Hi guys,

I'm surveying CIS to register my kid into for 2018. Would like to get some feedback and recommendation from you on which to start (choose) from. We are staying in Subang area and currently the CIS are either in Klang / KL which distance of travel is more or less same from our house.

Thanks so much in advance.

1) Chung Hwa Independent, Jalan Ipoh KL ..... offering SPM and UEC; and
2) Kuen Cheng, Jalan Syed Putra something ..... providing hostel facilities.

I would avoid Confucius KL for in-fighting among board of governors and teachers/HM.

Edit: some Subang guys go to Klang too.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jul 10 2017, 07:19 PM

Thanks ! ^^

Do you know if Chung Hwa Klang offering similar syllabus as Chung Hwa KL?

IDK. May be others can chime in.\

Edit: Btw, Chung Hwa Jalan Ipoh KL is like Top no 1 Independent in the country.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jul 10 2017, 08:27 PM

These are my opinion if in selangor/kl area:
1) Chung Hwa KL, undeniably that they are the best chinese independent school in selangor/kl area, balanced focusing on SPM and UEC
2) Kuen Cheng, more focussed on SPM, most of the students gave up UEC (I heard they use final year to complete all the UEC subjects)
3) Tsun Jin, i graduated from there, same as Chong Hwa (balanced focusing on SPM and UEC), but it is quite stressful to study there (from 7.00 until 4.10pm, Monday to Friday and almost every Saturday have cocuriculum) and the traffic jams is the biggest issue lol
4) Hin Hwa, it can be considered if final goal is UEC, last year they achieved colourful results on UEC, but they not too focused on SPM

I went the above CIS websites and noticed that all needed to sit for entrance exam to confirm eligibility to study in these schools. However I also read abt Pin Hwa High School and Chung Hwa Klang, do you have any info for these 2 schools in Klang?

Thanks

Er... Not too much lol
The info of Pin Hwa one is my friend who was graduated from there told me. However Chung Hwa Klang I not too sure 😅

Err .... Pin Hwa and Hin Hwa are two different schools in Klang, I guess.
Studying in reputable KL CIS schools , and made to stay in hostel (or renting rooms outside) provides more rounded and complete training to the children, I believe......
rather than daily pickup and get pampered.
Chong Hwa Jalan Ipoh provides good experience, the little that I know of.

This post has been edited by zeng: Jul 11 2017, 09:49 AM

Hi
Would you know if all CIS student needed to take after school activities during weekends?

I thought they are same due to their chinese names. Lol

If I no forget the co-curiculum is compulsory for every CIS, but the time is depended by the school, some would be held in weekdays.

My friend is picking up his Form 1 son from Kuen Cheng hostel every Saturday morning, and after dinner on Sunday return back to hostel.

If my memory serves me right, it's the same case in Chong Hwa Jalan Ipoh ... assuming there is no change of rules since.



There are two different private schools in Klang.

https://www.google.com.my/maps/dir/Hin+Hua+...#33;2d3.0528852

Registered my daughter at Kuen Cheng High School for 2019 intake. Would like to hear some parent experience or ex-student exprience about the school and teaching.

Hi, Form 5 Kuen Cheng student here! Overall experience is all right but be prepared as KC is more academically demanding than most other CIS. For Junior students (Junior Middle 1 - Junior Middle 3 aka Form 1-3), KC is no longer teaching PT3 syllabus and putting more focus on Junior UEC (JUEC), although some PT3 syllabus content (komsas, 名句) will still be taught (be prepared for a lot of rote learning!). At JM3 though, your daughter will not have to take the PT3 exam and only JUEC. Senior life will definitely be tougher. In Senior Middle 1, SPM and SUEC content are taught simultaneously, but in SM2, more focus will be put on SPM, so if your daughter chooses to continue with SUEC and stays for SM3 (a lot of KC students leave after SM2 with their SPM cert), a lot of UEC stuff will have to be rushed and crammed into the brain within that year. Rote learning is still emphasised during this phase. The minimum average mark to move on to the next grade is 60%, which is higher than that of other CIS. If your daughter can maintain at a steady 70%, she will do very fine.

