MOE, Mindef can support private candidates retaking A-Levels
In statistics reported recently, Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung said that, on a yearly basis from 2007 to 2011, there were about 4,400 A-Level students who did not enrol in Singapore universities.
Granted, as he said, most of these students went to other educational institutions to further their studies or they started to work, but I believe that there are also those who did not gain admission because their grades were not good enough or they passed every subject but did not qualify for their course requirements.
As a tutor who cares deeply for my students’ grades and future career development, I have encountered many cases of private candidates who had to repeat their A-Levels.
Some have repeated more than once. For these students, not being able to repeat their studies in their former junior college was one of the biggest challenges because they do not have the same access to quality school resources and amenities.
Based on our tuition centre’s in-house statistics, we found that around 40 per cent of students who retook their A-Levels end up performing the same or worse, compared with their first try in school.
For male candidates, the difficulty of retaking the examination is compounded by their obligation to complete two years of National Service. Field trainings, guard duties and in-camp duties over the weekend severely limit their capacity to revise for their A-Levels.
I sincerely hope that the Ministry of Education and the Defence Ministry (Mindef) can look into the following suggestions.
First, consider allowing repeat students to take their exams in their former junior college. For full-time national servicemen, offer them study leave and nights off to go for classes at private schools to prepare for their exam.
If not, Mindef could centralise or recommend revision classes led by qualified teachers to help this group retake their A-Levels.
