Dear MOE Ministers Ng and Ong
- The government has recently announced the merger of more secondary schools and 8 JCs, citing a 20% fall in the birth rate since the late 1980s.
2. However, Singaporeans doubt this is the real reason and strongly feel that the government is throwing smoke again. ? “So why was Euonia JC set up if enrolment is dwindling”?, many have asked. mothership.sg Others have questioned PAP’s elitism as none of the elite JCs will be merged.
Hmm … how come all 8 are neighbourhood JCs?
3. Declining birth rates since the 1980s were known to the PAP government before the construction of Innova JC which took in its first students in 2005. Why did the government go ahead with construction, only to demolish an entire school in 14 years? Some million-dollar civil servants screwed up big time?
4. Last year, MOE had announced the merger of 22 secondary schools in 2017 and 2018. MOE: This was the largest merger exercise in the past five years due to a significant fall in student cohort sizes. This year, MOE has cited the same reason to merge 28 schools in 2019. Ramping up GDP through construction?
5. A 20% fall in cohort size doesn’t justify so many mergers and this appears to be an M & A of sorts, ie government acquires the land for redevelopment by merging schools. Many questions on citizens’ mind, especially with regard to land planning for the soon-to-be-demolished schools. Maybe more shopping malls? Why was this issue not even debated in Parliament?
6. It’s a bit rude for Singaporeans to question the need to have 2 MOE ministars but I guess it’s a valid question despite you are not ‘Acting’ now. Belated congrats on your promotion in Nov 2016. ?
Before the 2015 GE, only one minister was required to do the job, ie Heng Swee Keat, Ng Eng Hen or Tharman. Now that cohort sizes have shrunk by 20%, there are calls for your $1.1 million salary to be reduced by a corresponding amount to $880,000. This is fair, considering PAP’s constant emphasis on linking wages to productivity.
7. So why are taxpayers paying you two guys $1.1 million each for a 20% reduced workload! Like that also can meh? No wonder the government has to resort to increasing every cost to feed unproductive guys like you.
8. A lower birth rate = Less primary/secondary school students = Less JC students = Less undergraduates. Tio boh? Logically, universities will be the next to be merged. Moreover, Minister Khaw had already hinted at this 4 years ago when he warned Singaporeans that eating a degree will cause severe indigestion. Added Khaw: “If they cannot find jobs, what’s the point”?
9. Social media is now abuzz with the impending merger of NUS and NTU. But the issue has more to do with the new name “NUTS” rather than with the merger.
10.Because these 2 universities have a high proportion of foreign students – many funded by taxpayers – this has made global headlines. Foreign undergraduates have said that they are willing to continue studying here but take issue with the new name of the university, NUTS.
11. To be frank, I am not really sure if this is fake news because we are also reading them daily in the mainstream media. Would appreciate if MOE could clarify this soonest possible.
By: Phillip Ang
source: likedatosocanmeh