Ambitious, yet held back by poor SPM results and financial constraints
PUCHONG: While many students scored well for their SPM exams and are planning ahead in terms of further studies and ambitions, there are also a substantial number of students who did not get good grades.
For them, future seems uncertain but like many other teenagers out there, they are hopeful to achieve something big in life.
Speaking to The Leaders Online team, one teenager, D Veenasri, 18, did not to get her SPM certificate as she failed History, which is a compulsory paper.
“After SPM, I was working at a supermarket due to financial problems. Now, I’m teaching home-tuition for primary school students,” she said.
Veenasri is the only child of a single mother. Her parents got divorced when she was only one-year old and tragedy struck when her father died a year later.
She has been under the care of her grandparents, M Batumalai and M Muthuletcumy since young as Veenasri rarely sees her mother, who works in Singapore.
“My father passed away when I was just two-years old. I was receiving my father’s insurance money for some time but I don’t receive it anymore,” said Veenasri.
When asking about her passion and dreams, she said “I wanted to study law but my results does not fulfill the requirements. So, I’m planning to retake SPM.”
Like other teenagers, Veenasri also shares about her passion for baking, saying it keeps her occupied and joyful.
“I’m also looking into setting up my own business in the future,” she said.
Another SPM student of Class-2019, N Helen, said she said passed all her subjects except Mathematics.
”I always wanted to become a policewoman but my family disapprove of it. So, I’m planning to take up a course on human resources,” she said.
Also raised by a single parent, her mother, S Kasturi, 41, works as an operator in a factory. Her father passed away when she was just an infant.
Helen lives with her grandfather, K Subramanian.
While she wants to pursue her studies in reputable varsities, Helen conceded that she may not be able to do so due to financial issues.
“My family cannot afford to send me to a college. Therefore, I want to apply for polytechnics,” she added.
By S Jeevita
