GERMAINE, a 16-year-old student who is sitting for her O levels this year, will be stepping up on her group tuition classes from twice to four times a week this June.

In between, her mum, Wong Li Ken, 44, who works in a bank, coaches her in Maths. Her father, Mr Cheah Kok Keong, 48, an administrative vice-principal of a primary school, helps her with humanities subjects.

"I really have to do well this year. It's my final lap," Germaine explains of her dedication to her school work. The Bowen Secondary School student wants to do well enough to enter Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Mass Communications next year, and aspires to become a radio DJ.

Although she is taking physics and chemistry as a combined science subject, her tuition classes are for pure physics and pure chemistry.

"I'm able to learn more from tuition than in school," she says. "As a result I do better than my peers."

For her most recent continual assessment, she scored an A in combined science and topped her cohort in the cluster for physics. Before joining her tuition classes in mid-2007, she had consistently failed the subject.

Mr Cheah, who has another daughter, Jerlyn, 14, is hoping Germaine will get at least four As, out of the seven subjects she's taking.

Germaine, an ardent 98.7FM fan, tunes in to the station every day. Once a week, she plays online dance game, Audition, for about two hours to unwind.

Mr Cheah adds that while Germaine buckles down to study this June, he'll take the family to Japan and New Zealand "for a good break" at the end of the year.

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