Singapore strives to ease pressure on schoolchildren
Singaporean schoolchildren will take fewer exams from next year under reforms unveiled on September 28 which aimed at easing pressure on pupils in a country obsessed with high achievements.
Hanoi (VNA) - Singaporean schoolchildren will take fewer exams from next year under reforms unveiled on September 28 which aimed at easing pressure on pupils in a country obsessed with high achievements.
Accordingly, students in the first two classes of primary school, aged 6-8, will no longer take exams from 2019.
Mid-year examinations will also be removed for some other levels of primary school as well as for those in the first and third years of secondary school.
In addition, students will no longer be told their academic position in class and in their school, to allow them to focus on learning and discourage comparisons with their peers.
The reforms are aimed at moving away from an over-emphasis on academic results, the Ministry of Education said.
Many people welcomed the move, saying that it would enable children to have a more rounded childhood.
Singapore regularly tops global rankings when it comes to taking tests but has faced criticism for putting pressure on students from a young age, and for a focus on rote-learning that curbs creative thinking.-VNA
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