Moving Towards a Single Intake in Mid/End January for Junior Colleges and Centralised Institute

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Moving Towards a Single Intake in Mid/End January for Junior Colleges and Centralised Institute

1.      The Ministry of Education (MOE) is reviewing the academic calendar of Junior Colleges (JCs) and Centralised Institute (CI), in order to implement a system with a single intake of students in mid/ end January each year. This new system is made possible by the greater control over the GCE ‘O’ Level examinations that will be taken by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) from 2006. MOE expects to move towards the new JCs/CI calendar system in a few years’ time.

2.      With the prospect of a single intake in mid/ end January being possible over the medium term, MOE has decided not to proceed with the previous proposal of a single intake in March 2006[1] . This will avoid the JCs/CI and all involved - teachers, students and parents - from having to undergo two major adjustments to the JC/CI calendar within a few years.

3.      JCs/CI will therefore continue for the time being with the existing academic calendar and two intakes based on the Provisional Pre-U One Admission Exercise (PAE) in November/December, and the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) in February/March respectively.

4.      A single January intake will have advantages over either the current system of two admission exercises or the previously-proposed single March intake. A single intake system deals with the current problem of “churning”.

5.       A single January intake further enables synchronisation of the JC/CI academic calendar and holiday periods with that of primary and secondary schools. Unlike a March intake for the first year of JC/CI, it will also allow for alignment of school terms between different levels in a JC/CI. This will enable more flexible deployment of teachers across levels and make staff training and development more convenient.

6.      In addition, a January intake would align the calendar of all students, including those on the Integrated Programme (IP)[2] and others who enter JCs/CI after their GCE ‘O’ levels. The latter would otherwise enter JCs/CI in March, whereas IP students start their studies in JC in January.

7.      JC/CI Principals agree that a single intake in mid/end January is a better option. Feedback from teachers, students and parents also indicates that they prefer to have the school holidays synchronised across different educational levels.

8.      Since its formation in 2004, SEAB has been working towards taking greater control over the GCE ‘O’ level examinations from 2006, to suit Singapore’s educational requirements. With greater control, SEAB will be able to revise and streamline the timetabling and processes involved in the GCE ‘O’ Level examinations. SEAB will undertake a thorough review with the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) of all processes involved in the examinations, with the aim of allowing students to get their GCE ‘O’ Level results in January. The review of GCE ‘O’ Level processes is expected to be completed by the 4th quarter of 2005.

9.      Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, announced the above at a visit to Anderson Junior College on 30 March 2005.
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[1] The shift towards a single intake in March, beginning 2006, was announced in Feb 2004, following a study by MOE and the JCs/CIs. The move was aimed at avoiding the “churning” of students caused by the two separate admission exercises in January and March. The two intakes result in a large turnover of students in JCs/CI.

[2] IP students will constitute a third or more of all JC students based on current projection.