I REFER to last Friday's report, 'Giving Normal stream that special touch', which referred to schools that were recognised under the Ministry of Education's (MOE) masterplan of awards. Clementi Town Secondary School received the inaugural Lee Hsien Loong Award for Innovations in the Normal Course because it had positively transformed the learning experience for its Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students over the past years.

As the report stated, teachers in the school adopt innovative ways to make the core curriculum come alive and design interesting electives to enhance the quality of education for these students.

The school did not win the award because it had done away with mid-year examinations. Exams remain an important and integral part of teaching and learning in all schools.

Regular assessment, including school and national exams, provides useful feedback to learners and teachers, while providing useful information for benchmarking. Schools need to adopt a good mix of assessment modes.

Wong Siew Hoong
Director of Schools
Ministry of Education

This article was first published in The Straits Times.