This is the time of the year when your school may ask you to drop certain subjects that you are weak in, using the lame excuse that even if you work hard, you will at most obtain a B4 or a C5. In reality, your school is more concerned about its own academic reputation, not about you. Schools are worried that if weak students continue to sit for certain exams, their national exam results (percentage passes or distinctions) will worsen. Yes, it’s not about you or your future; it’s about the school’s image.

Thus you must be wary when any of your school teachers call you in to give you hints to drop a subject. The teacher will say that if you drop one subject, you will have more time to study for the other subjects. While this may be true, what about the months that you have spent learning that subject? And the extra hours that you create by dropping a subject, will it all go into learning the other subjects? Having less subjects also mean that you will be taking a bigger risk should the unexpected happen to your remaining subjects, as you would be relying on a narrower band of subjects.

Two subjects that schools like to ask students to drop are Physics and Additional Math, the two most conceptually difficult subjects to master, in my opinion. So should you drop any of these subjects if you are asked to?

For Physics, the answer depends on whether you still like learning about Physics. If you still do, then continue doing it and take the exam, even if you have hardly ever passed Physics before. Why? The reason is, Physics has always been a difficult subject for most people. Thus the minimum mark to obtain the A1 grade for Physics may still be in the 75 to 79 range, significantly below that for Math (which is probably around 88 to 91). Hence you still stand a good chance of getting a B3 or above for Physics if you are willing to spend enough time practising Physics questions. This is only possible if you don’t mind studying Physics.

I have a tuition student who is very weak in Physics, and true enough, his teacher has been pestering him to drop Physics. So his mum turned to me for advice. Since he still likes Physics, I told the mum not to give in to the teacher. The boy finally passed Physics for his recent SA1 exam, and is now doing exam papers to get a better grade for his upcoming Prelim exam. The boy is mentally slow, but since he likes Physics, the school should have helped him improve instead. Isn’t it the purpose of schools to develop each student to his maximum potential?

The boy had also been asked to drop A. Math. But like I’ve said elsewhere, NEVER EVER drop A. Math, as knowledge of it is useful for many future courses such as Business, Engineering or Science. Although he still failed in his SA1 A. Math, he has been making significant progress as he still likes doing Math. Where there is a will there is a way. Let children and young people learn what they want to learn, even if it means getting poor exam results for the short term. A school should not be telling students to stop learning this or that, or to stop making effort, or to give up on something good that they have started.

Ilyasa

An NIE-trained Teacher, Mr Ilyasa has been coaching students in O-Level & IP Chemistry, Physics and Math for more than 12 years. An alumnus of Raffles Institution, Mr Ilyasa holds a a Bachelor of Science degree from the NUS as well as a Master of Education (Curriculum & Teaching) degree from the National Institute of Education. Mr Ilyasa’s thinking and metacognitive approaches to problem solving has helped many students of varying abilities to excel in Math and the Sciences. He has coached students from many different schools and streams, including IP, SAP, and IB.

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