SINGAPORE – It felt like the start of a high-stakes contest for Mr Harry Lee when his son Gabriel entered Primary 1 in 2022. <\/p>\n
Gabriel was an SG50 baby, referring to those born in 2015 when Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence. More than 37,000 babies were born that year \u2013 the highest number recorded between 2015 and 2024 \u2013 possibly resulting in greater competition for school places. <\/p>\n
The registration process has several stages, with the earlier ones reserved for children with siblings in the school or parents who are alumni. These were not options for Gabriel. <\/p>\n
So Mr Lee aimed for Phase 2B, which gives priority to children whose parents have volunteered at the school. They were hoping to enter a popular school in Hougang where the family lives because of its academic reputation and emphasis on values. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day that we were on traffic warden duty counted as 45 minutes to these 40 hours, and we went once a week for 40 weeks,\u201d said Mr Lee, who clocked his time mostly in the morning before work. Parents were required to fulfil at least 40 hours to be considered a parent volunteer. \u201cThe school did not guarantee us a spot, they told us it is not confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat year was very stressful for us,\u201d said Mr Lee, 44, an actuary at an insurance company. <\/p>\n
Gabriel eventually entered the school through Phase 2B. While Mr Lee acknowledged that competition exists in every education system, he felt much of the stress stems from uncertainty. <\/p>\n
Clearer indicators of a child\u2019s likelihood of getting a place \u2013 beyond historical balloting data \u2013 would help parents better gauge their odds in the current year, he said. <\/p>\n
His experience is one of several pain points that parents face when navigating Singapore\u2019s education system. <\/p>\n ST ILLUSTRATION: LEE HUP KHENG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Others point to an overemphasis on major exams, starting with the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), a competitive culture between parents, and heavy time and financial resources poured into getting outside-school help. <\/p>\n Long heralded as a meritocratic engine and a \u201csocial leveller\u201d, the system has increasingly been described as an \u201carms race\u201d by parents, students, educators, and politicians alike.<\/p>\n This is despite significant changes by the Government over the last five-year term, including the end of streaming and bell-curved scoring at the PSLE, which graded pupils\u2019 performance relative to one another. <\/p>\n Ahead of the May general election, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had said during the Fullerton Rally that reforms in education have been made, along with enhancing parental leave and other investments in mental health and caregiving. <\/p>\n MPs from both the PAP and WP said they will continue to push for reforms in the House, including exploring alternatives to the PSLE, smaller class sizes and more support for educators. <\/p>\n But experts outline the challenge at hand: the Government having to push through changes while ensuring the system continues to deliver good results, and balancing the various interests from across society, making the issue a political hot potato. <\/p>\n Parents interviewed by Insight said navigating school life feels like running a race they cannot opt out of. <\/p>\n Some map out their children\u2019s educational paths years ahead, while others turn to tuition and enrichment while trying to clinch spots in popular schools. <\/p>\n Students report stress over examinations and expectations, with some feeling their self-worth is tied to grades or the school they go to. <\/p>\n Political leaders have acknowledged the issue \u2013 during the debate on the President\u2019s Address in September, PM Wong said the Government will do more in its new term to<\/p>\n reduce the stakes of single examinations,<\/p>\n <\/a> and that Singapore has to move from a narrow meritocracy based solely on grades to a broader and more inclusive one. <\/p>\n Noting that education was a \u201cgreat leveller\u201d for his generation, he said that looking ahead, every parent and child should not regard it as a burden, but a springboard.<\/p>\n At the same debate, Education Minister Desmond Lee said Singapore must break away from seeing education as an \u201carms race\u201d. <\/p>\n His ministry will study how to reduce the stakes in exams, focus on non-academic aspects of the school experience, and guard against \u201chothousing\u201d by families with more resources. <\/p>\n For many families, however, the race remains a daily reality. The first major hurdle is the PSLE, which determines the range of secondary schools a child can enter. <\/p>\n Ms Jyoti Khan, a mother of three, said the pressure of the system is \u201calmost contagious\u201d. When her children first entered primary school, she did not know how intense the journey could become. <\/p>\n By the time her older two had sat the PSLE, she found herself swept into the rhythms that govern so many families\u2019 lives \u2013 sending her kids for tuition and planning the year around exams. <\/p>\n \u201cAll your peers, every parent, will be talking about \u2018Oh, it\u2019s a big year because it\u2019s O levels, or it is a big year because it\u2019s PSLE\u2019, and you feel yourself joining in a little bit,\u201d the 47-year-old communications consultant said.