Relevance of Admission into Gifted Education Programme for Direct School Admission into Secondary Schools

Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked the Minister for Education to what extent will a student's acceptance into the Gifted Education Programme be relevant under the proposed new Direct School Admission scheme.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: The Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme seeks to promote holistic education by recognising a more diverse range of student strengths, abilities and achievements, other than performance at the national examinations, as criteria for school admission.

A student's acceptance into the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) is not in and of itself a sufficient criterion for admission via DSA. They are still subject to merit-based admissions criteria set by the respective schools.

Some schools consider student achievements in the GEP, for example, their achievements in academic competitions and participation in special projects.

This is no different from recognising students for their sports talent, demonstrated in their passion in training, their achievement in sports competitions, and/or their ability to be selected for and remain part of their respective national junior sports team.

MOE will broaden the DSA scheme to take into account personal qualities and attributes, such as character and resilience. Details will be announced in due course.