For teachers, KC is equipped with a very broad staff with many teachers, both new and experienced. From what I've observed, most newer teachers are assigned to teach Junior classes while experienced teachers teach Senior classes. Juniors will study more subjects than Seniors as Seniors study more in-depth material of the subjects based on their chosen stream. There are 3 streams to choose from when your daughter finishes Junior Middle 3: Science, Arts & Commerce, and Pure Commerce.

For school experience, first off I have to say that for a school situated in an urban area such as KL, KC has a large campus. Not the largest, but still very large. The tallest building has 9 floors (your daughter has a very small chance of having to study in the classroom on the 9th floor some years later!). However, the facilities are very good and the newest buildings, including the school hall. auditorium and the top-notch library, only finished construction 2 years ago. Lab equipment are also newer and more expensive compared to public schools. There are tons of cocurricular activities to choose from and it's compulsory to choose one once you enter. Students with good grades can opt to take 2 koko's, but I highly encourage anyone from doing so due to workload. Koko's can range from 1-3 activities per week and can last up until 5.15 pm. Assuming your child reaches school at 7 am, that's over 10 hours of school!

Although I do think KC is a very good school (it has 2 canteens that only supports cashless payment!), there are of course some cons. Unlike many other CIS, KC still bans the use of mobile phones. The school is also accepting HUGE batches of students every year which makes the school very populated and lines at canteens very long. I've also heard that school fees will be hiked up by RM 50 next year (450/mo for juniors, 500/mo for seniors). However, it's still a very top school (top UEC academic awards for both JUEC and SUEC) and most graduates and SPM leavers go on to study in prestigious universities including Tsinghua and Oxford. I'd recommend KC to anyone, any day.

There are still tons of things I haven't mentioned so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Really appreciate the valuable inputs.

TQVM very appreciate for your golden sharing experience

Definitely Chung Hwa. A graduate here. Best wishes.

Hi myshinyannulus, like to get your view since you are studying in KC. Thinking of enrolling my child here.

1) I heard that KC is putting more attention to English language proficiency compared to other CIS , do you feel so ?

2) Is it true KC doesn't emphasize much on SPM compared to UEC examination ? They encourage students to take UEC instead of SPM ?

3) Where can parent park when they send or pick up the student?

4) Are classes on during school break like Chong Hwa ?

This post has been edited by yee2603: Oct 2 2019, 12:52 PM

Hi, yee2603!

1) I wouldn't say KC is emphasising the English language more compared to other CIS. It's just the usual English lessons with regular teachers. I had 7 periods of English in a week from Form 1 -5 (not sure if they changed or not lah). That's the same numbers of periods as BM and Chinese. Every week there's also 1 English period reserved for e-learning (students sit in front of computers and do IELTS/TOEFL style English exercises online), and another English period reserved for 'Activities' (practical, creative-type assessment, like role play or presentation). These are not found in the other two language subjects. Like any other CIS, the medium of KC is Chinese and most students speak Chinese, of course. There also used to be an English Awareness Month but since last year it has been supplanted with a less interesting and, in my opinion, far less effective English Awareness Week. I'm not sure how they teach English in other CIS, so I can only say what I can say for KC.

2) I'd actually say that KC emphasises SPM more than many other CIS. In fact, KC has a top-notch track record for SPM. From my understanding, other CIS in Klang Valley like Tsun Jin place very small emphasis on SPM. As a science-stream student taking SPM this year, my teachers have been teaching the SPM curriculum for almost the entire year. In many CIS, UEC and SPM curricula are taught simultaneously, even during Senior 2 (Form 5) when students are taking SPM later that year! In KC, Senior 1 students do learn a lot of UEC content (except the science subjects, cause for SPM, the sciences are quite heavy subjects with a lot of details), and it's basically balanced with SPM. But SPM becomes more of the focus in Senior 2. This may not be true for Arts students, as they still have to study their UEC History and Geography during Senior 2. Any CIS would encourage you to take UEC, but KC doesn't force you to, and it certainly doesn't reduce the chances of students acing their SPM by putting a lot of focus into UEC. As a tradeoff, Senior 3 students have A LOT of stuff to rush through for their final year. Every year, tons of Senior 2 students (especially science students) leave KC with their SPM certs to take A-Levels, Foundation, Diploma etc. In fact, I'll be leaving with SPM too!

