SINGAPORE — Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has rejected the suggestion that the new subject-based banding system in secondary schools will slow down teaching, saying that it will sharpen the tailoring of education to students’ varying abilities.

On concerns that the new system — which replaces streaming from 2024 — would create other labels, the minister said stigmatisation is “not a government policy” but a societal response, and Singaporeans have a part to play in recognising that individuals have differing abilities.

Mr Ong was speaking to reporters on Sunday (March 10) on the sidelines of Canberra Day, a yearly community carnival for residents in Canberra, an estate in the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency where he is a Member of Parliament.

Mr Ong announced last week that subject-based banding would replace streaming, which has been around for four decades.

This means students will take subjects across three tiers: General 1 (G1), General 2 (G2) and General 3 (G3). The G1 standard will correspond to today’s Normal (Technical) standard, G2 to Normal (Academic), and G3 — the highest level — to Express. Students may take a mix of higher and lower-level subjects, based on their scores at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

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While Mr Ong said he has received largely positive feedback since the announcement, he sought to deal with several concerns that have been raised by the public over the new system.

Among these are:

WILL TEACHING SLOW DOWN TO CATER TO WEAKER STUDENTS?

Some parents were concerned that with students of varying abilities in a common course, teaching will have to slow down to cater to weaker students and that this could affect the standard of education.

This will not be so, said Mr Ong.

“While streaming is to be phased out, customisation of education will not be and in fact will continue,” he said.

Differentiated teaching will, in reality, become even sharper with subjects tailored to students’ varying abilities, he added.

HOW WILL TEACHERS TEACH WITH SUBJECT BANDS?

Teachers, Mr Ong acknowledged, will have a far more complex task with the new system.

Still, Mr Ong said that they have been prepared over the years to carry out some form of differentiated teaching. The change is not so drastic, in that they would continue to guide students of similar abilities in the academic subjects.

The bigger change will be in how timetables are drawn up, which will call for a lot of co-ordination in schools.

WHY WAIT TILL 2024?

Moving to the new system is “quite a complex operation”, Mr Ong said, and schools will have to plan classes and timetables very differently.

Full subject-based banding will be tested in about 25 schools next year, before it is rolled out progressively to all schools by 2024.

Mr Ong said the biggest change will not happen in 2024, but in the years up to that point when more schools adopt the system. “We want to get it right the first time. The first set of pilot schools ought to implement it right… Come 2024, it’s a name change,” he said.

The ministry has not disclosed the list of schools, but those that took part in the first trial of subject-based banding in 2014 will be among them, TODAY understands.

As for those upset that the eradication of streaming came too late to the detriment of some students, Mr Ong said the changes were many years in the making.

“Every step in education affects (our) children’s lives in the long term and (has) immense impact, so we also need to be quite careful and let the system evolve over time.”

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WILL STIGMATISATION REMAIN?

Some parents and academics, including those TODAY interviewed, were concerned that other stigmas may replace those associated with streaming. These include comparisons being drawn between students who take more subjects at higher levels and those who take more foundational subjects.

Responding, Mr Ong cited the example of a student who excelled in English and science at the PSLE, but fared poorly in mathematics and mother tongue.

In the old system, she could be taking courses at the Normal (Academic) level, notwithstanding her strengths in English and science, and hence may feel “contained in this jar”.

She will have a totally different experience in the new system, where she will be in a G3 class with fellow schoolmates who are good at English and science, while taking mathematics and mother tongue at the lower G2 tier, for instance.

“Instead of feeling stigmatised, I think (she) will feel that (she) can grow and develop,” Mr Ong said.

The minister added that subject-based banding worked well in primary schools. After the abolition of streaming at that level in 2008, the stigmatisation is more or less gone, he said.

Society, he said, has a part to play in battling the stigmas. “Labels are everywhere... Whether we want to then create a wall between different people is really up to us as a society.”

The Government not only rolls out policies but makes strong statements against such sentiments, said Mr Ong.

“I do believe we’re not helpless in combating this,” he added.

“If government policies, political leaders and societal leaders continue to point society in the right direction, over time I’m sure Singaporeans will know what is better for our society.”