Parents of some children in a well-known
primary school have complained about the selection process for
Higher Chinese, which starts from the get-go in Primary 1.
St Hilda's Primary pupils are routed into Higher
Chinese classes in Primary 2 based on continual assessment test
results in Primary 1.
What upset parents was that pupils who scored as high
as 97 marks out of 100 in Chinese last year failed to make the
cut.
A father, whose child was keen on taking up Higher
Chinese, was told that even though his boy had scored 97 marks, he
did not fall into the top 25 per cent of the cohort for the subject
and hence did not qualify.
The school's Chinese department head said a number of
students in Primary 1 scored 97 marks.
The upset parents, who asked not to be named, said that
although they were told of the selection process in Primary 1, they
did not expect the bar to be set so high.
The mother of another student who missed out said she
was disappointed that the school would not take the pupil's
interest into account.
"My child is interested in Chinese, that is why I was
disappointed that despite her doing well, she was not selected,"
she said.
"(The Education Ministry) urging young people to follow
their interests and aspirations just sounds hollow."
The father of the first student felt such practices run
counter to policymakers urging parents to stop chasing that last
mark.
CORRECT PRACTICE?
"The ministers had been talking about how we need to
move away from differentiating students more finely than
necessary," he said.
"Changes are being made to the PSLE so that students
focus on their own learning and not on competing with their peers.
Surely such practices go against this thinking?"
He said that it would be better for schools to allow
all children to take Higher Chinese from Primary 1, as is the
practice in the 15 Special Assistance Plan (SAP) primary
schools.
At all SAP primary schools, children take Higher
Chinese from Primary 1. At the end of Primary 4, those who do well
are encouraged to continue.
Another parent with a Primary 1 child at St Hilda's
Primary said he was worried for his daughter, who wants to take
Higher Chinese.
"How can 97 marks be not good enough?" he said.
"These are the kinds of practices that push parents to
send their kids for high-end tuition that costs $1,000 a
month."
St Hilda's Primary principal Kew Mee Ying told The
Straits Times that the school introduced Higher Chinese at Primary
2 in 2014.
She said it continually reviews pupils to ensure they
learn at a suitable pace and added that pupils have opportunities
to take Higher Chinese beyond Primary 2 if they show the ability.
Pupils who wish to opt out can also do so.
MOE said most schools offer Higher Chinese from Primary
5.
But as some pupils can go beyond the standard Chinese
Language curriculum, and since the Higher Chinese curriculum is
available to SAP primary schools, schools could offer it to
stronger pupils. A pupil not offered Higher Chinese in lower
primary can still take it later.
MOE said it was up to schools to decide on selection
criteria: "There is flexibility... for a child to take up or drop
Higher Chinese Language at different levels.
"Such differentiation in curriculum allows schools to
more effectively engage students with varying language
abilities."
TNP