National Junior College
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Categories: Educational institutions established in 1969 | Junior colleges in Singapore | Bukit Timah
The National Junior College (Abbreviation: NJC) is a prestigious junior college (JC) in Singapore located within the exclusive Bukit Timah neighbourhood. Founded (in 1969) to provide a centralised two year pre-university education leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'A' Level certificate, NJC prides itself in being the top government junior college as well as a pioneer and first in many ways, including pioneering the introduction of a specialised lecture-tutorial system in its pedagogy as well as the merging of the various language streams. Since then, other junior colleges have been established with this same model to provide the same opportunity to many more aspiring students who aim to go on to top universities, both locally and overseas. Since its inception, NJC has been producing numerous scholars, including the prestigious President's Scholars, SAF and SPF scholars as well as recipients of various PSC, government, statutory boards and private scholarships among others. NJC has to date produced 45 President's Scholars, a record among Singapore schools only recently beaten by Singapore's second oldest junior college, Hwa Chong Institution, in 2007. Academically, NJC does well and was consistently ranked among the Top 3 JCs by the Singapore Ministry of Education according to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'A' Levels results, emerging as the top JC several times, most latterly in 1996 before the ranking system was abolished by the Ministry. Nevertheless, NJC's percentage of 3 and 4 'A's for the GCE 'A' Levels continue rank it amongst the top 4, informally, placing it as one of the two top Government junior college. Apart from being recognised for its academic excellence, NJC is also well-known for its other achievements in areas such as co-curricular activities for which it has been awarded the MOE Sustained Achievement Award in Aesthetics, Sports and Physical Fitness; it has also been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew National Education Award for its outstanding commitment and achievement in National Education. In addition, it was awarded the Singapore Quality Class and Best Practice Award in Student All-Round Development, Teaching & Learning and Staff Well-Being. For these outstanding achievements, NJC was awarded the MOE School Distinction Award where it is recognised as one of the top education institutions in Singapore - capturing the College's endeavour to be a College of Nation known for its excellence. NJC was also the first junior college approved by the Ministry of Education to introduce a 4-year Integrated Programme (IP) in 2004 to provide a through-train education for capable Secondary 3 students, allowing them to bypass the traditional GCE 'O' Levels and giving them the opportunity and room for more creative pursuits which would be hard to pursue in the traditional GCE 'O' Level path. The NJC Integrated Programme model was adopted by Temasek Junior College and Victoria Junior College for their own integrated programmes. From 2009, NJC will be among the first 5 Singapore schools to introduce a comprehensive boarding programme supported by the MOE for both its local and foreign students in a bid to complement student all-round development. As the first junior college to implement this boarding programme, NJC's programme will be modelled according to the needs of each cohort to allow the college to organise the whole school experience for a cohort around boarding. This involves designing timetables and programmes to enable studies, Co-Curricular and Service Activities, leadership development and other enrichment activities to be woven together into students’ regular schedule. Through the NJC Boarding Programme, there will also be more time and space for students to take on additional non-examinable academic subjects, such as philosophy, political science and anthropology. Students will be able to pursue intellectual topics of their interest or even design their own multidisciplinary subjects in a closely guided environment, mentored by teachers and housemasters. The current Principal is Mrs. Virginia Cheng, and is complemented by three Vice-Principals - Mr Eric Too, Mr Mark Lo and Mrs Poon Wai Chin, of whom the latter two were former students of the College.
