My son scored 147 for his PSLE and was put in the N(T) stream. Good news is that he got the school he wanted, well you all know the bad news. Wife was devastated and was trying all ways to appeal but to no avail. His first year was an eye opener for all of us. My son found out that no teacher in his school wanted to teach the Tech class. His form teacher was an Art teacher. There was very little focus on Maths and Science, and I found out that throughout the whole year in Sec one, his class only stepped into the science lab ONCE. But yet the exams included experiments and lab work. Even trying out for CCA’s , the Tech boys were often not selected. Needless to say, my wife and I were furious with the school. It seems that the school had already written off these boys and they were just going through the motions until they could off load them to the ITEs.


So we took over his studies, we told him to go to school and make friends and enjoy school life, while the real studying will take place at home. We had good tuition teachers and we got him to study both the Academic and the Tech stream curriculum. You see, my son loves history and geography, but being in the Tech stream, MOE has decided that he is not smart enough to learn about these subjects.

To date , my son has topped his class in Sec one and Sec Two . He scores A’s for math science english and CPA and Home econs He managed to get a C for chinese. He has identified the course he intends to do in ITE and has chartered his path to Poly. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He has not given up all though the school has given up on kids like him. He has learnt perseverence, honesty and getting the job done regardless of what others think. Those skills are more important for success in life.

I have no doubt that he will succeed in whatever he does. And to all parents who are in the same situation, my advise is look at your child’s strengths and more importantly listen to their plans and ideas and work with them to achieve those plans. Nobody wants to fail. Don’t abdicate your child’s education to the schools.

Hope this helps.