No exams for these students

THE midnight oil will not burn here, if you are a bright spark.

Taking exams? That's so old economy.

Indeed, Chinese High School has freed its Secondary 1 to 3 students from some exams for the past three years.

Of course, not everyone is spared a testing time.

Deputy principal Hon Chiew Weng says the selection criteria is divided into two areas.

The students are assessed in their daily work and tests.

How well they do in project work and their participation in competitions and conventions count as well.

The teachers then decide which student is exempted from doing what subject.

The school figures that "since almost 99 per cent of their Secondary 4 Maths students get distinctions for the O levels, subjecting them to a gruelling two or three-hour paper is not necessary", says Mr Hon.

So far, 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the Sec 1 to 3 student cohorts have been exempted from taking the Maths paper.

And 20 per cent to 30 per cent of them are also knowledgeable enough not to be grilled on humanities subjects such as history and geography.

So what do they do with all that time if they are not mugging for grades?

There is a talent development scheme which nurtures potential techno-entrepreneurs.

The school's IT students learn programming applications, 3D graphics and animation -- stuff with real byte that would make fiddling with Lara Croft a turnoff.

They also get to design websites for companies and write programs and get paid for their work.

Others earn money doing presentations for computer companies.

All that cash goes to fund study trips to today's hotspots such as Silicon Valley to see how today's gee-whiz guys chip away at the old and tested.

go to top

Copyright © 2000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.