Have Singapore’s views on academic results shifted, even a bit, since a change of the PSLE scoring system in 2021? The programme Regardless of Grades looks at how parents are approaching the exam and what it is doing to children.
SINGAPORE: When her son Caleb Chen was in Primary Six last year, Angela Ong began making intense preparations for his Primary School Leaving Examination during the June school holidays.
Another workshop participant, Denise Chow, said the key takeaways from their session were the “common pitfalls” of PSLE science and “answering techniques”.“I always give the to choose what they want in life. But there are bases of life choices that I have to be part of, and grades and education are a very important thing to me.”Indeed, according to a survey of 1,000 parents of Primary Five and Six pupils, 99 per cent said good PSLE scores were important.
What is driving the obsession with grades, and what is it doing to Singapore’s children? The programme Regardless of Grades, which airs tonight , finds out how much has changed since the recent moves to reduce the overemphasis on academic results.Under the current PSLE scoring system, which spans eight ALs, the total scores range from four to 32, which are “less finely differentiated” — as intended by the Ministry of Education — than the previous range of more than 200 aggregate scores.
And getting into a secondary school of their choice is what lies behind most parents’ views on PSLE scores. Nowadays, regular tuition is not enough for some parents. Besides boot camps, there are academic enrichment centres offering unconventional teaching methods, from memory practices that stimulate the right brain — or so it is claimed — to speed calculations.
“If I don’t do that well, then will be kind of disappointed because they’ve already put a lot of money into tuition,” said Zavier Pay. “My Chinese teacher was reading out from highest to lowest, and then I was one of the last 10 people,” recounted Tan Le En, 12, who was “kind of sad” when her name and score was read out.
Regardless of the source, stress does accompany the PSLE. Ayra Qirin Mohammad Shahrizal, 12, one of three Primary Six pupils CNA followed over eight months — along with Caleb and Adyant — shared how things were seven days before her exam began. When he asks Claire how well she thinks she has done, he may find out how others have done, to give her a “sense of benchmark”. He presumed this was why her impression is that her parents compare grades.
As for Eng, the education reforms did not help with the peer pressure she felt among friends who are like, “Oh, your son’s PSLE this year? What have you done?”If her story has a familiar ring, it is because Asian parents “put a lot of stock” in how their children do in education, noted Cher. “That kind of mentality is … insidious, whether you like it or not.”She felt she’d ruined her daughter’s future by not getting her tuition earlier.
And at the secondary school level, “grades still matter”, said Ayra. “Your future is dependent on your grades.”
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