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Special Assistance Plan

The Special Assistance Plan (SAP; Chinese: 特别辅助计划; pinyin: Tèbié Fǔzhù Jìhuà) is a programme in Singapore introduced in 1979[1] which caters to academically strong students who excel in both their mother tongue as well as English. It is available only in selected primary and secondary schools.[1] In a SAP school, several subjects may be taught in the mother tongue, alongside other subjects that are taught in English. SAP schools currently cater only to those studying Mandarin as their mother tongue although theoretically, future SAP schools for other mother tongues are a possibility.

List of schools

Special Assistance Plan schools (or SAP schools, Chinese: 特选学校) refers to schools that offers the Special Assistance Plan. The SAP is offered at both primary (elementary) school level as well as secondary (high school) level, in Special Assistance Plan primary schools (Chinese: 特选小学) and Special Assistance Plan high schools (Chinese: 特选中学) respectively.[1]

SAP Primary Schools

Name Type 2 Area Notes Website GEP
Ai Tong School 爱同学校 Mixed Bishan Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan[2] [1]
Catholic High School (Affiliated Primary School) 公教中学 (附小) Boys Bishan [2] Yes
CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School (Affiliated Primary School) 圣尼格拉女校 (小学部) Girls Ang Mo Kio [3]
Holy Innocents’ Primary School 圣婴小学 Mixed Hougang [4]
Hong Wen School 宏文学校 Mixed Kallang [5]
Kong Hwa School 光华学校 Mixed Geylang Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan[2] [6]
Maha Bodhi School 菩提学校 Mixed Geylang [7]
Maris Stella High School (Primary) 海星中学 (附小) Boys Toa Payoh [8]
Nan Hua Primary School 南华小学 Mixed Clementi [9] Yes
Nanyang Primary School 南洋小学 Mixed Bukit Timah [10] Yes
Pei Chun Public School 公立培群学校 Mixed Toa Payoh [11]
Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School 培华长老会小学 Mixed Bukit Timah [12]
Poi Ching School 培青学校 Mixed Tampines [13]
Red Swastika School 卍慈学校 Mixed Bedok [14]
Tao Nan School 道南学校 Mixed Marine Parade Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan[2] [15] Yes

SAP High Schools

Name Type School Code Area Notes Website
Anglican High School 圣公会中学 Mixed 7101 Tanah Merah Affiliated to: [16]
Catholic High School 公教中学 Boys IP: 9131

Special: 7102

Bishan Affiliated to: [17]
CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School 圣尼各拉女校 Girls IP: 9134

Special: 7118

Ang Mo Kio Affiliated to: [18]
Chung Cheng High School (Main) 中正中学 (总校) Mixed 7104 Marine Parade Affiliated to: [19]
Dunman High School 德明政府中学 Mixed 3101 Tanjong Rhu Affiliated

as Feeder School to:

[20]
Hwa Chong Institution 华侨中学 Boys 0806 Bukit Timah Offers the Hwa Chong Diploma ;

Affiliated to:

[21]
Maris Stella High School 海星中学 Boys 7111 Toa Payoh Affiliated to: [22]
Nan Chiau High School 南侨中学 Mixed 7112 Sengkang Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan[2] [23]
Nan Hua High School 南华中学 Mixed 3047 Clementi [24]
Nanyang Girls' High School 南洋女子中学校 Girls 7114 Bukit Timah Offers the Hwa Chong Diploma ;

Affiliated to:

River Valley High School 立化中学 Mixed 3103 Boon Lay [26]

Admission

A student's admission to a SAP school (or any secondary school for that matter) is decided based on their results in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). To enter a SAP school, a student must achieve a PSLE aggregate score that puts him in the top 10% of his cohort, with an 'A' grade for both the mother tongue and English (before AL)

. This means that only a relatively small group of students who are academically and linguistically strong may enter a SAP school. Consequently, SAP schools have a reputation of being the "elite" group of secondary schools in the country, alongside independent and autonomous schools. This stems from the Singaporean tradition of effective bilingualism in the education of the elite students from SAP schools. Some students, regardless of whether they are in a SAP school, are offered a chance at effective trilingualism in secondary education starting from age 13. The first language, English, is the international language of commercial and the administrative and legal language of Singapore, a former British colony. The mother tongue reflects the cultural and ethnic identity or in recent times, the linguistic curiosity of the students, e.g. Malay and Indian students who opt to study Mandarin as second Language in Singapore. The "third languages" are foreign languages which are considered by MOE to be "economically, politically and culturally vital",[3] such as Japanese (for those with higher PSLE scores in Chinese than English), German (for those with higher PSLE scores in English than Chinese) and French (for those with higher PSLE scores in English than Chinese).

