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Streaming as we know it (where students enter the Normal (Technical), Normal (Academic) and Express streams in secondary schools), will soon be a thing of the past. What we can expect to see in its place is somthing called SBB, or Subject-based Banding.
So what exactly is SBB and what are its implications?
The current system
Currently, secondary school students are allocated to three different streams based on their PSLE results. This essentially means that students in the respective streams can only take subject at the level that correspond to the particular stream they are in:
Express: 4-year course leading to the O-Level examination
Normal (Academic): 5-year course leading to the N- and O-Level examinations
Normal (Technical): 4-year course leading to the 'N” Level examinations and admission to ITEs
The SBB system
Subject-based banding:
One Secondary School Education, Many Subject bands
In the SBB system, students get to take different subjects at different levels, according to their ability. This is analogous to what students are currently doing in junior colleges, where they take A-Level subjects at the H1, H2 and H3 levels.
At SBB secondary schools, subjects will be mapped to three levels: G1 (or General 1) for 'Normal Technical', G2 (or General 2) for 'Normal Academic' and G3 (or General 3) for Express.
So at the end of their 4 years of education in secondary school, all students (excluding those from IP schools* - see below) will sit for a common national examination, instead of the current O-Level and N-Level examinations.
When will SBB be implemented?
Full subject-based banding was announced by MOE in 2019 to replace the existing system of streaming students into Express, Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) based on their PSLE results. The new system will be rolled out by 2024 across all secondary schools i.e. all students entering secondary schools from 2024 onwards will come under the SBB system.
A student in the SBB system in Secondary 1 will take either G1, G2 and/or G3 subjects based on his/her scores for the various subjects in PSLE. The PSLE still serves as a useful gauge of the subject levels that each student is most suited for at the beginning of Secondary 1. Thereafter, they can take subjects at a more demanding level, depending on their abilities as they progress to the other secondary levels.
As of 2022, there are 59 secondary schools which are already implementing the full SBB system. These schools are:
Schools that have implemented full SBB (since 2020)
Ang Mo Kio Secondary School
Assumption English School
Bedok Green Secondary School
Bowen Secondary School
Clementi Town Secondary School
Deyi Secondary School
Edgefield Secondary School
Evergreen Secondary School
Gan Eng Seng School
Greendale Secondary School
Jurong Secondary School
Jurong West Secondary School
Mayflower Secondary School
Montfort Secondary School
Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Sec)
Pei Hwa Secondary School
Ping Yi Secondary School
Queenstown Secondary School
Riverside Secondary School
St. Andrew's Secondary School
St. Anthony's Canossian Secondary School
St. Patrick's School
Swiss Cottage Secondary School
Temasek Secondary School
West Spring Secondary School
Whitley Secondary School
Yuying Secondary School
Zhenghua Secondary School
Schools that are implementing full SBB (from 2022)
Admiralty Secondary School
Anderson Secondary School
Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)
Beatty Secondary School
Broadrick Secondary School
Bukit Panjang Government High School
Bukit View Secondary School
CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh)
CHIJ St. Joseph's Convent
CHIJ St. Theresa's Convent
Christ Church Secondary School
Commonwealth Secondary School
Damai Secondary School
East Spring Secondary School
Geylang Methodist School (Secondary)
Holy Innocents' High School
Hougang Secondary School
Hua Yi Secondary School
Juying Secondary School
Kranji Secondary School
Marsiling Secondary School
Ngee Ann Secondary School
Northbrooks Secondary School
Orchid Park Secondary School
Regent Secondary School
St. Hilda's Secondary School
Teck Whye Secondary School
Xinmin Secondary School
Yishun Secondary School
Yishun Town Secondary School
Yusof Ishak Secondary School
What is the rationale for SBB?
While the initial intent of streaming was to reduce dropout rates by ensuring that students could keep up with their lessons, it has also resulted in stereotypes attached to students depending on the streams they are in. Express students, for instance, are viewed as being more studious, while those in N(A) or N(T) are assumed to be less academically capable or not as well-disciplined.
Enter the SBB.
Full SBB is part of MOE's ongoing efforts to nurture the joy of learning and develop multiple pathways to cater to the different strengths and interests of our students. With Full SBB, we will move towards a secondary school education where students learn each subject at the level that best caters to their overall strengths, interests and learning needs.
SBB lets students take a subject at a more demanding level even though they may be from a “lower” stream. For these students, SBB will hopefully boost their confidence, help them shed the negative labels associated with their streams and open up more educational pathways. In addition, greater interaction amongst students is also promoted as students will be in mixed form classes where they can interact with peers of different strengths and interests.
Does SBB apply to IP secondary schools?
The Intergrated Progrmme (IP) culminates in either the A-Level, the IB Diploma or the NUS High Diploma. The idea behind the IP is to allow students to benefit from a broader learning experience in both academic and non-academic aspects, with time freed up from not having to sit for a national examination at the end of Secondary 4.
Hence, the curriculum structure and curriculum content is left to each IP school to design, and can be different from the national secondary curriculum. This being the case students in the IP programme are generally not exepcted to transfer to other educational institutions at the end of Sec 4. Since this is the curriculum design and intent of the IP system, G1, G2 and G3 are therefore not relevant and SBB does not apply.
Final Words for Part 1
Full SBB will give greater flexibility to the general secondary education system. This way, our secondary education system can continue to adapt to students' learning needs, while mitigating the labelling and stigmatisation that is associated with streaming.
Watch this space for PART 2 of SBB in Secondary Schools: Your Questions Answered.
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