TEMASEK Junior College (TJC) believes in providing opportunities.

That was why it gave Timothy Toh a chance after he was deemed ineligible for entrance into five other junior colleges.

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His results in the School Placement Examination for Returning Singaporeans (Spers) were not revealed to him, but he was told he was ineligible for entry into any of Singapore's 18 colleges.

Timothy had taken tests in mathematics and English.

So why did TJC make an exception for the then-17-year-old?

Vice-principal Aziz Tyebally said: 'It was based on his scintillating track record - both academic and non-academic - that we decided to shortlist him and grant him an interview, as well as allow him to sit for our internal placement test.'

Mr Aziz said Timothy had shown great achievement in non-academic areas, including drama, swimming and water polo.

'While the college carefully looks at the results of the Spers papers, it also tries to havea more holistic evaluation of the individual concerned.

'For Timothy, one of the other areas we looked into was a review of his past academic records, which were glowing and strongly supported by testimonials of several of his teachers.'

Timothy was exempted from an internal English examination by the college as he had achieved A* for his GCSE examinations.

He was, however, made to sit for the 'A'maths assessment that is pegged to the GCE O-level standard.

Said Mr Aziz: 'We understand that some returning Singaporeans would not have had exposure to the kind of mathematics that is similar in rigour to our Singapore syllabus, and this may lead to their inability to do well in our 'A' mathematics tests.

'Hence, our holistic approach to evaluating candidates.'

Timothy was also called for an interview with the vice-principal and administrative manager. During the interview, qualities such as leadership, confidence and communication were evaluated.

Mr Aziz said: 'The interview would thus be pivotal in determining the suitability of a candidate.

'The focus of the individual and maturity of thought were other characteristics we looked at in addition to his academic aspirations.'

The interview results also determine whether the student is to enter the science or arts stream.

'We believed that given time, Timothy would not only be able to adapt but to excel in all he focused on,' said Mr Aziz.

Pearly Tan, newsroom intern

This article was first published in The New Paper.