Education System - Primary

In the early 1980s, PSLE results were based on 4 core subjects: English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science with more weightage on the languages.  
As far as I can remember, the ratio of the marks for English to Mother Tongue to Mathematics to Science was 2 : 2 : 1 : 1 respectively.  However, by the time I took my PSLE, the weightage had changed to equal weightage for all subjects.  The ratio of the marks for English to Mother Tongue to Mathematics to Science was changed to 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 respectively. This was good news to me. I had always been very good in Mathematics so this meant a higher overall score for me. Since then, there were many changes to the PSLE. The latest information can be found on the MOE (Ministry of Education) website. With subject banding, primary school students now had the opportunity to take the subject at a higher level if they excel in it, unlike the system prior to that (EM1, EM2 and EM3).  Click here to read more on this.

In my time, students were streamed in Primary 3. Those who did not do well in their Primary 3 examinations will be streamed to study up till Primary 7 or Primary 8.  Those who studied till Primary 7 would still be able to take PSLE and proceed to a normal secondary school.  Those who were streamed to study till Primary 8 could only go to VI (Vocational Institute) to learn some technical skills. The problem was, some parents heard a lot of bad things about VI and worried that their kids might get into bad company. Thus, they did not let the children study at VI. So, at the age of 14 or 15, they would go out and work. With only primary school education, their choice of jobs was limited. Of course they could go for 'BEST' and 'WISE' classes offered by ITE later in life, but not many of them knew of this option especially if they don't work in the government service or big organizations.

Students now have more options when it comes to choosing their secondary school.  Students can apply for direct school admissions to the schools of their choice based on their achievements and talents before the PSLE results are released. Click here for details.  Students who are academically strong can also apply for the Integrated Programme.

Apart from the usual secondary school, they can also enroll in independent schools such as the Singapore Sports School,  School of the Arts, NUS High School of Math and Science and School of Science and Technology to develop their potential in the respective areas.