On 6th March 2025, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced some new changes to the requirements of entering Junior Colleges, starting from 2028 admission.
The current requirement for entering JC is to have a L1R5 score of 20 and below. It will be changed to L1R4 to be 16 and below. L1R5 will no longer be used.
The maximum bonus points to be deducted will be reduced from 4 to 3 with response to this as well.
The maximum bonus points that can be deducted will be reduced from 4 to 3.
Why is this move being made?
According to MOE, the introduction of L1R5 was being introduced back in 1989 to address the low admission rates into JC. Now that the students of today are more than ready to handle the academic rigour of the ‘A’ Level syllabus, so this change is being reverted.
With this one less subject to be determined for the final L1R4 points, MOE aims to encourage students to “pursue other interests” and “strengthen 21st Century Competencies”.
From the official statement of MOE,
“Students are encouraged to recalibrate their curriculum load in a manner that balances their strengths and interests, and to use the time freed up to explore other interests and develop themselves holistically.”
Really? Is that it? Nothing else?
Changes are never easy, especially when it comes to this industry, because it takes so long to see whether is it effective or not. For a change in the scoring for JC admission, giving the students an opportunity to learn beyond the classrooms and explore interests is definitely not enough to justify this big move. In my opinion, the broader implication behind this policy shift, is this: it is to increase the chances of JC admissions, JC graduates and eventually university graduates.
Ultimately, Singapore would definitely want to produce more university graduates (degree holders) so that the human capital of Singapore would be strong and competitive at a global scale. I'm not implying that a diploma is not good, but it still loses its edge when compared side to side with an academic degree today. It's encouraging to see more global universities, corporations and companies recognising Singapore diplomas, but it still remains a long way to go. It’s no doubt that university degrees still remains as the default benchmark in modern workforce in 2025. We can’t avoid that, nor we can deny that.
What does it imply for students today?
This move seems to be a big one for those who will be affected in 2028 (i.e. Sec 1 students in 2025). However it’s no wonder that this move is a predictable step in the whole wave of changes in the education industry across different academic levels, and the underlying message interestingly rings similarly with all the other changes in other levels.
To put all the changes in a nutshell...
- AL system for PSLE
- SBB for ‘O’ Levels
- Grade adjustments in JC, etc,
all of which is to encourage students to widen their learning and capabilities, and smoothen the path towards university.
With this, I’ll share a few key important insights that I take from this announcement.
1. Students ought to practise more self-discipline.
The first perception and reaction of students hearing this is that they can cut some slack in studying since there is one lesser subject to be taken into consideration. However, this is a big mistake and will cost them dearly in due time.
In fact the correct way of approaching this (as a Sec 1 student now) is to be more self-disciplined in terms of ensuring basic content and knowledge are mastered. The path is slightly easier now with this slight reduction in academic load. This means this path will be easier for everyone else as well. So in order to stand out and to maintain the competitive edge, the foundation years which is Secondary 1 and 2 will be even more important than ever before.
It's also important to note that even though one less subject is being taken into consideration, the average grade for each of the other remaining subjects is now higher, from an average of 3.33 in the current system (divide 20 by 6 subjects) to 3.2 (divide 16 by 5 subjects). This subtly shows that you are expected to perform slightly better in your other subjects than your seniors with this new change in place.
2. Start thinking about the possible options and life after Secondary School.
With the increased focus and emphasis of broadening learning beyond the classroom, students will also need to start considering the potential options that they want to have in future. Be it in the form of specific subject related interest or others that are out of studies, they will need to be sensitive, flexible and curious about the options out there in the society. It may not be the eventual career option. It could just be something that they like to try out for start; nothing is final at this point. But it will be way too late to start thinking about it in later on in the upper secondary levels.
Here are a few prompts that you can share with to spark their curiosity and thoughts.
“Look around you, what's one thing that you like to see an improvement? This could be anything. Don’t limit yourself.”
“Is there something that you are always wondering ‘why’ and ‘how’ about?”
“What would you like to do if money is not an issue?”
3. Be sensitive and alert to changes in the school itself over the next few years.
When ministries announce change, it will definitely take some time for individual schools to embrace it. Although it sounds nice on paper for students to “re-calibrate their curriculum expectations”, the school environment may not be ready in time to introduce new changes to aid the students in doing so. I'm not saying that schools will not do it. Policies and initiatives, however, take time to brainstorm, pilot test, review and to implement across the school. In order to fully justify the effectiveness of one adjustment, it will normally require the time frame of a full cycle of the school level (6 years for primary school and 4 years for secondary). This time frame stays constant on both the individual school and the national level.
