Students exempted from Mother Tongue Language (MTL) at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be assigned one of the lowest three grades for the subject under the new Achievement Levels (AL) scoring system.

This is because despite taking only three exams for English, Mathematics and Science, the student will still need to use his PSLE Score to compete with other students, who have an AL score summed up from all four subjects.

This update came from Second Minister for Education Indranee Rajah, who on Monday (Sep. 2) addressed questions in Parliament on the grades exempted students should receive, especially for those with special education needs (SEN).

Assigned grade will be based on reference to exempted students' peers

Indranee said that the grade assigned to exempted students will be based on referencing their peers, and that the range of grades takes into consideration the fact that the vast majority of students take MTL at either the Standard or Foundation levels.

Around 70 per cent of students with SEN in mainstream schools also take MTL at PSLE, and many of them took it at the Foundation level.

As such, Indranee said, it would be difficult to justify to those taking the subject why another student who did not sit for the exam could be assigned a higher score.

Indranee stated:

"We can and must strike a balance between competition among students and self-mastery, but realistically we cannot remove competition totally, and it is also not a reflection of the real life we are preparing students for."

Not feasible to delay the change in scoring system or implement alternative for students with SEN

Indranee said the yearly average for students exempted from MTL stood at 4.5 per cent, and included students with SEN, along with those who had returned to Singapore after a prolonged period overseas.

As such, it is unfeasible for a small group of students to remain under the T-score system.

It is also not feasible to use an alternative system of three scores, as their scores would not be comparable with the aggregate scores of other students for purposes of secondary school posting.

Referring to the MTL grades an exempted student will receive, Indranee said the grades awarded will range from AL6 to AL8.

Proportion of exempted students with SEN admitted to Express will largely remain the same under AL system

Indranee explained that simulations had since shown that the proportion of students admitted to Express under the AL system who have SEN and are exempted from MTL will be similar to the proportion of admissions under the T-score system.

According to the new AL system, any student who scores 22 or below will qualify for the Express course.

MOE will continue to provide support to help with the transition

Indranee added that MOE will provide support to schools to help students prepare for the PSLE changes.

These measures include:

• Increasing resources to help students in Special Education Schools.
• Providing students with SEN in mainstream schools learning support programmes, and allied educators for learning and behavioural support.
• Working with schools in supporting existing MTL-exempt students affected by the new scoring system.

MOE will help provide these students with advice on their school choices, and explore Direct School Admission (DSA) as an option.

Top image from MOE Facebook