MOE releases performance by ethnic group

MOE releases performance by ethnic group
Dec 22, 2009
AsiaOne

The Ministry of Education (MOE) released data today on the academic performance of Singapore's major ethnic groups over the past 10 years.

In its statement, MOE stated that its objective is to provide feedback to the communities on how their children fared in the national examinations.

Performance remains consistently high overall, with an overall percentage pass rate of above 95 for the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).

Secondary school students had at least 3 O level passes also remained close to 95 per cent, and the proportion of GCE A level students who obtained at least 3 H2 passes and passed General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry continued to be above 85 per cent.

However, as highlighted by Muslim Affairs Minister Yaacob Ibrahim earlier this month, there is a wider discrepancy in performance in Mathematics, with Malay students performing slightly worse.

The percentage of Chinese students and Indian students who scored 'A*' to 'C's in the PSLE have remained fairly constant over the years, with the former hovering at about 90 per cent and the latter at about 72 per cent.

However, the same cannot be said for Malay students, of whom 63.4 per cent scored 'A*' to 'C' in 1999 but only 56.3 per cent did last year.

While, Malay students continue to outperform other ethnic groups in mother tongue scores, their weaker Mathematics and Science results meant that they performed worse overall.

Percentage of PSLE Students Who Scored A*-C in Mathematics Percentages exclude EM3 students. The first batch of students under the adjustment of the promotion criteria from P5 to P6 sat for PSLE in 2001.

The percentage of a primary one cohort admitted to post-secondary institutions* has continued to rise, and is now above 90 per cent compared to 78 per cent in 1999.

*These include junior colleges, Centralised Institute, polytechnics, ITE, LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and other private educational organisations.

Percentage of P1 Cohort Admitted to Post-Secondary Institutions Junior colleges, Centralised Institute, polytechnics, ITE, LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and other private educational organisations offering courses at post-secondary level. Figures for 2004-2008 are preliminary. Figures from 2000 include participation in LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and other private educational organisations, and also take into account students who left the country.