Science experiments and honing debate skills: How after-school enrichment pushes stronger pupils

SINGAPORE – Speaking confidently before an audience did not always come naturally to Primary 6 pupil Carys Ang, who describes herself as shy and lacking in confidence when she was younger.

But after two years of being part of Blangah Rise Primary School’s after-school debate programme, she can now deliver speeches with poise, backed up by arguments and rebuttals drawing on real-world knowledge.

“When I was in Primary 4, I went to see my first-ever competitive debate as an audience member, and I was so impressed at how the participants spoke so well,” said Carys. “And I wanted to become like them.”

Today, Carys, 12, represents her school in competitions, using the weekly sessions taught by its English language teachers to strengthen her voice projection and improve her clarity of speech. Such enrichment includes topics like design thinking and journalism.

She is one of 40 pupils who were selected by her school for English language enrichment classes.

Overall, 15 per cent of the school’s Primary 3 to Primary 6 cohorts are enrolled in various enrichment programmes, including those in mathematics and science, which were introduced in 2019.

Such school-based provisions for high-ability pupils are set for a nationwide expansion.

From 2027, these programmes will take in 10 per cent of all primary school pupils, up from 7 per cent now, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had said in 2024, when he announced that the Gifted Education Programme in its current form would be discontinued.

Instead of centralised classes at nine specific schools, which currently include Nanyang Primary School and Henry Park Primary School, high-ability learners will be stretched through in-school enrichment within their own primary schools, he had said.

In addition, Education Minister Desmond Lee announced on March 3 that advanced classes will be offered at 15 designated centres to further support these pupils. These 15 centres – including Teck Ghee Primary School in Ang Mo Kio and Clementi Primary School in Clementi – will not be fixed.

Teachers told The Straits Times that they select pupils for school-based enrichment based on a few data points, including teacher observations, daily schoolwork and a pupil’s genuine interest in the subject. The primary goal is to identify aptitude rather than just looking at exam results. The new one-stage identification test, announced by Mr Lee on March 3, will serve as another point of reference for this selection process.

Blangah Rise Primary’s debate sessions challenge pupils with complex themes, ranging from the ethics of laboratory-grown meat to the feasibility of free public transport.

“We are not just teaching presentation skills, but critical thinking,” said Ms Aprilene Goh, the school’s head of department (HOD) for English. “For pupils with verbal talents, we want them to be able to respond to points made by the opposition on the spot and be able to structure and nuance their case.”

Carys’ schoolmates Sri Raman Rajaraman and Teo Kai Ting said they learnt how to better manage emotions during a debate and improve their speech-writing skills.

“I was a bit reckless when it came to controlling my emotions when we lost or during rebuttals,” said Raman, reflecting on his past experiences. “But over the years, I learnt to tone down my voice and control myself.”

For Kai Ting, she managed to develop her thoughts and arguments into fuller speeches that span over four minutes.

“It’s heartening to be able to create different opportunities for stronger pupils to be engaged,” Ms Goh said, adding that the school has no cap on its intake for enrichment programmes to ensure all pupils with academic strengths and talents will be offered opportunities.

At Palm View Primary School, pupils discover the depths of science through weekly 90-minute sessions in smaller classes after school.

Fourteen Primary 5 pupils and 16 Primary 4 pupils, including Nayak Stavya and Yianne Chen, are now part of the Excellence 2000 (E2K) Science programme, which the school started nine years ago. The sessions are taught by its teachers in the science laboratories.

For Stavya, 10, the programme’s appeal lies in the autonomy of discovery. “In normal lessons, the teacher often explains the experiment and tells us the results, but during E2K lessons, we follow a protocol and try it ourselves, and the results often surprise us,” he said.

Yianne, 10, recalled a module on “hidden light”, where pupils observed how tonic water reacts under a torchlight, and in another experiment, how the light creates a mini rainbow.

Mr Gerald Wong, HOD for science at Palm View Primary, said while E2K’s broad objectives align with the national syllabus, it introduces advanced concepts and also emphasises working with peers to share experiment results and discuss, for instance.

“Pupils look forward to the hands-on sessions and are always smiling and chatting during tasks.”

Yianne said she is looking forward to the expansion of such sessions. “I’m the only one in my class in the programme. But if more get to join, more classmates can experience this programme and we can all have fun together,” she said.

At Pei Chun Public School, the E2K Mathematics programme has been ongoing since 2018. The weekly after-school classes, which take place every second semester, serve 30 pupils across Primary 4 and 5, who make up 10 per cent of each cohort.

Programme teachers Rachel Lim, subject head for mathematics, and Mr Stanley Soh, a senior teacher, said their pupils are “highly engaged”, often showing perseverance and a competitive spirit.

The curriculum focuses on discovery through play, said Mr Soh, citing an example of a card-selection game that guided pupils to discover the concept of mathematical pairing. “It is fulfilling to see pupils being so engaged... and discover that learning is more than just repetitive work,” he said. “You can see the excitement in their eyes when they encounter a truly challenging task.”

The three schools told ST that they have various programmes for different ability levels.

Pei Chun, for example, offers maths Olympiads and monthly mathematics puzzles to cater to pupils of different interests and abilities, Ms Lim said.

“We can see there are sparks in their eyes when they figure out certain maths concepts,” she said. “These programmes allow them to find joy in learning.”