To all who are NOT happy with their results --- remember that there will always be hope. And I do hope that this story below inspires you to greater heights.
.
Click on image to enlarge for easy reading...
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News, Thursday January 14, 2010 TODAY, Page 8
KAKI BUKIT PRISON SCHOOL
They prepared for the O levels in one year
Jeremy Koh (jeremykoh@mediacorp.com.sg)
Additional reporting by Lian Cheong and Lynda Hong
SINGAPORE — This school in Singapore is surrounded by chain-link fence topped with razor wire.
Unlike their mainstream counterparts, its students have no Internet access. And, while they sit for the same O level examinations, they do not have the luxury of a full four-year programme — they must get ready in just one year. So the results of the students of Kaki Bukit Prison School appear all the more remarkable.
They comprised 79 of the 107 O-level candidates who sat for the exams in prison last year. Overall, 87.7 per cent scored at least 3 O level passes, and 98.7 per cent passed at least one subject — outperforming the 87.9 per cent of private candidates across Singapore.
Over the last six years, the prison school has even produced 13 students who scored five A1s or more.
This year’s top student Mark, 22, fell short but still scored five distinctions: Three A1s and two A2s.
He said: “We had to cram everything, all the topics, within one year. And some of the topics were not taught by the teachers; We had to self-revise for the subjects. It was tougher because we didn’t have anyone to guide us along.”
Not long ago, such an achievement would have been unthinkable for the tanned, bespectacled youth. Having left school at age 16 after dismal results in his first O-level sitting, Mark drifted into gangs. At 19, he was jailed for armed robbery.
In secondary school, he recounted, “I mixed with bad company and was playful, I neglected my studies. When I saw all my friends entering polytechnic and JC, I was very disappointed with myself and decided I never wanted to study anymore.”
But in jail, he decided to try to forge for himself a better future. Mark is now awaiting release in March and intends to enrol in a polytechnic to pursue a diploma in leisure and resort management.
His classmates in the prison school are aged between 17 and 51. With some not having studied in over 10 years, it was difficult for them to recall what they had learnt before, said teacher Christine Tan.
“Their main difficulty would be that in mainstream schools, they have interesting ways of studying, like they go on the Internet, view videos. Here it’s more dry. It’s a challenge to bring across lessons given these restrictions.”
Better a ‘B’ student than ...
Some inmates drop out, for various reasons. Principal Samuel Sng said: “The prison school is, after all, still a prison, so the inmates need to go through a very tough regime. That, on top of academic stress, is not easy for them.”
The focus at the school is not on grades, but character development, the principal added.
We would rather have a grade B student who creates a path for himself after his release from prison, than have a distinction pupil coming back again. ~ Mr Samuel Sng, Kaki Bukit Prison School principal
Aaron, 31, who is in prison for the third time for drug-related offences, hopes this time to stay on the straight and narrow after his release next week.
The former bartender, who scored 3 A1s, 1 B3 and 1 C5, wants to further his studies at a polytechnic. “I’m excited but also anxious ... I’m afraid people will not accept me because I’m ex-convict.”
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment