And on a brighter side, parents can fully maximize students’ time and let them gain more knowledge rather than getting involved in immoral activities. That means parents will know their kids’ whereabouts during these particular hours. In addition to that, students can exchange ideas and share information with new friends at the centre. Through interaction, these students can even develop creative and communication skills.

However, tuition lessons also have its disadvantages. First and foremost, it increases parents’ burden as they need to allocate more expenses since tuition fees are rather expensive. In some cases, it caused unnecessary pressure to students as they need to juggle between school work and tuition work. As students spend more time to attend tuition classes, they failed to enjoy their childhood.

There are 2 papers involved in this subject namely Kertas 1 (Paper 1) and Kertas 2 (Paper 2). In Paper 1, you are given 1 hour and 15 minutes where you will have to answer 40 questions. The questions are in the multiple choice format which carries 40 marks in total. In Paper 2, you are given more time where in 1 hour and 45 minutes, you will have to answer questions which are more open ended as compared to Paper 1 where you can choose the right or most accurate answer. Here is where you will need to show that you know how you derived the answer. This paper requires you to answer the questions by providing the ‘workings’ of the calculations. You are not allowed to bring in any calculators into this examination which carries a total of 60 marks.

In the written examination, the English Language subject comes in 2 papers. In Paper 1, you will be required to answer 40 questions in the multiple choice format in 1 hour. This is where you will need to identify the best answer where you will be tested on areas like grammar, vocabulary and others.

The second paper (2), where you are given 1 hour and 30 minutes requires you to write essays which will test you more on your ability to describe and illustrate ideas using the language. In the first section of Paper 2, you will have to write an essay which could be in a form of a formal or informal letter or a narrative. This is often regarded as one of the toughest parts of this subject. You will then be required to write a summary in the next session from an article given while the literature section is where you will be tested based on the literature books you studied in school that include ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ or ‘Robinson Crusoe’.

There are 2 papers involved in BM known simply is Kertas 1 (Paper 1) and Kertas 2 (Paper 2). In Paper 1, there are 40 questions in the multiple choice format where you are given 1 hour to answer and you will be testing on the comprehension skills. Paper 2 is a bit tougher and it is for a 2 hour duration. There are in total 4 sections where in the first section you will need to write a summary (ringkasan) of an article. You will then have to write a 120 word essay in the next session based on visual aids like graphs and charts. The third session requires you to write a 180 word essay on a specific topic while the last section is where you have to write a description on a specific novel you studied.

To be a Pelajar Cemerlang, or student of excellence, it is not really rocket science if you know what you need to do and how to do it. Not everyone is born smart and talented and with a few tips and some hard work you too can be one.

Listen and pay attention
The most important thing first is that you must learn to listen and pay attention. Our education system tends to be spoon-feeding sometimes with teachers telling us to take notes. Do not wait for the teacher to tell you what notes to take and when. Learn to do so yourself. And only if you listen and pay attention that you will know what is important and what is not.

Ask questions
You need to learn to ask questions. We tend to think that asking questions show we are not smart. That is not true. Learn to ask questions even if you think it is a stupid question, because there is no such thing as a stupid questions.

Review
Always revisit your notes and look at what you have written down. This will ensure that you don’t miss out anything that you don’t understand. In most cases, you would have asked the questions for explanation but revisiting and reviewing your notes will give you the chance to find out more information on anything you missed out.

Homework
Like it or not, homework must be done. Teachers do not give you homework for no reason or for the fun of it. Complete your homework and take time to add in a bit more. Work around 50% is good enough. If homework is 50 questions, do 25 more. That way you become better. After all practice does make perfect.

Start early
Always start your preparation early. If you have done all that above throughout the year, you would have already started early. So when examinations approach, you would only need to revise. Remember, revision is looking back at notes and refreshing your memory, not remembering as much as you can.

Organization is very important, you need to ensure that you have all your work and subjects organized properly and in time you will be able to find the right information whenever needed. Once you have done all that, you should achieve excellence in no time.

Reputable colleges and universities spread over thirteen states and three federal regions in Malaysia. Though the official language is Bahasa Malaysia, other languages and local dialects such as English and Mandarin are also widely spoken in Malaysia. English is used as the medium of instruction in most private institutions. International students need to apply visa and student pass to enter the country for educational purposes. Applications can be made to the Malaysian Immigration Department and takes up to 14 working days for approval. Students need to apply via their college because the approval letters will be sent directly to facilitate students’ entry into the country. Some institutions will submit the application for student pass on their behalf. Meanwhile, an extension of a student pass can be granted for a period of six months (maximum). However, students need to apply for extension a month before the pass expires.

There are compulsory co-curricular activities in the secondary school system where every student isrequired to participate in at least 2 activities. This is pretty much the standard in most states and isa requirement implemented by the Ministry of Education. In East Malaysian state Sarawak, studentsmust take at least 3 co-curricular activities. The common categories in schools are Uniformed Bodies,Performing Arts, Clubs and Societies, Sports and outdoors. While there is no limit as to how manyco-curricular activities one can take, the teacher advisors will usually be the best people to consult ifa student is too involved with such activities. The usually practice for most students is to take up oneuniformed body like the Scouts or Cadets, one sporting activity and one club.

Based on records provided by Malaysian government, in 2005, there are a total of 15,357 JPA scholarship applicants. And from that figure, only 5,946 made it into interview sessions with 1,500 JPA Overseas Scholarships awarded to the applicants.

Two years later in 2007, 15,220 SPM graduates applied for the scholarships and after several rounds of interview and test, government has awarded up to 2,000 scholarships to the applicants.

Government has expressed that students with at least 10A1s or more with a family income less than RM1,500 are guaranteed a place for JPA scholarships for the year of 2007. And based on the total of 2,000 scholarship recipients, 151 fulfilled the above criteria and that includes 117 non-bumiputera.

Among some of the fields that are popular among the scholarship applicants including medical, pharmacy, dentist, engineering, accountancy, law, agricultural, city planning, quantity surveyor, economics, business administration, IT and plenty more.

Students who received JPA scholarships must first spend short period studying in local institutions before progressing to universities abroad. Upon graduating from the reputable universities oversea, students are required to work and contribute to the country for a specific amount of years depending on the pre-determined rules and regulations.

Say for example, selected group of students are given a chance to further their studies in United Kingdom, they do not have to fret as a Malaysian Students Department for UK and Eire (MASDUKE) was set up to handle and solve matters related to students.

Established in February 1954, the original location was at Malaya House in Trafalgar Square. It then shifted from place to place including Walmar House, Regent Street to Bryanston Square, London and finally settled down in Bryanston Square.

Initially, MASDUKE and Malaysia Hall (MH) were under the administration of Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education of Malaysia. Since MASDUKE was moved to the present building of MH, Malaysian government has to take further action to procure a freehold property within the precinct.

The department is meant to monitor students’ academic performance and provide them with guidance when necessary as well as to offer guidance and advice on academic, social, religious or vocational matters.

In May 2011, Dr Wee Kar Siong has done a good job in helping some students to voice their grievances about the double standard by PSD.