PSLE is needed in Singapore: PM Lee

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http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC120927-0000144/PSLE-is-needed-in-Singapore--PM-Lee

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday that Singapore's education system cannot do away with the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

Singapore should instead look at how it can reduce the pressure of a single examination and a single grade.

Mr Lee said it will take some time for the authorities to think about it, and the government is not in a hurry to make any changes.

Mr Lee explained that the PSLE is needed for two purposes:

- First, to assess the child having finished primary school has attained the standard expected of him.

- Secondly that Singapore needs some way to post people to secondary schools and for the schools to choose the students.

The Education Ministry also has the Direct School Admission Programme, which is an important scheme to free up the system.

Mr Lee felt the basic reason why there was so much pressure on the PSLE was because people took the secondary school admission so very seriously, which he felt was not correct.

He added: "There are many points in life where you have to prove yourself and demonstrate what you can do. You don't have to get into the right school and thereafter think that you are on an escalator ... So really it's your own ability and effort you have put in, the dedication of your teachers, and then you demonstrate what you can do at the stage of your life."