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After O-level results, don’t choose JC or poly just to get into university

Poly, JC or IB? There are more pathways after O levels compared to 20 years ago but none are failsafe options.

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ST20200113_202079377157 Kua Chee Siong/ jaresults14/  Generic pic of a teacher handing the "O" level result slip to a student at Xinmin Secondary School on 13 Jan 2020.

Where we land, including whether to head to a JC, poly or IB course, depends on how open we are to learning from others, says the author.

PHOTO: ST FILE

June Yong

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The GCE O-level results

will be released on Jan 12.

Hearing the stories of friends and their children eagerly awaiting news of this milestone over this past week has transported me back to the day when I chose to apply to a local polytechnic some 20 years ago, which required some serious negotiating with my parents. 

Back then, even my classmates thought I was crazy. There was an assumed hierarchy of choice in my secondary school, with most of my classmates eventually entering a top junior college (JC). 

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