GEP revamp to start with 2024 Primary I cohort

Starting with the 2024 Primary 1 batch, more pupils will have access to higher-ability programmes in primary schools, and will no longer transfer to specific schools to join a centralised Gifted Education Programme (GEP).

- Ng Wei Kai

Under a new approach to broaden opportunities for such pupils and move away from assessing them by a single yardstick, theywill instead take part in programmes for high-ability learners within their own schools and explore strengths in specific subjects.

These high-ability learner programmes offered by schools will expand to take in 10 per cent of all primary school pupils which works out to about 3,000 each year - up from 7 per cent now, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Aug 19.

Pupils could also take afterschool modules in specific subjects at designated schools nearby, the ministry said in a media briefing.

Both these programmes will admit more pupils and consider a wider range of abilities than the current GEP, which caters to the top 1 per cent of primary school pupils, MOE said, elaborating on a policy shift announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the National Day Rally on Aug 18.

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

Under the new system, pupils will be able to join or leave these programmes at multiple points between Primary 4 and 6, rather than at a single point in Primary 4 after one standardised test, as is the case now.

They will also be identified through a more holistic process, including teachers' observations and day-to-day work, MOE added.

There are three main reasons for the new approach, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing told the media after the briefing at the MOE headquarters in Buona Vista.

First, Singapore is moving away from assessing pupils' abilities by a single dimension, a system which he called "teaching to the average".