I was trying to motivate my year 4 IP students yesterday by telling them to work smart, not to get too stressed out and that the most important thing was to get to year 5. But they told me it was not enough to just get into year 5.

For example, they must get at least a C5 in their year 4 chemistry to be allowed to do H2 chemistry in year 5. Now that is quite a challenge, for students in a top school to get at least a C5 in their own INTERNAL exam. Getting at least a B3 in the O-Level exams is much easier than getting a C5 in an exam paper set by a top school, believe me.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again:  Students in IP schools have to work much harder just to be allowed to do the same subjects in JC as the non-IP students, and many don’t make it. Students in top O-Level schools have to work much harder in school than their neighbourhood counterparts just to be allowed to do the same pure subjects for the O-Levels, and even end up with the same grades because students from these popular schools are OVER-TRAINING for the O-Levels and just like the IP school students, end up being demoralised.

Thus as parents, be careful where you want your child to be. PSLE results are a poor predictor of performance in secondary school and in JC. You must know your child well enough when selecting a secondary school. Don’t just go for brand name schools, no matter how tempting it looks. Be aware that top schools would rather RETAIN your child in the current year of study or even ask your child to LEAVE THE SCHOOL than to promote your child and take the risk of having their national exam results adversely affected.