Number of Gifted Education Programme Students Entering Secondary School under Direct School Admission Programme

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Education over the past five years (a) what percentage of each Gifted Education Programme (GEP) cohort and how many GEP students enter Secondary school by the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme yearly; and (b) what percentage of each GEP cohort receives the Edusave Entrance Scholarships for Independent Schools yearly.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: The DSA scheme seeks to promote holistic education by recognising a more diverse range of student achievements, abilities and interests as criteria for school admission, other than performance at the national examinations. Under the DSA scheme, students are admitted on their strengths in the participating schools' niche areas. These schools have programmes in the niche areas to further develop the DSA students.

A student who has been offered a place in a school through DSA must subsequently meet the eligibility requirement for admission to the school he/she has applied for. For example, a student who has been offered a place in a school with only the Express course through DSA must have PSLE results that meet the eligibility requirement for admission into the Express course at secondary school. If the PSLE results did not meet the eligibility requirement, the DSA offer would be withdrawn.

On average, over the past five years, more than 80% of each GEP cohort, or around 400 pupils, entered secondary school through the DSA.

The Edusave Entrance Scholarships for Independent Schools (EESIS) is given to the top one-third of pupils who are posted to Secondary One in independent schools, based on their PSLE results. Over the past five years, the percentage of GEP pupils awarded the Edusave Entrance Scholarship for Independent Schools averaged 78%.

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