SINGAPORE – With the O-level results due to be released on Jan 14, some parents and students will soon be grappling with the junior college (JC) or polytechnic dilemma.

When I mentioned to a friend that my 16-year-old daughter, who took her O-level exams in 2025, was considering the polytechnic route over the JC one, I was asked: “Why? She is doing okay in school.”