Integrated Programme
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The Integrated Programme, (abbreviation: IP) also known as through-train programme (直通车), is a scheme which allows the cream of secondary schools in Singapore to bypass the "O" levels and take the "A" levels, International Baccalaureate or an equivalent examination directly at the age of 18 after six years of secondary education.
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[edit] Overview
The programme allows for more time allocated to enrichment activities. That is, without the "O" level examinations, the students has more time and flexibility to immerse themselves in a more broad base education which will eventually lead to the "A" levels examination. In addition, the students enjoy more freedom in the combination of subjects. Generally, only the top performers are eligible to be part of the IP programme, due to the limited amount of schools which have the funds to implement it, as it is currently regarded as experimental. Thus most of the main body of the students pursue their secondary education at the current pace by first completing a 4-year O Level before going on to a 2-year "A" level education (vs. a 2-year "O" level and 4-year "A" level education).
[edit] A-level Programmes
Pioneered by the National Junior College in 2004, the NJC Integrated Programme (NJCIP) allows students to skip the "O" levels at secondary 4 and go straight into the Junior College (JC). Wanting to provide a similar holistic education for their students, Hwa Chong Institution together with Nanyang Girls' High School engineered a similar Hwa Chong Affiliate Programme. This is also the case for Raffles Junior College for the Raffles Programme, together with Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School (Secondary). Victoria Junior College, Temasek Junior College and Nanyang Girls' High School (from 2005) also followed suit.
In the Hwa Chong Affiliate Programme, Hwa Chong Institution (college) also grants entry to students from other schools apart from Nanyang Girls' High School and Hwa Chong Institution (High School) based on their O Level results. Hwa Chong Institution (College) section also offers the Direct School Admission (DSA) in which Secondary Four students can apply for a place in Year 5 of the College section.
National Junior College (NJC) has also put out its own programme, the National Junior College Integrated Programme (NJCIP) where Secondary Two students in various schools are picked to join their programme. These students have their Secondary Three and Four education in the JC itself, followed by the JC course. Victoria Junior College (VJC) and Temasek Junior College (TJC) have also taken a similar approach.
Dunman High School applied for the Integrated Programme system in mid-2004 standalone, and MOE approved the first batch to be enrolled in 2005, with Year 1 and Year 3 students, each having a cap of about 135 out of 380 students. Full IP was granted in late 2005, and the school went full IP with the beginning of the academic year of 2006.
River Valley High School joined the Integrated Programme system in late 2005 by operating a six year course standalone. It is the last to join the ranks of the schools offering Integrated Programme before the Ministry of Education had closed the gates to the special system. This ensures that students who are under the Integrated Programme are able to cope with their A levels after bypassing their O levels. All the schools allowed in the scheme accepts the top 10% of the national cohort.
[edit] International Baccalaureate Program
Another top secondary school in Singapore, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), has allowed some students to abandon the British system and go Swiss by dropping the GCE exams all together and adopting the International Baccalaureate (IB), having been fully authorized as an IB World School in 2005. The IB is perceived by some as a more holistic program than the Cambridge examinations, making students take both arts and science subjects as well as philosophy courses and extensive research papers.
[edit] Other Programs
Other tertiary educational institutes are also considering their own integrated programmes, like the National University of Singapore (NUS) via its NUS High School. These programmes are expected to be executed in the NJC style of picking students at secondary 2.
[edit] Gifted Education
The 5 independent secondary schools which currently offers IP have organized School-Based Gifted Education (SBGE), instead of GEP, to meet the needs of the intellectually gifted. The five schools are Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls' High School, Raffles Girls' School (Secondary), and Raffles Institution.
Dunman High School also offers two SBGE classes to cater for ex-GE students, and for a special few in the school who are considered exceptional in their academic achievements and learning attitude. It is the only autonomous school to offer SBGE-IP classes.
National Junior College, Victoria Junior College, and Temasek Junior College offer IP, but these are not equivalent to SBGE.
[edit] List of schools offering Integrated Programme
- Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
- Dunman High School
- Hwa Chong Institution
- Nanyang Girls' High School
- National Junior College
- NUS High School of Mathematics and Science
- Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
- Raffles Institution
- River Valley High School
- Temasek Junior College
- Victoria Junior College
[edit] The bad sides of this programme
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The neutrality and factual accuracy of this section are disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. |
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The syllabus is messed up. Things which should have been taught in the "O"-Level syllabus are not all taught. This can be seen as a retrogression in Singapore's education.
According to "http://app.sis.moe.gov.sg/schinfo/ipProg.asp", "While the ‘O’ Levels serve as a valuable intermediate benchmark for the majority of our students, those who are clearly university-bound can benefit from spending the last 4 years of their upper secondary / junior college education from Sec 3 to JC 2 engaging in broader learning experiences." Is this true? Without the valuable benchmark, the knowledge will not be clearly imprinted in the students' heads. The exams serve as an important revision for the students. Without the exams, students will not be able to memorise the things learnt very clearly. This fact will be manifested in the beginning of the year 2008, when the first batch of Integrated Programme students receive their "A" - Level exams results. If they get poor results, then this section should be kept. If they get results as good as the previous non-IP students or better, then this section should be removed.
