The worst PMR results ever

Exactly what is happening to my beloved alma mater? We pride in our annual school drama which is a tradition first started by Rev. Brother Ultan Paul in 1955, our school debating team in which we had become national runners up before, our Michaelian Military Band (which sadly seems to have slacked), our own school building and the people within the community of St. Michael's Institution.

However, why is it now that we cannot pride ourselves in our academic excellence? There were 99 students scoring all A's in the 2003 PMR (we aimed for 100, but we were short of one; it's the best PMR result ever in the history of the school), 44 in 2004 and 66 in 2005. What seemed to be the age of darkness in 2004 turned out to be the Renaissance and the year 2005 seemed to be the age of Revolutions; 2006 became the "Second World War".

We had only 38 students scoring straight A's in the recent PMR examinations! This is atrocity at its height! Not even 10% of the student population in Form 3 (assuming that the total population is 400) last year scored all A's for the public examination! In 2003, we had about 25% students scoring all A's (assuming that the total population is 400). This is such a vast difference! Exactly what has gone wrong? Is it the fault of the school, the teachers, or the students?

As far as I'm concerned, the school is trying to break our year's record (2003) and hoping to obtain 120 students scoring all A's. The hope started since 2004 and is yet to be achieved. Is there something we had that the Form 3 students last year did not?

The staff of SMI are still about the same. For the lower secondary, very few teachers are transferred or retired. It is fair enough for me to say that the teachers still have the quality needed to produce excellent PMR results for the school. I am not boasting and I'm not ashamed to admit that our school does have some of the best teachers anyone could ask for. The Michaelian community is such that the relationship between teachers and students are close, and that the teachers are willing to help whenever they can. In SMI, we don't demand for dedication from our teachers, they offer their dedication willingly.

So, if the teachers are not at fault, do we blame the students? I can't say for sure what is the attitude that the students today possess. I cannot tell if the students are lazier than their seniors, because I'm not one of them. However, what I can say is that the school has given them motivational programmes, extra classes, answering tips and so on. The rest would come from the students' personal initiative. I can also say that there are many straight-A-hopefuls in SMI, but why only 38?

Perhaps the main problem lies in the examinations. Maybe the exams are harder this time, which accounts for the dramatic drop in the number of students scoring all A's. This justification is utterly unacceptable. If you were to argue that it is the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English that is pulling the results down, how is it that we could still obtain 66 straight A's in 2005? The Form 3 students in 2005 are the first ones to have their Science and Mathematics examined in English.

So, exactly what is pulling the results down? Is it lack of motivation? Lack of concern from the school authorities? Students' wrong attitude in learning? Teachers' lack of dedication? This is something that the school must study on and come up with the most plausible reason.

While other schools are doing better and better by the year, we seem to be falling far behind! In 2003 and 2004, we were so elated to know that we have beaten Sam Tet school in the PMR examinations. I don't know about the statistics in 2005, but the results for 2006 is totally a disgrace!

Signum Fidei (a sign of faith) - one of our school mottoes besides Quis Ut Deus (who is Greater than God?). We have faith in producing some of the best students that our country can possess, and we did have produced some top-notch individuals such as Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, Mr. Louis Rozario Doss (our former principal), the late Rev. Brother Ultan Paul (former Director of SMI), Rev. Brother Vincent Corkery (former Director of SMI) Datuk Sri Lee Oi Hian (CEO of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd.), Tan Sri Dr. Lin See-Yan (former deputy governor of Bank Negara Malaysia and Harvard scholar), Mr. Ralph Marshall (CEO of Astro), Dr. Yeoh Eng Kiong (Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Hong Kong; post similar to that of Minister of Health), the late Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng (father of Datuk Sri Lee Oi Hian), Mr. Matthias Chang (political secretary to Tun. Dr. Mahathir), Mr. Patrick Teoh (local actor and deejay) and many more. But can we now uphold the same faith if the figures for straight A's in PMR and SPM keep dropping?

Students of my beloved alma mater, it's time to buck up now! For those who will be sitting for public examinations this year and for the following years, please (I'm pleading to you) do your best and regain the glory of St. Michael's Institution as one of the premier schools of the nation! I, in particular, still have faith in you.