The biggest education stories of the year, and what's next

Relooking the Gifted Education Programme and Direct School Admission exercise for secondary schools. Cyber-security breaches of the Mobile Guardian app. New measures to raise the quality of training courses for adults.

- Ng Wei Kai, Gabrielle Chan and Elisha Tushara

Here are the top developments in the education sector in 2024, along with what to expect for 2025 and beyond.

GEP REVAMP

A 40-year-old programme catering to the top 1 per cent of primary school pupils will be revamped in an effort to broaden opportunities across the education system.

The Gifted Education Programme (GEP) - which was created to stretch academically gifted pupils - will undergo its biggest refresh since it began in 1984, and end in its current form, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at the National Day Rally on Aug 18.

Pupils will no longer be selected through a single, two-stage test in Primary 3, and will not transfer out of their original schools to nine specific centres if chosen, as is the case now.

Instead, they will be selected through a variety of measures, including teachers' observations and one standardised test.

The programme, which is run in every primary school for higher-ability pupils, will expand to take in more pupils, and after-school classes will be set up for those who need additional support.

Over its history, concerns emerged about the programme's exclusivity and perceptions that it promoted a narrow definition of giftedness.

Criticism that the programme privileged the children of parents with more resources also came to the fore, along with worries that GEP pupils were not mixing enough with others, leading to social issues.

The final selection exercise for the current GEP will be held for Primary 3 pupils in 2025.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said the changes reflect a shift in understanding of gifted education - that intelligence and ability are developed over the course of an individual's life, and can manifest in specific areas, such as English or mathematics.

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