I had recevied a couple of emails from Secondary 5 Normal (Academic Students) asking for help to cope for their ‘O’ Level this year. Transiting from completing the N Levels to preparing for the O Levels in Sec 5 is not an easy journey indeed. This is also mentioned by Beetsma, the Singapore Top O-Level Performer among the Sec 5 cohort for 2007 GCE ‘O’ Level examinations.

This post is about 2 students from Gan Eng Seng Sec that emerge victorious from hardships to being Top Students. Despite having to struggle, Mr SY Teo and Miss Hairul H didn’t give up. She worked part-time to support herself though her O levels whilst he spent long hours studying to retain his scholarship and prevent any additional burden to his family.

Popularity: 15%

Well Done my students from 2007 batch,

I am very glad that you have all made tremendous inprovement in your Chemistry examinations. Appreciate the phonecalls and SMS to inform me of your results after the release. I am very proud to have coached you towards this 2007 GCE O Level Chemistry Examinations, and see all of you being happy about the Chemistry results that you have obtained - some with exemplary improvements.

Cheney Wong (St. Andrews Sec) D7 (Mid-Yr) –> A1 (O Lvl) [3 mths]

June (Dunman High) A1 (Sec 3) –> A1 (O Lvl) [results maintained]

Hui En (Crescent Girls) C5 (Sec 3) –> A2 (O Lvl)

A. Yu (Sports School) C6 (Prelims) –> A2 (O Lvl) [23 days]

H. Woo (Clementi Sec) D7 (Prelims) –> B4 (O Lvl) [2 mths]

Popularity: 10%

Based on reports, the five polytechnics in Singapore will reveal the cut-off scores for each of their courses - a record for the 1st time in history. This is to ensure that students aiming for a place in a popular course will be able to gauge their chances of enrolment.

The cut-off points can be found at A Guide To Polytechnic Education. It has the cut-off points for last year’s intake, which will serve as a guide for students deciding on polytechnic courses.

Previously, students were given only one cut-off point for courses that are common across all polytechnics. This will certainly be a welcome to students that wish to choose the Polytechnic Course.

This posts is not to divert O-Level students into taking up Polytechnic courses over the JC route, but more of sharing with avid readers of this blog on the market reality.

Based on major local papers, Polytechnic graduates are in high demand amid Singapore’s robust economic growth, with the maritime and engineering sectors offering the highest salaries for fresh graduates. According to the annual Graduate Employment Survey conducted between Oct and Dec last year by the five polytechnics in Singapore - Nanyang, Ngee Ann, Republic, Singapore and Temasek - about 93% of economically active fresh graduates found jobs within six months, up from the overall emplument rate of 91.3% in 2006 survey. The 2007 survey were based on 11,000 respondents.

Popularity: 15%

With choices galore, how should students decide where to go after the O’s?A good way to start is to find out where their abilities, interests and value systems lie.

Question that i will ask the students will be:

“Is the acadamic path what they have an aptitude for or are interested in? Are they more suited for hands-on, practical courses? Will their personal interests - whether in sports, the arts or other areas - be catered to?”

JCs would suit academically-inclined students who want a more direct path to university. They can also provide a stronger sense of community, as students wear uniforms, are put in smaller classes and are subjected to the culture and ethos of their JC.

Polytechnic education, on the other hand, is valued for its practical nature and relevance to the industry requirements. It

Popularity: 28%

Halo Students & Parents,

It is the time of the year that the graduating students are looking forward to - the release of the GCE O Level Examination Results at 2pm on 24th Jan 2008 - according to the SEAB. Many must be very anxious right now awaiting for your results and hoping for the best L1R5 score possible. This will be the time for recognition of all your hard work and positive attitude towards the preparation of this major examination for the last 4-5 years in secondary school.

d_oracle / Koen

There will be students that are going to fare very well and lots of joy, but there will also be some that have not done so well in this examinations. No matter which group you belong too -  i must add that you still have a long road ahead of you. Stay always Positive and remember there are many options that are available to you after your O Levels. Most important is to consider your aptitude and interests carefully before making a choice.

O Level students these days have more choices and flexibility

Popularity: 26%

Hey,

Found the following video on Several funny songs in www.singaporeolevelmath.com, and find it so interesting and enjoying that i need to share with the world..

In case you have yet to see it, without further-a-do, here it is:

Popularity: 11%

Halo students,

Do you find assigning Oxidation Number (or Oxidation States) to elements and then geting the correct chemical formulae of compounds very challenging, and often lost marks on it. Fret Not! In fact, assigning Oxidation Number to the elements and obtaining the subsequent chemical formulae of the compounds is easy if you observe the following rules:

• The oxidation numbers of an atom or the atoms in a neutral molecule must add up to zero.
• If an atom or molecule is ionic its oxidation number must add up to its overall charge.

Singapore has done well for her first International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations, as nine out of their 20 students have scored a perfect score of 45.

Special mention has to go to Samual Chan, a Year 6 student at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) that scored Perfect even with cancer relapse during the course. A year ago, he was dealt a severe blow, where his cancer, which had been in remission for 18 months, was back, just when he had a major examination to prepare for. But he did not let his Hodgkin’s disease get in the way of his doing his best for the IB. Braving surgery and chemotherapy and radiotherapy from Jan to June, he went on to study from home for the rest of the year and sat for the exams in isolation.