Nurul (centre) alongside her schoolmates Zainoreen Affandy (second left) and Sharifah Nur Izzati Atiqah Wan Abdillah (second right) showing their STPM results with Abdul Radzak (left) and SMK Petra Jaya Form 6 senior assistant Hajijah Awi (right).
KUCHING: Though entrusted with the responsibility of helping her parents manage the daily needs of her four younger siblings, Nurul Jannah Roslan still found the time to focus on her education at school.
Her hard work paid off and the 20-year-old was awarded the best overall Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.58 at SMK Petra Jaya yesterday.
She was also awarded the Best Subject Award for Bahasa Melayu and Visual Arts Education.
The recognition, she said, was the best present she could every give to her parents.
“My family is neither well-off nor are we from a poor household, but my talent is something that’s inborn in my family.
“My father is a primary school teacher in Lundu district whereas my mother is only a housewife and whenever I don’t have to tend to my siblings, that will be the time for me to study without any distraction,” she said and dedicated her STPM results to her parents who have sacrificed to send her to school.
Nurul pointed out that she has to look after her siblings between three to 16 years old because her mother is occupied with making ‘tempeyek’ and ‘kerepek’ for sale to earn an income for the family.
Besides allocating time for her studies, Nurul also received assistance and support from teachers at the school.
“My teachers have been very patient with me and were willing to help me even when I repeatedly ask the same question to get better understanding,” she added.
Nurul, who plans to further her studies in the education field, advised students taking the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and STPM to set goals in life if they want to
succeed.
Earlier, SMK Petra Jaya principal Abdul Radzak Ismail said the school had seen an improvement in its results compared to last year’s.
“From what I gathered, there is an improvement in our STPM results from a CGPA of 2.1 last year to 2.23 this year,” he said, adding that subjects that recorded an improvement were Economy, History and Visual Arts Education.
Abdul Radzak also pointed out that though SMK Petra Jaya only offers humanitarian-based subjects at STPM level, its students were still able to further their studies up to university level.
The announcement of the STPM results also saw the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) present incentives to students who achieved good results.
Around 30 STPM students received their results at SMK Petra Jaya yesterday.