Singapore applauds disabled student who receives distinction in five O-level exams

From AsiaOne:

Student Jacqueline Woo (pictured), 17, cannot speak clearly and cannot hold a pen to draw diagrams and graphs.

Even keeping her head up is a challenge for the Methodist Girls' School student, who has been wheelchair-bound since the age of four because of dystonia, a movement disorder characterised by involuntary and sustained muscle spasms.

Despite her condition, she scored five distinctions - in English, Chinese, mathematics, additional mathematics and combined humanities - in last year's O-level examination.

She said: "Actually, I was hoping to get straight As. It is a little disappointing because of all the hard work I put in."

But her mother, housewife Lily Woo, 45, said: "I'm very proud of her. Given her condition, to still be able to do well is not easy."

Calling her an inspiration to her friends and teachers, her form teacher, Miss Tan Choon Gan, in her late 40s, said: "Jacqueline never allows herself to feel sorry about her condition." The school had applied to the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board for Jacqueline to be exempted from drawing in her maths and science exams.

But it found out just before her preliminary examinations that exemption was not approved, leaving her with barely two months to prepare.

"I was worried that I would fail because I had never practised those questions," she said.

She had to dictate instructions to her teachers to help her draw diagrams and graphs in her maths and science exams.

Luckily, she was exempted from practical and aural exams, allowed to submit her answers by typing on the computer, and given double the time to finish her maths and science exams.

Doctors had earlier advised Jacqueline's parents to get her integrated in a mainstream school. "If we shield her all the time, it will be difficult for her in the future," said Mrs Woo.

Jacqueline joined her school's InfoComm Club and took part in community projects. "There are many things I have learnt that made me aware of how fortunate I am," she said.

She hopes to go to Anglo-Chinese Junior College and land a computer-related job in future.

She was among 37,424 school candidates who sat for last year's O-level examination.

Of these, 99.9 per cent had at least one O-level pass and 81.1 per cent had at least five passes.

The top student was CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School's Lai Kai Rou, who scored 10 A1s.

In the 2008 O-level exam, there were 36,640 school candidates, of whom 99.9 per cent had at least one pass and 80.8 per cent had at least five.