GEP revamp: More pupils to get access to high-ability programmes, starting with 2024 P1 cohort

SINGAPORE – Starting with the 2024 Primary 1 batch, more pupils will have access to higher-ability programmes in primary schools, and will no longer transfer to specific schools to join a centralised Gifted Education Programme (GEP).

Under a new approach to broaden opportunities for such pupils and move away from assessing them by a single yardstick, they will instead take part in programmes for high-ability learners within their own schools and explore strengths in specific subjects.

These high-ability learner programmes offered by schools will expand to take in 10 per cent of all primary school pupils – which works out to about 3,000 each year – up from 7 per cent now, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Aug 19.

Pupils could also take after-school modules in specific subjects at designated schools nearby, the ministry said in a media briefing.

Both these programmes will admit more pupils and consider a wider range of abilities than the current GEP, which caters to the top 1 per cent of primary school pupils, MOE said, elaborating on

a policy shift announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the National Day Rally on Aug 18.

In his maiden NDR speech, PM Wong said that after 40 years, it was time to update the GEP, and that the programme would be discontinued in its current form – where selected pupils transfer to nine specific primary schools – in favour of a new approach to stretch pupils with higher abilities across all primary schools.

The current nine schools are: Raffles Girls’ Primary School, Rosyth School, Anglo-Chinese School, Nanyang Primary School, Tao Nan School, Henry Park Primary School, Catholic High School (Primary), St Hilda’s Primary School and Nan Hua Primary School.

The final selection exercise for the current GEP will be held for Primary 3 pupils in 2025.

Under the new system, pupils will be able to join or leave these programmes at multiple points between Primary 4 and 6, rather than at a single point in Primary 4 after one standardised test, as is the case now.

They will also be identified through a more holistic process, including teachers’ observations and day-to-day work, MOE added.

There are three main reasons for the new approach, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing told the media after the briefing at the MOE headquarters in Buona Vista.

First, Singapore is moving away from assessing pupils’ abilities by a single dimension, a system which he called “teaching to the average”.

He said: “Some people might be very good at maths. Some people are very good at science. It doesn’t mean that we take the average and therefore teach them according to this average.”

In the new system, pupils do not have to be good at everything in order to qualify for higher-ability programmes, he said. If a child is good at some things, he can still qualify for some aspects of the programme.

Currently, to qualify for the GEP, selected children sit two standardised tests in Primary 3 where they are tested in English, mathematics and their general abilities.

In the new system, children go through only the first stage of testing. This test will not be the only yardstick for entry into the programmes, with day-to-day observations, teacher recommendations and daily work taken into consideration as well.

The second reason is that a child manifests his abilities across time, rather than at a single point, Mr Chan said.

This is why MOE is moving away from a single window of assessment at Primary 3, he added.

He said: “So in the new system, you will have many opportunities to demonstrate your abilities... different dimensions of abilities and different timeframes will inform us in the way we redesign the system.”

There are also many pupils who may have missed the assessment window in Primary 3 who would, in the current system, not be able to join the GEP.

Mr Chan added: “In the new system, one will be able to join from Primary 4 onwards, so there’s no need to rush, and you can develop at your own pace.”

Pupils who, over the course of the programme, find that it does not suit their needs may also exit at any point in time, he added.

Third, developing children holistically is not just about their academic abilities, but also their social and emotional development, he said. This requires a stable environment, and not disrupting the friendships and bonds they have built up in their early school years, he added.

“This is why we have designed the system in such a way that most of the students will be able to complete their programmes within their schools,” he said.

At the same time, MOE also wants pupils to be able to mix with those from other schools. This is what will happen at the after-school modules at designated schools that serve as regional centres, Mr Chan said.

Singapore would not have been able to do this in the early years of the programme because it was building up its capacity, he added.

Evolving research on giftedness and greater capacity in schools

Two reasons make the update to the GEP timely: insights from international research and the greater capacity of schools here, MOE said.

The understanding of gifted education has shifted over the years, it said, adding that research has increasingly shown that intelligence and ability are developed over the course of an individual’s life, and can manifest in specific areas, such as in English or mathematics, or in several areas.

All schools here now also have the capacity to develop high-ability learners, said MOE.

The ministry has built up a cadre of teachers who can conduct higher-ability programmes for pupils across all schools, Mr Chan said.

Though some schools will have more of such pupils, in general, MOE will have sufficient resources to distribute across the system in order to conduct these programmes, he added.

Teachers are better able than before to support higher-ability learners in terms of training, resources and how to look out for pupils with potential, MOE said.

While schools have different levels of resources, the ministry will work with them to cluster these when necessary. It will also tap the experience of the nine primary schools that currently run the GEP.

Some teachers from these schools will be deployed to support the after-school modules, or to support other schools at the cluster level, MOE said.

Socio-economic status and concerns over ‘hothousing’

MOE has been tracking the high concentration of pupils from higher socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds in the GEP, but this was not a primary consideration in its refresh of the programme, it said.

Over the years, the programme has been criticised for symbolising or enabling elitism in schools here.

In 2022,

Mr Chan said in Parliament

that about 45 per cent of pupils who joined the GEP over the last five years lived in Housing Board flats.

In education systems around the world, children of higher SES backgrounds tend to do better academically, MOE said.

More standardised testing increases how much this effect appears, as parents with greater resources can prepare their children for such tests, it added.

The new system of selecting for high-ability programmes is more holistic and not dependent on a single test, which will help to mitigate this effect, it said.

This means there is no need to hothouse children – educating them to a high level at an earlier age than is usual – for entry into these programmes, Mr Chan said.

He added: “If we now understand that there are multiple points of entry and exit (to these programmes), there’s no need for us to hothouse our children.

“And, if anything, it will do the child more harm than good. So I think we pace ourselves, let our children develop at their natural rate, and that will be the best for their long-term development.”