PROXIMITY TO HOME
A GODSEND FOR HECTIC JC SCHEDULES
Junior college life is rigorous and tough. Most students come home quite tired after a long day at school. Ideally one’s travel journey via public transport should not exceed 45 minutes each day. Anything more than that can be burdensome for students. Having close proximity to home also allows students to wake up later in the mornings, hence they have more sleep time.
But isn’t there a huge gap in the quality of JCs, with the elite ones way above neighbour JCs? It is a myth.
Different score bands
Junior colleges are government schools and all these schools offer the same national examination, the “A” levels. Admittedly, not all junior colleges are created equal, in that they don’t all have the same academic and sporting achievements. The general wisdom is for the student to go for a JC within his score bands; it is more likely that he will do well for the “A” levels.
Quality of teachers
Parents must understand the quality of teachers across all JCs is equal. MOE assigns teachers to a particular JC and this is usually based on distance to their homes. Besides, teachers change schools ever so often, and we see teachers from top schools teaching in so-called ‘neighbourhood’ ones, which are just as good.
The bigger picture
Ultimately, Singapore’s strong ecosystem of top-quality education throughout all schools makes for little correlation between school reputation and grades. While a student should always aim for the best school within his reach, proximity to home should be given significant consideration for practical reasons on a daily basis.