LIKE many others, I, too, support maintaining the Primary School Leaving Examination ("Debate over PSLE not a simple one" by Dr Catherine J. Smith; last Saturday).
However, we should do away with secondary school streaming of students into the four-year Express and five-year Normal programmes. Let all students go through four years of secondary school education.
Singapore's education policy has always been focused on bringing out the best in the brightest in our land, and I have benefited from such a system.
I studied in the Special stream in secondary school, and there were only eighteen students in my class. This smaller class size was of tremendous benefit to my classmates and me.
Thus, class size will be a key factor in keeping to a standard four-year secondary school education.
Those who do well enough in the PSLE to qualify for the Express stream usually do not require much attention in class. However, those who do not do as well will need closer attention from the teacher, so they will need smaller class sizes.
These academically weaker students will also need to spend longer hours in school, perhaps a full day, compared with those who are academically stronger, who can spend just half a day in school. This will be a similar concept as national service - those who are fitter will serve a shorter time.
There is a huge stigma attached to students in the Normal stream. The additional one year they spend in school can be spread out over four years instead.
The PSLE has to stay, because without such a national examination, we will never be able to determine if our children understand what they have learnt in school. However, it is time to use this information and offer more help to those students who need it, rather than offer more to those who are already bright.
Chua Boon Hou
However, we should do away with secondary school streaming of students into the four-year Express and five-year Normal programmes. Let all students go through four years of secondary school education.
Singapore's education policy has always been focused on bringing out the best in the brightest in our land, and I have benefited from such a system.
I studied in the Special stream in secondary school, and there were only eighteen students in my class. This smaller class size was of tremendous benefit to my classmates and me.
Thus, class size will be a key factor in keeping to a standard four-year secondary school education.
Those who do well enough in the PSLE to qualify for the Express stream usually do not require much attention in class. However, those who do not do as well will need closer attention from the teacher, so they will need smaller class sizes.
These academically weaker students will also need to spend longer hours in school, perhaps a full day, compared with those who are academically stronger, who can spend just half a day in school. This will be a similar concept as national service - those who are fitter will serve a shorter time.
There is a huge stigma attached to students in the Normal stream. The additional one year they spend in school can be spread out over four years instead.
The PSLE has to stay, because without such a national examination, we will never be able to determine if our children understand what they have learnt in school. However, it is time to use this information and offer more help to those students who need it, rather than offer more to those who are already bright.
Chua Boon Hou
