Friday, November 21, 2008
Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, November 22SINGAPORE: Girl power prevails in this year's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results.
The top PSLE students across Singapore's three largest ethnic groups are all girls.
A total of 49,856 Primary 6 pupils sat for the PSLE this year, with 97.1 per cent of them qualifying for secondary school education, down slightly from last year's 97.7 per cent.
Almost 64 per cent are eligible for the Express course, while some 22 per cent qualify for Normal (Academic) and 12 per cent for Normal (Technical).
Nanyang Primary School produced four of the 15 top students, including the highest scorer.
Wee Yen Jean is the top Chinese pupil, Farah Aqilah Bte Safi'I the highest Malay scorer and Mridula Sairam the top Indian student.
Breaking the girls' dominance is top Eurasian student Ahmad Ashraf Bin Muhammad Johari of Chongfu Primary School.
Yen Jean also beat all primary six students in this year's PSLE, with a top score of 287 points. The Nanyang Primary School student, who bagged 4 A* and a distinction in Higher Chinese, said her aggregate score came as a surprise.
"Normally, I just do average performance. I don't usually top at anything, that's why this time round, it was a shock," she said.
Her father, Dr Wee Tze Lin, said: "The good thing is that we never had to actually send her for any tuition. But what I think has been good for her is that apart from the fact that she is very motivated, I think the school has a very conducive environment."
Farah, the top Malay student, got an aggregate score of 278. The South View Primary pupil obtained 4 A* and a distinction in Higher Malay.
Mridula Sairam, the top Indian student, came from Haig Girls' School. She had an aggregate score of 281.
This year marks the first time Primary 6 full--time Islamic religious school or Madrasah students must sit for the PSLE under the Compulsory Education Act.
321 of these students sat for the examination and emerging tops among them was Muhammad Mus'ab Yusof from Madrasah Al--Irsyad, with a score of 260.
His mother, Latifah Noorahman, said: "We are happy that the Madrasah system has been able to produce pupils with very good results, which are comparable to many pupils in national schools."
In all, 98 per cent of the Primary 6 Madrasah cohort are eligible for secondary school. This is slightly higher than the national average of 97.1 per cent.
41 per cent of Madrasah pupils qualify for the Express course, 48 per cent for the Normal Academic and the rest for Normal Technical. With the PSLE certificate, Madrasah students are now able to make a switch to the secular education system, should they choose to do so.
Two out of the six Madrasahs, however, failed to make this year's minimum PSLE benchmark score of 171. The two are Madrasah Al--Arabiah and Madrasah Wak Tanjong. If these two Madrasahs fail to meet the benchmark next year, they will not be able to admit new Primary 1 pupils.
But as Al--Arabiah intends to focus on secondary level Islamic education under the new Joint Madrasah System, it will no longer have a Primary 1 intake from next year.
-- CNA/ir
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