December 14, 2018

Did you know that approximately half of less-privileged students are concentrated amongst the same few schools in Singapore?

This finding was recently reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In response, Singapore’s Ministry of Education has made efforts to promote social diversity and prevent future socioeconomic division. School policies have recently been shaped to ensure a diverse intake of students from various socioeconomic backgrounds. For secondary schools with affiliated primary schools, 20% of the student intake will be reserved for students from non-affiliated schools. Moreover, the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme, which allows students to apply for schools based on a wider range of non-academic related talents, has also lowered its financial barriers to encourage applications from low-income students. These changes are welcomed as research has shown that mixing low-income students with high achieving peers can motivate them [who is them? Better to make clear – ‘the former’ if it’s those students] to strive for greater heights in their academic performance.

Dr Kelvin Seah (NUS Economics) argues that despite these initiatives, there is a need to ensure that students from low-income families are able to integrate into the school community. In fact, negative interactions with peers and educators can perpetuate feelings of marginalization and inferiority in low-income students. To ensure a positive learning environment, schools and teachers should be mindful of the socioeconomic differences that exist amongst students. Teachers should avoid organizing activities that may unintentionally highlight their student’s socioeconomic differences.

Read “Ensuring poorer kids don’t feel marginalised in top schools”, here: https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/ensuring-poorer-kids-dont-feel-marginalised-in-top-schools