Glossary
Welcome to the glossary page of our website. This page contains all the terms and words that you may find unfamiliar as you browse through our website. Do check their definitions here!
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | P | Q | R | S | T | V
A
Aggregate score
The aggregate score is a student's absolute score as compared with other students taking the same examination.
Aptitudes
An inherent ability, as for learning; a talent.
Art Elective Programme
A programme which interested students can participate in and make art one of their core graded subjects.
B
Balloting
Balloting takes place when the number of applicants exceeds the number of places available. Balloting usually takes place at phase 3, especially in popular primary schools.
C
Centralized item bank
The Centralized item bank is managed by the Ministry of Education and supplies schools with questions for their examinations, especially with that of the Streaming examinations.
Civics and Moral Education
Civics and Moral Education is the teaching of moral values to young children so as to inculcate in them the right attitude and mindset towards learning and treating others around them.
Co-Ed Schools
Coeducation is the integrated education of males and females at the same school facilities; co-ed is a shortened adjectival form of co-educational.
Commonwealth
A world organization of autonomous states that are united in allegiance to a central power but are not subordinate to it or to one another.
Compulsory Education
Compulsory education is education which is required by the government, usually at the national level.
Compulsory Subject
A subject which a student has no choice but to take, regardless of whether they like it or not.
Curriculum
All the courses of study offered by an educational institution.
D
Diplôme élémentaire de langue française (DELF)
French for French Elementary Diploma. It is an internationally recognised qualification denoting one's proficiency in French.
Dynamic Education
An education that has intensity and vigor, being not monotonous and flexible.
E
EM1, EM2 and EM3
These are the academic streams that are available after P4 students have been streamed. EM1 stream is where students take up Higher Mother Tongue in addition to their subjects while EM3 stream is where students take subjects pitched at a lower level.
Emphasis
Special attention or effort directed toward something.
Examinable subject
An examinable subject is a subject that would be tested in the final year assessment. A grade would be given for that particular subject.
F
Flexibility
The quality of being adaptable or variable.
G
GCE 'A' Level
General Certification of Education Advanced Level – an examination in which most Singaporeans JC or CI students take at the age of 18. This qualification determines their future university studies.
GCE 'O' Level
General Certification of Education Ordinary Level – an examination in which most Singaporeans Secondary students in the Special or Express streams take at the age of 16. This qualification determines their future post-secondary education institutions and educational pathway.
GCE 'N' Level
General Certification of Education Normal Level – an examination in which most Singaporeans Secondary students in the Normal Academic or Normal Technical streams take at the age of 16. This qualification determines their future university studies.
Gifted Education Branch
The Gifted Education Branch is the authority over the implementation of Gifted Education in Singapore; the Branch is under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education.
Globalisation
The increasing world-wide integration of markets for goods, services and capital that attracted special attention in the late 1990s.
H
H1, H2 and H3 System
The new GCE 'A' level system adopted by Singapore to characterize and group the level of studies in subjects.
Higher Mother Tongue
Higher Mother Tongue is the learning of the Mother Tongue language pitched at a higher level as opposed to the normal curriculum.
Holistic
Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.
Humanities
Those branches of knowledge, such as philosophy, literature, and art, that are concerned with human thought and culture.
I
Integral
Essential or necessary for completeness; constituent.
International Baccalaureate
A high school degree program internationally licensed by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) that is comparable and recognised as the equivalent of the General Cambridge Examination A Level.
Internationally Recognized
Acknowledged all over the world.
L
L1R5
Refers to the total score of one language subject plus a combination of five relevant subjects.
Language Elective Programmes
A programme which interested students can participate in and take up a third language (Japanese, French, German, Malay or Chinese) as one of their core graded subjects.
Learning Capabilties
A talent or ability for learning and academic studies that has potential for development or use.
M
Music Elective Programme
A programme which interested students can participate in and make music one of their core graded subjects.
P
Permanent Residents
Permanent residency refers to a person's status such that the person is allowed to reside indefinitely within the country despite not having citizenship. A person with such status is known as a permanent resident.
Primary School Leaving Examinations
The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is a national examination taken by all primary school students in Singapore before leaving for secondary school and is administered by the Ministry of Education.
Project work
Project work is a subject where students work in groups to complete a long-term project, and learn about group dynamics as well as inter-personal skills through it.
Q
Qualification
A condition or circumstance that must be met or complied with. In Singapore, it often refers to the level of education which one has met.
R
Registration Phases
Registration of P1 pupils are split into phases so as to allow pupils to register smoothly. Pupils who qualify for earlier phases would be admitted into the school first.
S
Science
Knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena.
Social Studies
Social studies is the study of history, geography, civics, sociology, economics, and other social science subjects in primary and secondary schools.
Specialized Subjects
Subjects which a student have great interest in and chooses to be marked by or characterized by being proficient in it.
Streaming Exercise
Streaming Exercise happens in P4, where pupils are streamed according to their ability. This enable the application of varied teaching methods to different groups of classroom students according to each group's abilities.
Supplementary Intake (GEP)
In the Supplementary Intake, pupils would sit for the selection test in Primary 6 after obtaining exceptional results in the PSLE. Pupils who pass this selection test would join the Gifted Education in Secondary 1.
T
Technical
Having special skill or practical knowledge especially in a mechanical or scientific field.
V
Visual Literacy
The ability to perceive and understand art pieces and its hidden meanings.
Vocational
Relating to, providing, or undergoing training in a special skill to be pursued in a trade.
Voluntary service
Voluntary service is performed by the parents of a child who wishes to enter a primary school. This qualifies the child for an earlier registration phase, thus increasing his chances of entering the school.
