Secondary and primary schools scrapping mid-year exams ahead of schedule: Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE — By next year, more than 90 per cent of secondary schools here will scrap mid-year examinations for Secondary 3, while more than half of primary schools will do likewise for Primary 3 and 5, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Tuesday (May 28).

This is one year ahead of schedule, he noted.

Removing mid-year exams is part of efforts by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to reduce stress and emphasis on grades, as well as inculcate a joy for learning.

Last September, Mr Ong announced that the MOE would do away with mid-year exams for Pri 3 and 5 as well as Sec 1 and 3. This would be carried out in phases and completed by 2021. 

Starting this year, schools have already done away with mid-year exams for Sec 1, as well as all graded assessments and examinations for Pri 1 and 2 pupils.

Speaking at the biennial teachers’ conference held at the Singapore Expo, Mr Ong gave an update on Tuesday. He said that “many schools have plans to run ahead” of schedule, with some already having done so two years earlier than planned.

Some schools are also abolishing mid-year exams for other levels not stipulated by the MOE, he noted.

Mr Ong said: “So what we are seeing is that the mentality of competing for even higher scores in even more tests and examinations is giving way to a new movement, to take a balanced approach in teaching and assessments, and bring about greater joy of learning.”

He added: “This shift was made possible because of the wise judgement of educators, and with the support of parents.”

TODAY recently reported that some schools have gone ahead to remove mid-year exams for other levels this year, ahead of the deadline, and the impact is already being felt by students, parents, teachers as well as tuition centres. 

DEEPENING INTEREST IN MOTHER TONGUE

At the teachers’ conference, Mr Ong also announced that the two-year language elective programme — which has been available in a few junior colleges since 1990 — will be extended to 15 secondary schools from next year, in a bid to deepen multilingualism among students.

The Malay language elective programme will be offered at Anderson Secondary School, Bukit Panjang Government High School and Tanjong Katong Secondary School, while the Tamil programme will be available to students at Commonwealth Secondary School, Riverside Secondary School and Yishun Town Secondary School.

The Chinese language elective programme will be available in nine secondary schools. They are: Anglican High School, Chung Cheng High School (Main), Dunman High School, Hwa Chong Institution, Maris Stella High School, Nan Chiau High School, Nan Hua High School, Nanyang Girls' High School and Temasek Junior College (Secondary Section).

Most of the secondary schools offering the Chinese programme are Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools.

While Mr Ong said “it is natural to start with these schools”, there is a need to extend it to more non-SAP schools “to broaden participation”.

The programme, which allows students to learn Chinese, Malay or Tamil literature through activities such as overseas immersion trips, will also be made available to more junior colleges including National Junior College, Raffles Institution and Anderson Serangoon Junior College.

The move comes as the number of students taking Higher Mother Tongue Language at the GCE O Level is growing, Mr Ong said, although he did not provide statistics.

Stressing the need to uphold bilingualism, he pointed to how the learning of languages, for students at a young age, is central to educational systems in various Asian and European countries.

“I believe we are at a historic juncture where learning of languages has the potential to thrive,” he said.

"First, our region is prospering. South-east Asia, India and China are all growing. Singapore's multiculturalism gives us a great economic advantage in this environment. Parents and students know that."

In Singapore, the proportion of bilingual families has gone up from 80 to 90 per cent over the last two decades. There is a growing curiosity among a new generation of Singaporeans to trace and learn about their historical roots and their Singaporean identity, Mr Ong said.

Touching on the benefits of bilingualism, he cited research which found that bilingual students tend to be able to pay attention longer, multi-task, and exercise high-level thought, among other things.

The other benefit of bilingualism is its “significant economic value”, he added.

Mr Ong noted that Singapore’s familiarity with different cultures and languages has helped it to establish itself as an important centre for investment and trade.

More crucially, bilingualism is also central to a country’s cultural identity. “We cannot just adopt someone else’s culture,” Mr Ong said.

“We need to learn our own Mother Tongue languages to understand the cultures of our respective communities. Then, over a long period of time, we collectively draw from our respective ancestral cultures to build our own unique Singapore identity.”