Application for direct school admission to secondary schools, JCs opens from May 7
Those who wish to apply for early admission to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) can start doing so from May 20. Application for early admission to polytechnics starts on June 2.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) said on May 6 that the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme allows students to enter secondary schools and JCs based on their interests and aptitudes, beyond their performance at the national examinations.
Students will be considered by the respective schools they have applied for. Schools can admit up to 20 per cent of their students through the DSA, said MOE.
According to checks by The Straits Times, 142 secondary schools and 20 JCs will be participating in the DSA exercise.
Students applying for DSA must still sit the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) or O-level examinations.
If a DSA offer is made to them by their selected school, students have until the indicated deadline to accept the offer, which will be before the release of the national examination results.
For students moving on to secondary school, they will be guaranteed a place in their selected school, provided they accept the offer and their PSLE result meets the minimum requirement for a posting group that the school admits students from.
MOE posts students to secondary school through three posting groups: PG1, PG2 or PG3. PG1 roughly corresponds to the previous Normal (Technical) standard, PG2 to Normal (Academic) standard and PG3 to Express standard.
Similarly, those who apply to JCs will be guaranteed a spot provided that their O-level results meet the minimum requirements for admission.
Once students accept a DSA offer, they will not be eligible to participate in the Secondary 1 posting exercise or Joint Admissions Exercise. They are also not allowed to transfer to another school after obtaining their examination results.
Primary school pupils and their parents may submit DSA applications via www.moe.gov.sg/dsa-sec from 11am on May 7 to 3pm on June 3.
Applicants need to fill in only one online form, and can select up to three choices of school and talent area offered by the school. Applicants can indicate the same school up to two times in their application.
Students applying for DSA to JCs can go to www.moe.gov.sg/dsa-jc for more information, or visit the JCs' websites for the application period, procedures and selection criteria, as these vary between schools.
The Early Admissions Exercise (EAE) is applicable for those wanting to further their education in an ITE or polytechnic.
Under the EAE, applicants are considered based on their aptitude and interest in a specific course, as well as relevant work experience for working adult applicants. Applicants may need to submit portfolios or undergo interviews and take aptitude tests as part of the selection process.
Graduating secondary school students who would like to enter ITE can go to www.ite.edu.sg/apply-eae for more information on the application procedure and entry requirements for the courses they are interested in.
Applications will open from May 20 to 26.
Meanwhile, graduating O-level students who would like to enter polytechnic can submit their EAE application from June 26 to July 2, while final-year ITE students can submit their EAE application from June 12 to 18.
Applicants can find more information on the application procedure and entry requirements at eae.polytechnic.edu.sg
Those successful will be given an offer by the chosen ITE or polytechnic before receiving their final examination results. They must meet the minimum entry requirements for the selected course in order for the offer to be confirmed.
Those who accept a place via the EAE cannot participate in other ITE or polytechnic admission exercises.
Working adults can also apply for EAE to enter ITE or a polytechnic. They must be Singapore citizens or permanent residents, and have at least two years of relevant work experience.
