually hover around the 60 to 75 mark range and it is perhaps no surprise why we are seeing a surge in demand for our enrichment classes. More and more parents are desperate to have their children improve so as to get out of “The Valley of Death.”
Exposing Weaknesses
Stress levels do not abate under the new PSLE scoring system. In fact, it is the reverse that is true. The new PSLE scoring system is more unforgiving and exposes students’ weak subjects even more than the T‑score system, causing greater stress and worry over academic performance in examinations. Under the old system, a student in the top flight who scored high As for 3 subjects and a low A for 1 subject could have very possibly gotten a T‑score of at least 250, meaning he qualifies for the Integrated Programme (the “IP”) stream. In contrast, under the new PSLE scoring system, that same student would have narrowly missed the cut for the IP stream. This is because he would have scored AL 2 for three subjects and an AL 4 for the fourth subject, giving him a PSLE score of 10.
The scenario painted above is hardly a hypothetical one. One of the most common complaints and concerns of parents is that their children are disinterested and weak in their Mother Tongue. From our experience, two out of three Chinese students worry about their Chinese pulling down their PSLE score. This is where our Chinese centre, “鼎 育” (pronounced Ding Yu), comes in to save the day! Employing the same educational philosophy as Think Teach, 鼎 育 focuses on smart techniques that make Chinese easy, efficient and effective. As the new PSLE scoring system is less forgiving than the old one, gone are the days when students can compensate a stronger subject for a weaker one. Every subject is important, including the Mother Tongue.
The MOE intended well when it conceptualised and introduced the new PSLE scoring system. It hoped to slowly change our culture of exam stress and obsession. However, it does appear that the MOE may have completely missed the mark in this regard. The MOE has ironically worsened exam stress and obsession levels with wider scoring bands. It has unwittingly created a situation where students are punished more severely for their weaknesses. Moreover, instead of fighting against the reliance on tuition, the MOE has in fact solidified the very need for tuition as a means not just to get ahead but also to get out of the lower and wider ALs.
We help our students steer clear of “The Valley of Death”, climb up the AL bands, and achieve their fullest potential by relying on our strengths. One of our greatest strengths is helping students make big improvements in both learning attitude and examination performance. We achieve this by dedicating ourselves to the formulation of novel and unique techniques that allow our teachers to Teach Smart and our students to Learn and Think Smart. With our techniques, learning becomes exciting, efficient and effective!
In addition, every parent of ours is automatically included in our TTA Parent Support Programme where we send out complimentary summarised notes, examination guides, supplementary practices and teaching videos etc to give our students the extra boost they need for the PSLE. We also generously share our techniques on our YouTube channel as well as in our blog articles.
As educators, we commit ourselves to the success of our students. Oftentimes, we find that making big improvement in grades simply requires a fine-tuning of the learning techniques and strategies one employs to study and prepare for examinations. We know we have the right techniques. Success stories of our past and present students are a testament to this fact. This is why we hope that every student in Singapore gets to experience learning with us!
IV. Objective 3: Recognising Strengths
“We hope that the new AL scoring system, together with the changes we are making under the full subject-based banding in our secondary schools over the next few years, will make students’ learning even meaningful.”
Mr Wong Siew Hoong
MOE’s director-general of education
There is cause to celebrate for students posted to the Normal Academic (“NA”) and Normal Technical (“NT”) streams. The wide scoring bands in the new PSLE scoring system recognises and celebrates students’ strengths. It would be used as an indicator as to whether students can take subjects at a level higher than their streams. For example, in previous years, a student in the NA stream had to take all his subjects at the NA level. That has now changed as a student despite his stream is eligible to take subjects at the Express level as long as he scored AL 5 or better for that subject in the PSLE. This is great news for NA and NT students, as they would not be deprived of a standard of education that suits their aptitude just because of the stream they are in.
The same positive impact of the new PSLE scoring system is not felt by students who are scoring higher up the ALs. Unlike an NA or NT student, an Express stream student does not have the option of taking subjects at the IP level even if he had scored AL 1 for that subject in the PSLE. The only way to take subjects at the IP level is to score 9 points and below and qualify for the IP stream. At this juncture, it would be most apt to bring back the example of the top flight student who scored AL 2 for 3 subjects and AL 4 for 1 subject.
That student is clearly strong in at least 3 subjects. At the AL 2 level, he should be primed to study those 3 subjects at the more challenging IP level. However, he would be denied that opportunity because his overall score of 10 relegates him to the Express stream. Thus, the new PSLE scoring system is narrow and limited in its impact. While an argument can be made that it recognises strengths and makes learning more meaningful, this positive impact is not felt across the board and only applies to students in the NA and NT streams.
There is a clear imbalance in what MOE has managed to achieve with the new PSLE scoring system. We hope that the MOE recognises this and makes provisions for a more robust subject-based banding in secondary school. We suggest a system where no student gets left behind. Express stream students should also be allowed to hone their strengths in their stronger subjects at the more rigorous IP level.
V. Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that the MOE had their best interests at heart when they decided to revamp the PSLE scoring system. The purported objectives of the new system shows that the MOE is heading in the right direction. Right now, we just have to accept that the new PSLE scoring system has its flaws and challenges.
Rather than throw stones from a glass house, we choose to embrace the new system and the challenges that come with it. The journey to PSLE success will be a long but fulfilling one. Whether it is English, Chinese, Mathematics or Science, from Primary 1 to 6, we will be there for you and with you, every step of the way.
