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Basic Education Curriculum Revisited: A Look at The Current Content and Reform
Basic Education Curriculum Revisited: A Look at The Current Content and Reform
Broad-based Curriculum
Singapores national curriculum aims to nurture each child to his full potential, to
discover his talents and to develop in him a passion for life-long learning. Students go
1
through a broad range of experiences to develop the skills and values that they will
need for life. The broad-based curriculum imparts literacy, numeracy, bilingualism, the
sciences, humanities, aesthetics, physical education, civics and moral education and
National Education.
Over the years, the curriculum has been reviewed to address the need for a common
set of values, knowledge and competencies and at the same time, allow differentiation
to meet the needs of students with different talents and abilities. To enable students to
achieve the learning outcomes of each specific subject and the DOE, three broad
areas are considered, namely, the curriculum, teaching strategies and assessment
(Figure 1)
Teaching Strategies
Classroom management, pedagogy,
teaching & learning resources
Content
Aims & objectives,
content, skills &
competencies, values &
attitudes
Students
Learning
Experiences
Assessment
Formative and summative
Every child in Singapore has the opportunity to undergo at least ten years of basic
education. This comprises 6 years of compulsory primary education and 4 years of
secondary education. Students have to sit for major national examinations at the end
of their primary and secondary education. Beyond secondary education, students
move on to post-secondary institutions based on their eligibility and choice (Annex B).
3.1
At the primary level, students go through a six-year course aimed at giving them a
good grasp of the English Language, Mother Tongue Language and Mathematics. In
addition, students learn Science, Social Studies, Civics & Moral Education, Music, Art
& Crafts, Health Education and Physical Education. At the end of Primary 6, students
take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which assesses their suitability
for secondary education and places them in the appropriate secondary school course
that will match their learning pace, ability and inclinations.
3.2
LOOKING AHEAD
In order to better prepare students to meet changing national and global needs of the
21st century , MOE has embarked on a process to review its curriculum, pedagogies
and assessments.
4.1
Curriculum
Pedagogy
Assessment
The national assessment will be retained to maintain standards and for benchmarking
purposes. Assessment modes, formats and items will be reviewed regularly. Greater
focus will be placed on the role of assessment in learning through formative
assessment. Teachers assessment literacy and expertise in the use of assessment
strategies will be built up through the provision of guides and exemplars in curriculum
documents and teaching packages. Assessment items will be situated in authentic
contexts and the greater use of alternative assessment modes to better prepare
students to handle complexities and ambiguous problems that they are likely to face in
the future.
4.4
Just as the curriculum evolves to include new learnings that students need for the
future, professional development of teachers becomes critical, as teachers have to
strive to equip themselves with the necessary competencies to guide and facilitate
students learning. To meet the needs of distinct groups of students according to their
ability and learning styles, teachers will be equipped with skills of differentiated
instruction. Teachers will also continue to develop their capacity to leverage technology
to enhance students learning experiences. Teachers will also develop their abilities to
become reflective practitioners, able to enhance their teaching through research and
using research findings to improve classroom practices.
5.
CONCLUSION
It is important that MOE ensures balance, rigor, relevance and responsiveness of the
curriculum to meet the needs of the 21st century. Teachers should focus on teaching for
enduring understanding and skills. Assessment will have to be contextualized and
made more authentic to equip students with skills and attitudes to face new problems
and issues that will come their way.
Annex A
Desired Outcomes of Education (DOE)
At the end of primary
education, students
A1
Annex B
Overview of the Singapore Education System
University
University(3
(3--44years)
years)
JC
JC(2
(2years)
years)
Poly
Poly(3
(3
years)
years)
ITE
ITE(2
(2years)
years)
Secondary
SecondarySchool
School(4
(4--55years)
years)
Primary
PrimarySchool
School(6
(6years)
years)
B1
Annex C
The Primary School Curriculum
LEGEND
LANGUAGES
CCA
English1
Mother Tongue
Co-Curricular
Activities
CME
Civics & Moral
Education
PCCG Pastoral Care &
Career Guidance
NE
National Education
PE
Physical Education
PW
Project Work
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
LIFE SKILLS
HUMANITIES
& THE ARTS
Social Studies,
Art & crafts, Music
CCA, CME,
PCCG, NE, PE,
Health Education3
MATHEMATICS
& SCIENCE
Mathematics
Science2
PW4
SUBJECTS TESTED
IN PSLE:
Regular stream subjects:
Foundation English
Basic Mother Tongue
Foundation Mathematics
1. English, Mother Tongue and Mathematics will be taught at the appropriate level
according to the ability of the student.
