Seventy-three Secondary 5 students from two schools sat for the wrong GCE O-Level Mathematics paper last Thursday (Oct 20) because the schools had indicated the wrong syllabus code during registration.
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said Woodgrove Secondary and Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary had wanted their students to sit for Mathematics (Syllabus 4016) papers but indicated syllabus 4048 instead. The latter is a revised version of syllabus 4016, and is being examined for the first time this year.
“While the affected candidates have sat for the revised Syllabus 4048, the topics examined are largely comparable with the Syllabus 4016,” said SEAB. “After the schools were made aware of the error, they immediately notified and worked closely with us to ensure that the candidates sat for the correct syllabus for Maths Paper 2 on 21 October 2016. We have confirmed that no other schools were affected.”
SEAB said it is also working with the schools and the University of Cambridge International Examinations “to ensure that these candidates will be fairly assessed in the GCE O-Level Mathematics Paper 1 examination”.
“We will take into consideration the circumstances of the incident, the candidates’ performance in the school preliminary examination, their performance in the other Mathematics paper and the cohort’s performance in providing a fair assessment to the candidates for the Mathematics subject,” said the board.
Both schools said they have reached out to the affected students — 49 from Woodgrove Secondary and 24 from Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary — and their parents.
A Woodgrove Secondary spokesperson said the students “will be assessed together with the other candidates under the correct syllabus and would not be disadvantaged”. The spokesperson added that the school is reviewing its registration processes “to ensure such mistakes of entering the wrong subject code will not happen in future”.
An Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary spokesperson said its principal also met with students after Paper 2 to provide assurance and ascertain if further support was needed. “Our immediate focus is to provide the necessary support to the students who are still in the midst of taking the national examinations,” said the spokesperson.
Source: TODAY Online
