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For the past one month, Yanrong has been toting a dainty backpack to school.迷利倉It holds a water bottle, a snack box, a small notebook, a pencil case and some casual reading material. They add up to less than 2kg. The last time her bag weighed less was when she was attending preschool.This has pleased me no end. In my previous column, I had complained about my daughter's heavy school bag, which weighed as much as 20kg because she was adamant about having every piece of study material at hand should a teacher require it.Since sitting her last Primary School Leaving Examination paper early last month, Yanrong has been in Utopia.An avid reader, she finally has plenty of time to read all the books that she had put off reading during the year. There were so many that she sometimes cannot keep to her choice of reading, flitting from one book to another or switching between physical books and the e-reader.She kicks up little fuss when roused the next morning to catch the school bus. These days, going to school is a pleasure. Gone are the drills and the accompanying stress. Classes are fun, with learning done through excursions and little homework. (Does this sound like the Finnish education system?)Her school has organised trips for its Primary 6 pupils to Snow City, Science Centre, the zoo, parks and the National University of Singapore to study the science projects of undergraduates.On days when no outings were planned, the pupils were kept busy attending dancing lessons and planning a charity bazaar. The girls made their own bracelets, earrings, files and other knick-knacks and sold them at the bazaar."We raised $1,000 from the sale," Yanrong declared proudly.Her carefree days were initially a source of friction and irritation to her younger sister Yanbei, whose year-end examinations began only three weeks after the PSLE had ended.It was hard for Yanbei to focus o迷你倉 her revision when her sister was having so much fun.My wife and I kept explaining to Yanbei that her sister's examinations were over but hers weren't, to little avail.We were not the only ones to grapple with kids having different examination timetables.One friend shared with me that she had to plonk her Primary 6 child at the grandparents' house so that her younger son would not be distracted from his examination preparation.It was such a relief for the whole family when Yanbei's examinations finally ended and she could join her sister in letting her hair down.But, lately, Yanrong is also feeling a little melancholic.As she enters the final week of her journey in primary school, she is filled with nostalgia for the teachers and friends she will soon be leaving behind.She looks back fondly at her time in school and tells me the last two years have been the most memorable and fulfilling.She may be wearing rose-tinted glasses because I remember there were days in the not-too-distant past when she had said: "I wish there was no school tomorrow!"But there is no doubt she treasures the remaining time in primary school. Even though there was a window of opportunity last month to go for a short holiday, she refused to do so because it meant skipping school for a day or so.It is a pity that some of her classmates do not feel the same way. She tells me class attendance has been dwindling as the weeks go by.This Friday, Yanrong will be attending her primary school graduation ceremony.I expect it will end with the children coming together to exchange hugs and vows of everlasting friendship, which will be hard to keep.Some of her closest friends will be attending a different secondary school next year and there is little prospect of them reuniting as classmates unless they end up in the same course in the same tertiary institution many years from now.dennis@sph.com.sg自存倉