We have to understand that the directorial board of the schools have lots of things on their plates with varying priorities. With this announcement, it will definitely increase the stress on the school board to speed up with effecting changes that will continue to benefit and add value to the students’ education journeys.
So while the students are more than ready to relook at their progression plans for the next few years, the current school protocols would still need to be adhered to. There will definitely be significant changes being introduced, such as the change in subject combination offerings at the end of Secondary 2, and perhaps more experiential learning out of the classroom. With that, students will need to be alert, sensitive, and be ready to change whenever this programmes or adjustments are being pilot tested and run. This also further reinforces my first point on ensuring self-discipline in the students, so that they will not be affected negatively as they experience through these changes, and continue to do well and stay relevant.
As the Chinese saying goes, “以不变应万变”, which means “respond to countless changes with the unchanging”, core principles and stabilities will need to maintained in this constantly changing environment. And the core principles here refer to the innate learning discipline, mindset and habits of each individual student.
Wouldn’t this lead to increased competition in entering JC?
Many speculate that there will be an increase in competition to enter Junior College with effect of this change. With one reduced subject, students will likely to score better in their grades for the other subjects and will be better eligible to enter junior college. Even though this may be true statistically, we might need to first define clearer the distinction between the main concern behind this question; are we talking about the amount of competition here or are we talking about the stress level of students?
To better answer this, we will need to first categorise our secondary school students now to 3 different types.
Type 1: students were aiming to pursue a degree in university, and decides that JC is the way to go.
Type 2: students who are on the fence undecided, and are still considering their options until their eventual grades tell them what are they eligible for.
Type 3: students who decide to take the polytechnic route, regardless of their results.
So the main concern here of increased competition, mainly comes from Type 1 Students. They worry if Type 2 and Type 3 students were to consider the JC route, it will lower the chances of themselves entering JC. However, in my opinion, these worries are really uncalled for. Here’s why.
The competition between Type 1 students and the other Types is pretty one sided - Type 1 will triumph eventually.
Over the years as career options and opportunities widen, there is significant increase of Type 3 students - those who decide to take the polytechnic route, regardless of their results. These people already have clear ideas and inclinations on the specific skill options that they will like to explore on, and these are not being determined based on their ‘O’ Level score alone. But the entry requirements to enter junior college will not affect their opinions in any way, since they are pretty decided on what they want already. So that leaves us with the Type 2 students - the sitting ducks on the fence.
Since the Type 2 students are the undecided ones, they will just let circumstances bring them wherever, be it JC or Poly. Many of these secondary school students merely perceive the JC route as another two years of mundane studying and rote learning, but is the easier way to enter university. They constantly land up in the dilemma between wearing standardised school uniforms, and breaking free to explore their own ‘ideal’ student life. Yes, some of them might enter JC together with the Type 1 students due to results, but they will eventually falter and struggle, if they continue with the same ‘sitting on the fence’ mindset, regardless of which path they chose.
Always remember - “It may be difficult to hit a target that is moving, but it’s impossible to hit the target that is not there.” With no definite goal in mind for these Type 2 students, I don't foresee them posing any big threats compared to Type 1 students, who are determined to enter JC at all costs and are willing to work hard for it.
At the same time, we need to consider the lower average grade per subject with effect from this change. Students will actually need to perform slightly better than their seniors in order to qualify for JC admissions. So with higher competition comes with higher entry requirements, it's a fair trade-off.
So if you want to have a definite answer to this question, the answer is still a yes. But should students be affected or stressed out by it, the answer will then be a no. There’s nothing to worry about if students are clear in their own goals and what they want to achieve.
Interestingly, I see this change as a positive one to encourage more students to consider JC as their tertiary education option. There will always be competition, with or without this change. With competition comes improvement and change - that’s when the society can collectively improve and stay strong. What we need to look deeper into is what kind of competition are the students facing, and who are they up against.
How can parents better guide their children from here onwards?
Now that we have skinned out all of the objectives and intentions of this change, we are now more ready to fine-tune the things that we do to better our guide our children who will be undergoing this change from here onwards (for parents whose children is younger than 13 years old).
1. Emphasise on the impact of decision-making.
Children at birth, are like blank pieces of paper. They don’t know what is out there in this world. They don’t know that this world is bounded by this concept called time, and everyone have to go through it, in one singular direction. The options that we choose (or not choose) today will affect us in the future in this timeline. They have a weak concept of cause and effect, action and consequence. And this is something that everyone will have to learn, especially from young.
For example, every child will know they cannot touch a surface of a boiling kettle, as it will scald the hands. If they don’t eat, they will feel hungry and weak. These are classic examples of cause and effect.
