SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PLAN SCHOOLS

Mr Liew Kok Pun asked the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education what is the future development of the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools.

Dr Tay Eng Soon (for the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, the future of the Special course will depend on the ability of the SAP schools to attract enough students from the top 10% to do the course. Up to now, these students have come from both the Chinese and English primary streams. In 1979, when the SAP school programme was started, the total enrolment consisted of 65% from the CL (Chinese language) stream and 35% from the EL (English language) stream. This year, the ratio was 40% from the CL stream and 60% from the EL stream. The overall intake had also fallen from 1,455 in 1979, representing 48.5% of those from the top 10%, to 1,255 or 38.8% for 1983.

The intake from the CL stream will fall drastically in the future as enrolment in the primary CL stream continues to decline. his year, only 2% of the Primary 1 intake as for the CL stream. The overall intake into the SAP schools is, therefore, likely to decline unless more able pupils from the EL stream can be induced to join the SAP schools.

It would be Singapore's loss if some of our best Chinese secondary schools should decline to become mediocre schools because good students are going to the EL schools instead of the SAP schools. Apart from their high academic standards, these schools possess an ethos which has over the years produced students with a strong sense of discipline and seriousness of purpose. This quality of the best Chinese schools is linked to the quality of their principals and teaching staff. For these schools to survive, they must continue to attract able students not only to the Special course but also to their Express course.

The results of the first batch of Special course students to take their 'O' level are very good. They demonstrate that it is possible for very able students to take EL1 and CL1 and do as well as those among the same top 10% in the non-SAP stream.

However, recognizing that the intake into the SAP schools is likely to decline because of the large decrease in CL stream primary enrolment, the Ministry is proposing to allow students from the top 10% at PSLE to join the Express course in the SAP schools to do EL1 and CL2. This will attract some of the better pupils from the EL primary schools to join the SAP schools, since they will not be deterred by having to do EL1 and CL1. Of course, those who want to opt to do the Special course, i.e. EL1 and CL1, can continue to do so. This measure will enlarge the intake of able students into the SAP schools.

The ability of the SAP schools to maintain the Special course will depend on the demand for the course. If the intake continues to decline in some of the SAP schools, it may be necessary to transfer their Special course to the more viable SAP schools: These schools will then revert to regular schools offering Express and Normal courses.

Encik Mansor Haji Sukaimi (Kampong Kembangan): Sir, what are the reasons for the preference of parents to send their children to the EL schools and not to the SAP schools?

Dr Tay Eng Soon: Sir, it is well known that for many years now since the 1950s parents in Singapore have been sending their children, in increasing numbers, to the English stream. In the 1970s the number of pupils sent by parents to the Chinese stream continued to fall. What we have observed of parents wanting to send their children to the non-SAP schools instead of the SAP stream is part of the same trend. The reason is simply an economic and a rational one because most parents recognize the importance of English as the working language in Singapore by virtue of our peculiar position in the world economy.