Speeches
Speech by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Education and Second Minister for Defence, at the 39th College Day of National Junior College on Saturday, 3rd May 2008, at 5.30pm at National Junior College
Mr Teo Chiang Long
President of Ngee Ann Kongsi
Mr Heng Chye Kiou,
Chairman, NJC School Advisory Committee (SAC)
Mr Lim Chin Hong,
President, NJC Alumni
Mr Lim Meng Wee
President, Parent-in-ACTion Support Group (PAACT)
Mrs Virginia Cheng,
Principal, NJC
Ladies and Gentlemen
Students of NJC, both past and present
Introduction
It gives me great pleasure to be able to join you this evening on your 39th College Day.
I am proud to see my alma mater going from strength to strength. True to its mission at conception, NJC continues to nurture students who take up leadership roles in diverse fields, including the professions, business, academia and Government. The alumni of NJC have and continue to make significant contributions to the progress and stability of Singapore.
Six-year Integrated Boarding School Programme
Two recently introduced initatives - the extension of its four-year Integrated Programme (IP) to six-years, and the boarding school programme from 2009 - will provide NJC more platforms to develop your students.
As explained by Mrs Cheng, the Six-year Integrated Boarding School Programme will better prepare students to meet the challenges of an increasingly inter-connected world.
Nurturing Globalised Students
For Singapore to prosper into our global city, we need our young to be culturally versatile, yet confident of their own identity and rooted in Singaporean values. Many schools have already taken steps to foster these attributes in their students. Students regularly go for overseas learning trips in this region and beyond. In our schools, we also have many foreign students with different cultural perspectives. These experiences broaden the horizons of our young and enable them to understand the world as it is.
NJC too has moved in this direction to expose its students to the international community. It partnered Japan’s Waseda University Honjo Senior High School, and students from both schools collaborated on science research projects via interactive video conferencing. Exchange programmes with this same High School, and the Korea Science Academy, also offered NJCians the opportunity to showcase their talents and interact with their overseas peers. Such innovative international collaborations truly empower our students to explore science with a global perspective.
As the Zonal Centre of Excellence for Science, NJC had also hosted and successfully co-organised with MOE the inaugural Singapore International Science Challenge in May 2007. This event brought Singapore into the limelight as over 200 students from local IP schools and international schools across the globe presented numerous research projects and battled wits in the Science Challenge. For our participating students, including NJCians, this was a chance for them to not only pit their knowledge and skills against the best science students around the world, but more importantly, also inspire one another and enrich the learning experience for one another.
Excellence in Aesthetics
Beyond science, NJC has also allowed it students to perform abroad. Earlier this year, the NJC choir took part in the 10th International Choir Competition held in Italy and was awarded the Gold diploma. NJC had also received its seventh Sustained Achievement Award for Aesthetics in 2007. Let me congratulate the young talents in NJC, and commend the hard work and discipline put in by staff, students and instructors.
I urge the College to keep aspiring towards higher standards, for new ways of expressions in dance and music, and to share this joy of self-expression with those around you and beyond the shores of Singapore. The Ngee Ann Kongsi Performing Arts Theatre, which I opened just a while ago, is certainly a big step in this direction. This facility will undoubtedly contribute to the aesthetic development of its students, and augment NJC’s already flourishing culture of excellence in the performing arts.
Developing Our Teachers
The key strength of the Singapore education system is our people. Competent and caring teachers and school leaders have produced an education system here that is well regarded internationally. MOE is therefore committed to providing our teachers with opportunities to learn and grow as professionals throughout their careers. Thus, I am pleased to note the College’s strong support for the professional development of its staff, by making available various overseas learning opportunities and experiences. As role models, teachers, too, need to develop a global perspective to effectively guide and groom their students into leaders and productive citizens of the future.
NJC’s new Learning Lab, which opened last year, further supports staff’s professional growth through overseas collaboration, lesson study and action research. These initiatives, as well as the various programmes the College has in place as part of its Corporate Wellness framework, will certainly go a long way towards enhancing the professional development and work-life harmony of its teachers and staff.
Recognising Students’ Achievements in Diverse Areas
As NJC takes stock of its endeavours and achievements this College Day, it should take pride in the high calibre of students it has produced. The various awards presented to outstanding NJCians this year recognise their achievements and contributions in diverse areas, from academia and sports to leadership and community work.
The Lim Kim Woon Award, for instance, is given to two students this year who have exemplified the College motto of “Service with Honour”. It is heartening to know that NJC continues to place great importance on nurturing students who live up to this College motto - one which has guided generations of NJCians in their career pursuits and community work. I have, time and again, come across former NJCians in both the private and public sectors who exemplify the motto in word and deed. I thus hope that this motto will continue to be embraced by the younger generations as they leave the College to serve in the nation and community.
Congratulations
I congratulate today’s prize winners. You have done the College proud and I hope you will continue to give your best in whatever you do.
I also congratulate NJC for its admirable performance over the past 39 years. May the years to come bear witness to more excellence and innovation in your endeavours.
Thank you.