Timeline: How secondary school streaming evolved over the decades

SINGAPORE — The controversial concept of streaming students in secondary school was introduced in 1981.

A key reason was the large number of students dropping out in the 1970s, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Streaming allowed students to learn different paces and it reduced the drop-out rate from 30 to 40 per cent, to 1 per cent currently, according to Government statistics.

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Here is a look at streaming over the decades:

1981: Students entering Secondary 1 began to be streamed based on their Primary School Leaving Examination results. They were channelled into three streams: Special, Express and Normal.

1994: The Normal course was split into two categories: Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) courses. According to the MOE, the Normal (Technical) stream allowed the 15 to 20 per cent of a cohort — who previously dropped out of formal education after primary school — to progress to secondary schools.

1995: Special and Express courses were merged, as Express students could also take a Higher Mother Tongue Language. Before that, only students in the Special stream could take the subject.

2002: The ministry allowed Normal (Academic) students in the upper secondary levels to take one or two subjects at the Express level in the national exams.

2006: Normal (Technical) students were allowed to take one or two subjects at the Normal (Academic) level at the national examinations.

2009: The number of subjects that Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students could take at a higher level was raised to three.

2014: Subject-based banding was piloted in 12 secondary schools for Sec 1 and 2 students in the Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) courses. This allowed the students to take certain subjects at a higher level.

2018: Following the success of the pilot, subject-based banding was introduced to all secondary schools starting from the Sec 1 level.

2020-2023: Subject-based banding will be rolled out fully. This means students can take humanities subjects — literature, history and geography — at a higher level. Under the current subject-based banding, they may only take the following subjects at a higher level: English, mother tongue, maths and science.

2024: No more streaming.