NCMP Hazel Poa urged the government to pilot a 10-year through-train programme and reduce class sizes, arguing that this would ease student stress, reduce reliance on tuition, and better support diverse learning needs. Speaking during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Education in Budget 2025, she highlighted how the PSLE’s high stakes hindered holistic education and parenthood, calling for systemic changes to prioritize 21st-century skills.
Mr Chairman,
First, let me declare that I am in the private education business.
Sir, this could be my last Committee of Supply debate. As such, I beg for your indulgence as I take this opportunity to make yet another call on the Government to implement a 10-year through-train programme in some schools where students can progress from Primary levels to Secondary levels without going through the PSLE. This is an issue that I personally feel most passionate about.
I assure the Minister for Education that I continue to raise this not because I did not hear his concerns, but because I remain unconvinced that those concerns outweigh the merits of creating this additional educational path as an option for parents and students.
The Minister is concerned about how to cater to students with different learning abilities and needs in the 10 year through-train programme. This can be addressed in two ways:
- Reducing class sizes to reduce the range of diverse learning profiles and abilities within each class.
- Implementing Subject-Based Banding
At the class level, we can use these 2 ways to manage the range of learning profiles. But at the school level, students will still benefit from interacting with a wide range of students and learning to respect and deal with differences. With the end of streaming and introduction of subject-based banding, schools are already catering to diverse learning profiles. The Minister himself said this of subject-based banding: “the positive outcomes in learning and social mixing give us confidence that this is the right thing to do.” If we can do it with subject-based banding, we can do it with a 10-year through-train programme.
The Minister also made the point that PSLE is simply a means to help our children find a suitable learning environment. But PSLE is NOT the ONLY means. Regular assessments within the school can also do this. This is being done all the time.
It is well known how stressful PSLE can be not just for students, but for parents as well. Instead of enjoying the time spent building bonds with their children, many parents instead spent the time nagging or disciplining their children to study harder and longer to do better in the PSLE, in their anxiety to ensure their children’s future. Such stress strains family relationships and adversely affects mental well-being.
It would not be surprising for anyone observing this to conclude that life is much better without children. A stressful education system can be a disincentive for parenthood.
Is it a coincidence that regions known to have the most stressful education systems like South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, also have the lowest fertility rates?
PSP also calls for class sizes to be reduced. This will provide greater opportunities for differentiated learning and allow teachers to personalize teaching and better support students with different learning profiles.
As of 2023, the average class size was 33.6 in primary schools and 32.6 in secondary schools[1]. This is far higher than the average public primary school class size in OECD countries, which is 21[2].
With our total fertility rate falling steadily year after year, our student cohorts have been shrinking. By maintaining teacher recruitment levels and keeping schools open even as student cohorts shrink, we can reduce class sizes without compromising on the quality of teachers. We can also re-employ more older teachers as Flexi-Adjunct Teachers.
By making the PSLE optional, we may also be able to reduce academic competition and demand for tuition. In such a scenario, MOE could re-employ teachers who have left the Education Service for the private tuition industry to reduce class sizes in schools.
There will always be segments of the student population that is difficult for mainstream schools to cater to, so if a small proportion of students require tuition, that is not worrisome. But if over half require tuition then that cannot be healthy.
In addition, examination preparation calls for memorising and repetition which are NOT skills that prepare our children well for a society that will soon be greatly changed by artificial intelligence.
MOE has identified the 21st Century Competencies, including values, social skills, critical thinking etc, that are needed to prepare our students for the future. But without systemic changes, wanna bet what will be the outcome of a poll on parents which they consider more important – PSLE or 21CC?
It is survival instinct to adapt our behaviour to that which brings rewards. And right now, our education system rewards efforts in preparing for PSLE more than efforts in building 21CC. Simply exhorting parents to change their mindset is not going to cut it.
In a through-train programme, time freed from PSLE preparations can be channelled towards building such competencies and better prepare our students for the future.
As the Minister said, learning is a continuous journey, not just for 15 years, but for 50. It is important to nurture the love of learning in our children. A high stress, high stakes examination like the PSLE at such a young age does not help to do that.
Once again, I urge the Minister to consider making PSLE optional by implementing a pilot through-train programme, and to reduce class sizes for the benefit of our dwindling number of children.
[1] Education Statistics Digest 2024
[2] https://gpseducation.oecd.org/revieweducationpolicies/#!node=41720&filter=all
