The Chase

When money can't buy you what you want

The public exams are soon over though not really over but if you walk down the streets of SS15 Subang Jaya, Sunway and many unmentioned spots in town , you can smell a frantic call for students by the private institutions. It is clearly felt that the private colleges are fighting for clients and the local schools have become their targets.

Elsewhere in the local papers, there are pages and pages of advertisements promoting opportunities for pre university and diploma programmes. Parents are their best clients now. Concerned fathers and mothers take time off to find the best combination of subjects and career path for their loved ones. It is indeed a shoppers' paradise as there are so many choices and looking for a right one is a challenge.

I was in that position before. Soon after the SPM was over, I took my girls to the colleges to look for a package that best suited them.

Strangely enough, they were enrolled in 3 different streams of pre-university programmes. The first consideration was of course the end product. What do they want to pursue?

Of the 3 for lack of a confirmed preference of career path, Grace took the SAM programme. Being the eldest, I thought it wise that she had a shorter programme to start off her university days (save time and money!). SAM was a relatively easy programme and with the amount of exposure she went through in school, it was QED (quite easily done). SAM is manageable and easy to score with diligence and discipline.

Esther from the very beginning was rather sure of her inclination. Something to do with art... architecture was the best choice then. So the most practical decision was to enrol her in a programme with that in mind. Since the course seemed to demand a hands on start off, I thought a diploma programme would be fine. However, on the hind side, other preU programmes may also lead her into the course and at the same time, she could afford to change her mind should she decide against the earlier choice. So, think about what I have said.

Sara was adamant from the beginning. Though a strong student academically, she declined any course to do with Science. So, it was an Arts preU programme. I saw Law for her but till this day she still insists I was the persistent one ; channelling her into a course not out of her absolute choice but mine...so be it. With Law in mind, we agreed that we could not run away from the A levels programme. To A levels she went. It was a good choice for her. She fitted into the exam-orientated programme like a glove as she loved exams!

However even when all the preU programmes were different, I think I did not do too badly with my choices. Every child is different and their degree of tolerance for exams and project works differ too. Ask them. I believe all three have gone into programmes that met their tolerance threshold. Esther is so hands on and project inclined ; Sara loves year end exams and detests projects and Grace as usual is 50:50. So they were relatively successful in the programmes that they enrolled in. I am glad.

Therefore before you pick a preU programme, know your child well. If the child is not academically inclined, go for diploma or vocational ones. You will be surprised how well they will fare there. Otherwise go for more demanding ones that are more academic-inclined with the latest popular choice being the International Baccalaureate programme. So, be wise and realistic in your choice. We have to cut the coat according to the cloth. A right choice will mean less headaches and heartaches and cost-saving too.

But perhaps the greatest headache and heartache is when your child does not qualify for any preU programme. Why is it so? For those in school especially in the SPM year, they have been warned, counselled and advised on the need to do well enough in the year end exam to qualify for preU Programmes before the actual results are released. Parents face the brunt when they find their children cannot be accepted in colleges even if they can afford to pay.

Yes, this time it's really money can't buy you everything.

It cannot be bought with money! You need this :

The Michael Jackson palm as has always been shown to them! Five credits to qualify.

Yes, you need five credits to enter a preU programme.

This is also the time of the year when parents come a-knocking at the school gate to ask that the forecast results be upgraded till the child qualifies...daylight robbery. But the most heartbreaking part is when they virtually beg and cry for help with their children feeling neutral and not afraid enough. So what do you do? To give in or to give up?

What would you do?

It gives me many sleepless nights each time I have to turn them away.