Mission, Vision, and ValuesMotto: Service With Honour Mission: College of the Nation: Home of Scholars and Leaders who Serve with Honour Vision: NJCians have sound moral values and a deep sense of responsibility to College and Country. They are prepared to Lead with Sensitivity and Serve with Honour. Values: Scholarship with Creativity, Loyalty with Integrity, Leadership with Sensitivity and Service with Honour Brief School HistoryEstablished in 1969, the College was created with the aim of centralising the two-year pre-university course with maximum utilisation of specialist personnel and resources. The academic and co-curricular programmes are organised with the specific purpose of training and nurturing a new generation of alert and independent young minds with responsible and responsive social attitudes compatible with the Singapore and Asian milieu. In keeping with its name and philosophy, the College claims no affiliation with any secondary school but instead draws its students from a wide spectrum. Thus each year about eighty Singapore secondary schools will have representatives amongst the College's student population, and everyone will have equal opportunities of attaining the highest levels of achievement in all fields. In addition, Singapore students actively interact and learn alongside students and scholars from India, China, Hong Kong, Korea as well as ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. NJC also plays host to German, PRC, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Japanese students in immersion and exchange programmes. The College philosophy is founded on the basis that its ultimate aim is to bring out, to the fullest, each student's physical, moral and intellectual potential. Apart from emphasising academic excellence, the College stresses integration of Singapore's cultures through the celebrations of ethnic festivals. Qualities of self-discipline, social responsibility and social awareness are also inculcated through co-curricular activities. Identification with the College and the nation, the ability to put group interest before self, a positive attitude to problem solving, the stamina to see things through, a keen sense of commitment and of "Serving with Honour": these are the valued and expected educational outcomes of the College and contribute towards its unique spirit. When NJC was first established in 1969, it occupied a small site at Linden Drive, off Bukit Timah Road. The College moved into its present premises in Hillcrest Road in 1995, and is presently one of the biggest single schools in Singapore in terms of land area (covering approximately 8 hectares). The original site which NJC occupied is now the site for Nanyang Girls' High School. Currently, the plot of land along NJC Rise and Hillcrest Road is being developed as part of the College's expansion plans to build a hostel, slated for completion in late 2008. UniformGenerally, the main school uniform is coloured grey - a colour chosen for its symbolism of humility as well as identification with the proletariat class. This was in light of criticisms upon the announcement of its inception that the College would perpetuate elitism. Consequently, the colour grey was chosen for the uniform to remind students of the College of their duty to Serve the Nation with Honour, and the need to be humble and respectful of others irrespective of their educated background. The metal epaulettes on the other hand symbolise the kind of discipline as well as professionalism which one needs to achieve success. On Wednesdays which are known as 'Dress-Down Days', NJCians are given to option to don the College's white polo t-shirt instead of their greys. For Physical Education (PE) classes, NJCians are to wear their dri-fit red and white PE attire. For formal events, NJCians wear their red College blazer together with their white shirts, red College ties, grey pants or skirts and black leather or court shoes. The colour red was chosen for the College blazer, conceptually to make NJCians stand out from a crowd. Traditionally, the staff had to don themselves in blue and white along with their blue College ties for the male staff to distinguish them. This practice, however, was discontinued in the 1980s and the staff today only don white and blue on certain formal College events. Special Programmes offered by the CollegeArt Elective ProgrammeThe Art Elective Programme (AEP) was first started in Singapore at NJC in 1985, and is specially designed for artistically-talented students. It aims to expand their knowledge and appreciation of art, through various studies in art history and practical projects exploring the different forms of art. Students who excel in AEP at the 'O' level(in secondary school) are also encourage to continue the programme at 'A' Level. It is also available to students who have done Art at GCE 'O' Level or show exceptional talent in the field. All students who offer the AEP at NJC are eligible for the Art Elective Scholarship offered by MOE, and will take up Higher Art in their second year of study. Each year, NJCians continue to be proud recipients of the exclusive AEP Scholarship which are awarded to about five awardees nationally. Being the first College to introduce the AEP in Singapore, NJC houses a myriad of equipment to carry out this programme successfully. This includes a multi-media studio, a 3-dimensional work/pottery/sculpture studio, a drawing and painting studio, a pottery kiln room, a Casting Room, and a Photography Dark Room - all housed in a dedicated Art Centre. Today, NJC's Art Elective Programme is reputed for producing excellent results. NJC's AEP students have performed consistently well throughout the