PSLE Results Does Not Determine Our Kids Future- look beyond that!

I am sure by now many parents of their primary 6 kids would have "chilled down" after the Primary School leaving Examination (PSLE) results were released on 23rd November 2022 (Wednesday). Like most parents, my wife and I have butterflies in our stomach while the school principle was addressing the school on overall results. The 98.4% news header of PSLE students progressing to secondary school looks impressive but underneath this glamorous front, there is a big can of worms festering in our education system. 

1. How the new Achievement Level System Works?
The Ministry of Education made a deliberate shift away from the old T-score system in 2021 so that students do not chase the last mark. An obsessive overemphasis on examination results is not healthy for the development of our children. 2022 is the second batch of kids sent to the butcher embarking on this fantastic new grading system.

Under the new scoring system, each standard-level PSLE subject is scored using eight bands known as Achievement Levels ("ALs").

Each pupil is given AL scores from one to eight for each subject, instead of grades like A* to E.

Instead of the previous T-scores, a pupil's total PSLE score is now the sum of the AL of each of the four subjects, with the best possible total score being 4 points.

A key feature of this new system, first announced in 2016, is that pupils will be graded based on their individual performance in the subjects, regardless of how their peers have done.

2. Why it still sucks?

Basically, this new scoring system sucks big time still and I don't see how it reduces the stress level. In fact, it worsen the situation in particularly if a student is weak in Mother tongue and keeps failing it but excel in English, Maths or Science. No longer can he or she rely on the total score to plug the deficit in one subject. 90 for Maths or 100 marks for Maths still constitute an AL1 score only.   

The numerous tuition and book mugging continues under the new AL system.

3. Failure of the primary school system

I was shocked beyond words that only 51% of students scored 65 marks and above for English and Maths respectively for my kid's primary school. This means that the rest of the 49% of student population will score below 65 marks and I thought Singapore pride itself on its maths programme. When I check with my friends/colleagues with kids in other school, I was told that the statistics is almost the same. I think that our MOE need to seriously re-look at improving these numbers to help more students. 

4. Does PSLE results really show your child's aptitude?

I was speaking to other parents whose child has been doing well for say Maths or their Mother tongue consistently (AL1 to AL2) for past 2-3 years but screwed up in PSLE and their grade dropped 2 bands lower. So does this mean that the child cannot make it in these subject? Unfortunately, exam stress does happen.

For my own kid, the school principal exerted considerable influence on my kid who has a flair for his mother tongue to drop his Higher Mother Tongue subject as he did not do as well for other subjects during Primary 5 final exam (so that have more time to concentrate on scoring better for other subjects in following year PSLE). It is sad that our education system is no longer geared towards developing what the child excels in but instead became a tool for the school to look better statistically for the PSLE.  

Parting thoughts

If we want to really stop the current PSLE madness and stress, I have this extreme thought that perhaps we need to stop having PSLE at the young age of 12 years old and focus more on delivering a more holistic education and with more resources and time devoted to kids who are weaker in a particular subject. Why waste so much time on PSLE preparation? I have seen and heard of major disappointments and kids breaking down in tears over their PSLE results. Is it really worth it to put our kids through this? Anyway, above are just my personal thoughts. Wishing fellow parents in the same predicament all the best in their school open houses visit to finalize the secondary school application exercise.