New AL scoring system and SBB: Boon or Bane?

(The New Paper, 2019)

Recently, MOE has been looking into modifying the curriculum and PSLE scoring system so as to cater to the different learning needs of students. As an Educational Therapist, I am hopeful that this new system will allow more children with learning difficulties as well as slower learners to find greater joy in learning. This is based on my experience working with these children who despite struggling to cope with the demands of learning and mastery of the subject(s), are placed in the standard stream. Very often, these leave them feeling dejected and develop self-defeating mindsets. Best quoted from few of my students, "It is too difficult." and "I can never pass my exams."

Clearly, 'One size fits all' curriculum requires a revamp. In light of this, Subject-Based Banding (SBB) was created. I applaud this move by the MOE. This flexibility will allow students to take on the subjects pitch at their level and is especially beneficial for students with dyslexia. For these students, they may struggle with the English language subject (as a result of their poor spelling, reading and comprehending skills), but on the other hand, some of them may do exceptionally well in Math. SBB gives them the opportunity to take Math at the Standard level while English at the foundational level. In this case, we do not hold back their ability to perform, at the same time, they can work towards the mastery of basic concepts (e.g. English) before progressing on to higher and more demanding level. With this change, teachers can then have greater flexibility and capacity to carry out differentiated teaching and develop differentiated learning materials.

Understandably, parents may express their concerns regarding the scoring of Foundation level subjects, but I do think we need to look beyond grades and placements. Ultimately, education is lifelong, we will want our children to learn at a comfortable pace, with some subjects where they can pursue at a higher level (based on interest), and others where they might struggle but still perform with a reasonable standard of mastery at a simpler level. That enables their education to be more holistic and, in time to come, they might even come to appreciate that rudimentary understanding which might serve as building blocks to future learning. Hence, rather than to overly-stress them, hopefully, SBB would allow more of our special needs students to achieve more than what they think they can achieve.

References

Wong, S. H. (2019). Helping our students learn at their own pace. Retrieved from  https://www.tnp.sg/news/views/helping-our-students-learn-their-own-pace