Junior College Students VS Polytechnic Students
85% VS 15% chance to enter a LOCAL University. Sounds fair? Whatever happened to this community that prided itself on being a just and fair society. Shouldn't Polytechnic Students stand equal chance in getting into a University?
Are we Poly Students much inferior as compared to Junior College Students? Till date i have no idea what's the big commotion about the release of the A Levels Result. The press going to schools, reporters hopping from student to student, interviewing them on how they felt about their results and all that sobbing and crying, so much drama. Not that it is wrong, but what about the release of Polytechnic Students' results? Have it ever been featured before? It may sound very sour grapes-ish but aren't we all citizens of the same community?
Recently I had an interesting conversation with someone (lets name him B) who came from a JC. And so it goes like this.
Me: I just don't get why JC student have higher chances of going into a University as compared to a Polytechnic student, are we any lesser than a JC student? 85% to 15% is totally unfair.
B: But you've got to see it this way, a diploma holder could get a job whereas an A Level graduand can't. They have to go into a University to get a degree.
Me: So you are trying to say, Diploma holders would have to stop their climb up the education ladder and start working in the corporate world whereas the JC students could continue theirs because the A Levels is useless on it's own. I reckon the thought of Poly students wanting to pursue a Degree never crossed the minds of many. And why is that so? Is it because we are expected to start slogging once we graduate? I reckon the ratio should be fixed to 50% to 50%. It is fairer that way.
B: If the ratio is 50% to 50%, a lot of JC students won't be able to make it into University and rendering them jobless in the future.
Me: Totally not true, who says there are no jobs for A Levels? There are even jobs for secondary school dropouts! They are many jobs out there; it's only a matter if they want to take it up or not. And just because we've decided on what we want earlier than JC students shouldn't reduce our chance in entering a University to a mere 15%. Undeniably, they are stronger than us when it comes to theories, but shouldn’t we be given credits too for our experience in the respective field that we are in? Isn't it supposed to be a meritocratic society now? Well sucks to be them if they don’t score well and are not able to make it into a University. Go overseas or something, don't stay here and occupy the seats of those who more worthy of it.
B: ...(has nothing else to say)
--- End of Conversation ---
15% split evenly across 5 Polytechnics. So that would be 3% per Polytechnic. Now, let us consider the number of courses in each Polytechnic and then divide it with the number of students in each course. You do the math. That is how small a chance we have. And those in JC just have to score C, B, C or something along that line would get a place whereas even with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 or above won't necessarily secure us a place. Take this example, a student with a Diploma in Business Management, one who even went on attachment versus an A Levels student who just goes to school and study. Shouldn’t we stand at an advantage instead because we are already in this field as compared to our JC peers?
And they say Polytechnics are good, in the eyes of many we are still considered second in comparison to someone who is from a Junior College. Fair or not, in my opinion is definitely unfair no matter how they want to debate about JC students not being able to get a job with just an A Levels. It's a cruel world out there, if they aren't cut out for it, they just aren't cut out for it! Pick the best out of the lot and just move on for crying out loud!
Let's hear your opinion about it...
Are we Poly Students much inferior as compared to Junior College Students? Till date i have no idea what's the big commotion about the release of the A Levels Result. The press going to schools, reporters hopping from student to student, interviewing them on how they felt about their results and all that sobbing and crying, so much drama. Not that it is wrong, but what about the release of Polytechnic Students' results? Have it ever been featured before? It may sound very sour grapes-ish but aren't we all citizens of the same community?
Recently I had an interesting conversation with someone (lets name him B) who came from a JC. And so it goes like this.
Me: I just don't get why JC student have higher chances of going into a University as compared to a Polytechnic student, are we any lesser than a JC student? 85% to 15% is totally unfair.
B: But you've got to see it this way, a diploma holder could get a job whereas an A Level graduand can't. They have to go into a University to get a degree.
Me: So you are trying to say, Diploma holders would have to stop their climb up the education ladder and start working in the corporate world whereas the JC students could continue theirs because the A Levels is useless on it's own. I reckon the thought of Poly students wanting to pursue a Degree never crossed the minds of many. And why is that so? Is it because we are expected to start slogging once we graduate? I reckon the ratio should be fixed to 50% to 50%. It is fairer that way.
B: If the ratio is 50% to 50%, a lot of JC students won't be able to make it into University and rendering them jobless in the future.
Me: Totally not true, who says there are no jobs for A Levels? There are even jobs for secondary school dropouts! They are many jobs out there; it's only a matter if they want to take it up or not. And just because we've decided on what we want earlier than JC students shouldn't reduce our chance in entering a University to a mere 15%. Undeniably, they are stronger than us when it comes to theories, but shouldn’t we be given credits too for our experience in the respective field that we are in? Isn't it supposed to be a meritocratic society now? Well sucks to be them if they don’t score well and are not able to make it into a University. Go overseas or something, don't stay here and occupy the seats of those who more worthy of it.
B: ...(has nothing else to say)
--- End of Conversation ---
15% split evenly across 5 Polytechnics. So that would be 3% per Polytechnic. Now, let us consider the number of courses in each Polytechnic and then divide it with the number of students in each course. You do the math. That is how small a chance we have. And those in JC just have to score C, B, C or something along that line would get a place whereas even with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 or above won't necessarily secure us a place. Take this example, a student with a Diploma in Business Management, one who even went on attachment versus an A Levels student who just goes to school and study. Shouldn’t we stand at an advantage instead because we are already in this field as compared to our JC peers?
And they say Polytechnics are good, in the eyes of many we are still considered second in comparison to someone who is from a Junior College. Fair or not, in my opinion is definitely unfair no matter how they want to debate about JC students not being able to get a job with just an A Levels. It's a cruel world out there, if they aren't cut out for it, they just aren't cut out for it! Pick the best out of the lot and just move on for crying out loud!
Let's hear your opinion about it...
Mister Fox's at a Medical Check-up, checking his eye sight 
