With MOE's emphasis on mental well-being recently, perhaps the first and most important question parents and students should consider first is whether the child can cope with the academic demands of their preferred school. Many will go for the top and branded schools without much consideration about this matter, thinking that they can load the child with tuition to mitigate this issue. More often than not, this will bring about more undesired and unintended consequences.
Shall illustrate with an example using the old PSLE T-Score system. The COP of schools like NYG, RGS and RI are usually 260 or above, which means the main bulk of that cohort will likely have Mean COP around 263-265 or up. With DSA, a T-score of high 190+ is eligible for Express/NA/NT which makes a student eligible for the 3 schools if given a CO.
Can students with such T-Scores or low 200+, which is a big gap of 50 to 70 points away from majority of their peers, realistically manage academically over the 6 years? If the school assigns a mixed class, will the teacher slows down the pace of lesson just to accommodate a few such students? If the school assigns a DSA class, how will students in the DSA class feel knowing that they are the bottom few in the school? A few IP schools reassign weaker students to O Level classes after Sec 2. Is this really a solution? How many actually do well enough to qualify for entry into a JC (L1R5 not more than 20 pts)? The schools can squeeze them dry in their CCA and filter them out of their IP system after O Levels. Some students are even asked to leave the school and take O Level as a private candidate. Most go unreported as most parents will not want further publicity and embarrassment.
The widely reported RI case a few years ago brings to light such incidents which many parents are not aware of. https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/ris-o-level-scores-only-one-class-10-qualified-jc
The above case will probably go unreported had the media not got wind of it.
Are the schools being fair to the students by taking them in without much consideration about whether they are able to cope with the academic rigour? Parents loading these children with tuition, when the children can no longer cope with the huge load on their shoulders and suffer stress and mental breakdown, whose fault is it? How many children nowadays can really take failure and hardship, pick themselves up and move on? Many have been sheltered by over-protective parents since they are born. They do not know how to handle even little problems by themselves. Everything have been sorted out for them by their parents. Many children are also more rebellious in their teenage years, may have communication issues with parents too. When things snowball and parents are not able to handle, that's when things go downhill very fast. Hence, it is not surprising to hear about more teens seeking help at IMH or increase in teen suicide cases.
I do urge all parents and students to consider the suitability (ability to cope with required academic rigour) of the school first before other factors. Do you want your child and yourself to be so stressed out over the next 6 years?
If applying DSA via academic domain, excellent P5/6 results are not good enough. The school will receive many such students via PSLE posting anyway. Will need other outstanding achievements (eg Math Olympiad Gold, etc) for the school to consider offering the student.
Similarly for Sports or Aesthetics domains, can the student make a big difference in the CCA? If the standard is similar to what the school can find easily during Sec 1 CCA trials, then why should the school offer the student?
Best for parents and students to do their homework first before deciding on the DSA schools. Why 'try your luck' and set your child up for failure and face rejection? Is this good for their mental well-being?
TryNotKiasu\" post_id=\"2036497\" time=\"1630740601\" user_id=\"189482:I have a question.. Other than the relevant talent skill set the sec schools look into when confirming dsa students, do they choose students with academic results within their accepted range (so students can manage studies without struggle, esp ip) or below their cut off point (if they think the students can get in using psle result anyway)?
from joy!!!. 
[/quote]O Lvl HMT or A Lvl H1 MT is a requirement for entry to local universities