An update from the Principal’s Office
Jointly reported by Theng Kai Joe and Cynthia Chee
A courtesy visit was made by College Board, USA to Kuen Cheng High School on 2 February 2023 (Thursday) from 10 a.m. Ms Carol Choong, the Senior Director, Market Management, East Asia International has traveled all the way from New York, USA to share important updates that students can benefit directly from the programs provided. Carol was accompanied by Mr Ezani Amir, the Managing Director of Test Center Malaysia, who is the Malaysia Country Representative for TOEIC and TOEFL tests and the country coordinator for SAT.
Kuen Cheng High School Principal, Dr Chua Lee Lee extended a warm welcome to both of our special guests before she made an introduction of her fellow colleagues. In attendance, Kuen Cheng administrators comprised the Extended English Program Facilitator, Chong Siew Choo, the Head of the English Language Department, Sharmila A/P Jeyaraj, the Assistant Admin Head of the Academic Department, Tan Hur Thong, the Board Secretary, Theng Kai Joe, and the Secretary cum PR, Cynthia Chee. A brief history of Kuen Cheng High School in education and life transforming for 115 years was shared at the meeting. Then, it was followed with a video presentation about the 15-Year Redevelopment Plan, the significant milestone to the growth, and the School is fully equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities and technology.
Ms Carol Choong made a brief introduction about the establishment of the College Board before she went on to present the talk on how the College Entrance Examination Board has expanded access to higher education through their SAT tests, AP Program and many more. According to Carol, College Board will launch the digital SAT in March 2023. For this trip, she very much looks forward to sharing more with educators, students and parents about the digital SAT. She further shared the strength of the AP (Advanced Placement Test), how AP was used in college admissions. Carol mentioned that College Board online resources are open to the public and easily accessible. Students are allowed to bring their own device (laptop) to the test center to sit for the SAT test. The test is conducted through an App installed in the electronic device. Candidates do not rely much on the internet.
Carol continued to introduce the AP program. The Pre-AP offers 12 courses across multiple domains: English, math, science, world history, geography, and the arts. Certain universities absorbed the courses learnt and counted as the credits. The critical thinking skills obtained will help prepare students for college and careers. There was also an introduction about the AP Seminar, whereby students demonstrate critical thinking, collaboration, and academic research skills through specific modules.
In turn, Sharmila gave a detailed presentation of the English for Academic Purposes in Kuen Cheng High School. According to Sharmila, our students are taught dual syllabus and they sit for three (3) external examinations in Kuen Cheng High School. They are The Unified Examination (JUEC & SUEC), whereby the curriculum is coordinated by The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong). Kuen Cheng students also sit for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), a national examination by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Madam Chong went on to elaborate on the support our students received from the Extended English Program; students are equipped with the English language proficiency as well as the readiness to sit for the internationally recognized certificates to meet the purposes of tertiary education or work. These tests include the MUET, IELTS, PTE, TOEFL, TOEIC, or the SAT. In between, Hur Thong made a summary and gave an extra update regarding the new academic requirements.
Both guests and the Kuen Cheng team continued to discuss in an amicable way. Before the visit ended, the Principal presented our guests with Kuen Cheng souvenirs. This followed with a group photo. It was indeed a fruitful meeting with new friendships that had just begun!
