PSLE stories
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 8:07 pm
Foundation subjects are easier versions of the standard courses.
With an aggregate score of 129, she qualifies to enter the Normal (Technical) stream in secondary school.
But while she would love to continue with her education, in reality Ms Ganda Sari is limited in her choices.
Mr Koh Poh Kwang, the principal of Lighthouse School, said that because of her age and her handicap, she will not be able to enter a mainstream secondary school doing Normal (Technical) education, given the more hands-on and visually demanding nature of the course.
There are also no private schools that can cater to visually handicapped students doing Normal (Technical) education.
But Ms Ganda Sari is content.
'I'm glad that at least I got a chance to go to school. It was a dream of mine for a long time,' said the teenager, who lives with her mother and five siblings in a two-room Housing Board flat in Boon Lay. Her father died of a heart attack in 2009.
She plans to start a six-month course in telemarketing with Eureka Call Centre Systems, which hires the visually impaired.
'I'd like to be a writer someday. I hope my memoir will inspire people to grab every good opportunity that they get,' she said.
Others, like 13-year-old Timothy Lai, have also defeated the odds.
Last year, he was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma, a rare form of lymphatic cell cancer. He spent most of the year in and out of hospital, and missed out on last year's PSLE.
Timothy, who is currently in remission, got an aggregate score of 255. He did not have extra tuition, and kept his studying to a maximum of two hours a day outside school.
He scored A* grades in English, mathematics and science, and an A in Chinese.
'I didn't want to stress myself out, as I was afraid of a relapse,' said Timothy, who lives with his family in a five-room Housing Board flat in Tampines. He has two younger siblings in primary school.
Timothy has his sights set on Victoria School next year.
'After everything that we've gone through, we just want him to be happy with whatever he chooses to do,' said his mother Shirley Lai, 49, a financial consultant.
STACEY CHIA
http://www.straitstimes.com/Subscriptio ... 37911.html
With an aggregate score of 129, she qualifies to enter the Normal (Technical) stream in secondary school.
But while she would love to continue with her education, in reality Ms Ganda Sari is limited in her choices.
Mr Koh Poh Kwang, the principal of Lighthouse School, said that because of her age and her handicap, she will not be able to enter a mainstream secondary school doing Normal (Technical) education, given the more hands-on and visually demanding nature of the course.
There are also no private schools that can cater to visually handicapped students doing Normal (Technical) education.
But Ms Ganda Sari is content.
'I'm glad that at least I got a chance to go to school. It was a dream of mine for a long time,' said the teenager, who lives with her mother and five siblings in a two-room Housing Board flat in Boon Lay. Her father died of a heart attack in 2009.
She plans to start a six-month course in telemarketing with Eureka Call Centre Systems, which hires the visually impaired.
'I'd like to be a writer someday. I hope my memoir will inspire people to grab every good opportunity that they get,' she said.
Others, like 13-year-old Timothy Lai, have also defeated the odds.
Last year, he was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma, a rare form of lymphatic cell cancer. He spent most of the year in and out of hospital, and missed out on last year's PSLE.
Timothy, who is currently in remission, got an aggregate score of 255. He did not have extra tuition, and kept his studying to a maximum of two hours a day outside school.
He scored A* grades in English, mathematics and science, and an A in Chinese.
'I didn't want to stress myself out, as I was afraid of a relapse,' said Timothy, who lives with his family in a five-room Housing Board flat in Tampines. He has two younger siblings in primary school.
Timothy has his sights set on Victoria School next year.
'After everything that we've gone through, we just want him to be happy with whatever he chooses to do,' said his mother Shirley Lai, 49, a financial consultant.
STACEY CHIA
http://www.straitstimes.com/Subscriptio ... 37911.html