Talk:Dunman High School
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Prestigious? based on what?
If academic results has anything to do with this, can statistics of alumni attending renowned universities be added? To my recollection, Dunman High has not garnered such a reputation (or indeed, any distinct one) amongst Singaporean society, but instead has been overshadowed by other secondary schools.
[edit] I beg to differ
Contrary to what the above writer has stated, Dunman High has long had a reputation of being a top school in Singapore. I am not sure what the author feels denotes "prestigiousness". Is it simply limited to independent schools like Raffles Institute? If not, one should not attach such adjectives to the other schools either.
First, to clarify the defintion of 'prestigious' in this situation. To be prestigious would mean to have 'prestige' of which the only applicable defintions at dictionary.com would be 'a high standing achieved through success or influence or wealth' and 'widely recognized prominence, distinction, or importance.
Dunman High has had a ranking in the Top 5 Special/Express secondary schools for many years, so how is it less "prestigious" than the other schools then? The fact that an autonomous school surviving on $22 of school fees a month, instead of the large amounts collected for independent schools, show that it has the calibre to succeed, despite not having as much funding to establish programmes and enrichment classes as its independent counterparts. Even then, Dunman High has proven its ability to score well, beating even independent schools such as Anglo-Chinese (Independent). As such, it has fulfilled the requirements of the former definition of having a high standing achieved through success.
When the author claims that Dunman High has not had any sort of distinct reputation, it clearly shows that he (for simplicity's sake I will refer to the author as he) has not done his homework. Indeed, the school has quite a reputation, for having well-mannered students that excel at their studies. Mention Dunman High to any man on the streets, and chances are most of them would tell you that it's a good school. It is also a fact that out of 41 people in my graduating Primary 6 class, 25 chose to enroll in Dunman High, and not because their grades were not up to scratch. In fact, many of these classmates were more than qualified to go to independent schools. This evidently shows that Dunman High is a popular choice with the everyman, particularly those who cannot afford the higher school fees. More evidence in the form of the 2005 cut-off point of a 257 aggregate score in PSLE also shows that those who perform well in the PSLE know of Dunman High School and select it to be the secondary school that they want to be posted to. It is therefore highly impossible to deny that the school has the 'widely recognised prominence' required of the latter definition. Unless, of course, the author refers to the elite circuit that only knows independent schools like RI and ACS(I).
On a minor note, when one asks about academic results of a secondary school, receiving a reply on the secondary school's performance in the GCE 'O' levels, which is a direct measurement of academic performance, is expected, rather than the stastitics of alumni attending renowned universities.
I am a high school student in Singapore myself and I must say Dunman High School (DHS) has long been regarded as one of the top high schools in the country. Take this example, often brought up in Singaporean conversations: most schools which are traditionally considered 'good' are located in the West of Singapore, "the only 'good' school in the East is DHS". Its cut-off point is very high and is always (if not, almost) above 250 for as long as I can remember. That means all its students were top 10% of the nation when they were admitted into DHS. DHS graduates have traditionally attained good GCE O Level results and it has also achieved the School Excellence Award, the pinnacle award a Singaporean school can attain, among many others. Its CCAs have won many awards as well, showing that DHS is an all-rounded school like all of the other schools in the "elite league".
Also, I must agree with the previous author that for a high school, GCE O Levels are the most common gauge on Academic achievements. Admission to universities is used to compare junior colleges instead.
[edit] Dunman High School's teachers
It is a prestigious school because of its academic results and also because of its cca achievements. It is the best you can get without having to spend hundreds of dollars a month in independent schools such as Raffles Institute and Nanyang Girls High. Everybody is given an equal opportunity in everything here, whenever we have to pay for something, the teachers will talk about available financial assistance. All we have to do is just speak to the teachers and they will try their best to help. We believe that everybody should have an equal shot in anything, not that because you are not well to do enough, you are not entitled to what the other students get. The school fee is around $22 or $23. The teachers make us feel welcomed, make us feel as though we really belong in the DHS family. All my past experiences of teachers gave me the impression that they really do not care underneath those pretentious acts. In DHS, teachers put in a lot of effort into teaching the students both academically and morally.
[edit] Rewrite
I have done a rewrite of the article. If you are changing the article for the first time, please read Wikipedia:No original research and Wikipedia:Neutral point of view before adding anything. In particular, please take note to add the source of your information, and don't include your opinion of the fact (or its potential effects) inside the article itself. Thank you. Kimchi.sg | talk 21:55, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
With regard to the latest IP edit: please cite your sources when adding any information. Otherwise, how is anybody to know that you did not make up the information yourself? Please remember that the majority of readers of the article have not and will never witness any of the events mentioned. Therefore I say again, you need to list your sources of information, exactly like what you do when you do your school projects. For what types of sources you can list, please see Wikipedia:Reliable sources. Thank you. Kimchi.sg | talk 03:42, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
