Inside Singapore’s education ‘arms race’: Stress, inequality and the push for change

full subject-based banding was piloted in 28 secondary schools,

where students can take subjects at various levels of difficulty.

The new PSLE scoring system – where students are graded on their individual performance from Achievement Levels (AL) 1 to 8 – was implemented from 2021.

These changes were meant to reduce fine differentiation of students and encourage families to choose schools based on their children’s learning needs and interests.

In 2023, the ministry also

with a similar removal phased into junior colleges (JCs) from 2024.

Most recently, MOE revised the JC admission criteria to count just five subjects instead of six, to give students more time for holistic development and extracurricular activities.

Students in 2027 will be the first to take the new Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate examination – in place of the current O- and N-level exams. This change is in line with the shift to allow students to be assessed based on specific subject levels.

But the pressure has not really eased, parents said.

Ms Jeanette Wong, 46, a public servant, whose two children sat the PSLE under both scoring systems, said both of them were just as stressed.

Under the old T-score system, pupils’ results depended on how they performed relative to their peers. With the new AL scoring, more of them could end up with the same PSLE score, leaving more school placements to potentially be decided through balloting.

A group of parents, known as EveryChild.SG, has banded together since 2023 to push for reforms to tackle what they say is an education system that incentivises a narrow form of academic competition rather than broader growth.

“This hurts both the mental health and future competitiveness of our children,” said the group’s founder Pooja Bhandari.

While the group commends recent reforms including the removal of streaming, she said the core design of the system – especially around the PSLE – still fuels stress. EveryChild.SG’s proposals include reviewing classroom sizes and resourcing, and making PSLE optional.

Part of the difficulty in shifting away from a competitive mindset lies in the tension between education as a public and a private good, said Dr Jason Tan, an associate professor of policy, curriculum and leadership at the National Institute of Education (NIE).

While the Government sees education as a tool for social mobility and equity, parents naturally focus on securing advantages for their own children, he added.

“No parent wants to be put in a position years later where they feel regret for not having done more to support their children and give them a competitive edge,” Dr Tan said.

Structural inequalities, like access to social networks and financial resources, can also reinforce the arms race. “Private money is being spent, and that is very difficult for any government to monitor,” he noted.

Families with greater financial means often have a head start, and non-academic pathways like the DSA can favour those able to afford lessons in music, sports, or the arts, NUS’ Prof Chua said.

For less-privileged families, for whom education is often the primary route for upward mobility, the stakes are even higher, he added. “So when parents push hard, it’s not irrational – it’s strategic. They are responding logically to a competitive system.”

Families in Singapore spent $1.8 billion on private tuition for their children in 2023, according to the latest government survey on household expenditure. The figure has risen over the years, from $1.1 billion in 2013 to $1.4 billion in 2018.

IPS senior research fellow Gillian Koh said private tuition has come under public scrutiny as it is considered a “deadweight loss of resources for society arising from the arms race in education”.

It has resulted in “lots of resources expended for uncertain outcomes”, she said, but also is what parents feel they must do if they wish the best for their children. “It provides them with a very important sense of agency.”

To parents like self-employed transportation manager Kelvin Koh, 49, having fewer resources means having to be more strategic.

He advised his daughter, who just took the O levels, to choose combined rather than pure academic subjects – even though she qualified for them – in order to maximise her chances of scoring well.

Combined subjects merge two subjects and are seen as less intensive than pure subjects at the O levels.

Mr Koh also opted for group tuition for his daughter, as this was more affordable than hiring personal tutors or enrolling in one of the “premium” enrichment chains.

This gave them some assurance that she does not lag behind her peers or fall short of academic goals, he said.

“Even though schools give the necessary assistance and guidance to students, some of us feel that it is not enough – comparing big classes in schools versus smaller groups in tuition – and we need more help.

“We are small fish, we try to be the best among all the rest.”

Parents said they are hoping for more moves to relook major exams.

Ms Angela Leong, 51, hopes children will be able to find their place in a system that can offer multiple pathways, with less hinging on high-stakes exams.

Assessments and results continue to loom large even as the system goes through changes, said the homemaker with two children aged 13 and 17.

“Children these days have a lot of options, which is a good thing,” she said, adding the key is finding a path that best fits each child’s strengths.

Parents acknowledged there still needs to be a system to sort children into schools.

With secondary school students increasingly being able to customise subject combinations, Madam Aishah hopes for further changes to the PSLE.

“I hope they will implement bite-sized tests or projects that will determine if children have met the expectations of what is required, along with the standard tests. This is a less threatening environment for them.”

Similarly, Ms Wong hopes for an alternative to PSLE, which she feels has added “unnecessary pressure” for children at a young age.

“You send your children, from kindergarten level, to enrichment classes, all to ensure they have a good head start, but it is all geared towards the major exam which is unnecessarily pressurising,” she said.

Removing the PSLE and piloting a through-train system from primary to lower secondary is something Jalan Besar GRC MP Denise Phua has been pushing for in the House since 2009.

She told Insight she will continue to press for these changes, along with the need to envision an education system fit for a rapidly changing world, and ensure a more equitable distribution of opportunities.

