School Placement Exercise for returning S'porean children

[hoskins8h]

xxjustakidxx:

Correction: A is 25 percent of each cohort.

For Eng, Math, Sci, 25% for A sounds correct, means about 20% for A*; in line with a conversation I had with a teacher.
Just to clarify, when I mentioned 44% for A/A* means 44% got A or better. For some reason, the info I gleaned from the \"official\" data do not break down between A and A*.

[mommyNg]

If, as you mentioned, about 44% of students get A/A* for Eng, Math, Sci but it is 80% for Chinese, this means it is easier to get an A/A* for Chinese?? I suppose this means 80% of those students taking Chinese, or does that mean the whole cohort.


I thought there were some discussions in another thread saying that an A in Chinese is worth more in terms of T-score than an A in, say, Math or Eng? Hence, if one is pretty good in Chinese, then he/she should take Chinese (and not exemption) cos’ he/she will have a greater chance of getting a higher PSLE T-score?

[hoskins8h]

mommyNg:

If, as you mentioned, about 44% of students get A/A* for Eng, Math, Sci but it is 80% for Chinese, this means it is easier to get an A/A* for Chinese?? I suppose this means 80% of those students taking Chinese, or does that mean the whole cohort.


I thought there were some discussions in another thread saying that an A in Chinese is worth more in terms of T-score than an A in, say, Math or Eng? Hence, if one is pretty good in Chinese, then he/she should take Chinese (and not exemption) cos' he/she will have a greater chance of getting a higher PSLE T-score?

Yes about 80% of students taking Chinese (other MT similar) get A/A*. As far as I know, all subjects are equally weighted even though Eng and MT are marked upon 200 marks. Officially MOE says that with exemption, T-score is adjusted so that student is \"neither disadvantaged or advantaged\", so my guess is that with exemption, T-score is equally weighted based on 3 subjects. If that is correct, then one should exempt based on whether Chinese T-score is likely to be above or below the average of the other 3 subjects.

My analysis suggests that exemption is likely to be better because there is \"more room to improve\" in the other non-MT subjects as average subject raw scores are likely to be lower. 85% marks for MT is likely to be a lower T-score than an 85% for other subjects.

Having said that, most parents want our children to learn Chinese well and exemption from PSLE may affect the learning attitude. I overcome this by telling my child that exemption is only for PSLE and it is Higher Chinese in secondary school. The point being that PSLE Chinese affects T-score and streaming, whilst HCL at O level is a pass/fail requirement for local university and does not affect A level score.

If I may guess, you're probably not based in Asia, so having access to Chinese education at the required level may prove difficult overseas and the decision to exempt may come naturally.

[hoskins8h]

hoskins8h:

... As far as I know, all subjects are equally weighted ...

News today that MOE considering lowering the weightage of Mother Tongue. It till take a few years before they decide and implement. Article also mentions that the current weighting for MT is 25%, so it is equally weighted.
I've gathered enough info to be convinced that this is so, because I too was puzzled when I returned to Singapore and found out that Eng and MT was marked upon 200 marks. Thought things were like they were back in my time when the 2 languages were double weighted.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_517143.html

[turquoise]

hoskins8h, if you are exempted from CL at PSLE, can you take HCL in Secondary School? I’m wondering because I know if you are exempted from CL at PSLE due to a learning disability, you will not be permitted to take HCL nor 3rd language in Secondary School. Is it different for returning overseas students?

[hoskins8h]

turquoise:

hoskins8h, if you are exempted from CL at PSLE, can you take HCL in Secondary School? I'm wondering because I know if you are exempted from CL at PSLE due to a learning disability, you will not be permitted to take HCL nor 3rd language in Secondary School. Is it different for returning overseas students?

If you have exemption due to learning disability for MT, then it's illogical to take HCL at O level. Some returning Singaporeans are pretty weak in MT and exemption is natural. For some others, while the child may cope, the child may be at a disadvantage due to not having the local learning support, eg suitable tuition, Chinese lang media exposure. Even kids who attend international schools in China may be weak in Chinese as the schools may cater to an international crowd and treat Chinese as enrichment subject.
My older child is taking HCL in secondary school. As I mentioned, one returnee exempted MT made a successful appeal to be admitted to HCI at sec 1. Going through SPERS, 3rd lang option is not given, but I think if you appeal, can get it.

[turquoise]

hoskins8h:

[If you have exemption due to learning disability for MT, then it's illogical to take HCL at O level. Some returning Singaporeans are pretty weak in MT and exemption is natural. For some others, while the child may cope, the child may be at a disadvantage due to not having the local learning support, eg suitable tuition, Chinese lang media exposure. Even kids who attend international schools in China may be weak in Chinese as the schools may cater to an international crowd and treat Chinese as enrichment subject.

My older child is taking HCL in secondary school. As I mentioned, one returnee exempted MT made a successful appeal to be admitted to HCI at sec 1. Going through SPERS, 3rd lang option is not given, but I think if you appeal, can get it.

Thanks for the info.

[mommyNg]

hoskins8h:

If I may guess, you're probably not based in Asia, so having access to Chinese education at the required level may prove difficult overseas and the decision to exempt may come naturally.

Thanks hoskins8h for your helpful advice!

We are currently not based in Asia, but my daughter has been going to a Chinese afterschool class everyday that is taught by Chinese locals for the past 2 years. Last year, when we came back for summer, she joined her P1 class for 2 months. There, she took a Chinese class test (Higher Chinese), and she scored about 96%. But I think her reading/comprehension is better than her orals/writing skills anyway (the test was mainly made up of MCQ, cloze passage, hanyu pinyin). I also suppose P1 standards are much easier than upper primary? Then, another consideration is we are probably moving to China next year, in which case we will be sending her to a local international school which follows the local Chinese system for Chinese and American for others (e.g. Maths, Science). So I'm just thinking whether such exposure would be good enough for her if her MT is not waived.

But then again, we can always ask for waiver first and then decide to withdraw the waiver later, right? Do you know when must we submit our waiver?

[hoskins8h]

mommyNg:

hoskins8h:

If I may guess, you're probably not based in Asia, so having access to Chinese education at the required level may prove difficult overseas and the decision to exempt may come naturally.

But then again, we can always ask for waiver first and then decide to withdraw the waiver later, right? Do you know when must we submit our waiver?

Yes, I would suggest that you ask for waiver first then if you change your mind, can always register for PSLE Chinese at the beginning of P6. I know a case where waiver was turned down when parents asked for it after more than a year. However, in this case, parents were not unhappy as there were reasons for not exempting. mommyNg, I sent PM to give you my views on your situation.

[mommyNg]

hoskins8h:

Yes, I would suggest that you ask for waiver first then if you change your mind, can always register for PSLE Chinese at the beginning of P6. I know a case where waiver was turned down when parents asked for it after more than a year. However, in this case, parents were not unhappy as there were reasons for not exempting. mommyNg, I sent PM to give you my views on your situation.

Thanks hoskins8h!

:thankyou: