August 24, 2005

co-ed?

the idea of Victoria School is, for want of a better word, loony.

to discard 129 years of proud and valiant tradition is unbearable, but to know that the School is being wrangled at the hands of a incompetent headmaster makes me irate.

all those supposed programmes to 'improve' the School have only served to dwindle its general fund and cause almost a hundred percent of the teachers it is famous for to leave the School. 4 years since I've graduated, and the situation just gets worse every single year. moving to siglap didn't help, having a Gifted Education Programme didn't help, the extravagant eco-pond certainly didn't help. won't the board of directors ever learn? every issue, be it good or bad, originates and/or results in the decisions of the people at the top, and it's precisely the problem here.

when leaders can't lead, there won't be any followers. to quote our dear Mr. Ang Pow Chew, "we cannot rest on our laurels. [His] role as Principal is to think ahead, to map a direction for Victorians so that Victoria School would continue to improve in all areas." now, if you're an insider, you'll know better. VS hasn't "improve[d] in all areas" ever since he took over. the grades have been heading southwards ever since, teachers towards the school gates, parents towards MOE. the supposed 'laurels' he speaks of are the achievements Victorians have painstakingly established over more than a hundred years, literally with sweat, blood and tears. male Victorians, by the way. and now he is claiming that the institution should move on and not be complacent, which is absurd, because he was never part of the Victorian movement to begin with.

every Victorian has fond memories of our four years in School, wonderful times of study and play with our fellow brothers. the great sense of camaraderie, rapport and lifelong friendship established through bonds which will never be broken. there is absolutely no issue against femininity or the notion of Woman; don't get me wrong, I adore women. but it is what makes all things Victorian that is at stake here: the simple and uninhibited display of the male in a sound environment of education, sports and arts. and this is what Victoria School is all about: the Victorian is ultimately a gentleman, sportsman and a professional.

I won't even go into detail about the most overwhelming (of emotions on the opposite end of 'euphoria') farewell he gave us on the day of the 'O' level results. or the saga that ensued which resulted in one of my friends having his life ended abruptly. now that was more than a 'treat'. after so many years, everyone's willing to forget, or already has. but take just these very few remnants of precious memory away, and you can most surely expect an uproar.

it's tragic enough we don't have a building or now, even teachers to return to, but a co-ed school? now that's really taking the whole cake.

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I'm inexorably reminded of the various teachers in my life who've made deep imprints in my mind. but more so for the especial two; Ms. Hamimah Abu and Mr. John Lim, teacher, pedagogue, coach, and dear friend. of how they gave their lives, time and energy into grooming leaders and movers of our generation. they made a difference. they made Education count. sadly, their lives ended early. giving one's all and very best to this education system, and yet it regresses to such a deplorable state; I'm trying hard to visualise the intensity of anguish they must be feeling.

whatever it is, it must be terrible.

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S'pore's last all-boys govt school wants to go co-ed. Some old boys upset.
By Santokh Singh

August 18, 2005



IT is the country's last all-boys government school.

We have crossed out the word 'sons' in this picture from Victoria school magazine 1996 to reflect the proposed change.
But Victoria School (VS) has decided to take a knife to tradition - it wants to go co-ed.

The school has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education in what looks like a move to play catch-up with some of Singapore's top schools.

It hopes that turning co-ed can make it the main feeder school for Victoria Junior College (VJC) with the possibility of merging into one Integrated Programme (IP) in the long run.

That would make it similar to the Raffles and Hwa Chong families, where the boys' and girls' schools are linked to their respective JCs. Their students study a six-year course bypassing the O levels.

MOE confirmed receiving the proposal and said it had asked the school to submit a detailed proposal of its overall long-term plan for evaluation.

If it gets the nod, VS will leave behind a 129-year-old tradition of being an all-boys secondary school.

The school did have girls in pre-university classes from the 1950s until as late as the '80s.

Right now, it is the only government all-boys' school left in Singapore.

PRINCIPAL'S E-MAIL

VS principal Ang Pow Chew, 46, is away on a school trip to China and could not be contacted.

But in an earlier e-mail to his staff, he said the school is suffering a brain drain following recent changes to the education landscape.

In 2004, 38 students, about 10 per cent of that cohort, left VS to join the IP offered by Junior Colleges and some of the independent schools.

The school predicts that the number leaving the school could go up to 100 or about a third of the cohort.

Said Mr Ang in the e-mail: 'VS will experience a deep hollowing out effect. In anticipation of the challenges and opportunities generated, VS and Victoria JC see merits in both institutions working closely together to offer linked programmes.'

VJC is already offering its own IP programme for students from Sec 3 onwards.

The plan is for VS to be the main feeder school for VJC. To do so at least 50 per cent of each Sec 3 cohort must meet the JC's cut-off mark. That may not be possible if it remains an all-boys school.

Said Mr Ang: 'As it is unlikely that this target can be reached with VS remaining a boys' school, we believe that turning co-ed will raise the quality of the intake.'

Eventually, both schools hope to run an Integrated Programme just as the Raffles and Hwa Chong families are doing now.

Many old Victorians were unhappy.

Old boy Chan Joo Peng, 27, said: 'I don't think the aim is to bring about an IP programme at all. It is just to help VS climb the rankings ladder.

'While I am all for better performance, I am not for it to be at the expense of some strong traditions. I would rather see an an all-boys VS moving up the ladder on its own steam.'

Old Victorians Association president Aaron Tan said they would respond after a meeting on the issue.



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Should JC anthem change?

SHE wants the school song changed.

At a school assembly earlier this year, principal of Victoria JC Chan Khah Gek suggested that a line in the song 'Victoria, thy sons are we' wasn't sensitive to female Victorians and should be replaced.

Some current students and alumni however, were not enthusiastic about the suggestion.

'The anthem is part of a tradition - and I don't think we need to take the word 'sons' at face value,' said one second-year female VJC student.

But some feel that a change makes sense if both VJC and VS are co-ed.

When contacted, Mrs Chan said 'more structured feedback' is needed to find out if only a minority of students feel that the school song should be changed.
- LIEW HANQING

footnote: doesn't Mrs. Chan realise the word 'sons' is generic? -_-
gid posted at 21:18