extracted from ST forum.
I COMPLETED my O levels last month and was posted to a junior
college (JC) through the Provisional Admission Exercise.
Under current guidelines, students who take Higher Mother Tongue
can get two bonus points deducted from their JC entry score. As a
result, students like myself who do not take the subject are not
eligible for the deduction.
Of course, students who do very well in their co-curricular
activities (CCAs) are also awarded two bonus points.
When I was admitted into secondary school, I was neither in the top
10 per cent of the cohort, nor did I score an A* in my Mother
Tongue. Hence, I was not eligible to take up Higher Mother Tongue
in secondary school.
It was only two years later that changes were made to allow the top
30 per cent of students to take up Higher Mother Tongue.
So although I got a perfect score of six in my preliminary
examinations, I was unable to gain admission to elite junior
colleges where the cut-off was three points.
Yet students who had an L1R5 score of seven were admitted to these
JCs, because they took High Mother Tongue and did well in their
CCAs, thus gaining four bonus points.
This loophole in the system has certainly put students who do not
take Higher Mother Tongue at a disadvantage.
I would like to propose that one or two bonus points be awarded to
students who get an A1 or A2 for their O-level Mother Tongue exams.
This suggestion helps late bloomers who may excel in Mother Tongue
only in secondary school.
I hope changes can be made to level the playing field.
Celine Teo Ying Zhen (Miss)
