SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) will study how to further reduce the stakes of examinations through discussions with students, parents, teachers and academics, said Minister for Education Desmond Lee.
The study could involve recalibrating the difficulty of exams and looking at how results are used, he added.
When asked what alternative assessment models will be studied and whether the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is likely to stay, Mr Lee said: “We’re not locked into any outcome … We do not want to prejudge, we do not want to circumscribe.
“It may or may not be a tweak, it could be quite major … There is no preconceived idea. We are clear about the outcome, but there is a broad outcome,” he added, noting that he did not want to prejudice the upcoming discussions.
In a wide-ranging interview on Monday (Jan 26) about MOE’s upcoming focus areas, Mr Lee recalled Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's comments during last year's debate on the President’s Address in parliament – that for many parents, education still feels like an arms race.
Parents want to cut back on “endless tuition” but fear their child will lose out. “We must break this cycle,” Mr Wong said at the time.
MOE is "not closed off to any ideas" in studying how to reduce exam stakes further, said Mr Lee.
The stress of high-stakes exams arises from how they are framed, including difficulty level and structure, as well as how outcomes affect students, he said.
To address this, MOE will launch a series of education conversations under the Forward Singapore umbrella.
“That will enable us to speak to Singaporeans, listen to them, hear and feel them. And we intend to engage our school leaders, our curriculum developers, our educators and allied educators, parents, students … academics and researchers.”
Mr Lee did not provide a timeline for when parents could expect results from MOE’s efforts.
“Let us start the process first. I’m quite sure we’ll have a lot of input and you have to study different models,” he said, adding that MOE is also studying overseas models.
The ongoing review of the Direct School Admission (DSA) system and the next review of co-curricular activities will also be part of the conversation.
While the DSA system was established to "recognise a wider meritocracy" beyond academic success, Mr Lee said he recognises it can also drive hot housing – the practice of intensively coaching children in specific areas to gain admission advantages.
“It also causes the full impacts of social stratification. Those with more resources are able to spend more on their children.”
MOE is also studying the Primary 1 registration framework to enhance access to primary schools for students of different backgrounds, said Mr Lee.
Schools will continue to embrace diversity, but sometimes the nature of the neighbourhood where the school is located can affect this diversity, he added.
“We then deprive our children, particularly younger children in primary school, the opportunity to mix and mingle with children from families across the whole spectrum of society.
“We are looking at how to better support social mixing in our schools using a whole variety of levers.”
When asked what tangible changes would be made to encourage social mixing in schools, Mr Lee said the goal was for schools to be “active engines for social mobility and social mixing”, not “passive mirrors of society or our communities around us”.
The current Primary 1 registration framework reflects “a whole range” of considerations, including practicality and proximity.
“We want to study this carefully to see whether it is feasible to make any adjustments to our Primary 1 admissions framework to further strengthen the diversity in our schools.”
Stakeholders have given many well-intentioned ideas for the framework, said Mr Lee. “But it shows you sometimes the zero-sum nature of this issue. Some say don’t give affiliation a phase, some say distance should not matter.”
Some have suggested not having to ballot based on distance in all phases of the registration exercise, and others have suggested removing the different phases entirely, said Mr Lee.
Mr Lee also touched on other areas that MOE will focus on, including special education schools, bullying and the use of artificial intelligence.
Even after opening four new SPED schools for students who have autism spectrum disorder with intellectual impairment in the last few years, higher application rates indicate continuing demand for places in such schools, said the minister.
MOE is working with social service agencies to develop plans to further expand SPED school capacity to meet the rising demand, he added.
On preparing for an AI-disrupted world, Mr Lee said MOE is working with institutes of higher learning and SPED schools to develop an AI and education strategy. This will enable students to learn what AI is, learn about AI, learn to use AI and learn with AI, he added.
MOE commenced a comprehensive review of its approach to bullying last year and is on track to share recommendations in the second quarter of this year, Mr Lee said.
The minister shared three suggestions that arose from the engagement sessions: participants asked how to use real-life scenarios to build respect, empathy and conflict resolution skills. Others suggested that schools be provided with more resources for fact-finding, issue resolution and restorative or therapeutic work.
Another point that resonated across the sessions was the importance of strengthening the partnership between educators and parents.
“Our children spend a lot of time at home. We need the support of our parents to help guide our children when it comes to the offline and online interactions outside the school as well.”
