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SPEECH BY DR ALINE WONG, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR HEALTH AND EDUCATION, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 63RD FOUNDER'S DAY AND SPEECH DAY OF ST HILDA'S PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS ON SATURDAY, 31 MAY 97, 4.30 PM, AT ST HILDA'S SECONDARY SCHOOL, 2, TAMPINES ST 82.

Bishop John Tan,
Dr Tan Chee Hong, Chairman, St Hilda's School Management Committee,
Miss Foo Pee Pee and Mrs A Abraham, Principals of St Hilda's Primary and St Hilda's Secondary,
Distinguished guests, parents, teachers and pupils,

1. It gives me great pleasure to address you on your 63rd Founder's Day and Speech Day celebrations.
2. As a mission school, St Hilda's has a long and distinguished history stretching back to 1934. It started humbly at Ceylon Road as an Anglican school for girls with 3 classrooms. As the school grew additions were made to the school building in 1939, 1940, 1950 and 1967. Finally, as the building became increasingly inadequate, the school took the bold and momentous step to relocate itself in Tampines New Town. The official opening of the two schools on 28 July 1990 by the late Dr Tay Eng Soon, then Senior Minister of State for Education marked a new chapter in the long and distinguished history of the school, most notably the opening of its doors to both boys and girls.
3. St Hilda's has set itself the goals of not only achieving excellence but also instiling in pupils a high standard of conduct and discipline that will stand them in good stead when they eventually face the challenges of adult life. True to its motto 'Go Forward', both schools have been progressive in their outlook and have achieved good track records.
4. The overall PSLE results of the primary school have been well above the national average in the last three years. Significantly the percentage of pupils who scored quality grades in English, Mathematics and Science has surpassed the national average. The school also has a good and balanced ECA programme which has helped to enhance the all-round development of its pupils. It has also done well in competitive sports and games and won awards at the Singapore Youth Festival.
5. The secondary school was one of the top ten value-added schools at last year's annual school ranking exercise. Its volleyball team won top positions at national level this year and the school has also distinguished itself at the Singapore Youth Festival.
6. This is an appropriate occasion to announce a forthcoming development that will have significance for St Hilda's. The Gifted Education Programme (GEP) was started in 1984. Today, it is available in four secondary schools and six primary schools. The six primary schools are Anglo Chinese School (Barker Road), Henry Park Primary, Nanyang Primary, Raffles Girls' Primary, Rosyth Primary and Tao Nan School. The six primary school GEP centres take in about 300 pupils yearly at P4. Under the GEP, these intellectually gifted pupils enjoy an enriched curriculum that emphasises the development of creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, social awareness and service to the community.
7. I am pleased to announce the selection of two more primary schools as GEP centres with effect from January 1998 - St Hilda's Primary and Catholic High School (Primary). Both these schools were selected not only for their geographical location and easy accessibility but for their good track records as well. With the extension of the programme to these two schools, the GEP can now take in 100 more pupils bringing the total annual intake to 400, thus providing for roughly 1% of the Primary One age cohort.
8. In the first year of implementation, each of the two schools will have two P4 classes. St Hilda's Primary will admit both boys and girls offering Chinese, Malay or Tamil as Mother Tongue, thus complementing Tao Nan Primary, the other co-educational GEP centre serving pupils in the eastern part of the island. Catholic High School (Primary) in Bishan is a SAP school for boys. Because of its central location it is accessible from various parts of the island.
9. The extension of the GEP to St Hilda's Primary marks another milestone in the school's history. St Hilda's pupils who are selected for the GEP can now stay on in the school, while GEP pupils from the other schools will further enrich St Hilda's school population. I am confident St Hilda's will be able to take this latest challenge well in the spirit of its motto 'Go Forward'.
10. Finally I take this opportunity to congratulate St Hilda's Primary and Secondary Schools on this joyous occasion and wish them further success in the new challenges that lie ahead.

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