EAE applications for working adults into ITE and polytechnic will open from May 20 to 26 and June 2 to 29 respectively.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Associated Press
32 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Three Maine elementary schools to test new inclusive education model
In Bangor's Downeast School, teachers are setting up for the upcoming year. Crayon boxes and name plates top small desks, signs spell out the ABC's. In one classroom, a banner proclaims 'All Are Welcome.' Principal Sarah Vickers said the elementary school has been working toward better serving and including students who have disabilities for a few years. This has meant pushing for more collaboration across departments, developing more proactive responses to negative behavior in the classrooms, as well as planning lessons to serve a diverse array of needs. 'We do have students that receive special education services for the majority of their day, and with these kinds of support and practices in place, we've been able to transition them to a less restrictive environment,' Vickers said. 'Being able to spend more time or the majority of their day in the regular (education) setting without additional supports, or supports being much less than what they previously had, has been a big success for us.' About a third of the children at her school need special education services, according to state data. This year, Downeast's pursuit of more inclusive education is scaling up: it is one of three elementary schools that is working with the state and the University of Maine at Farmington as part of a five-year pilot program aimed at helping teachers learn how to incorporate students with various needs in their classrooms and move away from the silos that have long separated students with disabilities. The other two schools are Turner and Leeds Central, both near Lewiston. The program, which is supported through federal grant funding from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and through a partnership with the University of Maine, launches as special education costs are on the rise in Maine and as federal priorities are shifting. The state Department of Education declined to say how much the program will cost. 'We are unable to provide a specific dollar amount to you at this time,' wrote Erin Frazier, from the Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education, in an email, 'as the project is in its infancy.' In 2022, roughly 56 percent of Maine special education students spent most of their day in the general education classroom — 10 percent lower than the national average, according to state data and the National Center for Education Statistics. Since then, Maine's inclusion rate has only risen by one percent. Nationally, around 15 percent of students need special education services. In Maine, that figure is 21 percent, according to 2023 data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Maine is tied with New York and Pennsylvania for the second-highest rate, behind Puerto Rico. As the special education student population has grown, so have the costs. A 2018 state task force looking at special education costs recommended that the state 'remove barriers between special education and general education and develop an integrated, inclusive system in which special education and general education work collaboratively to deliver services to all students.' Disability rights advocates have long railed against a siloed approach to education for students with disabilities, and some see the new pilot as a step in the right direction. Atlee Reilly, with Disability Rights Maine, explained that the purpose of IDEA is to ultimately help students participate in the broader community, such as through employment, further education and more. 'We need to do it in integrated settings, because it doesn't make any sense to prepare children in a segregated, kind of artificial, environment to live in a community,' Reilly said. 'Why not just support them to live in their communities from the jump?' Reducing barriers The pilot program will pay for participating schools to get leadership and teacher training, and will help schools restructure their schedules so special education students have more time in the general classroom. The state saw just four applications for the three spots. For Tracy Whitlock, a special services coordinator at the state's Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education, it was important that the schools were invested in the work. 'We never want to come into a school and say 'you're going to do this,' it needs to be something that educators are passionate about,' Whitlock said. The goal is to develop a model of inclusive education that other schools could eventually adopt. Kate MacLeod, an associate professor at the UMF, is spearheading the program's professional development and data collecting process. The first year, she said, will focus on leadership training: taking stock of how students are currently being included in classrooms, how resources are used for education and forming a plan to improve. Years two through five will then incorporate training for educators to adopt inclusive practices like Universal Design for Learning, a decades-old concept that involves creating multiple access points to a given topic. Other practices could include looking at adjusting schedules to have special education students remain in the general class during universal learning blocks, and receive one-on-one attention with special education staff during other hours of the day. In the general classroom, MacLeod explained that universally designed lessons about a book, for instance, may include three groups: a small group for independent reading, a small group for audio reading, and a small group that reads with the teacher. Then a teacher will offer multiple ways for students to think about the text, such as writing a summary or sharing a response out loud. 'You're going to reduce barriers for the most number of people possible from the beginning, and then you have to do less individual differentiation, or support,' MacLeod said. 'So that's the goal, and that's what really great teaching can be.' 