The Singapore education system is a rigorous and demanding one, ranking consistently in the top 3 best education system in the world. Education officially begins for Singaporeans the year they turn 7 years old, where it is compulsory to attend Primary School. It will be their foray into the 12 year long education journey before they embark on their tertiary education or the working world.

Primary school is where these young Singaporeans form their foundation of their learning habits. During these formative years, the Ministry of Education (MOE) aims to build every child’s confidence and desire to learn. The curriculum aims to provide these young students with a broad range of learning experiences that will help them to discover their talents and Interests.

primary tutor

What is the Singapore Primary School Education

The Primary school education in Singapore is six years of compulsory education, where students undergo subject-based banding to cater to each student’s different strengths. Students are also encouraged to participate in Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) and Values in Action activities to have a holistic education. At the end of their six years of Primary school education, students undergo a Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

Aims of the Singapore Primary School Education

To enable the young and future generations in Singapore to excel in a digital-rich diverse and globalised environment, Primary schools in Singapore aims each child to become:

  • A confident person with a solid sense of right and wrong, is adaptable and resilient, self-aware, discerning in judgment, thinks independently and critically, and communicates effectively;
  • A self-motivated learner who perseveres, reflects, questions and takes responsibility for his own learning; 
  • An active and effective team player, who is innovative, takes initiative, strives for the best, and takes calculated risks; and
  • A civic-minded and responsible person, who is globally and domestically aware, and takes an active part in community service.

The Primary School Curriculum

The Singapore Ministry of Education has designed the Primary school curriculum to build the young generation’s foundation of nurturing sound values, loving their country and develop literacy and numeracy. There are three main aspects of education; the first is subject disciplines which are subjects in language, arts, mathematics, humanities and science, which enables them to have an excellent grounding in the different fields of study. The second is on knowledge skills, where the focus is on the young generation’s  thinking and communication skills development. Knowledge skills is taught through the project-work approach. And the third aspect is character development, which is facilitated through daily interaction and learning experiences planned by the school. Daily interaction and learning experiences will instill sound values and build character, and the young will have many opportunities to develop skills, civic mindedness and values through Character and Citizenship Education and Co-Curricular Activities.

primary school cirrculum

The Primary school subject-based banding offers students either Foundation or Standard English Language, Mother Tongue Language (Chinese Language, Malay Language, Tamil Language, etc), Mathematics and Science at Primary 5 and 6, depending on their learning ability and needs. Students with a higher aptitude and interested may be offered Higher Mother Tongue Language.

It provides more flexibility for students by offering them the option to combine Foundation and/or Standard subjects. This allows students to focus on their potential in their stronger subjects, while strengthening their fundamentals in the subjects they are weaker at.

How Primary School Subject-Based Banding Works

When students are in Primary 4, they sit for an examination which helps their school recommends the subject combination based on their examination results. The school will send an option form to their parents to fill up to indicate the preferred subject combination. 

At Primary 5, students take the subject combination chosen by their parents. The schools will also assess the student’s ability to cope with the subject combination at the end of the academic year, and makes any adjustments if necessary. 

Finally, in the students’ final year of Primary school at Primary 6, they take the subject combination decided by their school and sit for their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) at the end of Primary 6.

Learning Support Programmes

Learning Support Programmes (LSP) are available to students entering Primary 1 who are weak in English Language and Mathematics. 

The LSP for English Language provided to students who are weak in literacy skills are taught by specially trained teachers in small groups using strategies which can improve their reading ability.

The LSP for Mathematics provided to students who are weak in numeracy skills are taught in smaller classes during their regular mathematics class and supplementary lessons taught  by specially trained teachers.

Gifted Education Programme

The Gifted Education Programme (GEP) caters to students who are intellectually inclined. They are invited by their school to participate in a screening exercise at Primary 3 for entrance into the GEP.

GEP students are placed in selected Primary schools when they are in Primary 4 to Primary 6, and they are taught an enriched curriculum based on the regular curriculum of the subject syllabus by specially trained teachers.

psle tuition

Tuition for Primary School Students

As mentioned in the opening paragraph and evident from this article, Singapore has a very rigorous and demanding education system, which could cause a lot of anxiety and stress on students and parents, especially if they strive to perform well at school and in the PSLE. In order to get your child to stay on the right track in their education, and give them a boost and a head-start, hiring an effective Primary school tutor remains one of the top choices of parents. 

Effective English, Mother Tongue, Maths and Science tuition is critical in determining whether your child’s education journey is one that is tough and long or one that is enriching and easy. An effective tutor will help ease your child’s education journey and help them be ready to face the numerous challenges that they will face in their Primary school education.

Effective Tuition By A Private Tutor

Hiring a good private tutor for your child is many folds more effective than enrolling them in a tuition centre, as the full attention and focus is on your child, compared to a tuition centre which is similar to a school classroom environment, where the tutor would have to teach and control the entire class. This is especially so if your child has a short attention span and isn’t focus and motivated in learning.

The private tutor can also help cultivate and change your child’s learning habit. This is invaluable and a tuition class tutor would not be able to do.. Your child can be taught effective and proper studying methods at home, methods to better absorb and understand what is taught in school, and other life habits that are important to excel in life.

Types of Primary School Tutors

In our database, we have tutors of all ages, qualifications and experience. There are part-time tutors, full-time tutors, Ex and current MOE school teachers, and tutors who are undergoing their training at the National Institute of Education (NIE) to be a MOE school teacher. Most of our tutors are degree graduates, with some diploma graduates or younger tutors with their A level qualifications. Below is a table of the market rate for the various types of tutors mentioned.

Level of StudyPart-Time TutorFull-Time TutorNIE TraineeEx / Current
MOE Tutor
Primary 1 $20-25 $30-35 $40-50 $50-60
Primary 2 $20-30 $30-40 $40-50 $50-60
Primary 3 $20-30 $30-40 $40-50 $50-60
Primary 4 $25-30 $35-45 $45-55 $55-65
Primary 5 $25-30 $40-45 $45-55 $55-70
Primary 6 $25-35 $40-50 $50-60 $60-70

We hope these information on Primary school education and tuition is helpful to you in making a better decision to get your child on the right track of his/her education journey. It is a worthwhile investment to hire an effective private tutor that would ease the tough and arduous education journey, and give your child a head start in their future.