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Source:
www.moe.gov.sg |
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New Boarding Programmes:
Strengthening Character, Forging Bonds |
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Five schools will be piloting various models
of boarding programmes starting from 2008, to support the all-round
development of their students. |
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The five schools are Anglo-Chinese School
(Independent) (ACS(I)), Hwa Chong Institution (HCI), National Junior
College (NJC), National University of Singapore High School of
Mathematics and Science (NUSHS) and Raffles Institution (RI). |
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The announcement was made by Mr Tharman
Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, at the MOE Work Plan Seminar
2007 on 2 Oct 2007. |
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Character and leadership development has
been a key focus of our schools. This includes instilling in our
students the instinct to serve, developing bonds amongst them and a
sense of rootedness in the community. Boarding will deepen the schools’
efforts to develop these traits. |
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Boarding also encourages close interactions
between students from different social and cultural backgrounds. |
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In addition, it will give students more
opportunity to pursue intellectual interests in a non-examinable setting
and under close mentorship of teachers or House Masters. |
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Boarding has proven to be a useful platform
in several top schools overseas, with the aim of providing a rounded and
rigorous education, and developing in students a sense of communal
responsibility. |
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The boarding experience in these schools is
integral to the education they provide, and is not limited to or aimed
at students whose families live a distance away from the school. |
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A VARIETY OF BOARDING PROGRAMME MODELS |
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The approaches and duration of
boarding will vary across the five schools. They will also go
beyond the current limited boarding experiences for local
students, both in the scope of the programmes envisaged and the
number of local students involved. |
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As all five schools are also
delivering the Integrated Programme, they have greater flexibility
to incorporate the boarding experience into school life. |
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Some key features of the boarding
models that the schools will adopt are: |
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a. Boarding by cohort: This will allow
schools to organise the whole school experience for a cohort
around boarding, such as designing timetables and programmes to
enable studies, Co-Curricular and Service Activities, leadership
development and other enrichment activities to be woven together
into students’ regular schedule. NUSHS and NJC will pilot this
model. |
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b. Boarding across levels: This will
provide opportunities for mentorship and guidance between older
and younger students, and create a close knit and familial
learning environment. ACS(I) and HCI will be adopting this
approach. |
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c. Boarding with a focus on leadership
development: Some schools will have a more selective programme
focusing on leadership development, with more opportunities for
team-building activities and to serve the community. RI and HCI
intend to adopt this model. |
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For most of the schools, there will
also be more time and space for students to take on additional
non-examinable academic subjects, such as philosophy, political
science and anthropology. Students will be able to pursue
intellectual topics of their interest or even design their own
multidisciplinary subjects in a closely guided environment,
mentored by teachers and housemasters. |
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The 5 schools will evolve and reshape
their boarding programmes over time, based on the experience in
the initial years. |
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The schools will provide subsidies for
the cost of boarding to ensure that no student is denied the
opportunity to participate in the boarding programme due to
financial difficulties. |
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Please see Annex A for further details
on each boarding programme. |
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More..... (Annex) |
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Source:
www.moe.gov.sg Press Release 1
Oct 2007 |
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Notice |
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FrontPage Edition: Fri 5 October 2007
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