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New Schools to Meet Demand in the West and North-East of Singapore

Published Date: 09 February 2023 01:00 PM

News Press Releases

ACS (Primary) to re-locate to Tengah in 2030 and turn co-educational

1. The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be opening or relocating four mainstream schools and two Special Education (SPED) schools across the West and North-East regions of Singapore from 2026. This will meet the demand for school places in new towns and is part of our efforts to ensure a good geographical spread of schools, and to continue our efforts in offering quality SPED.

Two more primary schools in Tengah

2. MOE previously announced that Pioneer Primary School would be relocated to Tengah in 2026 and be the first primary school in the area. As Tengah Town continues to welcome more families moving in over the coming years, MOE will be building two more primary schools to meet the growing demand, with the second primary school opening in 2028, and the third opening in 20301. The name of the second school will be announced at a later date, while the third primary school will be Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) [ACS(P)].

Relocation of Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) to Tengah

3. The Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) Board of Governors and MOE have discussed and agreed for ACS(P) to relocate from its current campus to Tengah. MOE is glad to support ACS' initiative in undertaking this significant move to serve the wider community.

4. As part of its relocation to Tengah, the new ACS(P)@Tengah will also turn co-educational when it opens in 2030 to allow the local community good access to the school. ACS(P)@Tengah will start with just the Primary 1 (P1) cohort in 2030.

5. As Tengah is over 12km away from ACS(P)@Barker, MOE has also worked with ACS to put in place appropriate measures to minimise inconvenience to the students of ACS(P)@Barker and their families:

  1. No student at ACS(P)@Barker will be re-locating to Tengah as MOE will apply a "teach-out" model to allow their existing students to remain at the campus until graduation in Primary 6.
  2. In addition, MOE will allow ACS(P)@Barker to continue to admit younger male siblings at P1 from 2030 onwards, as long as they have an older sibling still studying at ACS(P)@Barker.

6. As cohort sizes at ACS(P)@Barker gradually fall, the school will subsequently consolidate with Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) (ACS(J)) at Winstedt Road tentatively in 2033. The reconfigured ACS(J) will then operate from both campuses before shifting all operations to Barker around 2039. This will ensure that students have continued access to a good range of educational programmes and co-curricular activities, which are key to their holistic development.

Relocation of Bukit View Primary School to Bukit Batok West

7. To meet the growing demand for school places in Bukit Batok West, MOE will relocate Bukit View Primary School (BVPS) in Bukit Batok East to the area in January 2027, about 2km away. The new campus will also provide BVPS with new facilities and updated provisions to better support teaching and learning for its students.

8. In the meantime, the school will continue to admit new P1 cohorts and all students enrolled in BVPS will be moved to the Bukit Batok West campus in 2027.

New secondary school in Sengkang

9. MOE has also planned for a new secondary school in Sengkang to meet the demand from this area, including from Punggol. The school is expected to begin operations in 2026. The name of the school will be announced at a later date.

Better access to SPED schools for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

10. As part of our regular review of demand for SPED school places, MOE works with the Social Service Agencies to provide sufficient capacity to cater to the needs of specific student profiles.

11. To meet the growing demand of students with moderate SEN who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and can access the National Curriculum (ASD-NC), MOE will be setting up a new ASD-NC SPED school to cater to students of this profile to be run by Methodist Welfare Services in partnership with ACS. This follows the opening of St. Andrew's Mission School in 2022, which is currently operating at an interim site in Bukit Batok and will move to its permanent campus in Clementi in 20312.

12. The new SPED school3, which will be the fifth ASD-NC SPED school, is expected to start operations in 2026 at an interim site which formerly housed Chua Chu Kang Secondary School. It will then move, in 2031, to its permanent campus next to ACS(P)@Tengah. This will allow greater partnerships between the two schools and provide more opportunities for students from both schools to interact through joint activities and academic learning. The name of the new SPED school will be announced at a later date.

13. A review of the geographical spread of the existing ASD-NC SPED schools has also shown a need for a new SPED school to meet the needs of the growing population in the North-East region of Singapore. To meet new demands for SPED places in Punggol, MOE will set up the permanent campus of Pathlight School 3 near the Punggol Digital District instead of Tengah4 as previously announced, in 2032. In the meantime, the school will continue to operate in the former Chong Boon Primary and Secondary School sites until its move to its permanent location.

14. In planning for the setting up and relocation of schools, MOE takes into account the current and projected population, as well as planned housing development programmes, in order to ensure sufficient school places for our population. We will work closely with the schools to ensure a smooth transition to their new sites, and continue to respond promptly to the changing demand for school places across Singapore.

ANNEX


Footnotes

  1. All the schools' opening years mentioned in this press release are tentative and may be adjusted in the event of project or infrastructural delays.

  2. MOE announced in Dec 2020 that St. Andrew's Mission School will open at its permanent site in 2027. Due to delays, the school is now expected to start operations there tentatively in 2031.

  3. The SPED school will accept both male and female students.

  4. MOE had earlier announced that Pathlight School 3 would begin operations at a permanent site in Tengah (https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/20201210-7-special-education-schools-get-new-campuses-to-provide-quality-and-affordable-education-to-more-students).