New L1R4 system for JC entry

[zac's mum]

I know a couple of kids in the Express track of a dual-track school who did not score well in sec 2 & have been forced by the school to offer only 7 subjects (the default is 8 in that school). Some students are simply too busy juggling multiple commitments, so it may be a good thing to have less workload to deal with. It is not easy to be on top of sec 3 homework + revise for so many examinable subjects in every term’s WA, AND deal with stepped up leadership/CCA commitments because the LEAPS points are at stake. Many of son’s schoolmates fell sick after a gruelling week at OBS which coincided with WA1 almost immediately atter that (and many fell sick as well). NSG is also in full swing and zero time to attend school/revise, literally.

[SG_KP1]

@zac-s-mum
Of all the “jumps,” S3 seems to be the largest to me.

I assume your kid enjoyed OBS? Ours is later this year.

[sharonkhoo]

@zac-s-mum said in New L1R4 system for JC entry:

I know a couple of kids in the Express track of a dual-track school who did not score well in sec 2 & have been forced by the school to offer only 7 subjects (the default is 8 in that school). Some students are simply too busy juggling multiple commitments, so it may be a good thing to have less workload to deal with. It is not easy to be on top of sec 3 homework + revise for so many examinable subjects in every term’s WA, AND deal with stepped up leadership/CCA commitments because the LEAPS points are at stake. Many of son’s schoolmates fell sick after a gruelling week at OBS which coincided with WA1 almost immediately atter that (and many fell sick as well). NSG is also in full swing and zero time to attend school/revise, literally.

What I would like to see is kids taking a wide spread of subjects through the Sec 1-4, but only needing to offer O levels for the few they need plus a couple of safety ones (i.e., 5 +2 or so). For those who can sail through exams, they can take as many as they want! This, of course, presupposes that the parents, students and teachers are sensible people, who value breadth but realise that you can gain that through attending lessons and doing some moderate homework, and taking the exam is only if you really need the grade to move on the the next step. But I don’t know if Singaporeans are mature enough to have grasped that last sentence.

[zac's mum]

@SG_KP1 he is sooo ready for army! Yes he enjoyed it a lot. There are 3 different campsites, and which one their small group (mixed with 2-3 other schools from all over sg) is assigned to, is not revealed until the day itself. There are various expeditions as well: land, kayaking, and sailing. He was very blessed to be the rare handful chosen to be in the sailing boat (slept in the boat 1 night, taking turns for night watch). Made lots of friends there & loved the experience.

Sec 3 is a personal growth year imo. I can see him maturing in thought as well. His observation is that some of the triple science students are stuggling, though some can still score A1 easily. It’s not a homogeneous cohort even by combi.

[SG_KP1]

@zac-s-mum
Yeah, my older one (boy, uniform group kid) also enjoyed it quite a bit a couple of years ago.

I would agree with your comment on S3. I think part of the jump is the growing independence of the kids. For better or worse, some of them learn the hard way this year, which may turn out better in the long run.

[SG_KP1]

@slmkhoo
FWIW, I’ve taken several courses in recent times. Two were actual graduate level courses (graded on a forced curve and added to one’s transcript) while some others were continuing education classes with no real tests, homework, or punishment for not doing anything.

While I certainly learnt and enjoyed all of them, I definitely got more out of the former ones. Could be a combination of content, professor/instructor quality, peer engagement, and one’s own response to incentives (even if no one will ever see my transcript again).

One of my gripes about a “core” curriculum (or cross disciplinary or whatever it’s called) at the university level is that I don’t think many students put much effort into these courses. Maybe it’s still better than nothing. Either way, there are certainly different wants from the university offering, so I am fine with both options existing and people can pick what suits them best.

Anyways, I find what you’ve described at the secondary level as something that’s good in theory but I’m not sure it will work in practice or if it is what MOE wants to be doing.

[zac's mum]

@SG_KP1 my son jokes that there is a psychological effect of wearing long pants - makes them feel the need to act more like an adult haha

[chenlaoshi]

If L1R4 can do the job, there’s no need for L1R5: Chan Chun Sing on revised JC admission criteria -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftp4ur0m3uo

[zac's mum]

If an O level student is aiming for JC Science stream (let’s say mid to lower tier), what L1R4 combi would he/she offer then?

L1 English
R1 Humanities
R2 E Math
R3 Pure Science A
R4 Pure Science B

If this is the combi, then not all potential Science stream students will have taken A math. Will this be a problem? How will the JCs solve this? Provide bridging course for students taking H2 Math?

[zac's mum]

@zac-s-mum said in New L1R4 system for JC entry:

If an O level student is aiming for JC Science stream (let’s say mid to lower tier), what L1R4 combi would he/she offer then?

L1 English
R1 Humanities
R2 E Math
R3 Pure Science A
R4 Pure Science B

If this is the combi, then not all potential Science stream students will have taken A math. Will this be a problem? How will the JCs solve this? Provide bridging course for students taking H2 Math?

Forgot MTL. So student will be taking 6 subjects. If want to take the bare minimum 5, then R4 is MTL, and R3 is either Pure Science A or combined Science.

So an additional problem for JCs to solve: if student enters with only 1 Pure Science, can go Science stream or not?