Having a gifted child is an exciting prospect for many parents. In the Singapore education system, our nine-year-olds are screened and selected for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP).
In this post, we share what is GEP and everything you need to know about it.
What is the Gifted Education Programme (GEP)?
GEP was launched by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 1984.
Its aim was and still is to identify students from each academic year with outstanding intelligence and nurture these intellectually gifted students to cultivate in them higher-level thinking skills and capabilities for self-directed learning.
How are GEP students selected?
All primary schools in Singapore conduct a screening test for the Gifted Education Programme in late August. The primary three pupils who choose to sit for this first selection test (consisting of two papers: English and Mathematics), will answer 100 questions that assess their quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension and vocabulary.
Shortlisted pupils then sit for a second screening selection in October. In this round of examination, students take three papers that test their language, numerical and general abilities at a higher difficulty level.
At the end of this selection, the top one percent of the cohort is selected and offered a place in the nine primary schools that offer the gifted education programme.
Please refer the list of GEP schools below.
School |
Nature of School |
|
Gender |
Type |
|
| Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) | Boys | |
| Catholic High School (Primary) | Boys | SAP* |
| Henry Park Primary School | Co-ed | |
| Nan Hua Primary School | Co-ed | SAP* |
| Nanyang Primary School | Co-ed | SAP* |
| Raffles Girls’ Primary School | Girls | |
| Rosyth School | Co-ed | |
| St Hilda’s Primary School | Co-ed | |
| Tao Nan School | Co-ed | SAP* |
*Note that Special Assistance Plan (SAP) Schools offer only Chinese Language as Mother Tongue. Source – MOE website, as of June 2019
Difference between GEP and regular syllabus
So, is there any difference between GEP and MOE curriculum?
Yes.
While GEP pupils would follow the regular curriculum and take the same examinations as those in the mainstream, the GEP curriculum is enriched to expand the gifted pupils’ academic potential to the fullest.
Hence, GEP students have additional subjects on top of their regular ones, which they study with greater depth of coverage. In addition, they are exposed to more varied learning experiences such as project work and field trips, and their workload are heavier compared to the main cohort.
To better integrate the gifted students with the mainstream students as well as encourage these gifted students to adopt social responsibility and civic awareness, they also participate in the regular school-wide activities, CCAs and Values-in-Action (VIA) Programmes to allow them to learn, work and play together with their schoolmates on a daily basis.
Can parents prepare their kids for the GEP selection?
You can enrol your child in the many gifted education programme preparatory classes available in Singapore. However, MOE and many educators advise against it, as this is counter-intuitive to the objective of the GEP programme. This is because pupils who are not ready for the programme’s intellectual rigour will struggle with the curriculum and not benefit fully from it.
GEP preparatory classes are quite costly, ranging between $300 to $1,000 a month. They are more expensive than regular tuition as they are specialised classes and more intensive. Students are familiarised with the format and questions asked in the screening and selection assessments.
While there have been cases where students who went for preparatory classes got selected into the GEP programme, there is no guarantee of success for these students. GEP students who are not a natural fit with the programme may grapple with the heavy workload and succumb to discrimination from their non-GEP classmates.
Life after primary school for GEP students
After graduating from primary school, GEP students have many pathways to consider.
They can progress to Integrated Programme (IP) schools which offer School-Based Gifted Education (SBGE). Currently, there are only seven schools that offer SBGE. They are Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Dunman High School, Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls’ High School, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary), and Raffles Institution (Secondary).
Alternatively, GEP students can also enrol in other IP schools that provide academically-strong students a six-year Secondary and Junior College (JC) education that culminates in GCE A-Level, or International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma or NUS High School Diploma. Click on this link for the list of schools.
GEP is a highly selective academic programme intended for naturally gifted students. We wish you and your child all the best in the upcoming GEP selection process.
