Forum: Reclaim family life and support for pre-teens by rethinking PSLE

I would like to offer some perspectives in response to the Forum letter “Why parents can’t help but feel stressed about the PSLE” (Nov 3).

Entering adolescence is already a challenging transition for any child. From around age 10, children experience rapid emotional, social and cognitive changes that require parents to journey closely with them, offering guidance, reassurance and space to grow.

Yet in Singapore, this critical developmental phase coincides with intense preparations for the Primary School Leaving Examination. For many families, the priorities of parenting shift – sometimes unwillingly – from preparing for teenhood to managing academic performance.

Even parents who prefer a more balanced approach often find themselves swept into the national tide of tuition, mock exams and constant benchmarking. The PSLE’s seemingly high stakes create a gravitational pull so strong that parents feel they have little choice but to comply.

Parenting styles, however, do not naturally evolve just because a child enters adolescence. This is precisely the stage at which parents need to deepen and upgrade their parenting skills – moving from managing young children to mentoring young adults.

But when attention is consumed by exam management, the parent-teen relationship can suffer, creating a generational rift and the tensions that come with it, among them mental health challenges.

We are still the only top-performing nation with such a high-stakes examination at such a young age. The question, then, is whether this structure continues to serve our goals as a society.

If we truly believe that strong families are the foundation of Singapore – something our leaders have repeatedly emphasised – then we must ask whether the current system supports or undermines that foundation.

It may be time to consider holding such a sorting exam at an older age, when students are more developmentally ready, or rethink the need for a high-stakes assessment altogether.

Reclaiming childhood should not be a nostalgic ideal. It is a practical investment in healthier families, stronger parent-child relationships, and ultimately a more resilient society.

Let us reclaim family life by re-examining the PSLE’s place in our education system.

 Timothy Wong Shen-Jin