My son not coping well in JC 1 now/is Poly route better ??

[Han Seo]

Why did he fail almost all his subjects? Is it because of a lack of interest or poor time management or a combination of both? If it is due to poor time management, then going to a poly will not solve the problem. However, if it is due to a lack of interest in what he is studying, then he can reconsider where his interest lie and explore an alternative route.

[angwc]

I am a former JC lecturer and current poly lecturer.


I would suggest your child take the poly route IF he
1) is clear that he has an interest in applied sciences / social science courses and is willing to venture into this area for his future career.

2) Has self discipline to study on his own without the pressure from parents or teachers.

3) His primary aim is to obtain a skilled based diploma.

Otherwise I would suggest stay in JC because polytechnic does not enforce discipline as much as JC and given your description I think your son might just have more fun in poly rather than study well there.

Also taking a specific course in poly means if he makes it to university most likely he will stay in that course or similar ones. A level certificate is more recognised internationally and has more options as the subjects they study in JC is more "general".

Lastly if you are intending to send your son to university, JC is still having a higher success rate compared to polytechnic. The climate is changing in a sense more and more polytechnic students are going to universities but if you are talking about the local BIG 4, then more vacancies are still allocated to JCs. In polytechnic you must really be the top 10% to 15% to have a chance.

What your son needs is " a wake up call " instead of opting for an "easier" route due to his lack of drive.

[phtthp]

Perhaps is also partly due to his friends that he often hang out with.

Friends can influence a child’s thinking.
One has to be careful, in selecting friends.

Did you find out who are his close friends ?

besides, if he failed all subjects except pass GP, ask him : do you think is possible for any local university to take him in, at end of Junior College 2 ?
Unless he willing to buck up now, with whatever remaining time that is left, for him to prepare "A" level. Ask him to read the entrance criteria, to enter a university, what are the minimum entry requirements per subject, based on the faculty of study he’s interested in.
If he is serious about Uni, then he better pull up his socks, change his attitude.

[wilburlim]

If he’s isn’t very passionate about studying, then taking a specialist course in polytechnic will be suitable, because it is just one subject. Failing so many subjects in JC means something insidious is going on, and part of it may be due to his friends and attitude.

[Annabelle21]

Thank you for all your advice & views. We’ll wait for his promos results to be out & will talk to him. Yes, indeed, he has to really buck up & knows exactly what he wants/ whether to pursue uni studies.

Of late, he has been diligently preparing for his exams & hopefully, he has actually woken up from his mid-yr grades.
Thank you once again, everyone !!

[phankao]

Annabelle21:

Thank you for all your advice & views. We'll wait for his promos results to be out & will talk to him. Yes, indeed, he has to really buck up & knows exactly what he wants/ whether to pursue uni studies.

Of late, he has been diligently preparing for his exams & hopefully, he has actually woken up from his mid-yr grades.
Thank you once again, everyone !!

Mine only got S&U grades in mid-year. And finally at JC1 promos, barely scrapped through with the minimum requirement to go on to JC2 without needing to take \"re-exam\". Again in JC2, got only S&U grades throughout the year, but finally at A-levels, got a decent number of A grades. Now already in 2nd year in NUS.

Guess what, at PTM, the JC teachers even reviewed the grades and said \"erm, this grade? Not so bad. At actual A-levels probably can get at least a \"B\" grade\". Wah... we really scratch head. The Schools in SG are just happily OVER-Testing!!!! So it's more of a training of who is the most mentally and emotionally fittest! You'll survive if you don't get disheartened by the end of JC2! :siao:

[whizzard]

phankao:

Annabelle21:

Thank you for all your advice & views. We'll wait for his promos results to be out & will talk to him. Yes, indeed, he has to really buck up & knows exactly what he wants/ whether to pursue uni studies.

Of late, he has been diligently preparing for his exams & hopefully, he has actually woken up from his mid-yr grades.
Thank you once again, everyone !!

Mine only got S&U grades in mid-year. And finally at JC1 promos, barely scrapped through with the minimum requirement to go on to JC2 without needing to take \"re-exam\". Again in JC2, got only S&U grades throughout the year, but finally at A-levels, got a decent number of A grades. Now already in 2nd year in NUS.

Guess what, at PTM, the JC teachers even reviewed the grades and said \"erm, this grade? Not so bad. At actual A-levels probably can get at least a \"B\" grade\". Wah... we really scratch head. The Schools in SG are just happily OVER-Testing!!!! So it's more of a training of who is the most mentally and emotionally fittest! You'll survive if you don't get disheartened by the end of JC2! :siao:

Yeah, I gave a similar feedback from a friend of mine whose daughter was studying at CJC. She was getting mediocre grades throughout JC and when the A level results were announced, she scored almost all As. She is now studying Accountancy in NTU.

I guess it is hard not to be discouraged by mediocre grades during JC but hopefully they don't give up, look at it as a challenge and continue to persevere. My son is in JC1 this year (patchy results but did well in Econs) and I have been pushing him to study more consistently but boys being boys, they always leave it to the last minute - which is not good :rant:

In any case, the workload in JC is well known to be challenging hence the students will need to pace themselves out for the duration of the course. Hopefully, the JC1s will see their seniors taking the A levels and get serious about preparing themselves for it when their turn comes.

[sparks]

Thanks for your sharings - whizzard & phankao.


have to get dd mentally prepared (myself too). Totally diff from my kind of jc days back then…I remember it to be rather relaxed & fun…

[phankao]

whizzard:

phankao:

[quote=\"Annabelle21\"]Thank you for all your advice & views. We'll wait for his promos results to be out & will talk to him. Yes, indeed, he has to really buck up & knows exactly what he wants/ whether to pursue uni studies.

Of late, he has been diligently preparing for his exams & hopefully, he has actually woken up from his mid-yr grades.
Thank you once again, everyone !!

Mine only got S&U grades in mid-year. And finally at JC1 promos, barely scrapped through with the minimum requirement to go on to JC2 without needing to take \"re-exam\". Again in JC2, got only S&U grades throughout the year, but finally at A-levels, got a decent number of A grades. Now already in 2nd year in NUS.

Guess what, at PTM, the JC teachers even reviewed the grades and said \"erm, this grade? Not so bad. At actual A-levels probably can get at least a \"B\" grade\". Wah... we really scratch head. The Schools in SG are just happily OVER-Testing!!!! So it's more of a training of who is the most mentally and emotionally fittest! You'll survive if you don't get disheartened by the end of JC2! :siao:

Yeah, I gave a similar feedback from a friend of mine whose daughter was studying at CJC. She was getting mediocre grades throughout JC and when the A level results were announced, she scored almost all As. She is now studying Accountancy in NTU.

I guess it is hard not to be discouraged by mediocre grades during JC but hopefully they don't give up, look at it as a challenge and continue to persevere. My son is in JC1 this year (patchy results but did well in Econs) and I have been pushing him to study more consistently but boys being boys, they always leave it to the last minute - which is not good :rant:

In any case, the workload in JC is well known to be challenging hence the students will need to pace themselves out for the duration of the course. Hopefully, the JC1s will see their seniors taking the A levels and get serious about preparing themselves for it when their turn comes.[/quote]Whizzard - not even \"mediocre\" grades. S & U grades basically mean fail at A-level standard. On the flipside, my other child who is now in JC1 but went through the IP programme (no O-levels) got fairly decent grades at Mid-year, including A grades. And he isn't even one of those top students who went thru IP but is in the programme bc of DSA (PSLE score below school COP). So...... is there something in the IP curriculum that prepares them better? Sigh - apart from accelerating them too lah.