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The study could involve recalibrating the difficulty of exams and looking at how results are used, he added.
When asked what alternative assessment models will be studied and whether the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is likely to stay, Mr Lee said: “We’re not locked into any outcome … We do not want to prejudge, we do not want to circumscribe.
“It may or may not be a tweak, it could be quite major … There is no preconceived idea. We are clear about the outcome, but there is a broad outcome,” he added, noting that he did not want to prejudice the upcoming discussions.
In a wide-ranging interview on Monday (Jan 26) about MOE’s upcoming focus areas, Mr Lee recalled Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's comments during last year's debate on the President’s Address in parliament – that for many parents, education still feels like an arms race.
Parents want to cut back on “endless tuition” but fear their child will lose out. “We must break this cycle,” Mr Wong said at the time.
MOE is "not closed off to any ideas" in studying how to reduce exam stakes further, said Mr Lee.
The stress of high-stakes exams arises from how they are framed, including difficulty level and structure, as well as how outcomes affect students, he said.
To address this, MOE will launch a series of education conversations under the Forward Singapore umbrella.
“That will enable us to speak to Singaporeans, listen to them, hear and feel them. And we intend to engage our school leaders, our curriculum developers, our educators and allied educators, parents, students … academics and researchers.”
Mr Lee did not provide a timeline for when parents could expect results from MOE’s efforts.
“Let us start the process first. I’m quite sure we’ll have a lot of input and you have to study different models,” he said, adding that MOE is also studying overseas models.
Related:
The ongoing review of the Direct School Admission (DSA) system and the next review of co-curricular activities will also be part of the conversation.
While the DSA system was established to "recognise a wider meritocracy" beyond academic success, Mr Lee said he recognises it can also drive hot housing – the practice of intensively coaching children in specific areas to gain admission advantages.
“It also causes the full impacts of social stratification. Those with more resources are able to spend more on their children.”
P1 REGISTRATION FRAMEWORK
MOE is also studying the Primary 1 registration framework to enhance access to primary schools for students of different backgrounds, said Mr Lee.
Schools will continue to embrace diversity, but sometimes the nature of the neighbourhood where the school is located can affect this diversity, he added.
“We then deprive our children, particularly younger children in primary school, the opportunity to mix and mingle with children from families across the whole spectrum of society.
“We are looking at how to better support social mixing in our schools using a whole variety of levers.”
When asked what tangible changes would be made to encourage social mixing in schools, Mr Lee said the goal was for schools to be “active engines for social mobility and social mixing”, not “passive mirrors of society or our communities around us”.
The current Primary 1 registration framework reflects “a whole range” of considerations, including practicality and proximity.
“We want to study this carefully to see whether it is feasible to make any adjustments to our Primary 1 admissions framework to further strengthen the diversity in our schools.”
Stakeholders have given many well-intentioned ideas for the framework, said Mr Lee. “But it shows you sometimes the zero-sum nature of this issue. Some say don’t give affiliation a phase, some say distance should not matter.”
Some have suggested not having to ballot based on distance in all phases of the registration exercise, and others have suggested removing the different phases entirely, said Mr Lee.
Related:
OTHER AREAS UP FOR REVIEW
Mr Lee also touched on other areas that MOE will focus on, including special education schools, bullying and the use of artificial intelligence.
Even after opening four new SPED schools for students who have autism spectrum disorder with intellectual impairment in the last few years, higher application rates indicate continuing demand for places in such schools, said the minister.
MOE is working with social service agencies to develop plans to further expand SPED school capacity to meet the rising demand, he added.
On preparing for an AI-disrupted world, Mr Lee said MOE is working with institutes of higher learning and SPED schools to develop an AI and education strategy. This will enable students to learn what AI is, learn about AI, learn to use AI and learn with AI, he added.
MOE commenced a comprehensive review of its approach to bullying last year and is on track to share recommendations in the second quarter of this year, Mr Lee said.
The minister shared three suggestions that arose from the engagement sessions: participants asked how to use real-life scenarios to build respect, empathy and conflict resolution skills. Others suggested that schools be provided with more resources for fact-finding, issue resolution and restorative or therapeutic work.
Another point that resonated across the sessions was the importance of strengthening the partnership between educators and parents.
“Our children spend a lot of time at home. We need the support of our parents to help guide our children when it comes to the offline and online interactions outside the school as well.”
Continue reading...