Asked if she thinks the Government will seriously consider her proposal for an alternative to the PSLE, Ms Phua replied: “It’s not an impossibility.”

She said a deep dive into the concerns around the PSLE and how to address them is needed, before piloting any alternative.

Ms Phua added that she believes there is “no turning back” on broadening the definition of success, but more must be done to ensure the labour market values non-academic skills and blue-collar jobs.

She and other MPs have spoken about the importance of re-tooling the education system to reduce pressure on students, while preparing them for a rapidly evolving economy.

Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC MP David Hoe said students would benefit from more opportunities to discover their interests and strengths during their schooling years.

The former teacher noted that students make decisions such as their post-secondary courses of study that may shape their future careers, and said the system can do more to help them make these choices with greater self-awareness and confidence.

Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Darryl David, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, said more needs to be done to equip educators given how much information is readily available – especially with the rise of generative artificial intelligence.

WP’s Sengkang GRC MP Jamus Lim, an associate professor of economics at Essec Business School, said the opposition party will continue pushing for changes in its 2025 manifesto, including reducing class sizes.

He said the Government has taken steps towards reform but must do more to introduce flexibility and alternative pathways in the system.

This is especially vital now as AI begins to replicate some work done by white-collar workers, he said, raising concerns that the “cookie-cutter” route in the current system for most students may not prepare them for these changes.

He acknowledged that the system has worked well so far – meaning it is difficult to bring about fundamental changes.

His WP colleague, Aljunied GRC MP Kenneth Tiong, said major exams remain too determinative of eventual socio-economic outcomes – meaning that how students do in early exams often still determines their future educational journeys and certification. This has an impact on the jobs they eventually are able to land and hence their incomes.

This has also led to distortions in other areas like the housing market, where property prices near good schools have risen disproportionately, he said.

In 2023, research by real estate firm OrangeTee & Tie found that rental rates rose at a faster pace for condos near popular primary schools. Rents at condos near five of the 10 schools studied registered faster growth than their respective district median rents.

Ms Phua said the Government’s challenge is not a lack of awareness or will. “It is that of managing the difficult, albeit essential, change of steering a hitherto successful giant ship onto a new course without causing it to sink or creating a mutiny among its passengers.”

Political observers also highlighted the challenges of enacting educational change.

Singapore Management University (SMU) law don Eugene Tan said since the system still works reasonably well, the need for a revamp can seem “almost counter-intuitive”.

IPS’ Dr Koh said education policy is “always a political hot potato” as some want change, while others resist, preferring a predictable system that lets their children excel – even as they voice complaints.

Policy reforms are difficult to push through as it means getting parents to forgo individual advantage, said NIE’s Dr Tan. “Parents may think that if they let go, their children will be on the losing end.”

NUS’ Prof Chua suggested strengthening distinctive programmes of every school, so that each has their own attractive niches and parents feel less pressure to chase a small handful of “top schools”.

Opening more places under Phase 2C of the Primary 1 registration process will also give those without connections or proximity a fairer chance, he added.

Various core PAP 4G leaders have helmed MOE since 2011, SMU’s Prof Tan noted.

Since 2015, Mr Ong Ye Kung, PM Wong, Mr Chan Chun Sing and Mr Desmond Lee have held the post. Before that, former deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat – another key 4G leader before his retirement from politics in 2025 – was in the role.

This gives the current government leadership a good pulse of what works well and what needs to be reformed, Prof Tan said.

He noted that Mr Lee, the current minister, is known for his “quiet but impactful” style of leadership and as someone who goes to the ground to understand the issues.

On reworking the PSLE, Prof Tan said other school systems like those in Malaysia and Hong Kong have done away with their versions of the exam, and there is the possibility of making it optional.

The idea of having terminal national exams leading to the next phase of schooling is not universal, and other school systems do not have such exams, he noted.

Malaysia did away with its primary school leaving exam in 2021 and switched to evaluating students with school-based assessments, a system in place since 2011, while Hong Kong abolished its national exams in 2000 and used the results of internal assessments at Primary 5 and 6 to band students.

But of all the pressure points in the current system, Primary 1 admissions stand out, NIE’s Dr Tan noted.

“In an ostensibly meritocratic system, you have a Primary 1 admission system that still is so closely tied to what parents can bring to the process… This, to me, doesn’t seem to square with meritocracy,” he said.

In the quest for reform, school admissions across the system remain crucial and need to be re-examined.

More than sorting students, these systems – for entry into primary school, secondary school or tertiary education – signal wider values and what the government of the day considers important, he noted.

They also represent gateways to further opportunity, he said, and shape expectations and influence choices beyond the classroom.

People’s anxieties are not just about exams or admissions, but the perceived hierarchy of academic or vocational routes, social prestige, and career prospects, Dr Tan said.

“Many people are simply acting on the basis of what they believe to be happening, because they want the best for themselves and their children.”

This underscores the need to consider the system as a whole, including how different skills are valued and rewarded in the economy, he added.

“You cannot just reform what happens within schools, without paying attention to what happens to people after school.”