Can go to NA if the student is recommended Express stream?

[lilacred]

Fourth, do you know why your friend regretted it?

[Fourth]

Well… because she felt that her son became accustomed to the slower pace, rather than taking it to his advantage.

[N3SKiasu]

I have the same situation with 20x and have called up MOE, the answer is the "No", you cannot transfer to Normal.

Yes, the choice of sec is real limited, I can understand how you feel.
However, having gather some feedback, I would go for the Express now.
Reason is : I realised from my friend that, if the child did not do well in N level in Sec 4, he/she will be asked to go ITE, there is no chance for the child to take O level in year 5. The O level is for the better performers at N level. I think I have misunderstood from the beginning that N/A means the child takes 5 years to complete O level (with Yr 4 with N level) and every child, no matter what, will have a chance to take O level in Sec 5, ie. giving one additional year for the child to cope with syllabus. In this case, I would prefer my child to have at least a chance to sit for O level, no matter how he performs in Sec 3/4. Hence I will stick to Express.

[worldangel]

Hi N3SKiasu,


Very interesting perspective. I did not think of this. What do you mean by better performers at N Level? Do you mean if they pass N Level they will move on to Sec 5 and take O Levels or is there like a certain cut off point/percentage of students who will move on to Sec 5?

Thanks again!

[rydy]

I believe the banding of O level also say something about the school.


Some "good" schools have low banding like 5 and some "average" schools have banding of 1.

Please consider this point.

Every child is special in their own way.
Of course we parents like to ensure the "right" path in life for them, me included.

Good luck to all.

[meinteel]

N3SKiasu:

I have the same situation with 20x and have called up MOE, the answer is the \"No\", you cannot transfer to Normal.

Yes, the choice of sec is real limited, I can understand how you feel.
However, having gather some feedback, I would go for the Express now.
Reason is : I realised from my friend that, if the child did not do well in N level in Sec 4, he/she will be asked to go ITE, there is no chance for the child to take O level in year 5. The O level is for the better performers at N level. I think I have misunderstood from the beginning that N/A means the child takes 5 years to complete O level (with Yr 4 with N level) and every child, no matter what, will have a chance to take O level in Sec 5, ie. giving one additional year for the child to cope with syllabus. In this case, I would prefer my child to have at least a chance to sit for O level, no matter how he performs in Sec 3/4. Hence I will stick to Express.

Yes, it is important to note that students who fail to perform well in their N levels in year 4 would not be allowed to take Os in year 5. Besides, even if they did go on to secondary 5 for Os, they will find it hard to compete with the express students.

Mostly I've know just end up in ITE and then private diploma which doesnt go very far.

[koguma]

worldangel:

Hi N3SKiasu,


Very interesting perspective. I did not think of this. What do you mean by better performers at N Level? Do you mean if they pass N Level they will move on to Sec 5 and take O Levels or is there like a certain cut off point/percentage of students who will move on to Sec 5?

Thanks again!

For NA student doing GCE \"N\" level exam, in order to promote to Sec 5, the student must score
1) English Lang : at least Grade 5
2) Math: at least Grade 5
3) 3 other subjects
4) Total aggregate score of 19 or less for 5 subjects

Note: Grades 1 to 5 are pass grades. Grade 1 is the highest and Grade 5 the lowest. ‘Ungraded’ denotes a fail grade.

Failing to do so, the NA students can go ITE to do Nitec (aggregate score 20 or more) or Higher Nitec programmes (aggregate score of 19 or less).

After 2 years of Higher Nitec programmes, the student can proceed to Poly if he/she meets the Poly entry criteria.

Some Good News for NA students
1) If student scores 70% or more in end of Sec 1 exam (MOE guidelines, which schools will follow), he/she can promote to Sec 2 Express. The student can change in Sec 2 if he/she miss the chance in Sec 1.

2) Most schools have \"through-train\" programmes for its better performance Sec 4 NA students, i.e. students will skip \"N\" level exam in Sec 4 and automatic promote to Sec 5 to do \"O\" level exam.

3) I know many good performers in \"N\" level choose to go ITE to do Higher Nitec programmes instead of going to Sec 5 to do \"O\" level exam. After completing 2 years of Higher Nitec programmes , the student can still go to Poly (some poly courses allow students to go direct into Year 2).

4) Students who have performed very well in the \"N\" level (expected to be among the top 10% of the Secondary 4 N(A) cohort) will have a new option of completing a one-year Foundation Programme (FP) at the polytechnics, instead of taking their O-Levels in Secondary 5, starting from 2013.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2010/09/more-pathways-secondary-schools.php

[worldangel]

rydy:

I believe the banding of O level also say something about the school.


Some \"good\" schools have low banding like 5 and some \"average\" schools have banding of 1.

Please consider this point.

Every child is special in their own way.
Of course we parents like to ensure the \"right\" path in life for them, me included.

Good luck to all.

How are the schools banded? Where can I check the banding of the schools for O Levels?

[hashroop]

worldangel:

rydy:

I believe the banding of O level also say something about the school.


Some \"good\" schools have low banding like 5 and some \"average\" schools have banding of 1.

Please consider this point.

Every child is special in their own way.
Of course we parents like to ensure the \"right\" path in life for them, me included.

Good luck to all.

How are the schools banded? Where can I check the banding of the schools
for O Levels?

Hi, if you look at the 2012 sec Sch selection book there is a table showing school and their banding. The lower the band number the better the performance of GCE O levels.