The Big Deal About Neighbourhood Schools

Perhaps you would recall a huge furore made over one Malay girl's choice of a secondary school late last year. Perhaps you recall how people wrote into the Forum page of The Straits Times, reminising their secondary school choices. This post might come a tad too late, given that the girl's probably started school in Raffles, groomed to be an elite. But she doesn't read my blog, right? So what I say here should not have any effect on anyone.

I remember having to choose my secondary school back when I was still a little 12 year old. I had no idea what secondary school was about. I had no idea which schools were the good ones. All I knew was that Victoria seemed like a nice place and my father kept harping about how it's pretty high up on the Secondary school standings. Gan Eng Seng was just a five minute walk from home. So those two became top choice for secondary school.

Alas, I didn't make it into Victoria Secondary, missing by a slight margin. (3 points off the cut-off?) So I ended up in Gan Eng Seng, probably the most convenient place for my Secondary education. Things were still good in secondary one: I was in the top ten of my class, I did not have to worry about missing a bus going to school, the works. But things were different in sec 2. Competition came up from all corners. Streaming was approaching. Guess what? Because Gan Eng Seng is just a neighbourhood school, their courses were more tailored to combine science classes. We only had space for 3 pure science classes, only one of which offered triple science. Oh, how we fought for that coveted spot in the triple science class.

Unfortunately, my lack of artistic skills pulled my grade average down. (Ok, I didn't do as fantastically as the rest of my peers for some other subjects too, but art was my worst subject.) I ended up in the 2nd best class. Which was fine, really. It offered a wonderful mix of both humanities and science. But I wanted to study biology. Deep in my heart, I knew humanities would kill me. I had no idea why anyone would want to study something so subjective when the mechanical clockwork of the sciences was so much more practical and easier to grasp.

Perhaps I hoped that taking Biology would help me get over being squemish with blood. I knew for sure that I would have enjoyed learning more about life and cells and growth. Perhaps I hoped that I could use the Bio lessons as a springboard to getting interested in medical studies. Perhaps it could have helped me do better in my O levels and got me into Victoria JC and out of the "cycle of the average".

But well, what's done is done. I guess I'm just an average guy, so I'll end up doin things only "averagely". I guess I can't even trust myself to do things "perfect" or "very good". I'm just "average". (Now now, when did this post become a semi-rant?)

Ok, it appears that in my long-windedness, I have lost track of my point. The thing is, if I had not gone to a neighbourhood school and had gone into an autonomous or independant one like my sister, I might have been able to get into a class which offered Biology. I might have enjoyed it much more than Literature, which I totally suck at. A better school might have provided me with more opportunities.

At this point, I'd really like to bring up the point that I've made some really good friends while in an average school like Gan Eng Seng. I was in a really great CCA. I did quite well in the school. But I guess these just add length to my posts which some people complain are too long.

So I'll end my post here, with the take home message that the girl made a choice which opened her to bigger opportunities. She might not like the more pressured environment. She might not make as many colourful friends. She might end up being only average in a whole school of elites. But the grass always looks greener on the other side anyway. -Jimmy