Raffles Institution (RI) and Hwa Chong Institution
(HCI) will each be getting a new principal next year.
They are among 61 schools - from primary schools to
junior colleges - involved in the Ministry of Education (MOE)
annual reshuffle exercise.
Sixteen schools will have first-time principals.
In a statement on Friday (Oct 13), the MOE said the
appointment of these new principals represents an important career
milestone with the 16 assuming bigger responsibilities as leaders
in education.
"For the 45 serving principals and (headquarter)
officers who are assuming new principalship appointments, it is an
affirmation of MOE's confidence in their abilities to continue
guiding our teachers and students in schools," said the
ministry.
It added that the process of appointing and rotating
principals allows schools to benefit from new perspectives and
enables experienced principals to share their insights across
schools.
"Our principals will have the opportunity to take on
new challenges, and contribute by shaping and strengthening the
work of the schools that they are newly-appointed to," said
MOE.
The 61 schools include four secondary schools formed
through mergers - Yio Chu Kang Secondary, Peirce Secondary, Damai
Secondary and Loyang View Secondary.
Some of the first-time principals include Mr Eric Lee
Wei Tat, who will be moving from his current position as Bedok
Green Secondary School's vice-principal to St Patrick's School and
Mrs Finella Goh, who will step up to be principal of Lakeside
Primary School. She is currently its vice-principal.
Several Integrated Programme schools will also be
getting new heads. RI will be headed by Mr Frederick Yeo from next
year.
He is currently principal of Crest Secondary School, a
specialised school for Normal (Technical) students.
HCI will have
a new principal in Mr Pang Choon How, currently the director of
mother tongue languages at MOE's curriculum planning and
development division 1.
The current
principals of RI and HCI - Mr Chan Poh Meng and Dr Hon Chiew Weng -
will be retiring.
Mr Yeo, 46,
said Crest Secondary and RI may serve students with different
profiles, but they have the same goal of helping them become better
people for life.
"At Crest, we
want to enable students who are disadvantaged in terms of their
studies or personal family situations to find confidence and
rediscover an interest in learning," he said. "In RI's case,
students are high-achievers, they've done very well."
"But we want
them to not just excel in their own right, but be more
community-oriented...to connect with people from all walks of life,
and that includes Crest students," said Mr Yeo, who has been in the
education service for 20 years.
Another newly
appointed principal is Mr Tan Kuo Cheang, who will step up as
principal of Xinmin Secondary. He is currently the school's
vice-principal.
"I'm excited
because this is my first posting as a principal... I hope to
continue the school's trajectory on focusing on values and
character, and give students the options to discover their
interests through subjects and co-curricular activities," said the
38-year-old, who had also been the vice-principal of Meridian
Junior College.
ST