David N levels Mild Dyslexia

In 2018, on this date, I received the good news from David and his mother. He achieved a total score of 8 points so he could enter Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP). This is a programme offered to students who have done exceptionally well in their N levels and they could then skip Singapore’s O level exam and enter their desired course in Polytechnic, a pre-tertiary institution in Singapore and choose their field of interest to pursue for their ambition.

When he was introduced to me in Secondary 2, his mother was very concerned. He had mild dyslexia and he was struggling with his studies. However, his dyslexia issue had no significant impact on his studies . His main issue was spending too much time on games and too little time on completing the homework. His lack of interest in studies was also an issue. The turning point was in Secondary 2, when he saw that he could do pretty well in his final exam after completing his homework. Unfortunately, the results dropped when he entered Secondary 3. The learning curve for E Math, A Math, Science Chemistry/Physics became steeper and he spent too little time revising on his own. He became preoccupied with playing basketball. Hence, I encouraged him to have more classes to revise often. With the additional classes, there was more support and guidance for difficult questions. This provided opportunity for him to focus and learn more, instead of playing pc or mobile games. Eventually it became a habit for him to complete his homework before class and he had the discipline to study on his own too. David, a brilliant boy who overcame all odds and achieved outstanding results for N levels in the end. This was one of the most rewarding experience as an educator ! Up to today, I am still proud of his achievement ! =)