IT used to be the case that if you do well enough, you progress to the next stage.

But these days, students face a string of options.

Take the avenues offered at Pasir Ris Secondary School.

Here's what you need to qualify for Sec 5 at the school after the N levels.

Step one: Get good grades.

Step two: Get a Form A, which means you never had disciplinary problems.

Step three: If you don't get a Form A, you get a different form and will now need to appeal to a group of teachers.

Step four: If you complete step three, you may need to stick around the discipline master, who will teach you to behave.

That's not all.

The students are told of this only when they get to Sec 3 and 4. Yet, disciplinary problems at lower secondary levels will count against students.

The school said this system affects few students, and of the 61 students who qualified for the O levels, 51 are now in Sec 5.

Unfair? Some parents and students think so.

Sarah (not her real name), 17, scored five points in the N levels last year.

Going by the Ministry of Education regulations, she should have been able to continue with her O levels this year.

Yet, Sarah found herself turned away because she was deemed a discipline case.

Sarah is now studying in an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and requested that her identity not be revealed so she can have a fresh start.

GOOD GRADES NOT ENOUGH

The New Paper learnt last week that at Pasir Ris Sec, students from the Normal Academic (NA) stream are given Forms A to D upon completing their N levels.

The forms are given out by their home teachers, who base it on the students' disciplinary conduct.

Students who receive Form A are allowed to continue with their studies in Sec 5. Those who are given Forms B to D have to write letters to appeal to their subject teachers.

If they wish to continue their O levels in the school, they have to get signatures of endorsement from not one but all their subject teachers.

The school confirmed the system exists.

This means that as long as one subject teacher does not sign the form, the student cannot be promoted to Sec 5, although the school said it was open to negotiations.

It's not clear, on average, how many students from each cohort receive Form A.

Sarah, who was given Form B, said: 'I obtained a Grade 1 for Art. Yet, this very first teacher I turned to for help turned me down.'

Sarah's mother, Mrs H, 50, said: 'My daughter came home discouraged. There was nothing I could do to help her.'

When asked about her disciplinary conduct, Sarah claimed she was never late for school, although she conceded that she had sported double earrings and coloured hair at some point in time.

The latest report card she showed to The New Paper stated that she had 'fair' conduct, and the comments were positive.

Sarah claimed that the students were not informed that such a system was in place until the beginning of Sec 4. The school has confirmed this.

That's why Sarah is upset.

She said it was unfair to those who had disciplinary problems recorded in their lower secondary days.

Mrs H said: 'If my husband and I had known about the system from the start, we would not have enrolled our children in the school.

'Now, I am worried that my second daughter, who is also in the school, will face similar problems in the future.'

Although Sarah was eventually offered a position in the school due to her excellent academic performance, some of Sarah's friends did not receive similar offers despite doing well for the N levels.

They had scored six or seven points each.

Sarah's classmate, Paul (not his real name), had obtained six points.

However, he and a few other classmates were not given any forms at all as they had not completed the school's Bridging Programme.

It is a requirement set by the school if they wish to be promoted to Sec 5.

'I was sick for several days during the programme,' explained Paul, adding that the school had not accepted his reasons for being absent.

On top of having to appeal their cases, students with Forms B to D and are successful in their appeal also have to spend time with the Discipline Master, they claimed.

Because of the system, some of these top scorers still end up going to the ITE despite doing well for their N levels.

For both Sarah and Paul, taking the O levels in Sec 5 had always been their first choice, until the complications of the system made them choose ITE.

Sarah said: 'Even though the school is now open to negotiations, I will not reconsider or turn back. I don't think I can be happy in that school.'

She is now taking events management at ITE while Paul is taking business studies.

This article was first published by The New Paper on Jan 14, 2008

Is this article useful to you?