By effjaypee
I was from a "branded" girls' school (A), then transferred to a co-ed neighbourhood school (T) in primary 5.
It was a huge culture shock to be honest. I realized there were glaring differences in the way students in A behave compared to T. I personally felt that girls from A conducted themselves in a somewhat "high SES" manner, like there was some form of "polish" applied to the manner in which they acted and carried themselves. However in T, people there were just... rowdy as f***. Many adopted the "aiya aiya DON'T CARE LA" attitude towards most things. I remembered the very first day I stepped into T, I was literally taken aback by the badly vandalized tables, dirty floors, rusty windows etc.... it was akin to a blasphemy as this would absolutely have NEVER occurred in A. My classmates shouting "EH BANGLA" from the 4th floor which echoed down to the HDB carpark, carving their names on desks..... I was speechless.
In A, I was just an average student with very average grades. However, when I transferred to T, I kept topping classes without much effort and eventually topped the entire level in certain subjects as well. Classmates in T were like, "Eh did you pass? did you pass?" and for me I was like, what do you mean "pass"? Just a "pass" aka 50/100 was never acceptable given where I came from previously. Like in A, we never ever discussed who passed, it was more like, did you score an A? Even when I got a 65/100 in A I'd be very upset, much less anything lower than that. But yeah, when it came to grades, I sensed that expectations were not as high in T as compared to A.
This brings me to the point whereby our ministers claim that "ALL SCHOOLS ARE GOOD SCHOOOOLS" no. No. NO. Don't believe that shit. For someone who has experienced both extremes, the environment you study in and the people you hang out with shapes you. Now I'm not trying to say that neighbourhood schools are bad. There are always stuff about them which are certainly better, such as the kampong spirit and strength of bonding among students. NOT FORGETTING THE DEDICATED TEACHERS. I also felt that the teachers in T were more passionate about teaching and genuinely concerned about the well-being of their students as compared to A. When I was in A, all I remembered was that the teacher flung my workbook across the floor for some reason I can't recall HAHA.
More at https://www.domainofexperts.com/2018/07/all-schools-are-good-schools-dont.html
