Schools, stop the 'kiasu' practice of using DSA to 'chope' bright kids

Summary:

The Direct School Admission (DSA) was introduced in 2004 to let secondary schools broaden their admission criteria beyond PSLE scores and give those with other talents in sports and the arts, a chance to shine. However, some schools have been using the DSA scheme to admit students on the basis of academic strength. In the most competitive schools, like Raffles Institution, at least half the students they admit through DSA are academically talented. Many of these students would be from the GEP, and likely would have got into their choice schools based on PSLE scores. In 2012, MOE released figures showing that 60% of those admitted to these schools via DSA would have gotten in based on their PSLE scores. Thus, the DSA scheme has become another way for the academically bright pupils to secure places in the premier schools ahead of the PSLE, contradicting the core objective of the DSA scheme. Hence, MOE should relook at the DSA scheme and stop schools from using academic criteria to admit students under this scheme. 

Opinion:

 I disagree that schools should use DSA to "chope" bright students as it is unfair for other students who perform average in their studies. When secondary schools take in students based on their academic talent, other students who perform well enough to enter these schools will be deprived of the chance, as most of the slots have gone to these bright and smart students. Thus, these students will not have a chance to get into these good schools to further their studies, thus causing the "smart to become smarter" while the average students will not be able to progress. As mentioned in the article, one example would be the Raffles Institution. At least half of the students there that they admit through DSA are academically talented. This shows that only half of the school intake is left for students who study in normal school and not in the gifted educational programme. Hence, this shows that admitting students through academic talent is unfair to other students and deprived them of the chance to do well.