RECORD BREAKERS: A section of the top scorers with their parents, Tiong (second right, front row) and Wong (front left) and straight-A+ scorers Amabel (front row fifth left) and Sim (front row, sixth left).
MIRI: A tearful Amabel Goh, former head prefect of SMK St Columba Miri, was hugged by her jubilant former classmates when they found out that she had achieved straight A+’s in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam. Amabel was among five students who broke the school’s record in the exam.
“Our prayers have been answered,” said the beaming school principal Robinette Tiong Ai Giek.
According to senior assistant Wong Pek Yen, the school also recorded the largest number of straight A’s for SPM, with 29 (10.14 per cent) of the school’s 286 candidates scoring straight As.
“This is a historic moment. I don’t remember the school ever having achieved such quality for the SPM. In 2005, we had 16 straight A’s (5.56 per cent),” she said.
“In fact, 16 out of 18 subjects showed an improvement in quality, including Bahasa Malaysia (BM), although the passing percentage for BM dropped from 95.5 per cent to 92.6 per cent.
“We are, however, very satisfied with our consistent improvements. 71.33 per cent managed to pass all subjects, again the highest number in at least 10 years,” added Wong.
Four other students who achieved straight-A+s were Joy Hii Mei Xin (10 A+), Brenda Chew Yiik Hwa (9A+), Melissa Phua Siew Mei (9 A+) and Sim Jia Zheng (10 A+).
Of the other 24 straight-A achievers (with A+, A & A-), seven obtained 10As while 17 scored 9 As and 8 As.
According to Tiong, most of the top scorers were very active and spent a lot of their time rendering service to the school, as prefects and in other roles, as well as excelling in co-curriculum.
“We are happy that the school’s efforts to develop the students holistically, in terms of character-building and preparing them for the 21st century, by making available various platforms, have proven successful in producing academic results as well,” she said.
“The students also managed their time very well to produce the results; this is an important leadership quality,” she added.
Tiong also attributed the excellent results to the hardworking teachers, Parent-Teacher Association, the School Board of Management and parents.
An ecstatic Amabel, winner of the Principal’s Award for Leadership and Outstanding Leo Secretary Award, chipped in: “I have learned a lot and gained priceless experience. Our experience as prefects and student leaders actually enriched our lives. We have become more alert, disciplined and ready to learn.”
The school recorded 62 A+ (41 per cent) for Additional Mathematics. The GPS for the subject improved significantly from 4.56 to 2.77.