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EXAMINATION SUBJECTS AND PROCEDURE The format of the examinations within the PSLE has been revised consistently throughout its history, in order to suit the Ministry of Education's policy. However, the standard examination procedure retains many of the same elements throughout the years despite the changes being made to the requirements of each question, the Score allocated to each question and the revisions in emphasis. Language examination and qualification In order to test the students' grasp of the language subjects, such as the English or mother tongue languages at the end of primary school, there are several separate examinations. As the student is usually required to take both mother tongue and the English language, (with exceptions of exemption or additional languages), the average student repeats the following procedures twice. The format tends to vary by language or even difficulty, based on Streaming , but each language examination usually has an oral examination, testing the students' proficiency to Speak the language, a listening Comprehension examination, testing the students' ability to comprehend spoken messages in daily situations, an examination to test Composition and the student's proficiency in writing in various scenarios, and finally an examination testing written use of the language. English language The oral examination for the English language usually lasts about five to ten minutes per student; however, students are held in a "holding room" before the examination, and based on which student takes the test first, the waiting time can be extensive. The last person to be called may wait more than two hours in a class of 40 because of the nature of the examination. The examination tests the students' fluency and skills of oral communication in the language by requiring the student to articulate unseen material that is revealed to a student only five minutes before meeting his or her examiners. As the same material is used throughout for a single day, the holding room is used to prevent communication between those who have taken the examination and those who have not. Because of the long time period of the examination, the examination is often divided into two days of two separate sets of material each to reduce the inefficiency caused by the waiting time. The maximum score for this examination is 30. The oral examination is divided into three sections: students are required to describe and Interpret a Picture as thoroughly and detailed as possible in a clockwise or anti-clockwise way, and using extensive use of Preposition s and landmark cues such as "foreground, Background , Left -hand corner" for examples, and this being graded on a score of 10. It is advised that students do not point to the picture and jump all over the place and give thoughts of their action, and no names should be given and everything to be said in present tense. The student is then required to read aloud from a passage fluently, this also having a score of 10. The final section requires the students to answer any questions the teachers asks of them based on either of the two sections, which often require their opinion and Inference , and provides the final ten marks. The examination is judged by two teachers who have to agree on a single score for each student, both giving two scores and taking the average. A listening comprehension examination will then test the students' ability to comprehend the spoken English language in various daily situations, and is comprised of twenty multiple choice questions which is based on information contained in Audio played to the students, and the examination is taken as a class, not individually; this particular examination lasts around twenty minutes, with the maximum score being 20. There is a two-section Composition question comprising of a ''functional'', where students write an informal or a formal Letter , Memo or note, and an Essay usually written in the form of a Narrative or Third Person Drama . Both of these sections last one hour. The functional section has a score value of 15; the maximum essay score 40. Two Teacher s are required to grade a composition paper, and the disparity in scoring made by each teacher should be minimal, and the average of the scoring taken if the disparity is small in order to yield the score for the questions. If the disparity is too large, the question papers are required to be re-graded. The essay section in particular usually avoids giving questions requiring Logical Argument and favours scenic or event description. This stands in contrast to some of the questions asked often in the General Certificate Of Education (O levels). The examination paper asks the students to choose from two questions. The first question takes the form of a Picture , representing a scene in which the students are supposed to write about and describe, and the second takes the form of a given situation or scenario, each including writing criteria, such as the required Setting of each of the two questions in which the students are supposed to fulfil. The final examination testing the students' proficiency in the language is a written paper which tests the student's comprehension of the written language being tested, and usually lasts about 1 hour and 45 minutes in length. It has a total score value of 95. Multiple choice questions are given in the first section of the written paper, and tests Grammar , where students are required to spot a mistake in tense and provide the correct Conjugate or word form, or provide correct Punctuation which as of 2005 has a weight of 15. It also tests Vocabulary the students are required to choose a word from a list that fills in a blank that will express a sentence logically, with a