Historical context

Many SAP schools were historically Chinese language medium schools, i.e. they taught all academic subjects in Mandarin (including science and mathematics), and which may have taught English as a foreign language. Following Singapore's independence in 1965, the government recognised four official languages in Singapore (English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil), but clearly designated English as the main language of basic and higher education, government and law, science and technology as well as trade and industry. This is reflected in the Bilingual Policy which came into effect in 1966.[4] While according official recognition to the languages of different ethno-linguistic communities in Singapore, it sought to promote English as a neutral common language to unite a culturally diverse nation of immigrants. English was also held to be the language of international higher education, science/technology and commerce. As such, it was indispensable to Singapore, given her ambition to become a 'Global City', articulated as early as 1972.[5]

As English Language gained importance, more parents inclined to send their child to English-medium schools, which adversely affected enrollment of Chinese-medium schools. In 1977, admission to Chinese-medium elementary schools made up only 10 per cent of the nation's cohort, which increasingly reflected the increasingly critical status of the Chinese-medium schools, in stark contrast over a decade.[6] The need to preserve traditional Chinese schools with rich heritage and culture became a pressing agenda for the government, with raising English standards and attracting capable students into such schools a key priority, as pointed out by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.[7]

In 1979, the Ministry of Education (MOE) designated nine Chinese-medium secondary schools as Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools. These schools were intended to provide top-scoring primary school leavers with the opportunity to study both English and Mandarin to high levels of competence. Also, these schools were to preserve the character of traditional Chinese-medium secondary schools and allay fears that the Government was indifferent to Chinese language and culture amid declining enrolments in Chinese-medium schools.[8] The selected schools were given additional teaching resources and given assistance to run classes with a lower student-to-teacher ratio.[6]

The programme was deemed highly successful with five of the designated schools consistently attaining top ten positions in the secondary school ranking in the 1990s, outperforming several established English-medium schools.[7] This supported the Government to further expand the programme to two other institutions with strong Chinese heritage, including Nan Chiau High School, which was initially listed as an SAP school candidate in 1978.[7][9] Six top performing SAP high schools are also approved by the Ministry of Education to offer Integrated Programme (IP) to their full cohort, with The Chinese High School, Nanyang Girls' High School being the piloting schools with Hwa Chong Junior College in 2004, followed by River Valley High School in 2006 and Dunman High School in 2008. Catholic High School and CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School were approved to offer Joint Integrated Programme in 2013 with Singapore Chinese Girls' School.

Societal significance

With rapid economic development and exposure to Western, particularly American popular culture and values in the 1970s and 1980s, Singapore began to change from a lower income, poorly educated society to a more confident, educated, vocal and individualistic society. Around the same time, in the 1980s, the world was witnessing the rise of Japan and the Asian newly-industrialised economies or NIEs, of which Singapore was one. Economically, America appeared unable to compete with rising Asian manufacturing competitors, especially Japan and was facing budget deficits. Singapore politicians from the dominant People's Action Party synthesised these various situations and developed certain ideas that came to be known as the Asian Values discourse.

According to this line of argument, Singapore, along with Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, had succeeded so spectacularly in no small part because of their shared Confucianist cultural heritage, which emphasised values such as hard work, education, family unity, deference and loyalty to authority figures, community spirit (in contrast to Western individualism), etc.

To better sell this argument to a multi-ethnic population where the non-Chinese / non-'Confucianist' communities formed at least a quarter of the population, the discourse was re-branded 'Asian Values', rather than Confucian Work Ethic. In Singapore, traditional Asian culture was seen as a source of the nation's economic success thus far. As such, the government embarked on programmes and campaigns to promote traditional culture, including the revitalised Speak Mandarin Campaign (targeted at English rather than dialect speakers, as was historically the case) as well as SAP schools.

