PUBLISHED ONNovember 04, 2025 6:05 AMBYDana LeongThe Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) assesses students on their ability to use critical thinking and apply concepts in different contexts, said Senior Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 4), Dr Puthucheary fielded questions posed by Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam regarding the academic rigour of the PSLE.
In particular, Aljunied MP Giam asked if the challenging questions in the PSLE required knowledge beyond the primary school syllabus.
He also followed up by asking if these challenging questions were a "sorting mechanism" or if the Ministry of Education (MOE) has safeguards to ensure that all students — including those without access to private tuition — are able to answer them.
Dr Puthucheary said that approximately 15 per cent of PSLE questions are classified as "challenging", and that they are "based entirely on the primary school syllabus and do not require knowledge beyond the curriculum".
To solve such questions, students are required to apply core concepts, such as higher order thinking, problem solving, creativity and imagination, in novel contexts.
Dr Puthucheary also said that the questions are constructed with "age-appropriate language and contexts", and often include "scaffolding to help students attempt them progressively".
He argued that students are tested on their understanding of skills taught in the common curriculum, rather than techniques that may be picked up at private tuition.
The challenging questions are also a necessary portion of the PSLE, so that the students with the capabilities to solve them can have their academic abilities "assessed correctly", he added.
Emphasising the holistic nature of Singapore's primary school syllabus, Dr Puthucheary said that teachers use various pedagogies to encourage inquiry-based, collaborative and experiential learning so that "the PSLE does not emphasise rote learning or test-taking skills".
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dana.leong@asiaone.com
