Emphasis on character amid record-breaking O-level results

Photos and Text by Kok Yufeng, Video by Andre He

The percentage of students with five or more GCE O-level passes rose for the fifth consecutive year to 83.8 per cent, the best-ever result in the past two decades, according to the Ministry of Education.

The results from last year’s O-level cohort were released on Monday (11 January) and out of the 29,723 students who took the examinations, 24,921 passed five or more subjects.The percentage of students with three O-level passes also increased for the ninth consecutive year to 96.1 percent.

For the 3,950 Normal (Academic) students who sat for the exam, 88.6 percent of them achieved at least one O-Level pass, while 90.5 percent of the 1,983 private candidates were awarded certificates.

Character and Results

Despite the record-breaking results, however, some schools are choosing to keep the focus away from the do-or-die attitude some students have regarding their scores.

Bowen Secondary School’s principal Bernard Chew, 42, said his class of 2015 posted the best ever results in the school’s history, for both its Express and Normal (Academic) courses.

While Chew made sure the students’ achievements were celebrated, with the top three and the three most improved students from each class getting applause from their peers, he stressed the importance of character and values during his speech on Monday afternoon.

“You are not defined by your results,” Chew told the students gathered at the school hall. “Your results do not speak bad of you…what defines you is your character.”

In a later interview, Chew told Yahoo Singapore he was proud of Bowen’s overall performance.

“The very specifics of our results are less important to us than the fact that the students have worked very, very hard,” Chew said.

“I am of the conviction that academic results alone is not necessarily the one and only, or even the best, indicator for whether students are going to live a rich and fulfilling life in time to come,” he added.

“That being said, of course we are pretty delighted that the result is the best in the history of the school and it gives us affirmation that the teachers’ hard work has paid off.”

Do well for others too

In his address, Chew highlighted several students in the 2015 cohort, including Chan Yew Kun, who Chew said embodied what the school tries to encourage in its students — to do well for themselves and do good for others.

The Express stream student, who scored seven distinctions, dreams of starting a social enterprise in the future and is an active volunteer in the community, a passion that grew out of the school’s Values-in-Action (VIA) programme.

In Bowen Secondary, the Secondary One students are expected to help out around school, before serving for a month at nearby voluntary welfare organisations in Secondary Two. Older students go on overseas volunteer trips and every Secondary Four class is expected to initiate an advocacy campaign.

For Yew Kun, the school badminton team’s vice-captain, having to juggle schoolwork, training and private piano and taekwondo lessons in addition to his volunteer work is a tall order, but a worthwhile one.

“When you give, they may receive this much, but maybe what you get back is more than what they receive, because you may learn a lot of things from them, they may tell you some of their life experiences,” he said.

“You learn a lot.”

While Yew Kun is still mulling over which JC to go to (Nanyang is high on his list), one thing he is sure about is continuing his volunteer work, with plans to start at the Youth Corps Singapore later this month.

“I like being busy and I like what I do,” Yew Kun said. “It’s my passion, I like to serve. You feel satisfied when you help other people.”