The Provisional Admission Exercise (PAE), colloquially known as the first three months among Singapore students, was an interim exercise in which graduating Secondary 4 students in Singapore could choose to join a junior college or centralised institute for Term 1 in the following academic year, before the official release of the GCE 'O' level results. Students used the score of their respective secondary schools' internal preliminary

examinations An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verb ...

to apply under the programme.

Programme

Orientation session at Millennia Institute, Singapore (2007)

Most pre-university centres'

orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building desi ...

programmes during the PAE were longer as compared to those held at the start of the actual pre-university academic year. Students usually made use of this period of time to

socialise In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cu ...

and enjoy themselves; their workload was greatly reduced, and cases of skipping classes were common. This is in stark contrast to the pressure-cooker stress that students usually undergo during a normal school term. Junior colleges in Singapore also made use of this period to organise many activities, with fun as an emphasis, in order to entice students to stay in their respective institutions after the PAE. This is particularly true if the junior college is not prominent for its academic-orientated performance. During the PAE, students were permitted to wear

uniforms A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, s ...

of their secondary schools instead of those of the pre-university centre. The phenomenon of

gate-crashing Gate crashing, gatecrashing, or party crashing is the act of entering, attending, or participating in an event without an invitation nor ticket. The person doing the gate crashing is known as a gate crasher or party crasher. Motivations for ...

, or colloquially called crashing, arose from this loophole; in an act amounting to trespassing, students not affiliated to a school enter without prior consent from the school administration. Some students gatecrashed to enjoy the prestige of crashing a "good" pre-university centre; others did so to join their former schoolmates. It was also common to see students from different secondary schools exchanging their school uniforms with those from schools considered more recognised, mostly for the fun of it or in some cases, to escape the "neighbourhood school" stigma presented by their uniforms. Critics claim that some secondary schools give an unfair advantage over their students, by either inflating grades for the internal preliminary examinations or making them easier. Students who choose to remain in the JCs after the PAE are awarded bonus '

loyalty Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only anothe ...

' scores, which cuts off 2 points in their GCE 'O' Level grade, giving them a greater chance of remaining in the pre-university centre. However, the option to reduce one's score by 2 points is only applicable if the student scores an L1R5 of 20 points or less. School administrations struggled to cope with the admission procedures of two student batches in an academic year. It is also argued that in many cases, lessons had to be retaught as many students did not remain in the same pre-university centre after the PAE because some left for other JCs or polytechnics.

End of PAE

The

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

had originally announced the consolidation of a single admission batch for pre-university centres from 2006 onwards, but due to administrative problems, the abolishment was delayed till 2009, making 2008 the last year with PAE. This coincides with the arrangement between

SEAB SEAB may refer to: * Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Education of the Government of Singapore. SEAB was established on 1 April 2004 a ...

and

UCLES University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) is a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge, which operates under the brand name Cambridge Assessment, and is part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment. It provi ...

to cut short the marking period of papers.

External links

Ministry of Education press release: Single Intake for Junior Colleges and Millennia Institute from 2009
{{Education in Singapore Education in Singapore Singaporean culture

Programme

End of PAE

See also

External links