In 2019, the then Education Minister, One Ye Kung, announced that streaming would be abolished in secondary schools from 2024. Streaming has been an integral part of the education system in Singapore for four decades. It was introduced in the 1980s to help students learn according to their ability.
Previously, students were streamed into the Integrated Programme, Express, Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) based on their PSLE scores.
Integrated Programme: A 6 year programme that allows students to skip the GCE ‘O’ levels and proceed directly to take the GCE ‘A’ levels at year 6
Express: Students spend 4 years in a secondary school and take the GCE ‘O’ levels at the end of their secondary school education
Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical): A five year course where those in Normal (Technical) stream take subjects of a more technical nature, such as Design and Technology, while those in Normal (Academic) take subjects that are academic in nature and are prepared to take the O-level exams.
However, in the near future, streaming will be replaced by subject based banding. This will remove the stigma and pressures associated with being in a certain stream, but at the same time, allow students to customise their education and pursue subjects they are good at in greater depth.
Image courtesy of: The Straits Times
Image courtesy of: The Straits Times
There will be a new secondary school curriculum, where each subject will be categorised into three tiers — General 1 (G1), General 2 (G2), and General 3 (G3).
The G1 level will correspond to today’s N(T) standard, G2 to N(A) standard, and G3 to Express.
As students will be placed into three bands when they enter secondary schools, it means that a student in the band that corresponds to Express, for instance, will take up subjects at the G3 level.
Those in the second and third bands will take their subjects mostly at the G2 or G1 level.
By doing away with streaming, the notion of a “form class” will also change significantly as students are split into classes currently based on their streams. As streams will no longer exist, classes will be formed based on the strengths of students in various subjects.
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