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10 Questions About the JC Mergers Answered

2017-04-21 , 11:52 am

1. How many schools are involved?

A total of 8 schools are involved in this merger. These 8 schools are:
Pioneer JC, Jurong JC, Yishun JC, Innova JC, Anderson JC, Serangoon JC, Tampines JC as well as Meridian JC.

And before you think that the numbers are low, here’s one interesting fact: there’re only 23 JCs in Singapore. Go figure.

2. When will the merger happen?

The merger will take place in 2019. In fact, to help minimise the need for students to relocate, Serangoon, Innova, Tampines and Jurong JCs will not be taking in any new students next year.

Ouch, indeed.

3. Will the teachers be affected?

No worries, there will be no retrenchment. Instead, they will either go to the merged school, or be redeployed to other schools or to MOE headquarters. There might even be a possibility of some moving from a JC to a secondary school.

4. How will they be merged?

Ah, good question. Take a look at the arrows down below.

Jurong JC will be moving to Pioneer JC, Innova JC to Yishun JC, Tampines JC to Meridian JC, Serangoon JC to Anderson JC.

5. What will the merged schools be named?

This will be announced at a later date, so all we have to do is to wait for more news. In the previous cases of merger between secondary school, schools are instead “absorbed”, so the names of schools remain unchanged (while the absorbed school disappeared altogether).

So for people hoping for a name like Yinnova or Anrangoon JC, well, don’t pin too much hope.

6. Why the merger?

Previous school mergers have always been a result of declining birth rate, and this is no exception. Except, well, this is the first time it occurred for JCs.

Just take a look at this and be shocked at the sharp drop.

In other words, it’s not due to students preferring poly or whatnot – it’s because we’re not making enough babies.

7. Why those JCs?

Yay, good question.

According to MOE, the selection was based on a “need to ensure a good spread of JCs across the island”. In other words, there’ll still be a JC near your house even when JCs are merged.

8. Would there be a surplus of teachers with this new merger?

While there is no data, a Straits Times report indicated that in 2009, there were 3,000 new teachers. However, in recent years, there have been only 1,000 new teachers every year.

9. What’s going to happen to the old school premises?

Good question – several old schools have remained intact and no one knows what would happen to them yet. Maybe if we make more babies, the schools will be used again?

10. Are there benefits due to the merger?

While it might not seem obvious enough, there’re actually benefits to mergers: for a start, it would mean more students in a school, making it more vibrant.

And the additional students mean that more things could be done. For example, a new CCA can be formed because there’re enough students to keep it alive. Bet you didn’t think of that, did you?