WHEN Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) started offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma three years ago, it was hoping to expose students to a broader range of subjects and more critical thinking.
The experiment has gone well so far.

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This is interesting.

Among the seven schools offering the Integrated Programme ACS(I) actually rank at the bottom based on average PSLE scores of 2007 for 2008 secondary one intake. The data from the MOE website are as follows.

RGS (271),
NYGH (268),
RI (268),
HCI (265),
Dunman High (263),
River Valley (258),
ACS(I) (256 for non affiliated and 248 for affiliated)

If ACS(I) is now among the worlds best in IB, will the other IP schools achieve the same if not better if they were to offer the IB as well?

If the "bottom" school can be among the worlds best then maybe the IB is not really that difficult after all.

Singapore Bolih! meaning Singapore Can!

All Singaporeans should be very proud of your achievements,
My glad and wormest congratulation to
ACS(I) students : Yoon Min Kyeong,
Justin Boey,
Deborah Khoo,
Shaun Ang,
Ian Liew,
Timothy Lim,
Benedict Chen,
Daryl Lim and
Phan Thi Nam Mai posted a perfect score of 45 .

My child ,secondary 4, already studying about human genetic in the school Biology Science.

Let's hope the second batch will have more students score perfect 45 again!
Keep the students healthy and wealthy all the way, from http://theinnozablog.blogspot.com

I have my doubts about the viability of the IB programme. I suppose it does fulfill the aim of education, but the results show a lack of discriminating power, that is to say, separating the exceptional, very good, and good students. I strongly suspect the top 5% of the cohort can achieve the maximum score, which will be quite meaningless if we want to identify the creme de la creme of the crop.

If we want to use exams and results as gates, then stick with the A levels, even though it's been losing it's discriminating power for years too.

sausageman, pardon me, but I feel that you are completely undermining the achievements of these students from ACS(I). The PSLE is taken in Primary 6, when the students are merely 12 years old. Most students would have undergone tremendous changes in the following 6 years before they take the IB examinations when they are 18. In fact, I feel that the fact that ACS(I) are ranked “bottom” based on the average PSLE scores shows just how value-added the school is, helping their students achieve top grades in the IB despite coming in at a “lower” PSLE score.

Furthermore, not all students who enter ACS(I) in Secondary One eventually make it to the IB Programme. Only about half the students do, and these half are the “academically stronger” students.

I know of students who are in the IB or have completed the IB, both locally and abroad and I am certain that the Programme is not easy and by no means less difficult than the A Level programme. If anything, I feel that it is more rigorous than the A Levels because students have to work hard throughout the year.

Please do not underestimate the school and the IB.

mrtan1234:

Well i thought sausageman made a really interesting point. Who knows how we'll perform if the top schools introduced IB programmes to the students too! We're not underestimating anyone, but just curious to find out the true potential of our students

Of course these IB students have shown how remarkably brilliant they are. Kudos to them for boosting Singapore's image in the education field.

sausageman said,

"Among the seven schools offering the Integrated Programme ACS(I) actually rank at the bottom based on average PSLE scores of 2007 for 2008 secondary one intake. The data from the MOE website are as follows."


I think there are many preparation materials available for the PSLE examinations, whereas there are much fewer for the IB.

Perhaps the IB is more testing on students' adaptability skills? This is the quality that the IB has been promoted for.

Actually, now that timothy has mentioned it, I also have two more points to make. I think he wrote wrongly, and that it should be "many preparation materials for the A levels, but much fewer for the IB".

One, this is the first time the IB has encountered Singapore's system of preparation. How well does the IB system work when you apply the "Ten Year Series" method? Schools build up knowledge bases and use them to train students. Even for seemingly more broad syllabi like the IB with extensive essay writing, it works. Few other countries do the same.

Two, the true test will come when these top scorers in the IB match up against their A level peers in university. From the responses of the various local universities and scholarship boards of discriminating against IB grads, either they're still close minded(very, very possible in Singapore!) or perhaps it really is true that the IB is actually an inferior programme and its products cannot compete effectively with those who go through the mainstream.

From the grapevine in MOE, there're consistent rumors that the broad-based syllabi of IB is inadequate preparation for the highly specialized majors at the university level. Again, no idea how true that is.

At the very least, looking at what information I managed to find about the chemistry syllabus for IB, I don't see how the syllabus, especially for the higher level, is considered inadequate preparation for a chemistry major at the university level.

Yes. The program and success of IB students are good achievements but at what price?

The brilliant and gifted students from poor families would not be in the program because they can't pay the high costs.

Educations should not come with such high price.

steamroller:

Just to clarify, being an IB student in ACS (I) does not require a brilliant and gifted student to pay very high costs, as the government automatically grants the Edusave Scholarship for Integrated Programme Schools (ESIP) to students with excellent 'O' level scores when they apply successfully to the school, thus allowing students to pay only a small percentage of the original school fees. If a student is unable to pay for textbooks, other educational resources and/or other school necessities, they are also eligible to apply for financial assistance.

Despite the high price of education today, there are ways for exceptional students to enter the IB programme and achieve the same level of academic success as students who are better able to pay the price of receiving a good IB education. As long as these students are willing to apply themselves, and if they really are brilliant and gifted, they will be able to gain opportunities as well in our meritocratic society.

Furthermore, in my personal opinion, the IB Programme is much more vigorous than the 'A' Level. I experienced two months of the 'A' Level programme before entering the IB Programme. The 'A' Level programme is designed to allow 'O' Level students to adapt quickly to a lecture-tutorial system, but the IB programme is a different story, almost entirely different from the 'O' Level.

The various internal assessments IB students are expected to complete within the two years of IB for large percentages of their final grades force these students to work hard at a consistent pace, as opposed to the 'A' level students who, despite the PW grade they have to work for, only tend to really speed up within the last semester or so.

jiatian1979 brought up the point of how IB graduates might match up against 'A' Level graduates in university - I feel that IB graduates will find it easier to get through university. The IB Programme promotes an integrated approach - students are expected to be able to understand how subjects vastly different from each other can be related and used together in life. The broad-based syllabi actually helps IB students, as they will be more flexible in careers in the future and therefore more able to cope in the global arena - studies have shown that the generations to come will have several career changes in their lives. Also, IB promotes plenty of original thought, as displayed through the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge, and this will help students when they ascend to university.