New Integrated Programme Junior College

This is completely poor planning for MOE. Today ST also indicated MOE will miss target for schools to covert to single sesson. I sincerely hope any errors made by MOE should not on the expense of our children. I seek Mr. Heng Swee Keat to take this matter, speak up and take action.

We support this petition and hope this matter will be looked into.

Can MOE hear our voices and don't force upon us any decisions not made by us, the parents. We are a democratic society, we should be given choices.

Four years ago when I enrolled my son into the IP school in Boon Lay, it was the biggest mistake that we had made as ignorant parents. We stayed in the north. My son has to take a feeder bus to the train station, alight at Jurong East, change another train to Boon Lay and take another feeder bus to reach school. It's a nightmare esp the initial years. The train tracks were undergoing sleepers replacement and was running at snail speed. My son has to wake up at 5, leave home at 5.20 to walk to the train station. The feeder buses have not even start to operate at this time. During CCA days or days he has to stay late for supplementary classes, he has avoid the peak hour crowds and by the time he reached home, it was way after 9 or 10. There was hardly enough time for rest. Sleep deprivation, his studies and grades were badly affected. Once he was caught in the recent train broke down at Jurong East, he managed to reach home only after midnight. It was crazy and painful years for the kid and heartaching for the parents. We wanted to change school for him but its easier said than done. When you're in the IP, it's hard to switch back to O level and he does not want to change school as well. Adamant not to make the same mistake, we enrolled his sister to sngs thinking it is so much nearer to home. Who knows 人算不如天算? She has to take feeder bus to train station, alight at Bishan, change to Circle line, alight at Buona Vista and take another feeder bus to reach school. This way of commute to Mt Sinal is just as tiring and draining as my son's. I really dread the thought of this. I hope MOE realised the true grievance of this whole saga is the distance, the additional journey these poor kids have to endure apart from the pressure to produce sterlings results being the pioneer batches.

Pls consider a suitable place that around Bishan . As most of students in this IP programme are live in this area . Don't let our children and their parents disappointed Thank you Jessie

Dear PM, The location of the new Junior College (JC) and its temporary holding site at Bishan was a key consideration when my daughter opted for the Integrated Programme (IP) back in 2013. It is unlikely we would have considered the new JC at all had Mount Sinai been identified as the location for the college since its inception. A really workable solution is to keep to MOE’s original plan and schedule for the new JC to occupy the temporary holding site at the former ITE Bishan Campus which is currently being occupied by St Joseph Institution (SJI). I would like to appeal to PM to request that MOE make the former ITE Bishan Campus ready for the pioneer batch of JC students (comprising Year-5 IP students) in 2017. It is still 2 years away, and I strongly believe this is a realistic target for MOE to achieve given the efficiency of our public service sector. Should the new JC be relocated to Mount Sinai ultimately, I think it is fair that MOE shall provide the affected parents and students with options to other schools for their consideration. I believe that students of the new JC and their parents will not be in this present predicament had MOE been more diligent in seeing through the plans as they had originally outlined for the new JC at Bishan. Thank you.

Mr Heng mentioned there are two options and I wonder which option he would choose if he is a parent of the impacted students. He has displayed a leadership style that brushes off an issue that parents have a legitimate right to understand. Is it truely unavoidable or a case of oversight by the ministries. I now wonder if the promise of giving a quality IP program to my child would be kept due to "unavoidables".

.I live in Bishan,whenever I drive pass the site for future IP School(no name yet )I see no construction work on,my six senses tell me have problem already. I am old boy of CHS .I give my support to all parents

Why don't ask sji to go Mt Sinai and we move in for holding site?

PM Lee, sincerely hope that you pick up the phone, call MOE and LTA to expedite the JC building process. Your one minute call can eased the pain of the parents and kids of CHS SNGS SCGS IP program. One minute can turn nightmare into sweet dream, one minutes is all it take. Please help!

Dear PM Lee, We are appealing to you to help our children. It may be surprising to those not directly involved in saga, the way parents and students are reacting. But this is not the case to those of us who have the full picture. There has been too many issues leading to this unfortunate state which could have been avoided. Theses include: (1) mismanagement in many areas, (2) lack of coordination between the different different govt agencies, (3) lack of transparency, (4) lack of accountability, (5) lack of options for those affected, (6) insufficient explanation as to what has been done since idea of the IP Prog was conceived in Sep 2010 (7) lack of regular communication and updates on the new JC with parents. Some of our concerns include: - MOE shld not have started the prog and spoke so highly of it if they are not able to deliver. We were told in 2013 that the campus will be ready by end 2017. That was a 4 yr time frame so it has never occurred to us that there will be any issue. However, it was not such. The JC does not even hv a name! - MOE was already aware of the possible delay but have chose to keep silent. LTA already informed them of the more extensive work in late 2014 (as per their letter). Had they immediately informed potential applicants, they would hv at least saved the Yr 1 batch of students this predicament. Those who hv chosen the Sch would then hv done so freely knowing the facts. - MOE is now telling us their decision is final and not giving us any options. If I had known (even with the slightest hint) that the campus will not be ready by 2017, my child would not hv chosen the ip prog. What is offered now is different from what we were told when we accepted the prog. By taking up this prog, our kids hv given up their choice to go to another established ip prog in another Sch even though they qualify. And now, because of all this mishandling, their hands are tied. - Many of what MOEconsidered "unforeseen circumstances" aren't reall

