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MM lee say primary schools have been divided into different social class
MM Lee says entry into secondary schools based on performance
By Joanne Chan | Posted: 12 November 2010 2111 hrs
SINGAPORE : Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said students who have missed out of entering good primary schools should try their best to get into top secondary schools.
That is because entry into secondary schools is based on performance.
He was speaking to reporters after touring Raffles Girls' Primary School on Friday.
A day after visiting Punggol Primary School, Mr Lee was taken on a tour of Raffles Girls' Primary School to observe how lessons are conducted.
He was shown how an iPod Touch is used to teach mathematics and how role-playing is used in English lessons.
And while both primary schools had the same facilities, Punggol Primary had an average PSLE aggregate score of 201.9 last year, compared with Raffles Girls' 234.7.
The percentage of students in Raffles Girls' who were eligible for the Express stream last year was 85.6 per cent, compared to 54.2 per cent in Punggol Primary.
Mr Lee said: "The difference really is in the quality of the students, their background. At the primary stage, the choice is not chosen in a uniformed way. If you have a brother there, or a sister there, if your father or mother is an ... alumnus, and so on - so it's not meritocratic.
"It's based on the social class of the parents, for they went into the better schools. Important thing is that at Primary 6, there should be a sorting out, and those who miss going to the good schools should get into the better schools, better secondary schools."
Mr Lee added that getting into a better secondary school is based on a student's performance, and not his family's background.
Language ability was one key area that Minister Mentor Lee was especially concerned about. During his visit, he took the opportunity to ask students about the languages spoken at home.
He said: "It will show up in the fluency of the student in that language. If you are speaking Chinese at home, you will be fluent in Chinese... If you are speaking English at home, you will be fluent in English.
"So the ideal will be to have 70 per cent English and 30 per cent Mother Tongue, which is the division in time, classroom time at the primary level. But at the secondary level, it's 80 per cent English and 20 per cent Mother Tongue.
"That's inevitable because you must master one language well to which you absorb knowledge, you read, you write, you listen, and you cannot be good at both languages. Not possible to be equally good."
About a year ago, Mr Lee had said his insistence on bilingualism in the early years was "wrong". But he also emphasised that students should be helped to master their Mother Tongue in a "fun" way.
Mr Lee will be visiting two secondary schools next.
- CNA/al
MM Lee says entry into secondary schools based on performance
By Joanne Chan | Posted: 12 November 2010 2111 hrs
SINGAPORE : Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said students who have missed out of entering good primary schools should try their best to get into top secondary schools.
That is because entry into secondary schools is based on performance.
He was speaking to reporters after touring Raffles Girls' Primary School on Friday.
A day after visiting Punggol Primary School, Mr Lee was taken on a tour of Raffles Girls' Primary School to observe how lessons are conducted.
He was shown how an iPod Touch is used to teach mathematics and how role-playing is used in English lessons.
And while both primary schools had the same facilities, Punggol Primary had an average PSLE aggregate score of 201.9 last year, compared with Raffles Girls' 234.7.
The percentage of students in Raffles Girls' who were eligible for the Express stream last year was 85.6 per cent, compared to 54.2 per cent in Punggol Primary.
Mr Lee said: "The difference really is in the quality of the students, their background. At the primary stage, the choice is not chosen in a uniformed way. If you have a brother there, or a sister there, if your father or mother is an ... alumnus, and so on - so it's not meritocratic.
"It's based on the social class of the parents, for they went into the better schools. Important thing is that at Primary 6, there should be a sorting out, and those who miss going to the good schools should get into the better schools, better secondary schools."
Mr Lee added that getting into a better secondary school is based on a student's performance, and not his family's background.
Language ability was one key area that Minister Mentor Lee was especially concerned about. During his visit, he took the opportunity to ask students about the languages spoken at home.
He said: "It will show up in the fluency of the student in that language. If you are speaking Chinese at home, you will be fluent in Chinese... If you are speaking English at home, you will be fluent in English.
"So the ideal will be to have 70 per cent English and 30 per cent Mother Tongue, which is the division in time, classroom time at the primary level. But at the secondary level, it's 80 per cent English and 20 per cent Mother Tongue.
"That's inevitable because you must master one language well to which you absorb knowledge, you read, you write, you listen, and you cannot be good at both languages. Not possible to be equally good."
About a year ago, Mr Lee had said his insistence on bilingualism in the early years was "wrong". But he also emphasised that students should be helped to master their Mother Tongue in a "fun" way.
Mr Lee will be visiting two secondary schools next.
- CNA/al
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