SINGAPORE – Are answer scripts for the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) strictly assessed, and do markers accept solutions that may not be in the answer scheme?
These were among questions parents of pupils sitting the PSLE in 2024 had at The Straits Times Smart Parenting PSLE Prep Forum, held on April 6.
Responding to the queries, Mr Ong Kong Hong, the Ministry of Education’s divisional director of curriculum planning and development division 1, shared that PSLE markers adopt a rigorous standardisation process.
This is to ensure marking is fair and consistent across all scripts.
“The markers have got to agree how to mark the paper. They actually go through question by question because every student may have a different way of showing the working or answering the question,” said Mr Ong.
He added that the answer scheme will be updated as markers come across new methods or solutions presented by candidates who arrive at the correct answer.
One parent asked about the importance of drilling keywords in preparation for the exams.
“As long as the concept is correct and you are able to explain with or without the keywords, if it is correct, I will give you the marks,” Mr Ong said.
Another parent, who has a dyslexic child, wanted to know if pupils are penalised for spelling and grammar errors.
To this, Mr Ong replied that they will be penalised in language papers, but not in subjects like mathematics and science where they are not assessed for language.
More than 180 people attended the forum, which was held at the SPH Media Auditorium.
In a discussion with ST senior education correspondent Sandra Davie, Mr Ong shared that one of the common mistakes pupils make is that they fail to carefully read the questions.
He said that, in being too focused on what they want to express in their writing, they may miss what the question is asking.
“As a result, you can have a beautiful essay or a beautiful paragraph written, but you get a zero because you are totally not answering the question. That happens in maths and science as well,” he added.
Mr Ong also addressed the perception that there is a quota for the number of pupils who can be awarded the top grade for each subject under the new PSLE scoring system.