8 Junior Colleges are Merging? Rumors or Reality?

[oliviachng]

At least they are recognising the wastage and decided to reduce it?

[Jennifer]

slmkhoo:

mum_sugoku:

Doesn't it mean they have no proper contingency plan? 'Never mind, assume baby bonus scheme works, build first, if it fails, then just close them down.'

The JCs were in use for more than 10 yrs, which is not too bad, I would think. They aren't tearing them down, but do have plans to use the buildings for other purposes. If they hadn't built, then there would have been fewer JC places for the past decade or so, and they would probably have been criticised for that too?

Totally agree with slmkhoo.

The infrastructure have been put to good use. Many children have benefited from attending these JCs, I do not see why there would be a deemed wastage.

Btw, if Sg infrastructure are only funded by taxpayers' money, I wonder which era we would be stuck at now.

[jetsetter]

lee_yl:

Mmmm, are you saying that CCS is too ashamed to fight for his alma mater? :pokeeye:

Not only does he not send his children to Macpherson Primary School, he also didn't oppose its closure :siam:

Maybe!! But as NCM's colleague, CCS cannot disagree on the mergers.

[Jennifer]

An affected parent’s letter to the The Straits Times forum was published today.


Sometimes I wonder whether we are attaching too much (and perhaps sometimes unnecessary) emotions to physical structures.

Till today, I can see in my mind the school compounds of my primary school and the college I went to. Both were demolished ages ago.

[jetsetter]

mum_sugoku:

jetsetter:

As far as I know, only 2 KGMs have mentioned they were from AJC and while they lamented about the merger and possible slide in COP, they aren't going to petition or do anything at all.

There's really no reason for AJC alumni to be upset cos, as I see it, AJ is just a 'collateral damage' - a result of MOE's preference for using 'merging' over 'closing down' (SRJC in this case). Since you need at least 2 JCs to 'merge', AJ was picked (perhaps because it happens to be geographically nearest to SR?)

What I fail to understand is, why had they not foreseen the decline in student enrollment and proceeded to open 2 more JCs (InnovaI and Meridian) in the early 2000s? Back then, baby bonus had already been introduced, indicating govt was already aware of our declining birth rates. And if the objective was to increase proportion of U grads, it could always increase the intake from polys, couldn't it?

It's waste of money/resources to build JC facilities only to have it closed some years later. Just like what they did with that Budget Terminal at Changi.

AJC and the 7 that were picked are wholly-owned govt JCs that are diff legal entities under a different governance framework which makes them less complicated to merge. MOE has full autonomy over the 8 JCs. Some others like CJC, ACJC and SAJC which have a lower COP than AJC are left untouched as they are govt-aided.
Edited to add: NYJC is also govt-aided.

I suppose they were encouraged by the Y2K spike but shortly after there was a downturn after 911, so many families held back their family plans. After the 2001 M&P, LHL enhanced the M&P perks when he became PM in 2004. Another round of enhancements in 2008 and 2012 didn't work. Falling TFR is just one of the reasons.

Around the early 00s, recall we were negotiating with US on FTA which came into force in 2004. The 2 IRs were work in progress; they were supposed to generate a lot of jobs. There were a couple of other FTAs being signed then as well. Maybe they expected a lot of grad jobs to created in the upcoming years? Economy is slowing now. TPP is no more.

The Govt tends to increase spending on infrastructure and public works each time there's a downturn. https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=67330&p=1768852&hilit=sportshub#p1768852
A lot of public tenders are awarded during recessions. Quite a common practice in other capitalist nations.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42018.pdf

I wonder what they're going to do with those White Elephants? For SkillsFuture training of ah gong, ah mas, uncles and aunties? :scratchhead:

[Nebbermind]

And ActiveSG too coz I read somewhere that every JC got track and gym.

[jetsetter]

oliviachng:

At least they are recognising the wastage and decided to reduce it?

perhaps flagged by AGO?

[jetsetter]

Nebbermind:

And ActiveSG too coz I read somewhere that every JC got track and gym.

Because the public stadiums near those selected JCs are permanently choped by FAS clubs.

Serangoon Stadium
Yishun Stadium
Tampines Stadium
Jurong Stadium
YCK Stadium

[jetsetter]

lee_yl:

Whether HSK or NEH, both were 'previous' ministers of education. My main contention is that, with every change of minister, there are bound to be changes in the directions, which may lead to a seemingly contradiction in policies. So on one hand, open a brand-new IPJC (and spending $XXXmil in the process) and on the other hand, merging 4 established JCs.

That I absolutely agree with you. It's not just in Singapore, but in the UK and US too. Whenever there's a change in admin, the incoming Ed Secretary may undo his/her predecessor's legacy and policies or continue to pursue some worthy ones. E.g. UK grammar schools were shut down progressively and comprehensive schools were expanded as grammars were deemed elitist, but they have been revived recently under a new Ed Secretary. Same in the US. Under Obama, there was a lot of emphasis on STEM. Now Trump's Betsy DeVos wants to continue with that legacy and will exhort young girls to pursue careers in STEM.

I don't regard that as flipflopping or contradictory, as any incumbent minister and his supporting civil servants will respond to global trends, econ fluctuations, changes in milieu and demographics, approved budget of the day and so on. They also have to work within certain constraints as there are influential stakeholders to contend with, e.g. lobbyists, religious leaders, key industry players and interest groups.

[jetsetter]

Grandypa:

You have summarized the issues so well. Dont mind i post it in the other thread

Ah gong you are so free. Got sign up for SkillsFuture yet?