Top PSLE
student attains highest score in 17 years
SINGAPORE: St Hildas Primary School has produced the top PSLE
student this year.
Natasha Nabila Muhammad Nasir is also this years top Malay
student.
With an aggregate score of 294, the Education Ministry said she
sets a record as having achieved the highest marks in the 17 years
since the current PSLE system was implemented in 1991.
Natasha, daughter of a housewife and a technician, said her results
are unexpected.
This is because she was studying in a hospital during the exam
period as her grandfather was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit
(ICU), just a day before her first paper.
Subsequent days were spent at the hospital after school
hours.
Her grandfather, who never recovered, passed away in the ICU
recently.
The Gifted Education Programme student cited consistent work and
love for reading as secrets of her success.
She said: "The secret of my success is reading. I have been reading
since I was two years old and I think that has helped me a lot.
Through reading, I gained a lot of knowledge."
Natasha also has good time management and a supportive home
environment.
Her mother, Zaharah Othman, said: "When its time to study, the TV
will be switched off. The same goes for reading. We have reading
time and usually before bedtime, shes free to read whatever she
wants to read. I have been doing this for both my children."
This is the second time that St Hildas Primary School has produced
a top PSLE student.
The first time was in 2000 when it produced the countrys top
student for that cohort, as well as the top Malay student for that
year.
Students from neighbourhood schools also scored well.
One of the top Chinese students is Angela Leong from West Grove
Primary School who scored 287, while the top Indian student with an
aggregate of 285 is Vanessa Malishree Dharmaratnam from Raffles
Girls Primary.
"Im very happy, quite surprised because I didnt expect to be the
top Indian pupil in Singapore. I actually just hope to get into
RGS, just above the cutoff point so Im very, very excited and Im
quite proud of myself," said Vanessa.
Santa Maria Priscilla Nicole from CHIJ Katong Primary clinched the
top spot among Eurasian students.
And among the EM3 students, Ang Bing Jie from Mee Toh School and
Rebecca Fan from Radin Mas Primary School are among those who
scored Grade 1 for all EM3 subjects.
A total of 49,817 pupils sat for the PSLE this year 798 pupils
fewer than last years cohort and 5,176 were from the EM3
course.
Of these students, 97.7 percent are eligible for secondary
schools.
63.5 percent of these students made it to the Express course, 22.2
percent for Normal (Academic) course and 12 percent for the Normal
(Technical) course.
1,152 pupils are assessed as not ready for secondary school in 2008
or more suited for vocational training. CNA/so
