How I deal with the label of being from the Normal stream

As a former student who studied in the Normal (Academic) stream, I experienced first-hand the negative effects of streaming.

I was seen as academically inferior or, to put it bluntly, “stupid”. My pathways were deemed limited: At best, I might end up in a polytechnic, and the worst-case scenario would be to continue my studies at an Institute of Technical Education (ITE).

My confidence took a hit as I went through a judgmental education system.

When I was in Yusof Ishak Secondary School (2001-2004), I would keep my textbooks, which had the word Normal (Academic) printed on its covers, in my bag when I travelled to school.

On the other hand, after earning a promotion to the Express stream, I would carry the books that had the word Express on the covers in my arm with a hollow sense of pride. I wanted to be seen as “smart

Ironically, I experienced the best years of my education in secondary school. In my first two years in the Normal (Academic) stream, I topped my class and won several awards.

My results were good enough to earn a promotion to the Express stream in Secondary 3. I went on to do well in my GCE O-Level examination and qualified to enter a junior college.

My story could be considered a success story. But as Member of Parliament Louis Ng pointed out when he recently called for streaming to be removed, such stories are not representative of the majority of Normal stream students.

A key reason, as rightly pointed out by Mr Ng, was the low chance of upward mobility. I knew of fellow Normal (Academic) students who were bright.

They did well in a number of subjects but not so in others and fell short of the qualifying score to be promoted to the Express stream.

The rigidity of the education system did not allow them to move up. And it struck me as a painful irony when I found that my Express stream classmates were not exactly as “smart” as the education system made them out to be.

My Normal (Academic) friends could thrive in that environment, I thought then.

So, when Education Minister Ong Ye Kung announced on Tuesday (March 5) that subject-based banding will replace secondary school streaming, I said to myself: “Finally. This was a long time coming.”

However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves even though one of the sacred cows has been slaughtered.

Several education experts I spoke with said that the change will only reduce, but not eliminate, the stigmatisation that students from Normal streams are “lesser beings”.

Streaming, they added, has contributed to a skewed and deep-rooted mindset where an individual is assessed based solely on his academic abilities.

I agree with them. When the education system deems that students in a certain stream are “smart”, while others are “stupid”, it sends the message to parents and students that it’s okay to make similar judgments.

That is why l have found it difficult, even when asked casually, to tell people that I was once a Normal (Academic) student.

For years, I have told people I was from the Express stream. It was not inaccurate but it was not the entire story. I am still embarrassed.

I also did not want my colleagues or my editors, who think I am doing well in my job, to think less of me. 

Simply put, I did not want to be seen as an anomaly of sorts. In wanting to escape the classification of the Normal stream, I just wanted to be “normal”.

Call me cynical, but I think some form of stigmatisation will continue to exist even without Normal and Express streams.

Students who enter junior colleges are deemed “smart”, while those in the ITEs are labelled “stupid”.

Some may also wonder whether subject-based banding is just “another name” for streaming.

For one, subjects will be categorised into General 1 (G1), General 2 (G2) and General 3 (G3). The G1 level will correspond to today’s Normal (Technical) standard, G2 to Normal (Academic) standard, and G3 to Express.

In addition, after the Primary School Leaving Examination, students would still be posted to three bands that correspond to the current three streams.

At a Ministry of Education (MOE) briefing on the policy changes, one journalist quipped that the different subject categories could simply be read as “Good, Double Good or Triple Good”.

The effects of streaming have even led us — consciously or subconsciously — to think of how letters of the alphabet could represent students' abilities.

To be sure, MOE has taken steps of late to blunt the classification of students, by creating more pathways and making them porous.

I could only wish that the policy folks had the foresight to implement these changes sooner.

The stigmatisation of being seen as a “lesser being” does not also aid in social mixing.

As Mr Ng pointed out, the majority of Normal stream students happen to come from families with lower socioeconomic status.

He cited statistics where from 2014 to 2018, 69 per cent of secondary school students who received assistance from MOE’s financial assistance scheme came from the Normal streams.

As much as the Government leaders and the MOE spoke about the pitfalls of streaming, namely students’ confidence taking a hit, I wonder if they fully understand what Normal stream students — including myself — went through.

Stigmatisation arises when others project their narrow opinions on you and worsens when you project the opinions of others onto yourself. It can become a vicious circle.

For me, the dent to my confidence was real. Up until 2013, when I got a full-time job as a journalist, I had lingering doubts about my intelligence and abilities.

But that slowly dissipated after I met and worked alongside colleagues who went to elite secondary schools or top universities.

Despite different starting points, we arrived at the same destination. And through the course of working with them, and from my editors’ feedback on my performance, it appears that I am as capable as them.

In writing this commentary, I have unshackled myself from the insecurity that I'm a "lesser being".

As an education reporter, I have covered the release of national exams over the years and, in the course of it, I have told the students whom I interviewed that their grades do not define them.

I am glad I have since realised that my stream does not define who I am.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Faris Mokhtar is a senior journalist with TODAY covering education, security and politics.