SINGAPORE: A smaller percentage of students who took last year’s O-Level examinations scored at least five passes, according to results released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) on Friday (Jan 12).
Out of 29,112 candidates who sat for last year’s exams, 83.4 per cent – or 24,287 students – scored at least five passes compared to the record 84.3 per cent, or 25,551 students, who sat for the exams in 2016.
A total of 29,090 students – 99.9 per cent – were awarded certificates for passing at least one subject, the same proportion of the cohort as the previous year. In addition, 28,058 students (96.4 per cent) passed at least three subjects in the exams, slightly lower than 96.5 per cent in 2016.
Last year, 1,570 private candidates sat for the O-Level examinations, compared to 1,865 in 2016. Of these, 90.8 per cent passed at least one subject, up from 90.2 per cent the year before.
The first batch of Normal (Academic) students who were offered higher-level subjects under Subject-Based Banding (Secondary) also performed comparably to their peers in the O-Level cohort, MOE and SEAB said.
The system allows students who have done well in specific subjects to take the subject at a higher level. About 370 Normal (Academic) students under this scheme took one or more subjects in English Language, Mathematics, Combined Sciences and Mother Tongue Languages at the Express Level last year, according to the press release.
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Students can visit MOE’s education and career guidance portal for information on the various educational options available to them after the O-Level examination.
As four junior colleges are due to be merged next year and will not be admitting first-year students this year, MOE and SEAB said the junior colleges admitting students this year will be able to increase their intake of students and there may be resulting increases in the cut-off points.
They added that these cut-off point variations do not reflect the quality of each JC or its programmes.
“We encourage students to continue choosing JCs based on each school’s distinctive programmes, co-curricular activities and school culture – factors that can further develop their strengths and interests. We also want to reassure students and parents that there will be sufficient capacity and JC places to cater to demand.”
SINGAPORE - The results of the 2017 O-level examination were released on Friday (Jan 12), with performance levels appearing to dip marginally below the 2016 showing.
The proportion of O-level candidates who achieved at least five passes last year fell to 83.4 per cent, compared with 84.3 per cent in 2016.
Some 96.4 per cent of the candidates secured three or more passes - slightly below the 96.5 per cent who managed this in 2016.
On the other hand, 99.9 per cent of candidates passed their O levels - meaning they passed at least one subject - a performance that was comparable to that of 2016, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB).
A total of 29,112 school candidates sat the O-level examination in 2017, along with 1,570 private candidates.
This year also saw the first batch of Normal (Academic) students under the Subject Based Banding (Secondary) scheme collect their O-level results.
The scheme, which has been on trial at 12 secondary schools since 2014, lets students from the Normal (Academic) stream who score at least an A for English, mathematics, science and mother tongue at the Primary School Leaving Examination study those subjects at the Express level.
About 370 students from the scheme sat the O-level examination last year, and their overall performance in the subjects was comparable to that of their peers in the Express stream, said MOE and SEAB.
Of the 1,570 private candidates last year, 90.8 per cent received O-level certificates, a slight increase from the previous year's 90.2 per cent.
Students looking to enter junior colleges, Millennia Institute, polytechnics or the Institute of Technical Education can apply via the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) using their O-level results.
JAE registration will open from 3pm on Friday to 4pm next Wednesday.
Students seeking advice on educational options and the next steps can approach their teachers or the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) counsellors supporting their schools.
Appointments can also be made to see an ECG counsellor at the MOE ECG Centre in Grange Road, by calling its hotline on 68311-420 or e-mailing MOE_ECG@moe.gov.sg
The Web-based MySkillsFuture portal can also point students to a range of suitable education and career possibilities.
A group of students who were told that they would not get their O-level result slips as they had not paid a penalty for missing a school event will get their results after all.
The Whitley Secondary School students had missed the school's formal dinner last November and were later asked to pay a $60 penalty for non-attendance, some students told The Straits Times.
When they did not pay, the school in Bishan threatened to withhold their result slips when results are released today, they said.
But Whitley principal Tay Yang Fern said yesterday that the result slips "will not be withheld when the results are released".
She also clarified that the dinner at Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre - which students saw as a prom - was actually a formal dinner for students to practise newly acquired skills.
It was part of a development programme which comprised a course on grooming and etiquette skills for the Secondary 4 cohort, and interview and etiquette skills for the Secondary 5 students.
"The school acknowledged that some of the Secondary 5 students perceived that they had not been given the option of not attending the dinner, even though others had opted out in advance and hence did not have to pay for the dinner," Mrs Tay said.
"The school will engage these students and their parents for an amicable arrangement and necessary assistance will be extended in cases of financial hardship."
ST understands that more than 10 Sec 5 students were not intending to pay the penalty for missing the school event.
The sister of an affected Sec 5 student wrote on the online forum Reddit on Monday that those who attended the dinner had to pay only $50 while those who did not show up had to pay $110, or $60 more. Students paid the $50 via their Edusave accounts or cash, after a consent form was issued last August.
She had posted on Monday that a Sec 5 form teacher told the class in a WhatsApp group chat to "clear their debts" or they will not get their results. The teacher told them not to "put yourself in an unfavourable position" on results day.
Mrs Tay said students who were absent from school-subsidised programmes without valid reason must pay the programme's full cost. "This was communicated in writing to students' parents and guardians prior to the commencement of these programmes."
But the sister of the student told ST: "I was baffled and outraged when my sister told me about what she is experiencing... Our family is not exactly well-to-do."
Most of the affected Sec 5 students said they had indicated early last year that they would not be attending the dinner, as they had been to a similar one in 2016 when they were in Sec 4. They paid about $80 to attend that event.
They said they should not have to pay a penalty for an event they did not attend.
The Ministry of Education said schools may withhold the exam certificates of students who have yet to pay outstanding school fees after repeated reminders. It added that there are financial assistance schemes available to Singaporeans in need of such support.
SINGAPORE - The cut-off points for junior colleges across Singapore may rise this year, due to an expected increase in student intake.
This is a result of the impending merger of eight JCs due to falling cohorts. Four of them - Serangoon JC, Innova JC, Tampines JC and Jurong JC - will not be taking in JC1 students this year.
This would see the remaining 19 JCs admitting more students in this year's Joint Admissions Exercise, and adjusting their cut-off points accordingly.
However, the cut-off points do not reflect the quality of the JCs and their programmes, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) in a joint statement on Friday (Jan 12).
"We encourage students to continue choosing JCs based on each school's distinctive programmes, CCAs (co-curricular activities) and school culture - factors that can further develop their strengths and interests," said MOE and SEAB.
"We also want to reassure students and parents that there will be sufficient capacity and JC places to cater to demand."
MOE announced the names, locations and principals of each of the merged JCs on Thursday.
Each of the merged JCs would retain the niche CCAs and academic programmes of both schools forming it.
