Look beyond cut-off points, PSLE scores when choosing secondary schools: Principals at ST Forum

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SINGAPORE - Choosing the right secondary school after the PSLE should not be based solely on a school’s cut-off points or the child’s score, said five secondary school principals on Oct 31.

Instead, parents should make practical considerations like travel time, and whether the school’s unique programmes and co-curricular activities (CCAs) cater to the child’s interests.

Speaking at The Straits Times Post-PSLE Forum on Oct 31, Goh Soon Hoe, principal of Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School, said: “If the PSLE result was attained through sheer force of tuition, then maybe that AL (aggregate level) score may not be a good representation of what a day-to-day life in secondary school education is all about.”

Goh was one of five principals on a panel who agreed that a child’s PSLE score is not always indicative of their true academic potential.

Hosted by Lavinia Tan, radio presenter from ONE FM 91.3, the event was attended by about 120 people at the SPH News Centre auditorium, and 70 who joined online.

Now into its fourth year, this series is intended to inform parents whose children sat for the PSLE in September, and are awaiting results in end November, before applying to secondary schools.

Lucy Toh, the principal of National Junior College (NJC), which offers the Integrated Programme (IP) - a six-year secondary school pathway - said relying on tuition for good grades is not sustainable in secondary school, where students take more subjects.

She added that parents gunning for IP schools like NJC, also need to consider if their children have the high levels of maturity and self-directedness required for this pathway, which allows students to skip national examinations at Sec 4.

“If your child is not yet operating at that level of maturity in Sec 1, then IP could be a bit of a sharp shock to the system,” she said.

Risky strategy

Responding to a question about whether it is advisable to apply to a school when a candidate is one point short of the PSLE cut-off points, Lee Han Hwa, principal of St Andrew’s School (Secondary) (SASS), said it is not.

“If I’ve been studying the school AL score at least over the past three years, by and large the score doesn’t really change,” he said.

Goh added that with the Education Ministry introducing choice order in 2021 as a tie-breaker for Sec 1 posting, such risk-taking could result in students wasting their first choice. They might also not get into their second choice schools, if other students listed it as their first choice.

Koh Caiyu, principal of Pasir Ris Crest Secondary, said families should optimise all six school choices during the Sec 1 posting exercise, instead of narrowly focussing on their top school pick.

“The last thing we want is that only the first choice is your go-to, and then the five choices you just close your eyes and anyhow indicate,” she said.

If a child thinks that’s the only school he wants to go to, Koh said it can be devastating if the results come out otherwise.

Anderson Secondary’s principal, Tan Po Chin, said families should attend school open houses and speak to current and former students to consider a range of schools that would be a good fit.

“That’s where you get the most authentic reflection of the school experience... the students’ experiences are the ones that really would reflect the best of what secondary school life is,” she said.

Classroom diversity

One parent asked how a child with good PSLE results might have his learning experience affected, when he enters a school where affiliated students are accepted with much lower scores.

For example, Lee said 60 to 65% of SASS’ Sec 1 students come from St Andrew’s School (Junior) - the school’s affiliated primary school. While affiliated students can enter with AL scores between 9 and 22, others need an AL score of below 10.

To this, Lee said boys develop at different paces, and some bloom when they are older. Regardless, teachers are well-versed in differentiated instruction to cater to students of different abilities.

Said Lee: “More importantly, we want students who are happy in the classroom, have good interactions with their teachers, and form strong relationships in school.”

Tan Po Chin added that diversity in the classroom allows students to gain different perspectives and hone life skills.

“There’s so much that we can learn from our peers, regardless of their academic score. It’s the way they look at the world, the way they learn... (it) goes beyond just the score you get on the paper," she said.

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