Direct School Admission for secondary schools (DSA-Sec) allows students to apply to some schools before taking the PSLE.
That's right, these students have been securing their seats ahead of time through the use of Maths Olympiad (MO).
Through the DSA (Maths Domain), you as well can help your child secure a seat in the most prestigious schools in Singapore...
and in this article, we will show you how!
The Direct School Admission (DSA) program was introduced in 2004 for students who are in Primary 6 to be granted admission into
a secondary school without having to rely on their PSLE results. So how does MO tie into this?
Any student who is good in maths may use the DSA program to their advantage:
In Jan 2019, Coach Leo addressed the cohort of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Olympiad during his opening speech at Suntec City Convention Centre, expressing his amazement at the young age of the competitors and the standard of maths education across Southeast Asian countries in this day and age. He spoke to a crowd of more than 1,500 students and parents, acknowledging that education has become so competitive in the 21st Century. Parents have to take the initiative to help their children gain extra-curricular experience and achievements in order to for them to stand a chance at entering top schools in Singapore, the Asia Pacific region, America and Europe.
"Does my child need to be a genius?" "Is it too late to start?" "Is my child too young?"
These are the most common questions parents ask when deciding whether or not to take part in the Olympiad.
Statiscally speaking, the definitive answer is 'NO'.
Geniuses are few and far between. In fact, Math Olympiad Training has little correlation to a student's IQ but more so
with conceptual understanding and problem-solving strategies. Less than 10% of Math Olympiad students are geniuses.
And even if a student was found to be a genius, proper training and the right approach is needed to turn him or her into a
Gold or Silver medalist. That being said, the majority of those who have won medals are not geniuses but are instead well trained
and widely exposed to a great variety of non-routine, out-of-the-box questions.
IQ does not play a substantial role in the outcome of MO competition performance.
When it comes to training duration, students who have started maths olympiad training from a young age tend to be more consistent and have overall more reliable results,
but those who had started out at a later age do still stand a good chance. For instance, out of over 50,000 students who have taken part in the
Southeast Asian Mathematical Olympiad (SEAMO) International Maths Olympiad Competition,
a survey of 8,912 GOLD and SILVER medal winners across 10 countries in 2020 found that 61.2% of them had taken up Maths Olympiad training in Singapore 6 months to a year before.
Furthermore, age is not a factor. Approximately 33% of the 752 students who made it into the final round of SEAMO were between the ages of 7-9 years.
They are the creme de la creme of young mathematicians who found themselves representing their countries in Singapore on 19 Jan 2019.
I am heartened to see so many Davids among the Golliaths. Most of you here are so young and dedicated. You children have the luxury of an advanced education and I am glad you have taken full advantage of it.
The dynamic table below contains basic information about maths olympiad competitions that Singaporean students can partcipate in. It acts a competition roadmap for students from Primary 1 to Secondary 3.
Competition | Important Dates | Eligibility |
---|---|---|
SMKCSingapore Math Kangaroo ContestDistributed By: SIMCC |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 1 to JC2.
Go To Competition Website |
SASMOSingapore and Asian Schools Math OlympiadOrganised By: SIMCC |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 2 to Secondary 4.
Go To Competition Website |
ISMCInternational Singapore Maths CompetitionOrganised By: Edukultur |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 2 to 6.
Go To Competition Website |
SEAMOSoutheast Asian Mathematical OlympiadOrganised By: SEAMO PTE LTD |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 1 to JC2.
Go To Competition Website |
ICASInternational Competitions and Assessments for SchoolsOrganised By: University of New South Wales |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 2 to JC1.
Go To Competition Website |
Competition | Important Dates | Eligibility |
---|---|---|
RIPMWCRaffles Institution Primary Math World CompetitionOrganised By: Raffles Institution |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Junior: Primary 1 to 5 Open: Primary 6 Go To Competition Website |
SMOPSSingapore-Asia Pacific Mathematical Olympiad for Primary SchoolsOrganised By: Hwa Chong Institution |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
11 – 12 years of age. By calendar age on 2 Jan of the competition year.
Go To Competition Website |
NMOSNational Mathematical Olympiad of SingaporeOrganised By: NUS High School of Math and Science |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 5 or lower in local schools.
Please Google for NMOS (Webpage changes yearly) |
SEAMOSoutheast Asian Mathematical OlympiadOrganised By: SEAMO PTE LTD |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 1 to JC2.
Go To Competition Website |
MathlympicsThe Annual MathlympicsOrganised By: Learners' Connections Pte Ltd |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 4 or 5 in local schools.
Go To Competition Website |
AMC8American Mathematics CompetitionOrganised By: Mathematical Association of America |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Students under 14.5 years of age on the day of the competition
Go To Competition Website |
Competition | Important Dates | Eligibility |
---|---|---|
AMC10American Mathematics CompetitionOrganised By: Mathematical Association of America |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Students under 17.5 years of age on the day of the competition
Go To Competition Website |
SMOSingapore Mathematical Olympiad (Junior)Organised By: Singapore Mathematical Society |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Maximum Age: Junior - 14 Senior - 16 Open - No limit By calendar age on 2 Jan of the competition year. Go To Competition Website |
SEAMOSoutheast Asian Mathematical OlympiadOrganised By: SEAMO PTE LTD |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 1 to JC2.
Go To Competition Website |
ICASInternational Competitions and Assessments for SchoolsOrganised By: University of New South Wales |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Participants enrolled in Primary 2 to JC1.
Go To Competition Website |
AMC8American Mathematics CompetitionOrganised By: Mathematical Association of America |
Registration Period:
Competition Day: |
Students under 14.5 years of age on the day of the competition
Go To Competition Website |
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE:
Winning a medal is by no means easy - even for students with a high aptitude for Maths.
Be it for the purposes of DSA or simply to increase your child's interest in the subject, there are only benefits to taking up Maths Olympaid. At Tutify Education, at least 70% of our students have won GOLD or SILVER medals but 100% of them who have gone through our MO course have easily attained an A* in PSLE Mathematics. Deep conceptual understand and problem-solving tools helps students make connections and think outside the box - something that MOE demands of them as part of the 21st Century Core Competencies.Students today need to have critical and inventive thinking skills to thrive in a complex world, where jobs now require non-routine analytical and interactive tasks.