Mystery surrounds ACS (I) principal’s
sudden resignation
The principal of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Dr Ong Teck
Chin, has stepped down with immediate effect after 16 years in
charge.
According to The New Paper, Dr Ong has had an
alleged complaint lodged against him by a male former teacher of
the school.
The school’s board of governors, led by former school sprinter
and Parkway Holdings vice-chairman Richard Seow, is investigating
the complaint.
When queried on the incident, Dr Ong would only say that it’s
the right time for him to step down.
He told The Straits Times, “I have been wanting to step
down for a while. Do you know I had a bypass? Two years ago.”
He went on to add, “I have done a lot for ACS and I want to move
on. Do you know I am past my retirement age? I am 61 years old. It
is time I took it easy.”
Asked to comment on the ongoing investigation, he said,”Ask the
ACS board. I don’t want to respond to any allegations.”
While some ACS (I) teachers have been informed of Dr Ong’s
decision to step down, they were also told not to communicate with
the media.
But the timing of his resignation – which comes four
weeks before the end of the school year —
has puzzled teachers, students and parents, since it
comes in the midst of the students’ final-year examinations.
Madam E Chua, 54, a housewife whose son graduated from the IB
programme last year, said the news saddened her.
She told TNP, “I’ll always remember Dr Ong for
pioneering the IB programme in Singapore.”
One of Dr Ong’s greatest contributions was starting the
Integrated Programme where students bypass the GCE O levels and
graduate with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma at the
end of six years.
ACS (I) was the first and only school in Singapore to offer the
IB diploma.
He was also instrumental in helping ACS (I) – one of the first
schools- to attain the Education Ministry’s pinnacle award,
the School Excellence Award, in 2004.
The appointment of Dr Ong as principal of ACS (I) was itself
deemed controversial, as he was a former student of rival school,
Raffles Institution.
Dr Ong, now married with three children, first graduated from
the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1972 with an honours
degree in chemistry.
In 1975, under a Rhodes Scholarship, he went on to further his
studies at the University of Oxford. Upon his return to Singapore,
he became a physiology lecturer at the faculty of medicine at
NUS.
He held dual positions as lecturer at NUS and vice-principal in
ACS (I) from 1988 till 1994, when he was appointed principal of the
school.
-- Yahoo! News