While most 17 and 18-year-olds received their O-Level results at school on January 13, 2020, a small batch of students received theirs behind bars.

A group of 58 prison inmates took the O-Level exams near the end of last year.

They received their results at Changi Prison today.

They studied hard while serving their sentences and took the papers.

And they did great.

According to Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Home Affairs Amrin Amin, 84.5 per cent of the 58 students passed three or more of their subjects, and 87.9 per cent did well enough to qualify for ITE, Polytechnic or Junior College.

16 student-inmates scored 3 distinctions or more.

Amrin had this to say of their success:

"I am proud of them. 49 (84.5%) had 3 or more 'O' level passes. 51 (87.9%) did well enough to qualify for ITE, Polytechnic or JC. More than anything else, I am very proud that they tried and did their best. It took a lot for them to return to school. They did not let their past haunt them. Neither did the prison bars bar them from trying, aspiring, striving."

Amrin also credited the teachers from Prison School who "mentored and guided them" as well as the parents, loved ones, and prison officers who supported them.

Image from Amrin's Facebook post