Meeting Demand for New Schools in Punggol
Published Date: 13 September 2018 12:00 AM
Relocation of Yusof Ishak Secondary School and the opening of two new Primary Schools in Punggol
1. MOE will establish two new primary schools and relocate Yusof Ishak Secondary School to Punggol in 2020 and 2021 respectively. This is to meet the growing demand for school places in this newer housing estate.
Relocation of Yusof Ishak Secondary School
2. To meet the demand for secondary school places in Punggol, MOE will be relocating Yusof Ishak Secondary School to a new site in Punggol in 2021. The school is currently located in a part of Bukit Batok where demand for school places is falling.
3. Yusof Ishak Secondary School was established in 1965 as Jubilee Integrated Secondary School and was renamed Yusof Ishak Secondary School in 1966. The school is named after the first President of Singapore, the late Mr Yusof Ishak, and opened by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew in 1966.
4. By relocating Yusof Ishak Secondary School to Punggol, we will be able to preserve the established history and rich culture of the school, and its contribution to the teaching fraternity through the Centre for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE), which it currently hosts.
Centre for Teaching and Learning Excellence
5. Yusof Ishak Secondary School’s new school site at Punggol will continue to host the CTLE, with better facilities provided. These include an interactive learning centre with video streaming capabilities, a learning lab with an attached observation room, an enlarged classroom with additional space for observers, and a covered breakout space for outdoor learning activities.
6. The CTLE was set up in September 2015 as a partnership between Yusof Ishak Secondary School, the Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST), and the National Institute of Education (NIE). CTLE offers a new model of professional development to strengthen the connection between theory and practice in pedagogy. This is done by providing more authentic and applied learning opportunities for pre-and in-service teachers to learn by observing innovative pedagogies in a real classroom setting.
Ensuring a smooth transition
7. MOE will work together with Yusof Ishak Secondary School to ensure a smooth transition to the new campus in Punggol. To minimise disruption to students’ learning, MOE will not be admitting new Secondary 1 cohorts in 2019 and 2020 to the current campus in Bukit Batok. The first Secondary 1 cohort at Yusof Ishak Secondary School’s new campus in Punggol will be admitted in 2021.
8. Dual operations across two campuses will be limited to one year in 2021 where Yusof Ishak Secondary School will concurrently have its last batch of Secondary 4 students at the Bukit Batok campus and its first batch of Secondary 1 students at the Punggol campus. For the small number of Secondary 5 Normal (Academic) students in 20221, MOE will facilitate their transfer to other secondary schools within the Bukit Batok area. With these arrangements, there will not be any current students in Yusof Ishak Secondary School who would be moving to the new Punggol campus.
Opening of new Primary Schools in Punggol
9. To meet the high demand for primary school places in Punggol as well, two new primary schools – Valour Primary School and Northshore Primary School – will begin operations and admit its first Primary One cohort in 2020.
10. In deciding on the relocation or opening of schools, MOE’s key consideration is to be responsive to changing demographics and community needs, whilst providing an optimal student experience at all times.
Annex A.