Direct School Admission Programme

Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked the Minister for Education in each of the years from 2009 to 2011 (a) how many students gained admission into secondary schools through sports under the Direct School Admission (DSA) programme; (b) what sports were these students accepted for, giving a breakdown in numbers for each sport; and (c) what percentage of places in independent schools and schools offering Integrated Programmes were taken up by students under the DSA programme.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: The Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme, introduced in 2004, seeks to promote holistic education by recognising a more diverse range of student achievements and talents as criteria for school admissions, other than performance at the national examinations. Under the DSA scheme, participating schools are given the flexibility to admit students on the basis of their strengths in stated niche areas where the school has programmes to further develop the students' talents.

In the last three years between 2009 and 2011, an average of 870 students were admitted to secondary school through sports via the DSA scheme. The sports for which the most students were admitted via the DSA scheme were basketball, badminton, table-tennis, track & field and volleyball. The number of students admitted under each individual talent area, whether sports or performing arts, basketball or badminton, has varied from year to year, depending on the range of talent exhibited by the students who apply and the number of niche areas offered by the schools.

Between 2009 and 2011, an average of 7% of places in the independent schools and schools offering Integrated Programmes were taken up by students with sporting excellence under DSA. The majority of the places in these schools are available for students who participate under the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise.

Overall, DSA has served to broaden the definition of success and promote holistic education by reducing the emphasis on national examination results. MOE will continue to develop multiple pathways to cater to the different educational needs of our children.

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