In recent years, there has been a lot of debate on the quality of education in Singapore. A major concern is the level of primary school education, as it is the foundation upon which all future learning will be built upon.

In this article, we will take a look at the state of primary education in Singapore. We will discuss the different types of programmes available, the exams that students have to take, and the challenges that they face. We will also offer some suggestions on how to improve the system.

Education is important for the development of any country and its citizens. In Singapore, primary education is compulsory for all children from the age of six to twelve. The Singaporean education system is renowned for its high standards and quality of teaching.

Primary education in Singapore lasts for six years, and is divided into three phases:

The first phase lasts for two years. During this phase, students develop basic literacy and numeracy skills. There are no formal exams and students experience basic learning sometimes through play. Simple assessments at various points in the school years gauge student proficiency and certain corrective measures are put in place. It is common for many students to seek the best tuition services of a private home tutor to fill in the learning gaps as and when they occur. It is recommended to approach a top tuition agency for dedicated and capable tutors.

The second phase in Primary 3 introduces Science as a subjects and students will have to sit for an exam at the end of the academic year. Subject content starts to get challenging and student are taught certain exam skills

The third and final phase is in Primary 5 & 6 where the students prepare for the Primary School Leaving Examination or PSLE. It would be fair to say that content covered in Primary 5 & 6 are covered in this high stakes examination. This is when a private tutor becomes essential as many students struggle with demanding subjects like Math. Every year, after the PSLE, there is much debate online on how “hard” some questions appear to be. There are also stories on how some students are pushed to tears after the Math paper. It is common for students preparing for the PSLE to engage a private home tutor from the best tuition agency. This acts as an additional learning resource outside of the school environment.

The structured system of Primary education provides students with a good foundation of formal education that ranks highly in the PISA tests for OECD countries. Singapore tends to top these tests for English & Math. Even our Math textbooks are sought after in education systems in other countries. Some might argue that it is not wise to subject young students to this level of academic rigour. There have been some changes in the Primary School system but the basic challenges still remains.