Normal Technical student scores 3 As in N levels
In 2020, Wallace Seow was disappointed with his Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results which placed him in the Normal Technical stream in Meridian Secondary School.
He did well enough to be offered a lateral transfer to a Normal Academic class at the end of his Secondary 1 examinations but turned down the offer.
Wallace has scored As for mathematics, science and Computer Applications. He scored Cs for English, Chinese and Elements of Business Skills.
Wallace was one of the 13,575 students who received their N-level examination results on Dec 18.
Of the 4,422 Normal (Technical) candidates, 97.9 per cent passed. The pass rate for Normal (Academic) candidates was 99.4 per cent.
And of the 9,153 Normal (Academic) candidates, 77.2 per cent are eligible for progression to Secondary 5 in 2024.
When asked why he declined the offer to move to the Normal (Academic) stream, Wallace, 16, said that he felt more comfortable in Normal (Technical) and preferred subjects offered like Computer Applications. He was not keen on doing humanities subjects like geography and literature which were taught in the Normal (Academic) course.
He has secured a place in a Security System Integration course at the Institute of Technical Education through the Early Admissions Exercise, which allows students to apply for courses based on aptitude before they receive their final grades.
His teachers were instrumental in helping him reach his academic goals and he made it a point to complete most of his assignments in class instead of taking them home.
“If I did them in class, I could ask for help directly from the teachers. At home, I would have a lot of time to prepare questions for the teachers.”
Wallace’s mother Serene Chan Pei Chuen, 47, said she was proud of her son’s attitude towards his studies, although she never pressured him about his academics.
“I’m not a very strict and demanding mother. So whenever he studies, I will just tell him to try his very best. I’m quite surprised that he can actually motivate himself for his further studies,” said Madam Chan, who works in the operations department of a security company.
Wallace’s stellar performance in mathematics earned him the school’s ‘Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics’ award in 2022. He was also awarded the Edusave Scholarship in 2020 and the Edusave Merit Award Bursary in 2021.
“Just because you came from Normal (Technical), instead of Normal (Academic) or the Express stream, doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything good. You can always find what kind of things you’re good at. So don’t just give up when you just get your results after PSLE,” he said.
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