18 March 2010

Can a homeschooler sit for BM exam?

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Examinations; Malaysian schools.

Here’s an interesting bit of news for those who missed it in the Sun.

16-year old homeschooler Adrian Kumar Vendargon wants to sit for the SPM Bahasa paper as a private candidate. Unfortunately, there are obstacles in his way. Chief of which is the fact that Adrian has not gone through the system or sat for the PMR.  The other is that he does not yet qualify as he is just 16 years old and the SPM is only for those who are 17 and older.  Adrian, who turns 17 in December this year, is fond of the Malay language and has been home tutored on it since he was 14. Why is Adrian aiming for an exam in the Malay language?

“My fondness for the Malay language started when I was in primary school. I realised it is a good communication language in small towns and plus it is the national language,” he said.

“I got good grades in my BM in school and I am ready to sit for the SPM BM paper this year. It is preposterous that the examination board is not allowing me to.”

Adrian began homeschool back in 2007  “because he wanted to progress academically without being bound by a particular system.” But we do not know if he was educated at home or in a learning centre – one of those commonly touted as ‘homeschooling’ centres, providing ‘homeschool.’  Nevertheless, you can read the report which came out in theSun on Wednesday March 17.

Meanwhile, Adrian has decided not to leave any stone unturned in his bid to sit for the exam. He left a comment on PM Dato Sri Mohd Najib’s 1Malaysia blog and here’s what the homeschooler wrote:

Dear Dato Seri, I am a Malaysian, homeschooling doing the iGCSE at the British Council. I was born in December 1993. I will complete my iGCSE’s in June 2010. I am not allowed to sit for the BM paper as a private candidate this year, because I am not 17 as at 1-1-10, and I don’t possess an SPM/PMR certificate. However, I have already sat for and obtained grades in 6 iGCSE subjects as at June 2009. There is no age limitation for sitting iGCSE’s, ‘O’ levels or ‘A’-Levels. I would like to appeal to Dato Seri to intervene so that I can register as a private candidate for the November intake, as I wish to proceed to my ‘A’-Levels next year in college. I intend to work in Malaysia,therefore I need a credit in BM. With all due respect, I think we need to scrap this age limitation for the SPM, as it only holds students back. Such a move is essential in improving our education system to the level of that in developed countries.

Way to go Adrian!

This is certainly a story to follow. It would be interesting to see if Adrian’s woe is due to his age or to his being homeschooled. Either way,  we’ll want to see if if this cracks open the door that keeps Malaysian homeschoolers out of the system. Watch this space.

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