Dear PM Lee, Have you ever heard of JC students graduating from a JC without putting their foot in it? Well, our beloved country, Singapore, will soon going to be the first country with students to suffer this fate due to 'unforeseen circumstances' if this issue is not resolve. MOE caused all this. How significant is it for such to happen in our coming SG50??? I am a truly disappointed parent who is losing trust with the MOE for the way they handled this issue. Their decision is final and we have to accept it. In their latest letter dated 12 May to us, they mentioned that (refer to 8b) they had weigh all options, and finding another holding site for the new JC would result the LEAST disruption OVERALL, and with NO PARTY having to bear an unaccepted burden, although they fully understand that the burden falls more on the new JC. Let me enlighten the MOE now. WE, and our children are the ones bearing the UNACCEPTED burden and WE are the ones who will suffers due to this 'unforeseen circumstances' and NOT the new JC. How can MOE said no party is bearing the burden when this matters involved three good school and a thousand over students? This further shows that they are not doing their weighing on this issue properly. We chose our school based on its location following closely what MOE has constantly advised parents to do so. And now, they are sending thousands of us to a faraway holding site. If most of the school is under going upgrading, MOE can find a nearer holding site to minimize inconvenience caused. Why can't we have a holding site that is nearer to the new JC? Can u imagine the increase in traveling time to Mt Sinai instead of Bishan? How much time would be wasted due to this? MOE, TIME is money, who's going to compensate us for the time lost? Well, our children could have make better use of this time to do many other things, like a revision or a good resting after a long day of study. MOE has promised us a new JC completed in 2017 when they fi

Dear PM Lee, Mr Heng said MOE has 2 options 1)To start the program when everything is ready and confirmed. OR 2)To start IP programme first, and build later. He implied that we should be grateful to MOE for choosing the second option cos our kids benefited from the IP programme. Therefore we should be able "to move on" with changes due to "unforseen circumstances". This reflects MOE (?Government as MOE is a Government agency) being out of touch with the people on the ground. 1) THIS is NOT the only IP programme. Our kids qualify for IP programmes in other IP schools. They will have benefited from IP programmes without being betrayed after 4 years. 2) MOE started the program with a PROMISE it will BE READY. Never did it mention it MAYNOT. IF there may be a possibility of delay, they should have communicated to us, for us to decide do we want to go ahead. THIS is SINGAPORE. A country whom we are proud of because of its EFFICIENCY and GOVERNMENT's TRUSTWORTHINESS as Mr Heng reminded us in his speech. A Government that CARES, BUILDING the future TOGETHER. PLEASE show by ACTIONS. If MOE/Government cannot deliver on its PROMISE, then it must give us OPTIONS instead of HIGH HANDEDLY shoved its changes on us. There must be dialogue to discuss the options. NOT a dialogue to STATE its DECISION without discussions. Mr Heng mentioned in his conversation to few parents :"DO YOU WANT US TO DISSOLVE THE PROGRAM". THAT is the BEST SOLUTION! That shows MOE cares. THAT is a FAIR and JUST solution from Mr Heng! TRANSFER all the kids affected to nearby IP schools. Get the infrastructure up before starting! Who knows it will be ready in 2019? Dear PM, please restore our TRUST in OUR Government. This issue isn't about the NEW IP JC. The plan was decided in 2010, promised to our first batch of young Singaporeans in 2012 that it will be ready for them in 2017. That means 7 YEARS to get READY! Who could believe it will FAIL in Singapore! ( We never ever imagine it wi

We followed MOE's wise advise by choosing a relatively good school for our child near our home so that it wl be convenient for our child to travel to and from school. However, after our children enter the school, MOE suddenly decide to move the JC which was supposed to be at Bishan to Mount Sinai. Is MOE contradicting themselves in this? MOE, Just to refresh your memory, kindly refer to your own hand book " Choosing your secondary schools for admission to secondary one" point 5.1 C. Thanks!

2 Misrepresentations from MOEs and simply want to brush us off? Holding a Q&A on 25 May is to tell us to accept or to work with us? Please ensure decision makers are present and more concrete viable alternatives are offered!

