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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sep 26, 2009
GIFTED EDUCATION PROGRAMME
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>It's fair and merit-based
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Madam Teo Suang Sim's letter, 'Unfair advantage?' (Sept 15), and Madam Heng Chay Hiang's letter, 'Gifted scheme too early to spot talent' (Monday).
Our Gifted Education Programme (GEP) pupils do not only come from rich homes or selected schools but from all socio-economic groups and the wide spectrum of society. They are drawn from about 115 of our 177 primary schools (that is, 65 per cent) and more than half (55 per cent) live in HDB flats.
The tests we use to identify gifted students are internationally recognised and variants are used in other countries even to identify such children as young as age four or five. In Singapore, we have chosen to identify pupils in Primary 3, at age eight or nine. As is common practice in many countries, pupils' scores are also adjusted to correct for difference in ages of test takers.
The GEP tests are designed to identify children with high ability, and coaching for the GEP tests is neither desirable nor effective. Even if a child does get into a gifted programme through intense coaching, he may not be able to cope with the demands of the programme, and would come under unnecessary stress and may eventually lose his self-confidence.
Human capital is Singapore's most precious resource and we need to develop every child - those with special needs, those talented in sports or the arts; and those who are intellectually gifted. There are a variety of programmes to cater to these different needs, so pupils are taught at a pace and through a curriculum that is suited to their ability.
Sum Chee Wah (Ms)
Director, Education Programmes Division
Ministry of Education
GIFTED EDUCATION PROGRAMME
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>It's fair and merit-based
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Madam Teo Suang Sim's letter, 'Unfair advantage?' (Sept 15), and Madam Heng Chay Hiang's letter, 'Gifted scheme too early to spot talent' (Monday).
Our Gifted Education Programme (GEP) pupils do not only come from rich homes or selected schools but from all socio-economic groups and the wide spectrum of society. They are drawn from about 115 of our 177 primary schools (that is, 65 per cent) and more than half (55 per cent) live in HDB flats.
The tests we use to identify gifted students are internationally recognised and variants are used in other countries even to identify such children as young as age four or five. In Singapore, we have chosen to identify pupils in Primary 3, at age eight or nine. As is common practice in many countries, pupils' scores are also adjusted to correct for difference in ages of test takers.
The GEP tests are designed to identify children with high ability, and coaching for the GEP tests is neither desirable nor effective. Even if a child does get into a gifted programme through intense coaching, he may not be able to cope with the demands of the programme, and would come under unnecessary stress and may eventually lose his self-confidence.
Human capital is Singapore's most precious resource and we need to develop every child - those with special needs, those talented in sports or the arts; and those who are intellectually gifted. There are a variety of programmes to cater to these different needs, so pupils are taught at a pace and through a curriculum that is suited to their ability.
Sum Chee Wah (Ms)
Director, Education Programmes Division
Ministry of Education
