How should I choose a suitable primary school for my child?

When his daughter was in kindergarten, Mr Muchtar Abdul Karim, 34, and his wife, Mdm Yuslina Bte Mohamed Salleh, 34, began to think about choosing a primary school that his daughter would enjoy going to.

Finding out more about the school

Memorable experiences of his own primary school days prompted Mr Muchtar to check out his alma mater, Junyuan Primary School. Back in his time, the school was newly opened and he was part of the first batch of students to graduate in 1989.

“The teachers made a lot of difference,” said Mr Muchtar, who recalled a teacher who made English lessons fun by singing and playing the guitar while telling a story.

Mr Muchtar found that the school had come a long way from his recollections of the chalkboards, overhead projectors and long wooden rulers. He was pleased to see the resources and facilities that the children have now in schools.

His wife, Mdm Yuslina, a secondary school teacher, had also heard positive feedback from colleagues about the school’s teachers and its programmes.

“The school has seen many positive changes over the 25 years since I was last there,” said Mr Muchtar, who takes time to share his primary school memories with his daughter, Syafiah, and hopes that she will have a memorable experience too.

Choosing a conducive environment

Knowing Syafiah’s quiet and reserved personality, Mr Muchtar and his wife wanted a school environment that would give her the freedom to gradually discover herself and the opportunities to come out of her shell.

“The priority for us is for her to be happy in school,” said Mr Muchtar, “Now that she’s in the school, she doesn’t stop talking about her time there!”

They were glad to observe that Syafiah had made new friends and enjoyed going to school. During a Meet-the-Parents session, Syafiah’s form teacher told them that Syfiah was a bubbly person in class, which came as a surprise given how they knew her to be an introvert. Just as surprisingly, Syafiah was appointed as the canteen monitor for her Primary One class, because her teacher saw leadership potential in her.

Observing these small successes over the year, Mr Muchtar and his wife are glad that they made the right choice of primary school for their daughter.

“We came from neighbourhood schools and had our own successes as well, so we feel that you don’t have to be in a ‘brand-name’ school in order to succeed in life,” said Mdm Yuslina.

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