current weight of 5. Students then are provided five questions, with a total weight of 10, where the student is to synthesise (join) two sentences together into one complete, grammatically coherent and agreeable sentence. Following this ten sentences with highlighted spelling and grammar mistakes which are supposed to be Copyedited , with a total weight of 10. A Cloze passage with a total of ten items and a weight of 10 is provided to the student; the passage tests grammar specifically. After this, students are given a cloze passage testing comprehension as opposed to grammar, which currently has a weight of 15 in which they fill in Blank s with words from a box. Students may be given a graphical stimulus; students will answer multiple-choice questions based on the graphical stimulus. Students are then given a passage to comprehend, and are tested first by answering five multiple choice questions about it, with a total weight of 5, and answering in full sentences ten open-ended questions with a total weight of 20. To yield the final grade for the student taking the language, all of the students' examination scores for that language are added; as the maximum total score is 200, the total is divided by 200% to yield the students' percentage score for the language subject. The format described is the standard format for 2005 ; it varies slightly in weight for each section, with deletions of some sections if the student is taking ''Foundation English'' as part of the EM3 Stream . Science examination and qualification The science paper lasts for around 1 hour and 45 minutes. Students are given 30 multiple choice questions with a weight of two marks of each, thus a total weight of 60; 16 open-ended questions, with weights of 2,3 or 4 marks each measure proficiency in several units of the curriculum, with a total weight of 40. The syllabus covers various aspects of Chemistry , Physics and Biology , and basic Interpretation of Statistics on a primary school level: Physics
Biology
Chemistry
Mathematics The mathematics examination in the PSLE is often one of its most distinctive elements that separates its style from most other examinations. The examination is two hours and fifteen minutes long, and is divided into two sections, a "section A" and "section B". Section A is multiple choice and consists of fifteen questions, the first five being one point each in score value, and the other ten being two points, and account for 25% of the examination score in total. Section B requires open-ended input, and is further divided into two parts, one 20 and 55. The 20 point section consists of twenty questions usually requiring little effort from the students and are meant to test individual knowledge components of the student. The 55 point section consists of two mark questions, 3 three mark questions, 5 four mark questions and four 5 mark questions. The questions are usually arranged in escalating difficulty, and the questions towards the end have received a degree of controversy from parents and educators from other countries. Long-answer questions in the PSLE worth four or five marks tend to be in two types, a Heuristic type of question, which usually requires students to form a new theorem, concept or algorithm from pre-existing knowledge in order to solve the question, although this does not have to be shown; however a logical statement and evidence connecting the question to the answer has to be shown in order to be awarded marks. This often takes form in questions which introduces Limits , Sequences and Series , whether Geometric or Arithmetic , and Linear Algebra . The second type, a structured type of question is usually more predictable but arguably more tedious and find answers for Systems Of Equations contained in a word problem. The mathematics examination in the PSLE has faced complaints from Parent s who complain about material outside the syllabus, while facing criticism from some educators from overseas who argue that the examination eventually encourages Rote rather than actual conceptual knowledge based on incentives to the student. SCORING AND POST-EXAM PROCEDURE Although the students have an absolute score, each student's absolute score are compared with other students in order to yield an Aggregate Score , which is based out of a total score of 300, and are ranked according to that basis. This allows the examination to accommodate for overly easy or overly difficult questions. Each examination is not graded by the teachers of the school the student has participated in; rather, the examinations are shipped to the Ministry of Education, which then ships the papers to other teachers in Singapore on a nearly random basis, in order to prevent Bias in marking, either intentional or unintentional, and the multiple choice questions graded by a machine in the Ministry of Education, which reads the OAS sheets. If one fails the PSLE, they will have to be retained in primary school to undergo one more year of primary six education again before attempting to take and pass the PSLE in the EM3 stream the next year. If they pass, they are required to choose six secondary schools which they will be drafted into according to their aggregate score. A Computer will then allocate slots to each school's intake for next year. Based on the choices, the computer organises each student to a list for each school based on their first choices; those with the highest scores based on a list for the school are allocated first into the school, and the next highest are allocated after them, until the maximum number of slots has been filled. The score of the last student who was allocated is known as the ''cutoff score'' for the school for that year. Those who are on the list but not allocated will be put on a list of a school their second choice, and