Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms He Ting Ru, Sengkang GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education in respect of the 2024 Secondary 1 posting exercise (a) how many Primary 6 students are not posted to any of their six school choices, with a breakdown into (i) numbers (ii) percentages and (iii) posting group; and (b) how does this posting outcome compare to the numbers in the previous three years; and (c) whether any guidance or preparation is given to parents for years where there are more competition for places in secondary schools such as years with higher birth rates.
Response
1. MOE plans for sufficient Secondary One places to cater to all PSLE students in that cohort. This means that every student who takes the PSLE and qualifies for secondary school will be guaranteed a place at one of our secondary schools. The 2024 PSLE cohort was larger than the cohorts in the last few years, and this was taken into account in our planning.
2. Under the 2024 Secondary One Posting Exercise, more than 90% of the cohort were placed in a school among their six choices. This was consistent across all posting groups. For the remaining students, they were posted to the school nearest to their residences that had vacancies in their eligible posting groups. Overall, the posting outcome was comparable to the previous three years.
3. Schools' cut-off points (or COPs) can fluctuate from year to year depending on the cohort's PSLE score and their school choices. When more students with the same PSLE scores pick the same schools, the COPs of these schools could become more stringent than what they were in previous years. The larger cohort taking the PSLE in 2024 could also have contributed to this effect for some popular schools. Therefore, besides encouraging students and their parents to only use the previous years' COPs as a reference, we have strongly encouraged them in 2024 to select at least two to three schools where their PSLE score falls below the school's previous year's cut-off points. This would increase their chances of securing a place in one of their preferred school choices. We also encourage students and parents to look beyond COPs, and to consider the school's culture and distinctive programmes, alongside the student's interests and strengths.