years and regularly received top accolades in major competitions like UOB Painting of the Year, Singapore Youth Festival Art & Crafts Exhibition and Young Designer’s Award in addition to participating in arts and charity events such as the "100 Chairs" CHAIR-ity event where works of NJC's AEP students have emerged as top pieces to be auctioned off. Humanities ProgrammeNJC was among the first 5 Colleges to be centres for the Humanities Programme alongside Hwa Chong Junior College (now Hwa Chong Institution), Raffles Junior College, Temasek Junior College and Victoria Junior College. The Humanities Scholarship is awarded by the Ministry of Education annually to outstanding pre-university students who are interested in studying the Humanities. Humanities Scholars must, for the GCE 'A' Levels, take English Literature and at least two other Arts & Humanities subjects such as Art, Economics, History, Mother Tongue Language & Literature, Music or Geography among others, at the Higher II level. Throughout the course of their study, scholars will be taught by specialised tutors to encourage critical thinking and intellectual curiosity. Humanities Scholars are eligible for undergraduate scholarships to continue their studies in the Humanities, either in overseas universities or at the National University of Singapore. In terms of curriculum, Humanities Scholars are often given priority and wider opportunities to pursue additional enrichment activities and academic related courses, in addition to being encouraged to take up a Higher III subject in the Humanities. For instance, they were sponsored to go on an overseas trip as part of their scholarship deed, going to places such as China to study the historical, geographical and literary aspects of the Chinese society. The 'Humanities class' thus gets more chances to head for such conferences and events, although this is not made exclusive. However, unlike most JCs offering the Humanities Programme such as HCI and RJC, NJC does not exclusively segregate Humanities Scholars from non-Humanities Scholars, partly because the number of humanities awardees in NJC is very small as compared to in RJC and HCI, due to the small number of awardees as determined by the MOE selection board which is comparable or greater to other Humanities centres such as TJC, VJC and ACJC. However, this trend is reversing since the 2006 batch of students, and there are currently enough Humanities Scholars to form a sizeable class. Generally, both IP and Mainstream NJC Humanities Scholars generally go for the same lectures and tutorial classes as the other Arts students under the same tutors, considering the relatively small size of the Arts Faculty in NJC. Including the IP students, there are generally approximately slightly less than 100 Arts students in each cohort of approximately 650-700 students. Music Elective ProgrammeThe NJC Music Elective Programme (MEP) was started in 2007 to provide musically talented students with the opportunity to acquire a higher proficiency in music and provide the foundation for further music studies at higher levels. It aims to develop critical thinking, listening and creativity through music studies and interpretative activities like composing and performing. At the same time, it will cultivate a perception of local and global musical cultures for the students to make sense of life. The MEP is complemented by several music studios with pianos housed in the Dunearn Block (adjacent to the Art Centre), and students in the programme are put under the tutelage of specialists. The current resident MEP tutor in NJC is Mr Seow Aik Keong, a locally-renowned musician who is a Licentiate of the Royal School of Music and a Fellow of the Trinity College of Music. Student Training and Research (STaR) ProgrammeThe STaR Programme is an NJC-initiated programme, and is offered as both an enrichment as well as a Higher 3 (H3) subject exclusively for NJCians since 2006. It aims to provide opportunities for its students to participate in research attachment in both local and overseas Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and Research Institutes (RIs). The College also liaisons with high schools and universities overseas to establish summer research programmes. Students in the programme will not only be involved in advanced research and scientific projects using sophisticated instruments and equipment the College's very own state-of-the-art South Zone Science and Technology Centre (known as the Sigma Labs), but will also get the opportunity to take part in full-time research attachment with partners from renowned research institutes and institutes of higher learning. Some of the partners that NJC has worked with include:
The programme has been highly successful, producing stellar results at both national and international level as evidenced by the many top honours and accolades won at various science events. NJCians have also been receipients of the A*Star Junior College Scholarship, among others. In 2005, the College also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Korea Science Academy (KSA), the premier education institution of science and technology in Korea. The MOU establishes a sustained partnership with KSA to allow NJC students to go over to KSA for a 4-week research attachment each year. For students who choose to extend their STaR Programme as an H3 subject, they will be required to extend their H2 Science subjects in a 6-month research study in a specific area in Science. Each student will undertake a single research study and will be mentored by qualified scientists from Research Institutes (RIs) and supervised by Science teachers from the College. The students’ work will be examined under the authority of the National University of Singapore (NUS). These partnering Research Institutes include:
