Yes , indeed .... If only the changes had come much earlier ... , I thought to myself as I read and digest the latest changes meted out by the Education Ministry to the Normal Stream Students . Cos had this particular new criteria been put in place earlier during my time , I would have benefited from it and what I am currently doing now , today might just have been slightly different .
Of the few changes announced yesterday , two of those caught my attention :
The Changes :
First , the new promotion criteria to Sec 5N - What It Used To Be : Previously , u need to score a C5 or better in English and obtain 10 points or less for your Best 3 subjects .
Now , not only u need to obtain a C5 or less in English Language , u also need to obtain 19 points or less for FIVE subjects , and that includes your English & Maths as well , under the new promotion criteria to Sec 5N .
The second change is that there is a choice of skipping your O 'Levels and going straight to study Higher Nitec Courses in ITE if u do well in your N ' Levels Exams ( that is , provided u meet the new promotion criteria as mentioned above ) . But in choosing to study Higher Nitec Course in ITE , u need to attend a 10 Weeks Preparatory Course .
Had the changes been put in place earlier , I might have gone on to study Higher Nitec Course in ITE after my N 'Levels Exams as under this new scheme , there is a choice of skipping doing the O 'Levels Exams . For me , coming from a Normal Academic Stream Course in Sec 5 doing my O Levels which I did so badly and had to repeat another year all because I failed my Maths , Science and History in my first time round . Although I did fare better in my second attempt , but it was only slightly better , as I managed to pass my Science this time round , together with my English and Chinese Language . Of course , passing only three subjects couldn't guarantee me a place in a Poly , but I was lucky enough , very lucky indeed to book myself a place in ITE studying a 2 Years Higher Nitec course in Accounting .
But as u can see , had the changes been made earlier , I could have save all these trouble of wasting my time and effort in repeating my O'Levels or in fact , doing my O' Levels at all in the first place ! I could have gone straight away to ITE and study my Higher Nitec course there and then when I passed my N 'Levels Exams ! Of course , yes , indeed u could say that things could have been very much different ! But one can also say that nothing is for sure considering that the new promotion criteria and points to obtain is different now and that my thinking is based on the old scheme .
Of course , it is and has been everyone's dream , mine as well to be able to make it and study in a JC or Poly , but I certainly won't mind having to settle for a place in ITE instead , if it means saving my time and a few of my years studying and 'wasting ' it on doing my O Levels when I couldn't even pass enough subjects and would end up the same place in the end ! With this new changes , it certainly opens up more pathways , choices and routes to those who may end up struggling in their O 'Levels .
Now that my own Education career is over .... And as I look back to the path I had taken and lament all I can and feel that I am a ' victim ' of this latest education changes , I think that the pupils can stand to benefit a lot from this new scheme , at least from my own experience and of what I myself had gone through ...
* Below are links to Related Reports :
*Any views or thoughts to share regarding the new education changes to Normal Stream Students ? Or any personal experience of your own to share ? U are welcome to post your comments or experience here ! Feel free to use this platform to air your views and share them with us ! Let yourselves be heard ! *
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