Concerns and criticisms

The SAP school programme is periodically criticised in the national media by Singaporeans who are concerned about the ethnic segregation that it inevitably promotes. SAP schools offer mother tongue lessons in only one language: Mandarin.[10] This means that the vast majority, if not all, of the students in SAP schools will be ethnically Chinese. These students will have little opportunities to interact with people of other races, which can potentially cause issues in a multi-racial country like Singapore. Besides, the SAP does not have Malay or Tamil equivalents, which might be viewed by some as MOE not placing these two languages on an equal level as Mandarin. In addition, subjects that are related to Chinese culture may also be taught in Mandarin, such as Chinese literature, the history of China and Chinese–English translation studies.

References

  1. ^ a b c . www.moe.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d . Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. Archived from the original on 19 July 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  3. ^ Guan, Lee Hock; Suryadinata, Leo (1 January 2007). Language, Nation and Development in Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789812304827.
  4. ^ hermes (8 November 2015). "Breaking down barriers with bilingualism". The Straits Times. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  5. ^ Dixon, L. Quentin (15 January 2005). "Bilingual Education Policy in Singapore: An Analysis of its Sociohistorical Roots and Current Academic Outcomes". International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 8 (1): 25–47. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.499.3704. doi:10.1080/jBEB.v8.i1.pg25. ISSN 1367-0050. S2CID 42872929.
  6. ^ a b "特选中学 保住优秀华校". 联合早报网. 18 December 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Lee, Kuan Yew (2011). 李光耀 - 我一生的挑战 - 新加坡双语之路. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings. pp. 97–122. ISBN 978-981-4342-04-9.
  8. ^ p.166. Tan, Jason. (2001). "Education in the Early 21st Century: Challenges and Dilemmas"' in Singapore in the New Millennium: Challenges Facing the City-state. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: Singapore.
  9. ^ Pang, Cheng Lian (23 October 2015). 50 Years of the Chinese Community in Singapore. World Scientific. ISBN 9789814675413.
  10. ^ "SAP schools shouldn't be tweaked for sake of tokenism: Janil". 5 August 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.

