Kian Kok first Chinese school in Sabah to introduce International General Certificate of Secondary Education
Published on: Wednesday, December 06, 2023
By: Hayati Dzulkifli
Goh said parents who are interested to enrol their children aged 13 for the IGCSE in KKMS can apply for enrolment before its deadline on Dec 31 and they have to sit for an entrance exam comprising Bahasa Malaysia, English Language and Mathematics (in English).
Kota Kinabalu: Kian Kok Middle School (KKMS) here is the first independent Chinese secondary school in Sabah to introduce an internationally recognised qualification known as Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education), early next year.
Its Principal Goh Teck Seng said the IGCSE, which is equivalent to O-Level, is recognised by more than 200 universities and colleges in the world.
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He said students of the school have more options now as they will sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination and couple with either the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) or IGCSE.
“Some parents prefer their schooling children not to be pressured or stressed when studying for examinations in KKMS. That is why we decided to introduce the IGCSE because students will start sitting for the examination twice a year for four subjects when they are in Form Four.
“Two subjects to be held in the middle of the year (May and June) and another two subjects later in the year (October and November).
“When they are in Form 5, they will sit for the examination for three subjects (May and June) and the SPM examination for six subjects (November and December).
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“This arrangement is good for the students as there would be less pressure and they would have more time to prepare for the examinations,” he told Daily Express at KKMS, Tuesday.
In comparison to UEC which is equivalent to A-Level, Goh said it is tougher because the students have to take up eight subjects for examinations that is held once a year, specifically in November, within one week.
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He said some students could not cope when taking up UEC because they still have to study and prepare for the SPM.
He said KKMS will start the IGCSE on Jan 2, next year and it is open to all, including those who study in government schools.
Goh said parents who are interested to enrol their children aged 13 for the IGCSE in KKMS can apply for enrolment before its deadline on Dec 31 and they have to sit for an entrance exam comprising Bahasa Malaysia, English Language and Mathematics (in English).
“Students taking up the IGCSE in KKMS will learn Chinese as their second language because all subjects of the ICGSE will be taught in English.
“The Form 1 students of IGCSE class in KKMS will take up Mathematics, Science, Chinese, English and three SPM subjects, namely Bahasa Malaysia, History, Moral Education and Physical Education (PE).
“When they are in Form 2, they will be divided into three streams based on their choice of interest, namely Science Stream 1 that has Biology, Chemistry, Chinese, English, Mathematics, BM (SPM), History (SPM) and Moral Education (SPM), while Science Stream 2 has all the subjects except Biology that is replaced with Physic, and Commerce Stream has Chinese, English, Mathematics, Combine Science, Accounting and the three same SPM subjects,” he said, adding the students will be studying those subjects until they are in Year 5.
Goh said the IGCSE Form Four examination for the three streams will be in May and June next year for Mathematics and Malay subjects, while in Oct and Nov, next year, the Science Stream 1 students will sit for Biology and Chinese, while Science Stream 2 students sit for Physics and Chinese and Commerce stream students sit for accounting and Chinese.
When they are in Form 5, he said the IGCSE examination would be held in May and June for English, Chemistry and Add Mathematics for both Science Stream 1 and 2, while the Commerce stream students sit for English, Combine Science and Business Study.
According to him, those IGCSE students who fail certain subjects can repeat to sit for the subject in the following period of the year or even next year.
In Nov and Dec, he said the students will only focus on the six subjects of SPM.
“KKMS requires all its students to sit for SPM (six subjects) because we want to prepare them for the real world and to have professional licence that requires SPM especially passing the Bahasa Malaysia and History subjects, which are mandatory.
“We also require students to take part in co-curriculum activities which are important because we want them to learn communication and leadership skills,” he said.
To a question, Goh said KKMS students who have the IGCSE qualification can straightaway do foundation programmes at private colleges and universities, including in the country.
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