Sapphire Scholars ProgrammeThe Sapphire Scholars Programme is an NJC-initiated programme which was introduced in 2002. It seeks to groom NJC's top students into all-rounded future leaders and scholars, who will vie for the Nation's top scholarships, and places in world-class universities around the globe in hope of continuing the College's tradition of producing illustrious scholarship recipients and alumni. All students are welcome to apply to be part of the programme, although only approximately 60 will eventually be chosen to specialise and give more attention to each student. Additionally, Sapphire Scholars may also be recruited throughout their two years in NJC with a teacher's recommendation. In general, the Programme aims to develop:
All Sapphire Scholars are given the flexibility to chart their own development. However, guidance is always close at hand if needed as each Sapphire Scholar is allocated an experienced tutor (called a Sapphire Mentor) who will advise and guide his/her charge so that they constantly shape their personal targets and overall portfolio towards attaining the scholarship of their choice. As each Sapphire Mentor manages only 3 scholars at most, close attention can be paid to each student. Apart from this guidance, students in the Sapphire Scholars Programme will also be given further leadership opportunities and exposure to give them the added competitive edge in their applications for top scholarships and universities. Some of the activities that are organised for the Sapphire Scholars include:
In 2007, students from the Sapphire Scholars Programme and the Student Council came together to organise the NJC Leadership Symposium in March, where NJCians are given opportunities to interact and shadow prominent political and grassroots leaders who are mostly alumni of NJC. A selected number of students from other JCs were also invited to take part in the programme. Language Elective Programme (German)NJC was the only JC offering the Language Elective Programme (German). It is designed for students who have completed German at GCE O Level and wish to attain an A Level in the language. The course covers not only language studies, but also the history and culture of Germany. The College has a native German speaker from Germany to conduct the lessons in addition to planning various enrichment activities for the students taking LEP (German), including an exchange programme to Altensteig's Christophorus Gymnasium. Despite having produced excellent results since its inception in addition to producing scholars who continue their studies overseas, be it in Germany or otherwise, the MOE decided to discontinue the programme in 2007 and centralising all lessons at the MOELC despite protests by students from both the junior IP level, as well as the senior IP and Mainstream levels. Similarly, the LEP (French) at VJC was also discontinued as of 2007 as there was only one student taking Higher II French in 2006. Currently, only RJC had been given the green light to continue their LEP (Japanese) programme. Although the MOE has indefinitely suspended the 'A' Level LEP (German) programme for the mainstream and senior IP levels, the College continues to run its own internal beginners LEP (German) for the junior IP levels which leads to a Goethe-Institut recognised award, with outstanding students given the opportunity to continue at the H1 or H2 Level in their senior years. Students taking German from the College (both mainstream and IP) also continue to go on exchange programmes with reputable German schools such as Tübingen's Uhland Gymnasium. NJC Boarding ProgrammeNJC's Boarding Programme is a unique and specially-designed programme slated for implementation beginning 2009 along side other similar pioneering programmes approved by MOE in October 2007. When implemented in 2009, the pilot boarding programme will see all IP students boarding for at least one semester according to their respective cohorts, providing opportunities for students to build their identity and character, as well as for them to start and maintain a meaningful life-long network of friends through varied house activities such as drama and music productions under the guidance and mentoring of House Masters. Rigorous leadership development and experiences will also be provided and cultivated in all domains. All boarders will explore and pursue their individual and collective passions through academic non-examinable modules like “Exploration and Discovery”, where Experts-in-Residence will elevate the students' learning and extend their global perspective and appreciation of diversity. All these will be made possible once the on-going construction, renovation and development of new facilities such as the NJC Hostel are completed by end 2008, expanding the College's campus and introducing shared facilities between the College and hostel. College Anthem & SongThere are two college songs, namely the College Anthem and the College Song which is entitled "The National Dream". The College Anthem, which is in the Republic's national language of Malay, is sung on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while the College Song is sung on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is accompanied by the NJC Symphonic Band and Choir, a tradition of NJC. College Anthem The College Anthem was written to reflect both the vision of the College as well as the then nascent nation, calling for cohesion and progress. A rendition of the College Anthem can be obtained here.
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