By Santokh Singh

SLOWLY but surely, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is getting there.

The ranking and banding of schools according to academic results is fast fading and, one hopes, will disappear one day.

There was some joy looking at the press release of this year's Master Plan of Awards (MPA), which is released annually.

I noticed that schools were listed alphabetically, equally highlighting their academic and non-academic performances.

Gone were the academic bands of schools right up front – where schools were grouped and presented in terms of their academic results.

Instead, these academic bands were relegated to the last column of each school's list of awards. The schools were no longer grouped together.

Those really keen on finding out all the schools in any band had to collate the data for themselves from the list of 60-odd schools for the Special/Express stream and 50-odd for Normal Academic.

Checks also showed that this was the first time the MOE had presented the annual listings in this format.

Indeed, we have come a long way from the very first ranking of schools in 1992.

Called the ST Ranking, it listed the schools purely in order of academic merit, down to the last digit. There was only one place for each school, and non-academic performances were not really highlighted.

Along the way, either consciously or through changes in the education landscape, the MOE changed the rankings into broader bands.

Schools were banded together based on their academic performances, with their non-academic achievements listed as well.

The opting-out of the Integrated Programme schools (mostly top schools) provided an opportunity to re-look the much criticised rankings.

Even then, there were murmurs in the education fraternity that the move was just cosmetic. And die-hard critics would argue that the latest move is no different.

But the right signals are certainly being sent.

We have come a long way from the days of seeing the Raffles and Hwa Chong schools at the top of the list.

The MPA, which evolved from the original ranking system, has been providing more details on the all-round programmes, and achievements, of our schools. And that is welcomed information.

Question is: Do we still need the academic bands, even if they are presented at the end of the list?

I do believe that our schools know how they are faring in the overall scheme of things, and they are making the effort to achieve their and their charges' true potential.

The competition is inherent in the system and standards are not likely to be compromised.

Parents, too, have become savvier - enough to check performances of schools on the Internet or through school visits.

We are just one step away from dropping that last column in the school's listings.

And, as a parent, I didn't bother to look at it.

This article was first published in The New Paper on 22 Sept, 2008.