Speech by Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower, at the 37th College Day of National Junior College on Saturday, 20 May 2006, at 9.00 am, at the National Junior College

SPEECH BY MR HAWAZI DAIPI, SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & MINISTRY OF MANPOWER, AT THE 37th COLLEGE DAY OF NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE ON SATURDAY, 20 MAY 2006, AT 9.00 AM, AT NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE

1. It gives me great pleasure to join you today on your 37th College Day.

2. As a former NJCian, I am proud to see my alma mater still going strong after all these years. NJC has not only remained relevant to our nation’s education landscape, but also steadfast in its commitment towards fostering all-round NJCians who will contribute to the nation’s growth as responsible and productive adult citizens.

Service with Honour
3. I strongly hope that the current cohort of NJCians here today will support your College’s efforts in this mission. Seize every opportunity your College provides to engage the community and develop your leadership skills.
I am heartened to learn that some of you here are already doing this by being actively involved in the College’s innovative community projects.

4. The “Cultural Mapping @ Bukit Timah” project launched last year, for example, enabled those of you who participated to document Bukit Timah’s unique heritage and organise heritage tours and exhibitions for the community. Some of you are also working with Mendaki in the “Mendaki Mobile Play Project”, aimed at helping Malay students from low-income families. These are indeed worthy causes and I hope you will inspire and encourage more of your peers to come forward and serve the community in such a meaningful manner.

All-round Development
5. Academic success and achievement are but one aspect of education. I urge you to strike a balance between academic work, co-curricular activities and community work. I have observed that among students that have distinguished themselves and who have achieved such a sound balance, they tend to display these personal qualities: passion, perseverance and compassion. Hence, I am particularly heartened to learn that among the numerous awards the College has attained, it has also garnered the Best Practice Award for All-Round Student Development.

6. As one of the top institutions for junior college education, NJC has not let its drive for sustained academic excellence eclipse the importance of holistic education for its students. So, NJCians, I urge you to take hold of the opportunities presented by the college’s Community, Adventure, Achievement and Leadership Programme (C.A.A.L). I understand that under this programme, students take on long-term sustained community projects; go on overseas expeditions and adventure-related learning experiences; have their talents nurtured in the academics, sports, culture and the arts; and are exposed to leadership models and have opportunities to put them into practice.

Working with Partners and Stakeholders
7. To succeed and to continue to sustain success and reach for greater heights, it is important that schools establish and deepen their strategic partnerships with their stakeholders and the community. I can see that NJC is very much in the lead in this area. Its many initiatives and programmes would not have been possible without the well-established partnerships it has forged with all its stakeholders like the NJC Alumni, the PArents-in-ACTion Support Group (PAACT) and partners in education, industry and the community.

8. Indeed, the opening of the NJC Family Centre is testament to NJC’s commitment to its stakeholders and partners. The Centre is part of NJC’s efforts in supporting the School Family Education initiative, SFE for short. The SFE programme is aimed at making family life education resources easily available to parents, students, teachers and all school staff.

9. The SFE programme will support the development of students’ social and emotional competencies. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has become a key focus in all school programmes in recent years. SEL is the key ingredient in equipping students with the skills and habits that will enable them to succeed in life as well-adjusted individuals who are resourceful, reflective, resilient and responsible. NJC’s existing character and leadership development programmes are already well placed to support such life skills training and values education. The SFE programme will now help the College further sharpen its focus in this area and weave many of its existing and future programmes on parenting and students’ life skills into a synergetic whole.

10. The SFE framework also presents an opportunity for NJC to more effectively hone and streamline its parent engagement efforts. In this area, NJC can definitely tap on the existing support and resources of the Advisory Committee, the Alumni, as well as its partners. Their combined efforts under the SFE umbrella would lead to even more innovative and engaging programmes for parents who would not only benefit from them, but also be motivated to contribute to such efforts. If this can be realised, I believe NJC is poised to achieve greater heights in the years to come.

Congratulations
11. It leaves me now to congratulate all of today’s prize winners. You have all done your College proud and I hope you will continue to give your best to the school and the community.

12. I congratulate NJC, too, for its admirable performance over the past 37 years. May the years to come bear witness to more excellence and innovation in your endeavours.