When it comes to studies and education in this case, they will need to know that their decisions made today will affect them greatly in the future, even more so than before. Choosing subject combinations at the end of Secondary 2 is even more crucial than before. It may seem like small and minute decisions now, but with the ‘Butterfly Effect’, it will pay back by leaps and bounds.
To go JC or Poly?
To take Pure or Combined?
To take A-Maths or not?
To study during the holidays or not?
To engage tuition or not?
To pay attention in class or not?
It may not be the optimal decision taken every time, and the outcomes may not always be positive. The focus here is about accountability. A student must be very self-aware of his/her own predicament and decide what’s the best move forward for their own best interest.
I hate to break it to parents, but the process of guiding your children to learn something is really no different from training a pet. The commonality is that we are all made up of cells and stardust. Animals will do tricks, stunts and anything instructed for rewards (food or treats for example). Humans are no different. We will do actions and make decisions when we see that it gives us a imminent reward, be it in the long term and short term. And children will need to be guided to do so too.
Draw clear rules and boundaries.
You get rewards if you obey, you get punished if you don’t.
What are the exceptions? Make it clear and upfront.
Stay committed to it. The main cause of failures are simply double standards, ‘shades of grey’, and lack of enforcement. Get rid of all these. Make it crystal clear.
2. Nurture more curiosity, and discovery.
It’s a world of chaos out there. We are being presented with so many options for almost everything that we are doing. What to eat, what to drink, what to do, what to play, the list goes on. There’s 101 things to choose from and compare against. It’s tiring on the brain, to be constantly making choices, options and decisions. As a result, we stop being curious altogether - we just accept and absorb whatever that comes our way, and we develop a liking partially based on what’s being presented to us. The scary thing is, this ‘partial’ is going to become a ‘whole’ if we don’t regain the curiosity minds in ourselves.
Social media feeds are the best examples - you dropped a like or share a random video in which you liked the content at first instance, and the algorithm will perceive that you like this type of content and will suggest more of these related content to you. You might not fully like the content of the first video in-depth, perhaps it just catches your eye on the surface level, but because of this subtle shoving of more content - you find yourself more and more attracted to such content unknowingly.
We stop asking ‘what’ and the ‘why’ to the questions that we really want to seek answers for, and sometimes even forget that we could actually ask questions. Only by staying curious can we continue to seek a better perspective of world that we live in, and the importance of the role that we partake in at different extents. Therefore, it becomes more crucial for the young one, to strengthen their inquisitive minds from the very start and to consistent tap onto their curious nature and dispositions to stay relevant in the modern world today.
Here are 2 tips that parents can get started with to help their children in this.
Put down the phones- engage in the real world.
Phones may be so convenient to learn everything and anything, cause it’s literally right in front of us. But we don’t know how skewed the content might be, and how astray is the content in trying to fully enrich us. We as adults may be able to differentiate and detach when we need to, but children don’t have this ability yet. That’s when the parents need to comes in.
Put down the phones, and engage in the real world. See and touch things. Literally touch grass. Engage with them along the public commute. Head to the library, touch and read books. The need for physical contact with nature is even more underrated than ever today.
Slow down the information uploading into the brain. Information are being processed way too fast through all the doom-scrolling on our phones. Our brains need to stop and take breaks too, to prevent mental fatigue and burnout. Children need it more to slow down ‘brain-rot’.
Ask them questions - so they learn how to ask too.
With all the inward consuming (input) of content, we will also need to regulate ourselves by contributing and sharing our thoughts and ideas (output). Ask children open-ended questions, so they are constantly stimulated to provide output in the most accurate way possible. Projecting clearly articulated thoughts still remains as one of the most powerful skills in humans today, and it needs to be nurtured from young. It takes time, especially for someone who may be overindulged in their phones compared to other peers, but the efforts must start.
Ask “What do you think of….? Why?”
Seek opinions and thoughts. Encourage them to share their perspectives and listen to others.
Ask “What do you think if…? Why?”
Explore possibilities and discoveries. Well, it’s only a projection or imagination, there’s no right or wrong.
Ask “How does this work?”
Training them to explain things in clear manner, and forces them to articulate clear sentences and thoughts. The accuracy and correctness can come in later. It’s about the act of speaking.
Competition and Change is Inevitable.
We can’t prevent these changes from happening. Today it happens in the education industry. Tomorrow something else happens in another. While the most of us are on the receiving end of these changes, we will need to stay agile, alert and relevant at all times to thrive. The earlier we understand this, the better it will be for us in the future.
To all students: continue to work hard and stay curious. Think on your own two feet.
To all parents: take it as it is, and work closely with your child. It’s all for the better.
~ MathSifu Moses