Cambridge O-level system has always been part of Singapore secondary education system. Over years the system has become exams-centric, used mainly as assessment on the academic ability of secondary students. With Singapore developing into an educational hub, many parents and students are constantly exploring better alternatives to O-level exams system. In recent years many parents realize that the O-level exams system can only be beaten at Primary school level. Parents would find means to enroll their children into reputable primary school, believing that this is the way to help their children gain better chance to beat the O-level exams system in future.
Programs With No O-Level Exams
There are 2 main education programs that allow student to progress without O-level exams. One is the 6-year Integrated Program (IP) leading to A-Level. The other is the International Baccalaureate (IB) program leading to Diploma. Both programs have been running with great success for many years now and have won praises from parents and educators for offering superior education to students.
The main qualifying position for both programs is at Primary School Leaving Exams (PSLE). Besides academic results, students can also gain admission into these programs through Direct School Admission (DSA). Under DSA, students who are talented in sports or arts can gain admission easily into most IP schools. They can also opt for admission into IB programs offered by Singapore Sports School (SSP) and School Of The Arts (SOTA) to pursue specialized curriculum.
Why Beat The O-Level System
O-level exams system requires a student to spend great amount of time on exams and exams preparation. Under the O-level exams system, the only way for a student to be assured of fulfilling aspiration and dream is do well in exams. Exams and exams preparation has become the routine, taking away fair amount of learning time from the student. In some worst cases, schools use exams to test students on what they do not know, rather than to test on what they know.
Beating the O-level system allows a student to spend minimum time on exams and maximum time on learning. When a student spends more time to understand, integrate and appreciate concepts, he is motivated to learn for self-education and not for external assessment. In fact, all schools that have done away O-level exams are able to introduce enrichment programs for students to learn beyond the O-level system.
Beating O-Level System At Primary School Registration
For many parents, beating the O-level exams system starts with enrolling their children into reputable schools. Singapore primary school admission system has become popular discussion topic in newspaper, internet forums and even political dialogue sessions. There are several schemes (known as registration phases) available for parents to gain good chance of securing a place in reputable primary school. Some schemes require investment (such as moving into a property near the school) while some require time and efforts (such as joining the school as a parent volunteer) for parent to contribute voluntary service to the school prior to registration.
Beating O-Level System At PSLE
Upon receiving PSLE results, students with good academic results stand good chance of entering IP and IB secondary schools. Very often students who do not perform as good are also interested to gain entry into the IP and IB secondary schools. This leads to high volume of appeal cases among secondary schools. Some schools are known to receive more than hundred appeal cases yearly. For parents who understand the appeal process and do it correctly, they still stand a good chance to help their children gain admission into their preferred school.
Beating O-Level System Through DSA
In contrast to PSLE qualifying process which is a nationwide school admission exercise, DSA is a more convenient avenue for student to gain direct admission into IP and IB secondary schools. Being a local admission system, DSA decision making process involves only local school Principal, Vice Principals, teachers-in-charge of CCA (Co-Curriculum Activities) and internal/external coaches of CCA. The way to secure a place through DSA is therefore to work with a person who is familiar with the DSA process. Some students even take full advantage of the DSA system to approach multiple schools so as to choose among the best.
Under present education system, outstanding academic achievement at primary school has become much more important than outstanding achievement at O-level. There are known cases of students with outstanding O-level results being denied entry into their preferred choice of Higher Institution. To beat the O-level exams system, parents should understand the primary school system better and help their children find their niche before they enter into secondary education.