By Candice Cai

While most O-level students have four years to prepare for their exams, most of the inmates at Kaki Bukit Prison School had only one year to do so. So, how did they do it?

Perhaps it has to do with the higher level of maturity and motivation that these inmates possess.

Says the school's newly-appointed principal, Mr Samuel Sng, 39: "Most of the inmates here are quite motivated, because they themselves are the ones who wanted to apply to the school.

"Nobody forced them to.

"They are mature learners as well, and given the time and opportunity, they usually try their best."

Out of the 500 inmates who apply to transfer to the school every year, only a handful are accepted. There are currently over 200 inmates at the school.

To be admitted, inmates have to go through a series of assessments, to determine their suitability in terms of health, as well as the phase of their sentence in which they are serving. Only those who are at the tail-end of their sentence are admitted to the school.

Of the prison school's performance this year, Mr Sng told AsiaOne: "We're all very happy. As with all schools, we do not just focus on just the results. The process that the inmates go through allows them to learn from the experience."

Showing the spirit of life-long learning, the oldest inmate who took the 2008 O-level examinations last year was 48, while the youngest was 18.