Coronavirus: Direct School Admission exercise to open on May 12, with selection process going virtual – The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Application for the Direct School Admission (DSA) exercise for admission to secondary schools and junior colleges in 2021 will open on Tuesday (May 12), with the selection process moving online in the light of the Covid-19 situation.

In total, 146 secondary schools and 20 junior colleges (JCs) are participating this year in DSA, which gives students the opportunity to get into a secondary school or JC based on their achievements and talents, in addition to their academic performance.

The DSA scheme recognises talent in non-academic areas such as sports and the arts, and grants Primary 6 pupils places in secondary schools before they sit the Primary School Leaving Examination.

To ensure the safety of all students and school personnel in view of the coronavirus pandemic, DSA schools will not hold any physical trials or face-to-face interviews as part of their selection process, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) in a statement on Monday.

Instead, the interviews and selection process for shortlisted DSA candidates will be conducted via electronic modes (e-modes) at the applicants' primary school for secondary school DSA applications, and at the applicants' secondary school for JC applications.

This ensures there is no intermingling of students across schools, and that safe distancing measures are adhered to.

Students will be provided with access to video-conferencing capability, as well as standardised and suitable venues and equipment to ensure fairness in the selection process.

The DSA schools will use e-modeswhich the students are already familiar withso as to avoid creating additional workload for the students.

This includes conducting interviews through video conference and performance tasks, where the students may be asked to perform tasks, such as simple pencil sketches or musical performances, so as to demonstrate their attributes and potential in a specific talent area.

The format and task will depend on the student's area of talentas well as the school's selection criteria.

Ms Lo Yen Nie, principal of Haig Girls School, said the primary school will ensure that there are rooms for students to do their e-interviews and school personnel present to provide them with technical assistance if required.

Other forms of support also include the loan of musical instruments for audition purposes, if needed.

In addition, mock interviews, which are usually conducted by the school to help its students boost their confidence when speaking about their talents, will be moved virtually this year to ensure that they continue to receive the same level of support for their applications.

MOE recognises that there may be limitations in assessing students via e-modes for certain talent areas, such as team sports, but it reassures students that schools will adopt a holistic approach towards selection.

In addition to the interviews and selection via e-modes, schools will also consider other factors such as the student's co-curricular activity (CCA) records and their past achievements.

DSA schools may also seek additional inputs from the student's current school.

Principal of Raffles Institution (RI) Frederick Yeo said that 15 out of 21 of its selected talent areas are sports such as hockey, judo and track and field.

As such, students whose talents lie in sports would have to demonstrate their relevant skills set through the video interview, in lieu of physical trials.

In order to assess students holistically, he added that they will also be assessed for soft skills such as confidence and resilience which can be teased out from the way in which they share their experiences.

RI will be liaising closely with primary schools to schedule interview slots for the shortlisted applicants.

The selection period for the DSA secondary schools is from July 1 to Sept 14, while the period for DSA junior colleges is from June 29 to Sept 4.

Education Minister Ong Ye Kungsaid last week that the DSA scheme will try to take in as many students as it did last year. It had 3,500 students who successfully applied to secondary schools through DSA last year.

Housewife Diane Wee, 45, whose 12-year-old daughter is studying at St Hildas Primary School, will be applying for DSA to Tanjong Katong Girls School through sailing.

She is not worried about this years application going online as her two older children had gone through the same process. I will remind my daughter to relax and be herself when the time comes to prepare for the interview, which is a few months down the road.

Cedar Girls Secondary School student Althea Lim, 16, will use her strong academic results in subjects such as literature and history to apply to Hwa Chong Institutions Humanities Programme, and she prepared her portfolio of documents almost a month ago.

Im glad that the applications have shifted online in view of the Covid-19 situation, as this ensures that peoples health, safety and convenience are prioritised, she said.

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Coronavirus: Direct School Admission exercise to open on May 12, with selection process going virtual - The Straits Times