My serious target for my son is “above-average”. I even think this could be better than reaching the top 10% early and defending the position.

For a given “target evaluation date”, be it SAT, or PSLE or “O” levels, some kid will see her ranking rise and fall, while another kid would fall and rise. I’d rather my son peak later than earlier. For example, let’s take P5. I think my son could rise slowly through P3 and P4, provided he has good foundation skills including *superior* study habits.

In the interim, we would have to bear with those kiasu parents talking about top schools.