SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> EDUCATION This year’s Year 13 graduates of SJIIM celebrate by throwing their mortarboard hats into the air 28 EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE <strong>Tropicana</strong> empowers the community with internationally recognised educational institutions in its townships
TROPICANA MAGAZINE Having a learning institution that meets a specific standard and serves the community would be ideal and desirable for a township. And in its capacity as a developer, <strong>Tropicana</strong> ensures that this need is fulfilled in order to create complete and wholesome townships. As part of its focus on Redefining the Art of Learning, <strong>Tropicana</strong> aims to empower the community by having internationally recognised educational institutions in its townships. <strong>The</strong> educational institutions are Tenby International School <strong>Tropicana</strong> Aman, and St. Joseph’s Institution International School Malaysia (“SJIIM”) (<strong>Tropicana</strong> PJ Campus). Both educational institutions have a stellar reputation and a track record of producing successful students thanks to their excellent learning environments, state-of-the-art facilities, outstanding curriculum, and qualified teaching personnel. SJIIM caters to students from age three to 18, leading to international qualifications such as the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (“GCSE”), and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (“IBDP”). While SJIIM has celebrated numerous firsts and achievements over the years, last year was perhaps most momentous as it achieved a perfect score in the IBDP. Ten students obtained the perfect score of 45 points, the full marks in the IBDP, which they had sat for in April 2021. According to Tony Lai, the school’s Marketing, Admissions and Communications Director, this is truly a feat because normally schools in Malaysia would only have one or two students getting the highest grade of 45 points. Not only that, the average score by students at the school was 43 points, which is way above the provisional 2021 average score worldwide of 33 points. <strong>The</strong>se result statistics are superb, considering that the school is only about six years old. In addition, the students completed their IBDP studies and sat for their IBDP examinations in very challenging circumstances, given the movement control orders and lockdowns in Malaysia since 2020. This year’s IBDP results are also noteworthy, with two students scoring 44 points, which is only one point short of the perfect score. While the average score was 37 points, 32 percent of students scored 40 or more points. As in previous years, the majority of SJIIM leavers are going to study at some of the most prestigious universities in the world. A number of students from SJIIM Class of <strong>2022</strong> have confirmed places at the University of Toronto, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Bath, Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland and University College Dublin. <strong>The</strong> school’s University and Careers Counsellor is also finalising placements for students at Imperial College London, London School of Economics, National University of Singapore, University of Edinburgh, University of Sydney and many others. Being the first SJII in Malaysia, the school is a continuation of St. John Baptist De La Salle’s 300-year-old education mission and focuses on producing well-rounded learners at all levels with its values-centred educational approach that is based on the very best of the globally-recognised Lasallian education ethos. An important part of the Lasallian education is to develop “good character”: a set of core ethical values that enables students to, not just be successful in exams, but live fulfilling lives as members of society. Ooi Jun Fong, who scored 45 points in last year’s IBDP attributes his success to SJIIM’s maximum effort to engender holistic development throughout all curriculums. “By resourcefully using every advantage and opportunity it has to grow students, SJIIM pushes students to achieve a diverse and compelling range of success. I truly enjoyed the rigorous yet stimulating nature of teaching, which aided me to lucidly understand complicated concepts rather than route memorisation,” says Ooi, who is now studying Mathematics Operational Research Statistics and Economics at the University of Warwick in the UK. For You Jun Ong, who also obtained the perfect score in last year’s IBDP and is now pursuing law at King’s College London, “the true gem of SJIIM is the teaching faculty”. He notes that every SJIIM teacher is patient, considerate, critical yet helpful, and capable in bestowing upon their students a desire to learn, a passion to enquire and a heart to serve. “SJIIM had not only taught me the knowledge across different subjects, but also provided me with a different perspective to view the world and a keen eye to critically analyse information, skills that are sought-after in the real world”. 29
Change language