Singapore

Indicative scores helpful in planning school choices, say parents


The indicative secondary school entry scores announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) were welcomed by parents with primary school children, who said they are helpful to plan for and shortlist schools that their children can realistically qualify for.

The range of scores, for pupils taking the Primary School Leaving Examination under the new Achievement Level (AL) scoring system next year were released yesterday. They are based on last year’s Primary 6 data.

Schools fall broadly into three categories: government and government-aided, autonomous and independent.

For autonomous schools, the indicative cut-off point for the Express (Integrated Programme) course is seven to nine, while for independent schools, the range is six to eight.

The best possible score under the AL system would be four, meaning a child attains the best AL1 in all four subjects.

But MOE’s director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong said yesterday that the indicative cut-off points show that a perfect AL score of four may not be needed to get into some of the popular schools.

Administrator Siti Hazlina, 46, who has a son in Primary 5 – the first batch of students to go through the new scoring system – said the indicative scores are reassuring.

She is thinking of enrolling him in Raffles Institution or the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science.

Her son is good at English, maths and science, but is weak in his mother-tongue language, Tamil.

“When the AL system was announced, we thought that he would be disadvantaged because even if he gets 98 or 100 for his strong subjects, those additional marks would not count for anything, unlike with the T-score system, where it could pull up his aggregate,” said Madam Hazlina.

“But now, you need a cut-off point of only six to nine to go to an IP school, which means there is still room for the child to be ‘weak’ in one subject and learn at his own pace.”

Mrs Tina Tan, 45, who also has a son in Primary 5, said the indicative score is useful in helping parents work with their children to improve, without extra pressure.

The freelance parent trainer added: “Pupils who used to be forced to get perfect scores every time, and get harshly penalised for getting one or two marks fewer than expected, would be able to breathe better and feel less stressed.”

But some parents like housewife Joanna Tan said there does not seem to be a change in how schools are perceived.

“The only change here is the scoring system. In fact, the ‘better’ schools might end up with more students trying to apply for them.

“Previously, every single mark counts. Now, it is different and it doesn’t matter if you score 100 or 91 anymore,” said the 40-year-old, who has a daughter in Primary 1 and a son in Primary 5.

She added: “If more children have the same score, there will likely be more balloting.

“That would be stressful for both parents and children.”





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