KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

The recent release of O Level results led to disappointment in an IP school. Despite getting a pass (D7) in chinese the principal rejected these results and gave students who got D7 an ultimatum, write him an appeal letter in chinese to tell him why he should let you stay in the school or leave and go a jc or polytechnic.Even those who passed, getting C5/6, were required to write letters to the principal to tell him as to why he should let them keep their 4H2 etc. However what the principal fails to acknowledge is the fact that after these students are chased out of the school. They have a very limited choice of schools to go to. As they do not have an O Level Certificate, they cannot enter a poly course of their choice, they cannot enter a JC unless they personally go down to appeal, even then they might not get in. Resulting in them not having a place to study and continue their education. He has caused much trouble for students. Further more this is the first time such a thing is heard of in an IP school. How can a principal just dismiss a student, due to results. This shows that he/ she has no consideration whatsoever for his students but more for the reputation of the school. He does not care for a student's decision nor feelings. He is unfit to be a principal.

alyssa12 wrote:The recent release of O Level results led to disappointment in an IP school. Despite getting a pass (D7) in chinese the principal rejected these results and gave students who got D7 an ultimatum, write him an appeal letter in chinese to tell him why he should let you stay in the school or leave and go a jc or polytechnic.Even those who passed, getting C5/6, were required to write letters to the principal to tell him as to why he should let them keep their 4H2 etc. However what the principal fails to acknowledge is the fact that after these students are chased out of the school. They have a very limited choice of schools to go to. As they do not have an O Level Certificate, they cannot enter a poly course of their choice, they cannot enter a JC unless they personally go down to appeal, even then they might not get in. Resulting in them not having a place to study and continue their education. He has caused much trouble for students. Further more this is the first time such a thing is heard of in an IP school. How can a principal just dismiss a student, due to results. This shows that he/ she has no consideration whatsoever for his students but more for the reputation of the school. He does not care for a student's decision nor feelings. He is unfit to be a principal.

Can the principal insist that a student leave his school? That's tantamount to expulsion isn't it? And you can't do that without good reason and failing a subject is not a good reason to ask a student to leave. I would think the students should approach MOE in this instance.

Is he insisting that the students leave the school? If they produce some sort of letter in Chinese, will he let them stay? It could be that he has said this in a fit of bad temper, but he doesn't really mean to force them to leave. After all, it's quite easy to get someone to help write a suitable letter. I think the principal is showing bad attitude towards his students, and if made public, will definitely lose a lot of face.

But why should the CL grade affect the school's reputation? At A levels, the students' results may still be good despite their CL grades, right? If a school actually does this, it should at least take on the responsibility of finding a suitable replacement for the pupils.

This is terrible. It will be good to know which IP school this is. I guess it must be a Chinese based one since the principal is so upset.

I saw the same post appeared in RV forum. Implies ......

slmkhoo wrote:Is he insisting that the students leave the school? If they produce some sort of letter in Chinese, will he let them stay? It could be that he has said this in a fit of bad temper, but he doesn't really mean to force them to leave. After all, it's quite easy to get someone to help write a suitable letter. I think the principal is showing bad attitude towards his students, and if made public, will definitely lose a lot of face.

hmmmm .... but some things also cannot be said "in a fit of bad temper". Dire consequences ....

what the principal wanted is an appeal letter in chinese from the student

if the student wanted very much to stay and continue, then isn't writing an appeal letter in chinese easier than looking out for alternative school ? show your effort, and probably the school will relent and let you stay. if the appeal letter is properly written, the school may deem it equal to an O level pass and let you stay, and get the student to retake the paper in JC1

if the students had the ability to get into the IP school after PSLE and yet in that 4 years in the IP school still not able to pass the CL paper with a C6, then the students must have been vegetating during CL lessons in the last 4 years.

based on the grading scale from MOE/SEAB, a D7 or E8 is a fail, not a pass.

after vegetating during CL lessons for 4 years and now being asked to write an appeal letter, is it too much ?

what the principal really wanted is to hear from the student themselves to justify their failure and show commitment to improve.

and if the student were really hopeless in CL, or have some justifiable disability in CL, then he should have gotten an exemption from MOE before that. obviously the student had the ability to get a credit pass but just prefer to neglect the subject totally during the 4 years, hoping that by being in IP, he could some how "through train" all the way to take A level.

if the student can put in consistent effort in all other subjects throughout the 4 years then why couldn't spare some effort at CL ? isn't consistent and regular effort the core of the IP concept?

to claim no ability at the end of year 4 is just plain escapism with poor excuse

You see....MOE is making the job for chinese educators especially those in SAP schools very difficult. Students know that a D7 is a fail but it qualifies for university entrance (MOE's criteria). How then can the school motivates students to try harder in HCL? There isn't much incentive because MOE has made the criteria so low.

alyssa12 wrote:The recent release of O Level results led to disappointment in an IP school. Despite getting a pass (D7) in chinese the principal rejected these results and gave students who got D7 an ultimatum, write him an appeal letter in chinese to tell him why he should let you stay in the school or leave and go a jc or polytechnic.Even those who passed, getting C5/6, were required to write letters to the principal to tell him as to why he should let them keep their 4H2 etc. However what the principal fails to acknowledge is the fact that after these students are chased out of the school. They have a very limited choice of schools to go to. As they do not have an O Level Certificate, they cannot enter a poly course of their choice, they cannot enter a JC unless they personally go down to appeal, even then they might not get in. Resulting in them not having a place to study and continue their education. He has caused much trouble for students. Further more this is the first time such a thing is heard of in an IP school. How can a principal just dismiss a student, due to results. This shows that he/ she has no consideration whatsoever for his students but more for the reputation of the school. He does not care for a student's decision nor feelings. He is unfit to be a principal.

I do not agree with your interpretation that the P's intention is to maintain the reputation of the school. If I am an educator, I'll think that my job is much easier by following the trend than to buck the trend. In fact, A level results will be better if I relax on the criteria for HCL and give more resource to other major A level H2 subjects. To insist in a minimum standard for chinese in this age is a difficult job.