Dear PM Lee, In response to our earlier queries, MOE has claimed that its foremost concern has been the best interest of all our students. MOE promises the interim site will be rejuvenated to support full programmes and activities offered by IP. MOE promises to work with the schools to provide additional mitigation measures. We are promised that our JC teachers and HODs will be among the best from MOE pool of talents. What we need now is simply for MOE to restore its credibility by keeping its first promise that lured us into this programme in the first place. Otherwise whatever promises now will be empty promises as there will always be 'unforeseen circumstances' in the future. Please help us restore our faith in our Singapore efficiency that has been the envy of the world. Let's create history by building a respectable educational institution in record time. We can create another miracle with the resources we have. We place our trust in you. Thank you

Dear PM, I am an O-Level scholar from China. I first really envy my IP friend for their NEW IP JC and hope to joint them after my O-Level. After the recent announcement, I can tell you that most if not all of my IP friend are very low morale. They talk quietly as worry the P & VP not happy. seeing the P & VP selling tactics is very similar to CCP propaganda, disgusting. They don't dare to write to you... My IP friend are smart students, they study hard, play hard and have full of passion of life. I can sense the different after the announcement. Before I came to Singapore, my father always tell me Singapore government not only better than China, but best in the world. This is not what I seen, the one way traffic is very similar to CCP, or worsen. I hope you can help to reverse the decision, bring back the joy of study to my friends. I am a scholar, i just tell what I see, I a telling the truth, I hope the school won't go after me.

Dear PM Lee, Distance was an important factor when my son selected the IP programme in CHS. With the change of location, it has a great negative impact not just on the students, but parents and family as well. Traveling 2-3hrs everyday is waiting time and very tiring for the students. Even if the new JC going to make arrangement on transportation, how to get back the time loss? We will not choose this new JC if we know that the location is going to be at mount Sinai. What other options do we have now since change of location is not unacceptable to us? Please help the students and parents to reverse the situation. Mrs Wong

Dear PM, Since 1959, my family had been your party supporter. We trust LKY teams leadership, vote for them, let's them decide our fate and future. However, today MOE letter really broken my heart, what do they means "the decisions is final". Singapore success depend on corporation, cohesiveness, openness and dialog with people, LKY and team start their ground work with unionist too, they fight for commoner right, they go against the unfair British rules. Todays MOE sound very similar to the settlement rulers behavior, tell me, what is final? If this your government stand, then I am regret to tell you that my decision is final too, i know who to vote in 2015 or 2016, even there is a monkey run against the lighting party, i know who to vote. I am not threatening, I am a good citizen, I love Singapore, and I want to support the government policy. BUT, your official shut my door, who can I turn to? Please help us, nothing is final.

总理大人， 小儿在公教中学就读直通车课程。最近，公教中学，圣尼各拉女校和新加坡女子中学，为了“直通车初级学院”搬迁一事，搞到人心涣散。早在2012－13年， 以上三所中学在推出直通车课程时，就答应在2017年在碧山盖好相关的初级学院。在2014年，却把该初院改到碧山的ITE旧址。今年，更改去西部的RJC旧址。当初家长选择以上中学，就为了它的课程和地点。如今教育部一纸令下，说改就改，毫无商量的余地。这朝令夕改令这近1000多名家长无所适从。有冤无处伸啊！ 这几天我在国外，看见国外因教益失策，而引起的社会动荡，我深深的引以为鉴。为了新加坡的江山社稷，百年树人，我恳请您能重新审阅有关决定： 1. 有关初院凑划了多年，为何一改再改，更突然把搬到距离相对遥远的西部？教育部贵为国家人才培养机构，应以身作则，言出必行，发挥PG们的拼博精神。 学生们当初满怀希望地加入该课程，课程还没过半，就一波多折，无奈啊！这些都是全国10－15％的顶尖学生，也许未来总理就在其中，别让他们染上遇到问题就推搪的恶习。 所谓“树正不怕影斜“，我恳请有关当局 (MOE, LTA, URA, 等)敢敢站出来，和受影响的家长们，展开对话，携手合作，把问题理清除。用最快的速度，纠正错误（如有），把初院赶建好。新加坡的效率举世知名，小小的一间初院，能能难的倒我们吗？ 2. 新加坡的精英政策，讲的就是人才。孩子的学业，是许多家庭的重心。这校址的更改，打乱了我们为孩子学业的安排。请问我们能有什么选择？还能转换跑道吗？我们不能把大人的人为过失，交由孩子们来承受。 希望有关当局能帮提供相关的选项，把孩子们冲击降到最低点。这点也能在对话会上一起商量。 为人父母，不管再怎么苦，也不能让自己的孩子苦。都希望孩子能过上比我们更好的生活。这打击，孩子们嘴上不说，心里的难受， 做父母的是看在眼里，泪淌心里啊。部长您深明大义，也为人父母，一定能感同身受。 我读书不多，不会穿弯抹角，老实说，很多家长都和我一样，不想开罪有关部门，哑忍了。您贵人事忙，只恳请您能在百忙中，向有负责人反映我们的诉求，大家展开建设性的对话。大家都喜欢开心的“喜羊羊“，谁想成为生气的”大灰狼“呢？ 教育部和家长们携手合作，定能让莘莘学子们能安心求学，成为来日国家的栋梁。 谢谢