'Every student benefits' The three schools are hoping that the pilot program, by improving the variety of supports available in the general classroom, could decrease the number of students that need special education services. Some advocates point to weaknesses in identifying students in earlier age groups, prompting a need to over-identify special education students in later ages, as a reason behind high identification rates in Maine. A recent report released by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) found that high rates of challenging behavior — that is, types of student behavior in class that was disruptive, dangerous, or did not meet teacher expectations and required additional attention — is a growing issue for schools. 'Persistent challenging student behavior can overburden administrative and education staff, lead to an increase in special education referrals, contribute to over-identification of students with behavioral disorders and be a critical factor in the ongoing teacher shortage,' the report states. Carrie Woodcock, the executive director of the Maine Parent Federation, explained that how schools address challenging behavior is tied to the siloed structure of special education. 'A student with high behavior is the number one thing that will get them kicked out of a classroom and in a special education setting,' Woodcock said. 'But likewise, students with specific learning disabilities who may have a reading or a math disability, they might be getting pulled out of the classroom for too much time to get specific instruction.' But if classrooms use a more universal design for learning, Woodcock said that kids who are struggling can find more success, and students who may not have a specific disability could be helped too. 'We all learn differently,' Woodcock said. 'When you do inclusion right and universal design of learning right, every student benefits.' Outlook Reilly, of Disability Rights Maine, said that the pilot's approach marks a positive change, but the challenge will be scaling it across the state. 'I'm sure that, in the coming years, there will be discussions about school funding and things like that and how can we make it to where schools are rewarded for — financially and otherwise — for not shipping their kids off to segregated regional or private placements,' Reilly said. 'If those things make financial sense for schools, then they're more likely to do them.' As special education costs continue to rise, so do other school costs in Maine, sparking broader debate over school funding. Administrators have called for changes to the state's school funding model and towns upset at tax increases have attempted to leave school districts. Lawmakers and researchers have examined the cost of special education in an effort to preserve resources. Two bills that aimed to increase the state's share of special education funding for school districts, L.D. 933 and L.D. 71, were introduced this session but ultimately died. In MEPRI's study of the state school funding model, researchers pointed to a need to explore other ways of calculating how special education funding responsibility is split between the state and towns. A possible model the Institute suggested could mean funding school districts based on the amount of need special education students have, according to reporting from The Portland Press Herald. 'The cost of sending that learner to a separate space — I call it a segregated space because it's only for students with disabilities — away from their home, neighbor, school, to receive services that the district or school can't provide is very costly in a lot of different ways,' MacLeod said. She explained that districts will pay hefty tuition to send students away. The schools that students are sent to, called special purpose private schools, can cost districts hundreds of dollars per day. Aside from being separated from their communities, some students have been subjected to controversial restraint and seclusion practices, in which children are forcibly removed from classrooms and physically restrained in emergencies. Lawmakers passed a bill this year, L.D. 1248, that weakened previous rules on how and when educators can restrain and seclude students. Inclusive support, when implemented well, means that schools are more effective with their resources, MacLeod said. For instance, having a more tightly integrated team of educators might mean schools could get by with fewer staff members overall. As the pilot gets underway, MacLeod said it builds on work that educators have already been striving to do. 'I think folks are hungry for this,' she said. 'They can see that there are better ways for all learners.' ___ This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.


CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Denver's East High School celebrates 150 years as contents of time capsule revealed
Denver's East High School is celebrating 150 years as an educational institution this year. East was a high school before Colorado was officially a state! It started off as a one-room schoolhouse called the Union School in 1859 and that was quickly moved to a building at 14th and Market in downtown Denver. In 1873, Arapahoe School opened on Arapahoe Street between 17th and 18th as Denver's first high school. That school continued to grow as did Denver. In 1889, Old East was opened on Stout Street between 19th and 20th. Nearly 40 years later, in 1925, East High School opened on its current location between Colfax Avenue and 17th Avenue near Denver's City Park. Sleuths from East High School's museum club returned to the school this summer to see what was behind a plaque at the school's entrance. They found a box that students had reported missing 70 years ago. The plaque revealed a panel with student initials from 1931. Inside, they found boxes from the current 100-year-old East High School building's dedication and also from the original Arapahoe School. Next month, both boxes will be opened at a special ceremony and one East Angel looks forward to learning from those who came before. "Things aren't interesting. People are. It's the stories... 150 years of stories and memories that have come through East High School. And working with the museum is giving me the immense privilege of being like a keeper and a learner of those stories, hoping to preserve them for future generations," said Keegan Hoelscher with East High's Museum Club. East High School's Museum Club will not only study what is in the time capsule boxes but they will also create their own box with memorabilia reflecting student life at East in 2025.


Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
The Ten News Podcast Teaches Preteens About Gaming
The co-host of the popular 'Ten News' podcast spoke to Fox News about his mission to teach kids about the world around them.