Key Decision Factors when Merging Schools
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the factors behind school mergers, the consideration of admission rates from new housing developments, and the future of vacated sites like Fuchun Secondary School. Minister for Education Lawrence Wong responded that the Ministry of Education (MOE) reviews national and local demand trends, accounting for projected population shifts and Build-To-Order projects. Mergers are implemented due to declining birth rates to ensure a vibrant education experience, with vacated sites potentially used as interim school holding facilities. Unused buildings are returned to the Singapore Land Authority for adaptive reuse or longer-term redevelopment based on consultations with relevant government agencies. Minister for Education Lawrence Wong noted that specific plans for the Fuchun Secondary School site have not yet been firmed up.
Transcript
19 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the factors that the Ministry will take into consideration when deciding which schools are to be merged; (b) whether the Ministry factors in the protracted increase in school admission rates in a few years’ time due to an increase in the number of new BTO flats within the proximity of Primary schools; and (c) what happens to the school sites, in particular Fuchun Secondary School, that will be left disused after the mergers.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MOE regularly reviews the demand and supply trends at the national and local levels to ensure that there are sufficient school places for all school-going children and that our schools are well distributed geographically. Our school planning takes into account the current and projected population trends and planned housing development programmes, including HDB’s Build-To-Order (BTO) projects. We closely monitor the demand for school places in areas with increased number of school-going children due to new BTO flats and review our plans as necessary.
Declining birth rates, coupled with changing demographics in our housing estates, have led to steadily falling enrolment in some schools. To ensure that students continue to enjoy a vibrant education experience, we have to take the difficult decision to merge some of our schools.
For the school sites that will be vacated, MOE, in consultation with the relevant agencies, will assess the need to retain former school buildings for other uses, such as interim holding sites for schools undergoing upgrading. If there are no plans for the vacated buildings, MOE will return them to the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which will then work with other Government agencies to put them up either for adaptive reuse or for longer term redevelopment. To Ms Hany Soh’s question on the future of Fuchun Secondary School site which would be vacated in 2024, we have not yet firmed up our plans on its possible use.