special, assistance, plan, chinese, 特别辅助计划, pinyin, tèbié, fǔzhù, jìhuà, programme, singapore, introduced, 1979, which, caters, academically, strong, students, excel, both, their, mother, tongue, well, english, available, only, selected, primary, secondary, sc. The Special Assistance Plan SAP Chinese 特别辅助计划 pinyin Tebie Fǔzhu Jihua is a programme in Singapore introduced in 1979 1 which caters to academically strong students who excel in both their mother tongue as well as English It is available only in selected primary and secondary schools 1 In a SAP school several subjects may be taught in the mother tongue alongside other subjects that are taught in English SAP schools currently cater only to those studying Mandarin as their mother tongue although theoretically future SAP schools for other mother tongues are a possibility Contents 1 List of schools 1 1 SAP Primary Schools 1 2 SAP High Schools 2 Admission 3 Historical context 4 Societal significance 5 Concerns and criticisms 6 ReferencesList of schools EditSpecial Assistance Plan schools or SAP schools Chinese 特选学校 refers to schools that offers the Special Assistance Plan The SAP is offered at both primary elementary school level as well as secondary high school level in Special Assistance Plan primary schools Chinese 特选小学 and Special Assistance Plan high schools Chinese 特选中学 respectively 1 SAP Primary Schools Edit See also Primary schools in Singapore Name Type 2 Area Notes Website GEPAi Tong School 爱同学校 Mixed Bishan Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan 2 1 Catholic High School Affiliated Primary School 公教中学 附小 Boys Bishan 2 YesCHIJ St Nicholas Girls School Affiliated Primary School 圣尼格拉女校 小学部 Girls Ang Mo Kio 3 Holy Innocents Primary School 圣婴小学 Mixed Hougang 4 Hong Wen School 宏文学校 Mixed Kallang 5 Kong Hwa School 光华学校 Mixed Geylang Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan 2 6 Maha Bodhi School 菩提学校 Mixed Geylang 7 Maris Stella High School Primary 海星中学 附小 Boys Toa Payoh 8 Nan Hua Primary School 南华小学 Mixed Clementi 9 YesNanyang Primary School 南洋小学 Mixed Bukit Timah 10 YesPei Chun Public School 公立培群学校 Mixed Toa Payoh 11 Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School 培华长老会小学 Mixed Bukit Timah 12 Poi Ching School 培青学校 Mixed Tampines 13 Red Swastika School 卍慈学校 Mixed Bedok 14 Tao Nan School 道南学校 Mixed Marine Parade Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan 2 15 YesSAP High Schools Edit See also List of secondary schools in Singapore Name Type School Code Area Notes WebsiteAnglican High School 圣公会中学 Mixed 7101 Tanah Merah Affiliated to St Andrew s Junior College 16 Catholic High School 公教中学 Boys IP 9131 Special 7102 Bishan Affiliated to Eunoia Junior College IP Singapore Chinese Girls School IP CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls School IP Catholic Junior College Non IP 17 CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls School 圣尼各拉女校 Girls IP 9134 Special 7118 Ang Mo Kio Affiliated to Eunoia Junior College IP Singapore Chinese Girls School IP Catholic High School IP Catholic Junior College Non IP CHIJ St Nicholas Girls School Primary 18 Chung Cheng High School Main 中正中学 总校 Mixed 7104 Marine Parade Affiliated to Nanyang Junior College Non IP Chung Cheng High School Yishun Non IP 19 Dunman High School 德明政府中学 Mixed 3101 Tanjong Rhu Affiliated as Feeder School to Raffles Junior College Hwa Chong Junior College Victoria Junior College Top Feeder School Temasek Junior College Top Feeder School 20 Hwa Chong Institution 华侨中学 Boys 0806 Bukit Timah Offers the Hwa Chong Diploma Affiliated to Nanyang Girls High School IP 21 Maris Stella High School 海星中学 Boys 7111 Toa Payoh Affiliated to Catholic Junior College Non IP Maris Stella High School Primary 22 Nan Chiau High School 南侨中学 Mixed 7112 Sengkang Affiliated to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan 2 23 Nan Hua High School 南华中学 Mixed 3047 Clementi 24 Nanyang Girls High School 南洋女子中学校 Girls 7114 Bukit Timah Offers the Hwa Chong Diploma Affiliated to Hwa Chong Institution IP Nanyang Primary School 25 River Valley High School 立化中学 Mixed 3103 Boon Lay 26 Admission EditA student s admission to a SAP school or any secondary school for that matter is decided based on their results in the Primary School Leaving Examination PSLE To enter a SAP school a student must achieve a PSLE aggregate score that puts him in the top 10 of his cohort with an A grade for both the mother tongue and English before AL This means that only a relatively small group of students who are academically and linguistically strong may enter a SAP school Consequently SAP schools have a reputation of being the elite group of secondary schools in the country alongside independent and autonomous schools This stems from the Singaporean tradition of effective bilingualism in the education of the elite students from SAP schools Some students regardless of whether they are in a SAP school are offered a chance at effective trilingualism in secondary education starting from age 13 The first language English is the international language of commercial and the administrative and legal language of Singapore a former British colony The mother tongue reflects the cultural and ethnic identity or in recent times the linguistic curiosity of the students e g Malay and Indian students who opt to study Mandarin as second Language in Singapore The third languages are foreign languages which are considered by MOE to be economically politically and culturally vital 3 such as Japanese for those with higher PSLE scores in Chinese than English German for those with higher PSLE scores in English than Chinese and French for those with higher PSLE scores in English than Chinese Historical context EditMany SAP schools were historically Chinese language medium schools i e they taught all academic subjects in Mandarin including science and mathematics and which may have taught English as a foreign language Following Singapore s independence in 1965 the government recognised four official languages in Singapore English Mandarin Chinese Malay and Tamil but clearly designated English as the main language of basic and higher education government and law science and technology as well as trade and industry This is reflected in the Bilingual Policy which came into effect in 1966 4 While according official recognition to the languages of different ethno linguistic communities in Singapore it sought to promote English as a neutral common language to unite a culturally diverse nation of immigrants English was also held to be the language of international higher education science technology and commerce As such it was indispensable to Singapore