Scholarism leader Joshua Wong planning to appeal some DSE exam results
Scholarism leaders' high exam marks confirm their work with the student movement hasn't interfered with their university ambitions
Teenage Scholarism leader Joshua Wong revealed yesterday that he plans to appeal some of his DSE exam results and that he was "disappointed" in his failure to get a starred grade in his Liberal Studies paper.
Interest in his grades was so intense yesterday that he was forced to call a press conference to make an announcement.
Both Wong and fellow activist Agnes Chow Ting obtained results better than the university entry requirements in the Diploma of Secondary Education exams.
As an activist who led the anti-national education protests back in 2012, Wong, was no different from any other secondary school graduates who got their results yesterday - apart from the clamour to find out his grades.
"I think it's the first time in Hong Kong that a student has had to announce his exam results in a press conference and I feel uncomfortable," he said.
He obtained a level 5 in liberal studies and a level 4 in Chinese. Overall, he at least met the basic university admission requirements but refused to reveal the results of his four other subjects - English, mathematics, economics and business, accounting and financial studies - as he says he "is planning to make appeals".
Results are graded from levels 1 to 5. The top-scoring students at level 5 receive a 5**.
On balancing studies with his activist role, Wong said: "On top of study, pupils take part in different extra-curricular activities - it's just that the one I participate in, which is a social movement, is less popular among students.
"Participating in the movement allows me to get to know more about social issues, which is beneficial for me - especially in liberal studies.
"I'm satisfied with my performance but, of course, there's room for improvement … I failed to obtain 'stars' for liberal studies, which disappointed me," he said.
Wong denied rumours that he has secured conditional offers from local universities.
He said that City University's public administration management associate programme had admitted him and he would go for it if he did not get into a degree programme later via the joint university admission system. "But I have no plan to study abroad. I really love Hong Kong and I like living here," he added.
Chow, another prominent member of the student-led group, received a level 5* in English and a level 4 in Chinese, mathematics, liberal studies, geography and history. "Academic performance is about how you manage your time," Chow said. "I tried my best to balance my time between the social movement and study as they are the most important things for me."
She hopes to be accepted for a university course related to social sciences, but said she would discuss her plans with her teachers.
Among other students involved in the group, the best performing student achieved four level 5*s, two level 5s and one level 4, while another member got a level 5** in liberal studies.
