WANT a scholarship? Read on.

Poor conduct in school can scuttle your scholarship hopes, even if your grades are good.

Vicknesh Jegathesan, 15, learnt this lesson the hard way.

The Secondary Four student at East View Secondary School in Tampines came in second in class and eighth in standard last year, when he was in Secondary Three.

His father, private tutor Jegathesan Gopalakrishnan, 45, said: 'That meant he was in the top five per cent of the cohort in his school. He would have been eligible for an Edusave scholarship.'

Edusave scholarship awards range from $250 to $300 for primary school students and $300 to $500 for secondary school students, depending on their exam scores.

Edusave bursary awards range from $150 to $400 and are given to high-scoring students from lower-income families.

But Vicknesh, who is in the Express stream and is a school councillor, did not get the scholarship.

Said Mr Jegathesan, who earns about $2,000 per month: 'When my son told me he did not get the scholarship, I asked him why. He told me that it was because his conduct in school last year was only 'fair'.

Unsatisfactory conduct can jeopardise a scholarship award.

In an e-mail to The New Paper, an MOE spokesman said that, to qualify for an Edusave Scholarship or Merit Bursary, a student must be a Singapore citizen, have good academic performance, and have a good grading for conduct.

She said that these requirements have been in place since the 1990s and have been communicated to the public through MOE's website and flyers to schools and students.

STRONG VALUES

The spokesman said: 'These reflect the desired outcomes of education which aim to develop our students holistically into good citizens with strong values and not just individuals who excel academically.'

So, how did Vicknesh's conduct fall short?

Said his father: 'When I called the school to check, Vicknesh's teacher said his 'fair' grade for conduct arose from an incident that occurred last August or September.'

Mr Jegathesan said that the incident involved Vicknesh and a classmate named Alan at a bus stop outside the school.

He said: 'It was after school and it was Alan's birthday. Vicknesh held onto Alan while some of his other classmates wrote and drew on Alan's shirt as a joke.

'The principal was informed and my wife and I, as well as Alan's parents, were called for a meeting at the school.'

At the meeting, Mr Jegathesan said that Vicknesh apologised to Alan for the incident and paid for the boy's torn shirt. He said Vicknesh also had to stay back in class after school hours for one day.

Mr Jegathesan said: 'Alan's parents accepted that the incident was just a schoolboy prank and my son did not get involved in any other incidents like that for the rest of the year.'

He said he did not know the boy's full name, nor how to contact his family.

When he learnt that Vicknesh did not receive the Edusave scholarship, Mr Jegathesan called the Ministry of Education (MOE) early this month.

He said that a superintendent from MOE accompanied Mr Jegathesan to visit the school's principal two days later to discuss Vicknesh's case.

Mr Jegathesan said: 'The school discipline mistress said that Vicknesh's conduct was not ranked 'fair' just because of the incident with Alan.

'She told me that during the second half of the year, he had been talkative and had disrupted the class.

'But she did not tell me what other disruptive behaviour Vicknesh had done besides talking in class.'

Mr Jegathesan feels the school should have informed him earlier about Vicknesh's bad behaviour.

ACCEPTED DECISION

He said: 'The principal said that Vicknesh had accepted the school's decision not to award him the Edusave scholarship for 2007. He added that Vicknesh had said that he would aim for the scholarship this year.'

Mr Jegathesan said that he accepted the principal's explanation at the time because he saw no point in challenging him. But he is still upset that the school did not inform him earlier about his son's poor conduct.

He said that had he been informed earlier, he could have counselled his son and the results might have been different.

Mr Jegathesan said: 'I feel that my son was punished twice. He was already punished for the prank by having in-house detention, so why did he have to be punished a second time by denying him the Edusave scholarship?'

The school's principal told The New Paper on Sunday that Mr Jegathesan had accepted their explanation of why his son did not get the Edusave scholarship.

He said: 'The matter is now considered closed.'

Mr Jegathesan said he had asked his son to talk to The New Paper but the boy did not want to be interviewed.

Neither he nor his son wanted to be photographed.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Feb 11, 2008.