given her ambition to become a Global City articulated as early as 1972 5 As English Language gained importance more parents inclined to send their child to English medium schools which adversely affected enrollment of Chinese medium schools In 1977 admission to Chinese medium elementary schools made up only 10 per cent of the nation s cohort which increasingly reflected the increasingly critical status of the Chinese medium schools in stark contrast over a decade 6 The need to preserve traditional Chinese schools with rich heritage and culture became a pressing agenda for the government with raising English standards and attracting capable students into such schools a key priority as pointed out by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew 7 In 1979 the Ministry of Education MOE designated nine Chinese medium secondary schools as Special Assistance Plan SAP schools These schools were intended to provide top scoring primary school leavers with the opportunity to study both English and Mandarin to high levels of competence Also these schools were to preserve the character of traditional Chinese medium secondary schools and allay fears that the Government was indifferent to Chinese language and culture amid declining enrolments in Chinese medium schools 8 The selected schools were given additional teaching resources and given assistance to run classes with a lower student to teacher ratio 6 The programme was deemed highly successful with five of the designated schools consistently attaining top ten positions in the secondary school ranking in the 1990s outperforming several established English medium schools 7 This supported the Government to further expand the programme to two other institutions with strong Chinese heritage including Nan Chiau High School which was initially listed as an SAP school candidate in 1978 7 9 Six top performing SAP high schools are also approved by the Ministry of Education to offer Integrated Programme IP to their full cohort with The Chinese High School Nanyang Girls High School being the piloting schools with Hwa Chong Junior College in 2004 followed by River Valley High School in 2006 and Dunman High School in 2008 Catholic High School and CHIJ St Nicholas Girls School were approved to offer Joint Integrated Programme in 2013 with Singapore Chinese Girls School Societal significance EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message With rapid economic development and exposure to Western particularly American popular culture and values in the 1970s and 1980s Singapore began to change from a lower income poorly educated society to a more confident educated vocal and individualistic society Around the same time in the 1980s the world was witnessing the rise of Japan and the Asian newly industrialised economies or NIEs of which Singapore was one Economically America appeared unable to compete with rising Asian manufacturing competitors especially Japan and was facing budget deficits Singapore politicians from the dominant People s Action Party synthesised these various situations and developed certain ideas that came to be known as the Asian Values discourse According to this line of argument Singapore along with Taiwan Hong Kong South Korea and Japan had succeeded so spectacularly in no small part because of their shared Confucianist cultural heritage which emphasised values such as hard work education family unity deference and loyalty to authority figures community spirit in contrast to Western individualism etc To better sell this argument to a multi ethnic population where the non Chinese non Confucianist communities formed at least a quarter of the population the discourse was re branded Asian Values rather than Confucian Work Ethic In Singapore traditional Asian culture was seen as a source of the nation s economic success thus far As such the government embarked on programmes and campaigns to promote traditional culture including the revitalised Speak Mandarin Campaign targeted at English rather than dialect speakers as was historically the case as well as SAP schools Concerns and criticisms EditThe SAP school programme is periodically criticised in the national media by Singaporeans who are concerned about the ethnic segregation that it inevitably promotes SAP schools offer mother tongue lessons in only one language Mandarin 10 This means that the vast majority if not all of the students in SAP schools will be ethnically Chinese These students will have little opportunities to interact with people of other races which can potentially cause issues in a multi racial country like Singapore Besides the SAP does not have Malay or Tamil equivalents which might be viewed by some as MOE not placing these two languages on an equal level as Mandarin In addition subjects that are related to Chinese culture may also be taught in Mandarin such as Chinese literature the history of China and Chinese English translation studies References Edit a b c Ministry of Education Singapore Press Releases www moe gov sg Archived from the original on 2 January 2013 Retrieved 11 December 2015 a b c d Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Education Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Archived from the original on 19 July 2006 Retrieved 4 November 2012 Guan Lee Hock Suryadinata Leo 1 January 2007 Language Nation and Development in Southeast Asia Institute of Southeast Asian Studies ISBN 9789812304827 hermes 8 November 2015 Breaking down barriers with bilingualism The Straits Times Retrieved 18 October 2017 Dixon L Quentin 15 January 2005 Bilingual Education Policy in Singapore An Analysis of its Sociohistorical Roots and Current Academic Outcomes International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 8 1 25 47 CiteSeerX 10 1 1 499 3704 doi 10 1080 jBEB v8 i1 pg25 ISSN 1367 0050 S2CID 42872929 a b 特选中学 保住优秀华校 联合早报网 18 December 2011 Retrieved 18 October 2017 a b c Lee Kuan Yew 2011 李光耀 我一生的挑战 新加坡双语之路 Singapore Singapore Press Holdings pp 97 122 ISBN 978 981 4342 04 9 p 166 Tan Jason 2001 Education in the Early 21st Century Challenges and Dilemmas in Singapore in the New Millennium Challenges Facing the City state Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Singapore Pang Cheng Lian 23 October 2015 50 Years of the Chinese Community in Singapore World Scientific ISBN 9789814675413 SAP schools shouldn t be tweaked for sake of tokenism Janil 5 August 2016 Retrieved 24 September 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Special Assistance Plan amp oldid 1148158135, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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