Singapore, clearing out of the ranking system from the report cards along with many other changes in the recent sensation. The mental health of the children is getting priority. After all, learning is not a competition.
Keeping in mind the aim of making education free of competition, Ong Ye Kung, the Education Minister of Singapore put forward the idea to end examination ranking. No one should know what the rank is, who stood first, or who came last.
Not just the ranking system, the new format of the report card reflects several things like coloring or underlining of the failing marks, class and level mean, overall total marks, maximum and minimum marks, end of the year result, pass or fail, subject grades that are mean, L1R5 (English plus 5 relevant subjects), EMB3( English, Maths, Best 3 subjects), L1R4, and EMB1 for the lower secondary levels.
What is the purpose?
It is to shift the children’s focus from competing to learning. The main thinking is that there is no point in comparing oneself with others.
What are the other changes?
In Singapore, there won’t be any Primary 1 and 2 examinations. The assessment forms won’t be anymore counted in the overall grade. Singapore has abolished the exam-ranking system that is decades’ old. The report cards won’t show the pupils’ position related to the cohort or class.
For staying away from all kinds of comparison, the report book won’t possess any level and class means, maximum/minimum marks, coloring/underlining of the failing marks, mean subject grades, fail result, overall total marks and L1R5, L1R4, EMB3 and EMB1 for the lower secondary levels. As per Ong Ye Kung, the education minister of Singapore, this move will show the students that learning isn’t any competition. The change has been made for allowing the students to focus on their learning process and enabling them to stay away from being deeply concerned about comparisons.
What will the teachers do?
They will accumulate information about the learning of the students through homework, discussions, and quizzes. The schools need to make use of other methods like qualitative descriptions instead of marks for evaluating the progress of the children that will be further communicated to the parents during the parent-teacher meetings.
In the case of the higher classes, the marks for each subject will be wrapped up and presented in the form of a whole number without any decimal points for lowering the focus on the academic scores. While addressing approximately 1,700 school leaders, Ong depicted that he knows becoming first or second in the level or class has been a proud recognition of the achievement of the student traditionally. But, there is a good reason for removing these indications. It is to make the children understand that learning isn’t a competition, but self-discipline that they require to master for their life.
Despite, the report book must still carry a certain form of yardstick and information for allowing the students to assess their relative performance, and do an evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses.
Education is taken very seriously in Singapore. The school system of Singapore has been ranked as one of the best in the whole world. The rankings of the fifth and the sixth-grade students will be a matter of the past very soon.
Following the report of the students committing suicides and the overwhelming physical and psychological stress, the government has taken a decision to shut down the system.
The statistics say that many children are speaking of stress levels. The Institute of Mental Health in Singapore suggested the average of 2,400 new cases coming in their clinic every year. New cases concerning school-related stress are arriving. In a case happened in 2016, a young boy committed suicide by jumping from 17th story apartment because he failed in his midterm exams and was very scared to reveal it to his parents.
Hence, the system of ranking will be cut down. The students will have to take part in a test when they will be in the sixth year of formal primary education. They will receive an aggregate score. After the achievement, it will be decided what secondary school they will be entered.