Chapter 2 - School Start 2
The first morning assembly for the year started. Since there were three divisions in the school which were the Elementary, Junior High, and Senior High, there were three different morning assemblies done in three different places in the school.
As a Senior High student, Haikal was naturally at the Senior High assembly.
The assembly started with singing the national anthem, state anthem, and school song followed by the morning dua and then the usual speeches from the principal and teachers.
The morning assembly took an hour from 7:30 am to 8:30 am. It was not usually this long but because it was the first day of school, there were a lot of announcements and stuff that needed to be told to the students.
The morning assembly ended and the students went to their classrooms except for the Form 4 students.
As this was their first day in Senior High, they were not assigned a class yet. Moreover, they did not know if their application for the course stream they chose passed. So, they needed to wait for the teacher's arrangement.
The teacher came with a notice board (the one with the tire) in tow. The students' class was listed on the papers posted on the notice board.
Everyone came to the front of the board and checked their names.
Haikal looked at the list and saw his name in the Science stream class. He was assigned to the SC-4B class. The SC was Science while the 4 was the Form 4 and B was the class for the science stream.
The class assigned to the students was permanent until they were in Form 6. Unless it was for a special reason, no changes would occur.
Now that Haikal got his class, he did not waste time and headed there. He arrived at the class and there were already a few students there.
Before he got in, he scanned his student card at the scanner beside the front door. It was the year 2051, class attendance was taken by scanning the student card.
"Oh! Haikal!" an overexcited boy shouted at Haikal.
Haikal blinked his eyes as he did not expect his friend would be in the same class. "We are in the same class… again," Haikal felt a bit of a headache.
"We must be fated together, kekeke," Badrul smirked.
Badrul was Haikal's closest childhood friend. They knew each other since Year 1 in Elementary School. How did they know each other? They were in the same class in Year 1 and since then, they always ended up in the same class throughout Elementary and Junior High.
Now, they were classmates again in Senior High until they graduated. While the class they got now was permanent until Form 6, it was not like that for Elementary and Junior High.
"Choose the seat beside me," Badrul pointed at the pair of desks at the corner end of the class. He chose Haikal's favourite spot.
"What's the point of that? The seat will change later," Haikal said, but he still walked and sat there.
"Insider news, we are free to choose our seat in Senior High but if a problem occurs due to this, we will be forced to change," Badrul said.
"...that's right. I forgot about that," Haikal nodded. It was not a piece of insider news because everyone knew about it. Badrul was just the type to make fun of stuff.
"I wonder if any of our old classmates will be here?" Badrul said.
"Maybe a few but not many. I heard that many of them are moving to another school," Haikal said while he looked inside the desk drawer to see if there was any trash.
"What is the point of moving school anyway? This school is good enough," Badrul shook his head.
"They are aiming for a specific teacher. You should know that our Senior High is important to determine our path in the future," Haikal took out a tissue and started wiping the desk drawer.
"If you are aiming for Scientific research, this school is not the best choice. The same with Engineering. However, if you are aiming for Mathematics or Economics, this school is one of the best choices around here. We have two popular and capable teachers teaching these two subjects," Haikal continued.
Since the level of education has changed, the Senior High is similar to a University's Diploma. Not only that but even the way the class was held was quite similar to University.
In Senior High, the class that was assigned to the students was only for mandatory subjects such as Bahasa Malaysia, English, Modern Mathematics, History, Science, and a few more.
For the Elective class, the students would need to move around to reach their classes.
To make it easier for the students to follow, the mandatory subject class would only be held in the morning from 8 am to 11 am while the rest of the school will be for the elective classes the students chose.
"What subjects are you going to choose for the Elective class?" Badrul asked.
"...Are you going to choose the same with me?" Haikal frowned. "You should choose what you like instead of following me," he berated.
"This is not a playing matter. You should choose what you like. If you follow me, what will happen if you cannot ace it? Your future will be in jeopardy," Haikal was a bit mad.
"...Erm…" Badrul did not know how to reply to that. He decided to keep quiet after that.
The class got busier and busier as more and more students arrived. True to his predictions, there were a few of their old classmates in the same class as them.
The class teacher got in. She checked the attendance to make sure everyone was there and started briefing on a few important matters to the students.
"You can log in to the school site and register for your elective classes and your Co-Curriculum. You need to know that even if you do well in your studies, if you are not active in any Co-Curriculum activity, your chance to further your studies will be lowered. Make sure you choose your club well," the teacher spoke.
"We will end here and you can start registering your elective classes starting from 10 pm. If you are uncertain about what to choose, you can talk to me," the teacher said as she sat at the teacher's desk in front of the class.
The class got noisier as everyone started discussing the elective they wanted. It was not yet time to register and thus, they had time to contemplate stuff.
10 pm. The battle to register for elective classes started.