Let me air my views based on my personal experience and knowledge as educator and as parent.

I congratulate Ms Thay on her verve and resilience not to be 'tunnel-visioned' into selecting a softer option that would have seriously limited her choices at university. Her feedback ought to be taken as a clarion call by the ministry into advising its principals and teachers to have the bigger picture of the student at heart.

I wish to share two personal experiences to further highlight and encapsulate the underpinnings of Ms Thay's intimations.

My first son was studying in an all boys' mission school. I was summoned by the principal, after the release of the June mother-tongue results, to advise my son to drop Additional Mathematics that he failed in the mid-year exams and focus on his Tamil that he scored C6 in the June exams so that his results in Tamil could be improved in November. I politely turned down her advice, and instead beefed up my son's performance in Additional Mathematics over the next four months that enabled him to secure a good credit that gave him more pathways at tertiary institutions. Today, he is a self-acclaimed geek and IT wizard in the UK.

My second experience involved my second son from the same school, but under a different principal. When my son received his subject combination for Sec 3, I was appalled that he had been offered Principles of Accounting with soft options subjects. My son had actually scored distinction in mathematics in Sec 2, so obviously he should have been offered Additional Mathematics.

I first met the school's vice-principal who told me that the principal was unlikely to change his decision but assured me that she would discuss the matter with him. She later informed me that the principal's decision on the matter was final.

My next step was to meet the principal. He explained to me and my wife that his decision was final; he also told us that if we were not satisfied with his decision, we were free to transfer our son to another school. I told him that we would not.

I plucked up enough courage to meet the director responsible for schools, and I explained to her my son's predicament and his principal's refusal to offer the Additional Mathematics subject combination. After reviewing my son's Sec 2 results, she agreed to address the issue with the principal. The next day, the principal phoned me that my son would be offered the more challenging Additional Mathematics subject combination.

I do not consider my second son's case as my personal triumph over the principal's decision, but what happened arising from my firmness was the benefit it brought to 17 other boys who had to be contacted by the school during the December vacation to inform them that the school had decided to offer them the more challenging Additional Mathematics subject combination.

My son has gone on to bring glory to his alma mater by clinching national awards for his leadership in the CCA. He also obtained several distinctions in his exams at the Singapore Polytechnic and thereby gained special dispensations in red-brick UK universities to pursue his degree courses.

These events and the recently released O level results bear ample testimony to the power of self-belief in kindling that unfathomable spirit in us to excel beyond all expectations of our teachers, principals and the society at large. Yes, let the principals and teachers advise, and let our students listen, but let our students decide in concert with their parents in favour of their longer-term goals and concerns. The glass ceiling is there for us to shatter.

S Ganesamoorthy