Placing Primary School Students Taking Subjects at Foundation Level in Same Class as Other Students to Ensure Social Mixing

3 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education whether Primary school students taking subjects at a foundation level can be placed in the same class as students who are not taking foundation level subjects to ensure social mixing, similar to that in Secondary schools.

The Second Minister for Education (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Primary schools strive for diverse form classes with a good mix of gender, race and learning ability. Thus, form classes at Primary 5 and 6 can have students of several subject combinations, including a mix of students taking subjects at Foundation and Standard levels.

Beyond classes, students also have opportunities to interact with their peers through school-wide platforms such as Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs).

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Sir. I thank the Second Minister for the reply. Two clarifications. One, could I ask then how exactly is streaming done at Primary 5 and how do we segregate them into different classes based on their learning abilities or, as the Second Minister said, is it based on their race or their interest?

Two, Minister Chan shared during the MOE Committee of Supply (COS) debate that we would have mixed form classes in Secondary schools, where students can interact with peers of different strengths and interests. Can I check whether that will be extended to Primary schools as well?

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. Yes, as I mentioned, we do group students in form classes at Primary 5, because at Primary 4, they take tests to ascertain their competency level and they are allowed to then decide based on consultation with their parents, too, on the subject level that they are prepared to take – whether it is at Foundation or at the Standard level. Some students do take one or two subjects at the Foundation level, depending on their level of abilities.

Let me give a broad overview as to how we allocate students in their class formation. When allocating students to classes, schools aim to create an inclusive and caring learning environment, so as to nurture and develop students holistically. We provide the foundation for students to shape their attitudes towards learning, build future knowledge and skills and develop soft skills that are needed for them to navigate in the future world, which is really, very challenging for them. This is better achieved with diverse classrooms within the classroom setting and as diverse as we can, to provide better social mixing. But there are certain considerations, given the class size that we have.

These considerations include having enough common subjects for the form class to bond but it also depends on the capability of teachers with a wide range of abilities and resource limitations. Schools are given flexibility to manage and operationalise the groupings.

As I mentioned in my earlier reply, we want to manage better social mixing between gender, ethnicity, abilities. More importantly, Sir, we understand the Member's concern about social mixing. Social mixing is but one of the many considerations in how students are grouped in classes. But we must be careful that social mixing, if brought to the extreme, may impose more challenges for our teachers and how they can teach. So, we want to strike a balance, in managing what we can do. But beyond the classrooms, we also facilitate social mixing through other platforms, as I mentioned earlier, in CCA activities.