2. Science is taught from P3 onwards.
3. For P1-4, Health Education is not a separate subject but relevant topics are
included in the learning of English.
4. Project Work is conducted during curriculum time but is not an exam subject.
C1
Annex D
The Secondary School Curriculum
LANGUAGES
English
Mother Tongue, Higher Mother Tongue,
Mother Tongue Language B
3rd Language (Optional French, German, Japanese,
Chinese, Malay)
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
HUMANITIES
& THE ARTS
Lower Sec subjects:
Geography, History,
Literature in English,
Visual Arts, Music
Upper Sec subjects:
Combined Humanities
MATHEMATICS
& SCIENCE
LIFE SKILLS
CCA, CIP, CME,
PCCG, NE, PE,
PW1
Upper Sec electives:
Upper Sec electives:
Geography, History, Literature in
Additional Mathematics,
English, Literature in Chinese,
Malay Literature, Tamil
Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Literature, Art & Design,
Combined Science options,
Design and Technology,
Music, Higher Art,
Food & Nutrition,
Higher Music
Principles of
Accounts
LEGEND
CCA
Co-Curricular
Activities
CIP
Community
Involvement
Programme
CME
Civics & Moral
Education
PCCG Pastoral Care &
Career Guidance
NE
National Education
PE
Physical Education
PW
Project Work
Students in the Special and
Express courses typically offer
7-8 subjects at the GCE O
Level Examinations.
D1
Annex E
Secondary School Courses
1. Special/Express Course1 is a four-year course leading to the SingaporeCambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE) O Level Examination. In this
course, students learn English and Mother Tongue 2, as well as Mathematics,
Science and the Humanities. In addition, schools have been allowed to offer new
GCE O level subjects and Applied Grade Subjects as additional or replacement
curriculum offerings to meet the varied choices of students. The AGS, in
particular, expose our students to practice-oriented learning approaches adopted
in the polytechnics.
2. Normal (Academic) Course is a four-year course leading to the GCE N Level
Examination. Students who do well at the N levels will qualify for an additional
year to prepare for the GCE O Level Examination. Selected students may offer
up to two3 O level subjects at Secondary 4, or, bypass the N levels and
progress directly to Secondary 5 to take the O levels. Students learn the same
range of subjects similar to those in the Special and Express courses.
3. Normal (Technical) Course is a four-year course leading to the GCE N Level
Examination. In this course, students learn English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics
and subjects with technical or practical emphases. Since 2005, schools have also
been offering Elective Modules, which cover a wide range of subjects including
nursing, hospitality, digital animation and precision engineering. To enhance
experiential and practice-oriented learning, a revised Normal (Technical)
curriculum that focuses more on practice-oriented learning has been
implemented in all schools from 2007. The teaching approaches focus on group
work, oral presentation, creativity and hands-on activities.
4. The Integrated Programme (IP) is designed for students who are clearly
university-bound, and could do well in a less structured environment, also have
the choice of the Integrated Programme (IP), which spans secondary and junior
college education without intermediate national examinations at the end of
secondary school. Time previously used to prepare students for the GCE O
Level Examination are used to engage them in broader learning experiences.
Selected schools also offer alternative curricula and qualifications, such as the
International Baccalaureate.
Starting from the Secondary 1 students in 2008, the Special and Express Courses will be merged
into the Express Course.
2
Students can opt to study Mother Tongue (Malay/Chinese/Tamil) at either the standard, higher or
Syllabus B levels depending on their ability and eligibility.
3
Starting with the 2009 Secondary 4N(A) cohort, this cap will be lifted.
E1