3) Since last year, KC has a new MASSIVE carpark that's open for parents to park and wait for their children. There are opening hours, of course, which are really specific, for security's sake. You can also park at this really long lorong on the right side of the school. I always go home by public transport so I'm not sure of the carpark opening hours. You can make an enquiry to the school.

4) By school break do you mean school holidays set by the government? In that case, no. Some cocurricular clubs/societies may require your child to return to school during the holidays for extra activities. Some teachers, especially Senior 2 and 3 teachers, may find trouble finishing the curriculum and require students to return during the holidays for extra lessons. Other than that, your child is free to enjoy his/her school holidays.

Hope that helped!

Thanks a lot for your view !! At least I have first hand view a KC student

Y E

For Chinese Independent School like Kuen Cheng and Chung Hwa, as the study hours are longer than national school, does the student usually require additional tuition for the subject?

My nephews took outside add. maths tuition during high school @ kuen chen

This post has been edited by kiantee: Oct 11 2022, 12:28 PM

So this is the thing that I have been trying to wrap my head around regarding the Chinese Independent High Schools that practise the Dual Track Programme (雙軌制), i.e. running both UEC and SPM syllabuses in parallel. And especially so for those CIHS's where SPM is compulsory (some CIHS's leave it as an option), and even more so for schools such as Kuen Cheng where Senior 2 year is full-blown SPM, leaving very little time in Senior 3 to cram for the UEC. I read that because of Covid resulting in SPM being delayed, that meant even less time to prepare for UEC, hence almost all the Kuen Cheng students left after completing SPM, foregoing UEC. The dropout rate for CIHS students after SPM that I am reading from various Chinese newspaper articles sits at around 30-40%, which seems rather high to me - that means only 6 out of every 10 students continue to sit for the UEC post-SPM!

I would have thought that if one signs up for Chinese Independent High School, then the primary aim - for both the school and its students - should be UEC and not SPM. I mean, I get the part that they are doing it so that the students have SPM as a safety net. But to sacrifice their UEC uptake rate for the sake of having their students ace the SPM seems counter-intuitive to me. Because if that is the objective, then how different is a CIHS compared to an SMJK©, insofar as the resultant paper qualification is concerned - but minus the stress of handling two syllabuses in parallel, yet graduating with a certificate for only one of them (because they dropped the UEC prematurely)?

Given that the UEC certificate is supposed to be recognised for direct entry into many good universities (last I checked, top Australian universities that recognise the UEC include University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, UNSW, RMIT and Monash), then why don't CIHS's such as Kuen Cheng change the strategy to get as many of their students to stay and take the UEC, and ace it? I mean, it's a lot cheaper than doing 'A' Levels, plus you save a year compared to your SMK/SMJK© counterparts who do 5 years SPM + 2 years 'A' Levels.

as a graduated student from Chong Hwa Independent KL, i would said their facility can be said the best in KL area now. Their olympic size swimming pool and runway gonnae be done within this 2 years, and can forsee future sports in the area can be cover too.
But the school fees... man it really hike so much. Frm the time i study RM100/month till now is like 4 - 5 times of that price already.

Need some advice.. for transport wise to kuen cheng, is there any bus school bus service to cheras?

Should be quite a lot coz many KC students stay in Cheras area.

Alternatively, they can take monorail from school to KL sentral, then take MRT back to Cheras area.

This post has been edited by Super2047: Mar 22 2023, 05:52 PM