Ng Chee Meng: I personally agonised over the decision and explored different possibilities.

Below is a facebook post from Education Minister Ng Chee Meng on the mergers of schools and colleges:

It’s been a week since MOE’s school mergers announcement. Some, including close friends, have given me your heartfelt feedback. I appreciate your views.

Many told me they understand that what we are doing is necessary, but when it comes to cherished memories, we know that feelings run deep. Some of you also expressed uncertainty over the transition process.

This is a painful but necessary decision for us.

I personally agonised over the decision and explored different possibilities. 

In particular, for the JC mergers, it is a most difficult choice we have to face – if we do nothing, we would see that several of our JCs will only be able to fill less than half of its JC1 desired intakes – it is possible that some would struggle to fill even just 200, given the sharp drop in JC1 cohort for the coming years.

This will limit our students’ educational and CCA experiences. 

My educators and I think this cannot be good for our students. We do not take school mergers lightly.

We only proceeded with these mergers as we are sure it is for the better for our students to come.

Understandably, many feel strongly about it. This decision affects us personally, as students, alumni, parents and teachers. While we understand, we would still feel a sense of loss when schools merge.

A visually-impaired friend told me how much her JC has done for her and helped her succeed. She understands the reasons, but hoped that MOE and the JCs would preserve the heritage and culture of her JC. We will do so.

Heritage and identities

Our schools’ heritage and identities are valuable parts of our student experience, rooted in our hearts. Many of us remember our time in school with our friends with fondness, both the ups and downs.

Our stories, friendships we have forged, and lessons we’ve learnt are memories that will stay with us always and cannot be erased with time.

For me personally, each time I pass by where my primary school used to be, I would still feel nostalgic. When my primary school friends meet up, we would remember our times in school fondly.

Journey this difficult together

It is not an easy transition, but let us – students, alumni, parents and teachers – all work at it together, to honour the identities of our schools even as we make the necessary adjustments for the future. We will go through this journey together.