<\/p>\n Mr Sarfraz Khan and Mrs Jyoti Khan (second from right) with their children, Ayaan Khan, Aleena Khan and Aliya Khan (left to right).<\/p>\n PHOTO: COURTESY OF JYOTI KHAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Schools remind parents that exams are not the be all and end all, said Ms Khan, but the pressure is constant, amplified during conversations with others. <\/p>\n She tried not to pass that anxiety on to her children, now in Secondary 4 and 2, and Primary 2.<\/p>\n Yet, when her son applied to a secondary school through the Direct School Admission (DSA) pathway \u2013 which allows children to apply to schools through their non-academic strengths \u2013 she found herself helping him polish guitar pieces and write personal statements. <\/p>\n Associate Professor Vincent Chua, who teaches sociology and anthropology at the National University of Singapore, said competition persists because demand for \u201cgood schools\u201d outstrips the supply. <\/p>\n \u201cEven though the new PSLE (scoring) system is designed to be non-competitive\u2026 the distribution of schools still follows a curve: a small number of elite schools, a majority of good ones, and a few that are less sought after,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as this hierarchy exists, competition will persist.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ideal, where every school is seen as a good school, remains some distance away.\u201d <\/p>\n Parents feel compelled to invest in tuition, enrichment, and constant monitoring, Prof Chua said, adding that exams become more challenging to distinguish top performers. <\/p>\n When education becomes a contest, social comparison becomes a way of life, he said. \u201cThe result is an escalating arms race that breeds stress, burnout, and declining youth well-being.\u201d <\/p>\n People still judge others based on the schools they went to, said Ms Khan. \u201cI\u2019ve seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n Many still believe that a child gains more from going to a good school \u2013 apart from being affiliated with a brand name, they get access to social and alumni networks, she added. <\/p>\n This strain continues as children move through the system, intensifying at major exams like the O, N and A levels \u2013 seen as gateways into higher education. <\/p>\n For tutor Siti Aishah, 60, whose daughter just took the N levels, the culture of comparing children by their academic achievements has become toxic. \u201cEspecially when you have family gatherings and everyone starts all the comparisons: \u2018Hey, what\u2019s your son doing?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Her older son went to a polytechnic and has been accepted to a local university.<\/p>\n But her daughter often compares her results with her brother\u2019s, and worries that going to ITE means she might not get into university, she said. <\/p>\n Madam Aishah has sought to reassure her daughter, and told her: \u201cCome what may, the results we accept. Because you are you, and your brother is your brother. You two are different.\u201d <\/p>\n The former teacher feels there are now more pathways for students, and with hard work, children can overcome early setbacks and find their way. <\/p>\n Over the years, the Government has introduced more routes to reduce reliance on single exams and assess students more holistically. <\/p>\n More changes have also been promised. <\/p>\n The Ministry of Education (MOE) in May said efforts are ongoing to refine the DSA selection process. Former education minister Chan Chun Sing said in January that this will be part of a review to ensure that schools focus on students\u2019 development, that the selection process is objective and transparent, and DSA continues to be accessible. <\/p>\n DSA was started in 2004 to allow students to enter secondary school on other merits such as sports, arts or leadership. Other schemes followed, allowing students to secure polytechnic places before sitting major exams \u2013 though they must still meet minimum entry and GPA requirements. <\/p>\n In 2020, <\/p>\n full subject-based banding was piloted in 28 secondary schools,<\/p>\n <\/a> where students can take subjects at various levels of difficulty. <\/p>\n The new PSLE scoring system \u2013 where students are graded on their individual performance from Achievement Levels (AL) 1 to 8 \u2013 was implemented from 2021. <\/p>\n These changes were meant to reduce fine differentiation of students and encourage families to choose schools based on their children\u2019s learning needs and interests. <\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>
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