ELSON: Okay, which scholar thought this one up – combining school names for the junior colleges that are merging?
I find it damn stupid, not to mention confusing.
Now we have:
Anderson Serangoon JC (which will be located in Ang Mo Kio)
Tampines Meridian JC (which will be located in Pasir Ris)
Jurong Pioneer JC (which will be Choa Chu Kang)
Yishun Innova JC (which will be located in Yishun)
It seems only Yishun Innova got it right, and we must have scraped rock bottom if something only goes right in Yishun (oh wait, Innova JC is newer than Yishun JC so something has to be wrong if that new campus is going to be torn down in favour of rickety old YJC).
What were MOE leaders thinking when they came up with this cheap compromise to “preserve” the heritage of schools?
This “merger” seems more like an acquisition, seeing that 4 out of the 8 merged JCs will have their campus torn down.
Now, the MOE says it will leave it up to leaders of the “new” JCs to come up with their own school motto, logo, and presumably school song too.
Might as well come up with whole new names for the merged JCs too?
If a school has got to go, then it’s got to go (unlike the elite schools which stay unchanged in spite of everyone else getting the raw end of the stick).
But it seems like the MOE top brass is too afraid to make the tough call to just give the new schools that have spouted whole new identities.
At the same time it seems to be hiding behind this whole “merger” talk and using this whole “preservation of heritage” excuse to score points with the public.
You don’t see schools older than the soon-to-be torn down colleges getting their own memorial walls, so what’s so special about these colleges?
It’s an unwieldy compromise at best – doesn’t sound at all like what that “I rather you fear me than love me” former SG towkay, LKY, would settle for.
I believe this whole absurd school-naming and heritage preservation nonsense is simply a sign of a weak-willed MOE leadership that knows it has a direction to move in, but still wants to sugar-coat things so it can remain “popular”.
We have 2 Education Ministers – one for Higher Education and one for Schools.
I suggest we merge the posts, keep one minister, and let the one who can’t take the heat go.
When it comes to leadership, leaders are needed, not mice.
