THE SHOCK
Following tuition, En’s grades did improve, and she did well in her preliminary exams before the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Teo thought everything was in hand and shortlisted a few schools that she thought En could go to: Not the most competitive or popular schools in the country but a tad more modest, she describes.
That is why she was blindsided by En’s PSLE score. “It wasn’t very bad,” she acknowledges. “But it was definitely not what we were expecting.”
En did not qualify for any of the schools on the shortlist. “What she could qualify for were schools I didn’t know anything about, and I had to go and do some research,” Teo says.
In the end, the choice was a simple one between two schools, and they agreed on the one with a direct bus from their house.
But as the days passed, Teo struggled to process her feelings. “I’d come to work, and tears would be rolling down my (cheeks),” she recalls.