IT IS a scheme which has come under criticism over the years for being elitist and exclusionist, and for producing students who do not mix well.

While the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in primary schools is here to stay, schools will redouble efforts to get pupils in the scheme to mix better.

At the nine primary schools offering the programme, GEP pupils will spend more time in class with their non-GEP peers from next year.

On average, they will spend a third to half of their lesson time together.

This will be done broadly in two ways:

• By putting GEP students with non-GEP students in the same form class, but pulling them out for core GEP classes in English, maths and science.

• By letting GEP students stay in their own classes, but join other students for classes like Physical Education, Art and Music.

Annoucing this on Friday during a visit to Nan Hua Primary, one of the nine schools, Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew said it was important to let pupils, especially the brighter ones, mix with a wider circle of people, and not just those of the same interests and abilities.

It is helpful for these students to understand some of the 'challenges that other students may face, as well as to find ways in which they can ln from the students,' he added.

Started in secondary schools in 1983 and extended to primary schools a year later (1984), the GEP aims to help the top 1 per cent of each cohort realise their potential.

At the secondary level, it has been discontinued as the various integrated programme (IP) schools have each come up with their own talent schemes for bright students.

At Nan Hua, chosen as the ninth GEP centre in 1999, 44 Primary 4 GEP pupils are slotted into three classes with 45 'mainstream' pupils. The children attend all classes together, except for English, maths and science.

To make sure that academic rigour is not compromised, the non-GEP pupils are chosen from those who have done well in studies.

There's an equal mix of GEP and non-GEP pupils in each class:'We do not want any group to feel that they are the majority, or feel lesser compared to the others,' said Nan Hua principal, Mrs Lee Hui Feng.

While the GEP pupils could interact with other pupils in their co-curricular activities, the 'twinning' classes let them do so within lesson time.

'It has really enlarged their social circle,' said Mrs Lee.

In one of the classes, Celine Ong was teaching Estee Leong how to make various shapes using plastic blocks, during a maths enrichment class.

Estee, 10, said that it was interesting as she got to 'work with GEP students', while Celine said that she had made more friends as a resulting of the 'twinning' classes.