MOE announces names of merging schools
Shuqun Secondary School, which was founded as Tuan Cheng Public School in 1925 and survived historical milestones such as the Japanese Occupation, will soon lose its name.
It will take the name of Yuhua Secondary School when both schools merge in 2019.
They are among the three pairs of secondary schools and seven pairs of primary schools to be merged that have had their names settled.
Each of the merged schools will bear the name of the school where it will be located.
The names were announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday.
Some of the alumni lamented the loss of the names of their alma maters.
Mr Roger Erh, 26, who attended Yuhua Secondary, said that dropping the names of these schools would be a blow to their students.
"Secondary school is where awkward teens try to find our way in the world. I guess that is the power that the name Yuhua entails and this is something (that is) lost for the Shuqun alumni," said the management trainee at a facility services firm.
MOE said in a statement: "In naming (the) merged schools, a range of factors were considered, including the schools' history and heritage, enrolments, as well as stakeholders' interests and the sentiments of all schools involved."
It said the merged school will "encompass the identities, strengths and cherished distinctiveness of both merging schools".
Their history will be formally documented and preserved at a heritage space in the merged school's building, it added.
In April this year, MOE had announced that 28 schools would be merged.
Besides the seven pairs of primary schools and three pairs of secondary schools, the move would also affect four pairs of junior colleges.
The names of the merged junior colleges will be announced in the early part of 2018, said MOE.
NEW NAMES
- Balestier Hill Primary + Bendemeer Primary = Bendemeer Primary
- Casuarina Primary + Loyang Primary = Casuarina Primary
- Cedar Primary + MacPherson Primary = Cedar Primary
- Coral Primary + White Sands Primary = White Sands Primary
- Damai Primary + East Coast Primary = Damai Primary
- Da Qiao Primary + Jing Shan Primary = Jing Shan Primary
- East View Primary +Junyuan Primary = Junyuan Primary
- East View Secondary + East Spring Secondary = East Spring Secondary
- Hong Kah Secondary + Jurongville Secondary = Jurongville Secondary
- Shuqun Secondary + Yuhua Secondary = Yuhua Secondary
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