The Straits Times Dec 2, 2011 Tuition boom as kids prep for Integrated Programme Parents feel competition

is now keener, and IP schools and JCs will be tougher t o get into By Sandra Davie BUSINESS is booming for tuition centres that promise to help good students excel in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). The reason: More parents want to help their children score 250 aggregate points or more at the PSLE and secure places in secondary schools offering the Integrat ed Programme (IP). More are sending their children to tuition centres that charge $100 to $300 for four two-hour lessons a month. Some fork out upwards of $500 a month for tuition in two or three subjects. One of the most sought-after tuition centres, The Learning Lab, has opened a sec ond branch, while the Mind Stretcher Learning Centre has gone from 15 to 18 bran ches this year, and will be opening another three. Growan Learning Centre in Mar ine Parade has 50 pupils on its waiting list. Several centres conduct entrance tests and examine the children's detailed acade mic records before placing them in their tuition groups. The boom has extended to private tutors as well, and parents have been known to offer tutors handsome bonuses if their children succeed in making it to an IP sc hool. The IP allows secondary school students to bypass the O levels and go straight t o the junior college (JC) level. It is offered at several top secondary schools and JCs, with more in line to introduce it over the next two years. While the PSLE has always been a high-stakes examination for Primary 6 pupils ai ming for a top-rated secondary school, parents say the game has changed signific antly. They feel competition is keener, now that entering an IP school secures a six-ye ar ticket all the way to the JC level. Business development manager Alan Lim, 40, an old boy of Raffles Institution, wa nts his Primary 5 son to also attend the premier boys' school, which has an IP a ll the way to the A levels. His son has topped his level for two years running, but Mr Lim has enrolled him for tuition and motivation camps to ensure he aces the PSLE next year. He worries that if his son fails to enter RI at Secondary 1, it will be too diff icult to get in at the JC level, even if he does well at the O levels at another school. Learning Lab manager Ling Cheah said the vast majority of parents who send their children to its centres are aiming for places on the IP. 'It is their holy grai l,' she said. Parents give two reasons for their anxiety. First, as more top secondary schools offer the IP, they believe these schools will become more difficult to get into .

Cedar Girls' Secondary and Victoria School, which will offer the IP from next ye ar, take pupils with PSLE scores of at least around 240. Parents expect that min imum to rise because other IP schools have cut-offs above 250. Most parents who spoke to The Straits Times were also worried about the JCs thei r children would attend. With the IP already running in several top JCs, they feel that students who do t he O levels elsewhere will find it harder to get in because most of the places w ould go to the colleges' IP students. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has given repeated assurances that these JCs are offering just as many places as before to those coming in via the O-level route . But in the absence of hard numbers from the schools, parents have resorted to do ing their own checks, and cite figures to explain why they worry. Store manager Celia Lim, 38, who has high hopes for her Primary 5 son, said she checked on Hwa Chong Institution and RI: 'Each school has 1,200 Junior College 1 places every year, and only 250 places go to O-level students. Previously, all their 800 to 900 JC 1 places were given out based on O-level results. So, of cou rse I worry.' She spends $800 a month on tuition for her son. Next year, she expects to spend even more by enrolling him at The Learning Lab. Responding to parents' concerns, MOE said yesterday that the expansion of the IP to more schools would mean opportunities for more students to benefit from the programme. Schools with the IP now have just over 3,000 places in total. There w ill be 5,000 places when seven more schools offer it by 2013. The ministry said: 'Opportunity for students to enter the JCs offering the IP af ter taking their O levels has not diminished after the IP was introduced, becaus e MOE has expanded the enrolment at the JCs offering the IP, as well as created new JC places for students.' It was referring to schools such as Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Dunman H igh and River Valley High, which now offer JC-level classes. They formerly stopp ed at Secondary 4. A spokesman for Hwa Chong said yesterday said students who enter the school afte r the O levels come from 50 secondary schools across the island. An RI spokesman said that in terms of A-level performance, those who join at the junior college level perform just as well as those who have been on the IP sinc e Secondary 1.