the same procedure is repeated for all six choices until the one of the schools accept them. If none of the six choices accept the student, the Ministry of Education will work towards finding a school that will accept them, and based on proximity and location, rather than academic excellence of the school, without consulting the student. This makes proper selection of the six choices important. Priority organisation of the choices is also important; if the student's score both meets the requirements of the school of his or her third choice and second choice for example, the second choice will be allocated without the student being able to change his or her decisions. Previously before 2003 , students picked their choices before they took the examination and received their score. After 2003, students picked their choices after they received their score, after complaints by parents they could not make informed choices about their children's secondary schools before the examination scores were received. HISTORY AND PAST PERFORMANCE 2005 examination Performance In the year 2005 , 51, 087 pupils sat for the examination a 0.4% increase from the previous year. Out of the total 5434 were from EM3. The majority (or 97.8%) of the pupils could proceed for secondary school. 62.2% of those who passed were eligible for the Special/ Express course and the remaining 35.6% were eligible for either the Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) courses. 1133 pupils (2.2%) of the cohort assessed was not ready for secondary school in the year 2006 or are more suited for Vocational Training . The top student of 2005 was Adil Hakeem B Mohamad Rafee from Rosyth School . Controversy on flaws in papers The 2005 mathematics paper for EM1 or EM2 students was flawed due to a question having no definite method of working the answer out. The "Question 13" was spotted by many and became infamous. Using Complex Algebra , some students managed to work out the answer. The mistake was noted in the papers by a group of 3 students, consisting of Arjun Kunnasagaran, Chng Leon and Clement Yue. These pupils were from the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) from Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), a top primary school in Singapore. The Singapore Examinations and Assesments Board acknowledged the mistake a few days after the exam, giving two marks to every student regardless of their correctness. However, this kind of flaw is not uncommon, though it has not drawn so much attention before. OTHER METHODS OF ADMISSION TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS Students have the choice to go to other schools which does not use the posting system. Some of the top schools and the government schools have Direct School Admission. Some can go to other schools such as Singapore Sports School or the Anglo-Chinese School . Direct School Admission See Also: Direct School Admission Top schools like Hwa Chong Institution , Raffles Institution , and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) can admit up to 50% of their students via the Direct School Admission scheme (abb. DSA). Students apply through exercises conducted by the schools around July and August, receiving notice of the results shortly after. Other schools have also been granted permission by the Ministry to take in students specialising in the schools' niche areas up to a maximum of 5% to 10% of their total student intake. International schools Since 2004 , two international schools were given licenses to operate under the Ministry of Education's compulsory practices such as playing the National Anthem , and following the nation's bilingual policies, to allow Singaporean or Singapore Permanent Resident students to enter without the Ministry's permission. These schools were granted the permission in April 2004 and started the school year in January 2005 . They are Anglo-Chinese School (International) and Hwa Chong International . Singapore Sports School See Also: Singapore Sports School The Singapore Sports School is for students who are perceived by the school to excel in Sport s it offers. This includes Swimming , Badminton , Table Tennis , Football Or Soccer , Golf , Track And Field and Sailing . It was opened in January 2004 and the school takes students directly into the school provided they have an active background in the sports offered by the school. When the school had its first intake, many students applied who were judged to excel in their sport but were posted to the Normal (Academic) or Normal (technical) streams. The school rejected these pupils as the school sought pupils who excelled both physically and academically. The school was criticised for being too result wise instead of grooming them into future sportsmen. Some of the students were finally accepted on an appeal basis after that. NUS High School See Also: NUS High School of Mathematics and Science The NUS High School of Mathematics and Science opened in 2005 with an intake of 225 Secondary 1 and 3 students, offering a six-year program leading to the NUS High Diploma . Students will also sit for Advanced Placement and Scholastic Assessment Test examinations in the senior years for benchmarks for admission into foreign universities. The school offers an accelerated mathematics and science curriculum based on a modular system, also offering languages, humanities, arts, and other elective subjects integrated into its modular system. Students are admitted based on several factors, performance in an application form, interviews, tests, and an admission camp. Several places, approximately ten out of the 150 places offered per year are also reserved for Primary 6 students wishing to apply with their PSLE results. REFERENCES
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