MOE revises framework for recognising CCA achievements

SINGAPORE — Mr Bernard Chew, Principal of Bowen Secondary School, has long sought to foster a spirit of service at the school by encouraging his students to do community service. But when it came to assessing students’ performance in co-curricular programmes, service carried a smaller weightage compared with other domains in the grading framework.

This is set to change under the revised LEAPS framework announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday. The framework, used in secondary schools, awards students grades for their co-curricular achievements. The bonus points earned from top grades can be used when computing net aggregate scores for entry into junior colleges, polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education.

Previously, more weightage was given to the Leadership and Achievement domains. For example, students could be awarded up to 12 points if they held formal leadership positions in schools. But they could obtain only a maximum of five points for 100 hours of community service.

Under the new LEAPS 2.0 — which will start with this year’s Secondary 1 cohort — equal weightage is given to all four domains: Leadership, Achievement, Participation and Service. This is to “rebalance the recognition and students’ participation across domains”, the MOE said.

Another change is replacing the grades awarded to students — ranging from A1 to Ungraded — with three bands: Excellent, Good and Fair. To attain the Excellent banding — which earns a student the maximum two bonus points — a student must attain a certain level in all four domains. Each domain has five levels of attainment. Students will also get more recognition for achievements outside of co-curricular activities (CCAs) and school.

The ministry has also dropped the Enrichment domain — which recognised students for taking part in activities like seminars — from the framework, although participation in these activities will still be reflected in the report card.

About 60 per cent of students attain the maximum of two bonus points each year. This is expected to remain under the revised framework, said the MOE.

While students will now have to do well in all domains to achieve an Excellent banding, Mr Abdul Mannan, Principal of Ang Mo Kio Secondary School, pointed out that the revised framework recognises a broader range of achievements, giving students more opportunities to distinguish themselves. For instance, those who did not represent their schools in inter-school competitions found it hard to attain points, but under the updated framework, activities like inter-class competitions will be recognised.

Bowen Secondary’s Mr Chew concurred. “There’s greater emphasis on service and that’s definitely important for our youths today,” he added.

Tampines Secondary School Principal Balamurugan Krishnasamy said replacing grades with bands shifts the focus away from results. “The descriptors … better validate a student’s effort and involvement,” he said.