3 March: Pelkhil School conducted its first Parent-Teacher meeting for the year today for junior wing and senior wing. In addition to spelling out the normal rules and regulations and expectations of the school, the meeting also announced that as a school that aspires to promote excellence, Pelkhil will no longer tolerate slackers in its student body.
Many parents raised pertinent questions regarding the new year and hopefully most of them were satisfactorily clarified. Questions were raised regarding the availability and high price of tracksuits, discipline, academic performance and again about rumours about the school. Many expressed their satisfaction with the emphasis on student discipline and requested the school to be even stricter making special mention of appearance, hairstyles etc.
Parents were informed of the renewed focus on banning of bringing electronic gizmos to the school including MP3 players, mobile phones etc and the unnecessary headaches of confiscating, storing and returning items. Henceforth, all banned items are to be confiscated permanently by the school and used to raise funds for student activities. Parents desperately wanting the items back will be assured of an invitation to participate in the auction.
In terms of academics, all students facing the board exams (BCSE and BHSEC) will be expected to achieve the set minimum marks (40% and 45% respectively) in the year’s mid-term examinations in order to earn their eligibility to register with the BCSEA (formerly the BBE). The marks counted will be only from the written exams. Registration for the board exams will no longer be treated as a right.
Parents were asked to sign the letter of acceptance of the school’s renewed terms. All did. Parents absent at the meeting will be expected to drop by the office and sign their letters during the following week.