Preserving Heritage and Identity after Merger of Primary and Secondary Schools
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns how the Ministry of Education (MOE) preserves school heritage and identity following mergers, as raised by Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Murali Pillai. Minister of State for Education Ms Gan Siow Huang stated that MOE collaborates with stakeholders to display school history in heritage spaces and retain artefacts like mascots. Newly merged schools forge identities by unifying communities around common values and symbols, while building collective memories through school-wide events and cohort camps. For defunct schools, Minister of State Ms Gan Siow Huang highlighted that MOE works with stakeholders to capture and retain heritage qualities deemed worthy of preservation. The process of forging these new identities is ongoing and relies on co-creating elements that foster a sense of belonging for all.
Transcript
The following question stood in the name of Mr Christopher de Souza –
1 To ask the Minister for Education how have the heritage and identity of each Government school been preserved and passed on after the merger of primary and secondary schools.
2 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Education (a) whether an update can be provided on how newly merged schools have begun to forge new identities; and (b) what is being done to actively live out the old traditions of each former school.
Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Question No 1.
The Minister of State for Education (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, may I have permission to take Question Nos 1 and 2 together?
Mr Speaker: Yes, you may.
Ms Gan Siow Huang: Mr Speaker, when merging schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) works with key stakeholders to preserve the schools’ heritage and identity. The history, traditions and values of the merging schools are displayed in a heritage space or retained in artefacts such as the school mascot.
Newly merged schools seek to forge new identities by unifying their school community around common values, songs and symbols such as the school crest. Stakeholders help to co-create these elements, fostering a greater sense of belonging to the school. Common experiences such as cohort camps and school-wide events are organised to build collective memories among the students. The forging of a new identity takes time and is an ongoing process for the newly merged schools.
Mr Speaker: Mr Murali.
Mr Murali Pillai: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I ask the hon Minister of State how would MOE deal with situations where schools are merged to one entity and that merged entity also becomes defunct? Case in point is my alma mater, Monks Hill Secondary, which got merged to Balestier Hill Secondary, and then, that also disappeared. How do we preserve the heritage and identity of such schools?
Ms Gan Siow Huang: For such situations, we look to what are the heritage components of the schools that have gone defunct, that need to be preserved. As far as possible, we will work with the stakeholders to capture and retain these heritage qualities that are deemed to be worthy of preserving.