By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 10 May 2015
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Education Minister Heng Swee Keat on Sunday explained the considerations behind his ministry's recent announcement of a delay to a new but yet-to-be-named junior college at the junction of Sin Ming Avenue and Marymount Road.
Addressing queries from some parents about the fact that the campus will be completed only by the end of 2019, more than a year later than intended, he said at a dialogue at the Bishan Community Club:
"Are we better off starting the programme and running into certain delays in the infrastructure, or are we better off not starting in the first place?"
Mr Heng, who was on a community visit to the Bishan East ward of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, said there were two options to consider with regard to the matter.
One was to get every facility ready and "start only when we're ready in 2020 because we must not take any risk that the building may not be completed in time. Therefore we don't want to disappoint students, parents ..." he said.The other was to say, "let's get going, as long as students benefit, and let's focus on the essence of the programme," he said.
Last week, the Ministry of Education said in a letter to parents that more time was needed more time to incorporate a new traffic infrastructure project in the area into the JC's design and construction. The new institution will take in Integrated Programme (IP) students from Catholic High, St Nicholas Girls', and Singapore Chinese Girls schools.
The ministry had also announced that the old Raffles Junior College campus at Mount Sinai off Holland Road will be refurbished for IP students from the three schools, who will use it as an interim junior college.
Said Mr Heng on Sunday: "I'm not saying that it is ideal when you have a delay, but the truth of the matter is there will be, in life, unforeseen circumstances and we'll get the ministry to explain in greater detail what are the unforeseen circumstances.""The MOE will communicate further with the parents," he told reporters afterwards.
The issue arose during a 90-minute dialogue with some 400 parents, students and residents.
The issue arose during a 90-minute dialogue with some 400 parents, students and residents.
Two fathers with sons in Catholic High School expressed their disappointment over the delay. One feared that his son's studies might be disrupted if he had to move to an interim campus halfway through his time in the new JC.
During the visit, Mr Heng launched elderly fitness stations and a book exchange point, as well as greeted residents and stallholders in wet markets and coffee shops.
He was accompanied during he visit by Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP and former deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng, and community and grassroots leaders, including OUE Hospitality Trust chief executive Chong Kee Hiong, who has been previously identified as a potential People's Action Party candidate for the next general election, which must be held by January 2017.
He was accompanied during he visit by Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP and former deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng, and community and grassroots leaders, including OUE Hospitality Trust chief executive Chong Kee Hiong, who has been previously identified as a potential People's Action Party candidate for the next general election, which must be held by January 2017.
Ministry of Education gives more details on new JC's delay in letter
By Pearl Lee, The Straits Times, 30 Apr 2015
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The Education Ministry (MOE) gave more details on the delay of the new junior college (JC), meant to take in Integrated Programme students from Catholic High, St Nicholas Girls', and Singapore Chinese Girls schools, on Thursday morning.
By Pearl Lee, The Straits Times, 30 Apr 2015
In a three-page long letter, the ministry said the new JC's delay was because MOE needed to incorporate the Land Transport Authority's future transport infrastructure into the design and construction of the new campus.
The new JC will be Singapore's first high-rise one and would require "more extensive pre-construction works" than the ministry had earlier anticipated, such as soil investigations.
As these works can be "quite disruptive", the ministry will only carry them out after the current lessee, the Nature Park Driving Range, moves out at the year end.
The ministry said these reasons contributed to the delay in the completion of the new JC.
The letter, signed by Mr Wong Kang Jet, director of finance and development division, and Ms Lim Huay Chih, director of the school planning and placement division, was given to students in the morning, and uploaded on the websites of the three secondary schools.
Integrated Programme students of the three schools and their parents were told on April 13 that the new JC they would be entering, sited on the junction of Sin Ming Avenue and Marymout Road, would not be completed by its the mid-2018 target, and will instead be delayed till the end of 2019.
Students in the Integrated Programme go straight to JC without sitting for the O levels.
But the JC will start operating in 2017 at a temporary holding site.
The holding site was originally planned to be at Bishan Street 14, the former campus of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), but has now changed to Mount Sinai, where Raffles Junior College used to be.
St Joseph's Institution is now using the Bishan space as its interim campus, while its school in Malcolm Road undergoes upgrading. The school is likely to extend its stay in Bishan until mid-2017, due to construction delays at the Malcolm Road campus.
The change has made some parents upset, some of whom have written to The Straits Times' Forum pages, as the new holding site is further away from the three schools now.
But the ministry said in the letter that it had known, since the start of this year, that the Bishan holding site will not be ready to take in students from the new JC by January 2017.
It then explored the available options, and found the Mount Sinai site to be the most suitable alternative, with the available facilities and capacity to accommodate a full cohort of JC students.
The Mount Sinai holding site will "undergo extensive rejuvenation", Mr Wong and Ms Lim wrote in the letter.
The running track and school field will be rebuilt, the science laboratories will be replaced, and additional facilities such as music studios, informal study spaces and wireless connectivity will be added to the Mount Sinai campus, to prepare it for the JC students entering in 2017.
An artist's impression of the holding site will be available by end September.
The ministry is also discussing alternative transport arrangements for affected students with the principals of the new JC and the three secondary schools, the letter said.