Subject-based Banding in Primary Education in 2008
I want to applaud the Education Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam for his efforts to fine-tune the current primary education system through subject-based banding to maximize the potential of every child in the academic area of studies (English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and/or Science) that he or she is best. Such a bold move taken by the Ministry of Education will allow children of mixed abilities to study in the same class without being labeled as EM3 or monolingual that used to be an obvious stigma. It will also allow our children to learn at the level that best pitches their competence for different subjects. In short, the approach will certainly benefit all students regardless of their academic abilities, by catering to their individual talents and varied learning styles.
I want to highlight that the subject-based banding will also benefit those exceptional children who are currently attending the regular schools instead of special schools. These are high-functioning children who have been diagnosed as either dyslexic or autistic and they often display uneven abilities in different subjects. For example, an autistic savant with problems in learning English can study the language at Foundation level, but because of his markedly developed islet of ability in mathematics, he may study the subject at Standard or Higher level. And who knows that this autistic savant might one day be representing his school in the Mathematics Olympiad, given the opportunity that his mathematical ability has been nurtured! The same can be illustrated of a dyslexic child with high ability.
I hope that the Ministry of Education will look into subject-based banding not only limited to academic subjects but also include the non-academic subjects such as sports and games, music and the arts. We do have many talented children whose potential in these non-academic subjects can be developed and nurtured further. At the end of the day, isn’t it the aim of our education system to maximize the potential of every child so that he or she can grow up to be a good and useful citizen of Singapore?
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