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BEST OF MANY WORLDS: By year's end, Hwa Chong Institution will offer a virtual classroom, through which students can attend lectures from local varsities and selected overseas schools without leaving their Bukit Timah campus. -- PHOTO: HWA CHONG INSTITUTION
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INDIA and the United States are the next ports of call for Hwa Chong Institution, which has launched a quest to build a global academy in five to 10 years.
After having started a satellite campus in China, it is now in talks with the Bishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore, India and the Virginia Academy of Sciences in the US.
The Bishop Cotton school is ranked No.2 in India, while the Virginia Academy is known for taking in students gifted in mathematics and science.
Hwa Chong's satellite campus in China, set up last year, is in one of Beijing's top high schools, The Second High School.
That campus was a first for Singapore schools and is part of the Education Ministry's 'Future Schools' programme, in which five selected schools will use technology to spearhead innovation in teaching and learning.
Hwa Chong's plan is to build satellite campuses in key cities around the world, said a school spokesman.
A satellite campus differs from an exchange programme in that Hwa Chong teachers are based there to ensure that the students do not fall back on their work.
The first batch of 75 Hwa Chong students left for Beijing last October; another 300 will be leaving between this month and May for stints lasting between one and six months, depending on the programme they are on. All programmes, whether in bicultural studies, humanities or science and mathematics, have a strong China focus.
The satellite campuses in the US and India will likely be modelled on the Beijing one, in that the students attend lessons tailored for them by teachers from the host school.
The students also take modules online, prepared by their teachers in Singapore, and go on homestays and weekly field trips.
Students who have gone to Beijing say the experience gives the best of both worlds: it immerses them in Chinese culture but also puts their teachers there to ensure they keep up with lessons.
Fifteen-year-old Toh Yee Wei, a Secondary 4 student who returned from Beijing last month after three months there, said he enjoyed the interaction with China students and the field trips.
'I'd been to China three times before this but didn't spend much time at each attraction. Now, I feel like I understand Chinese culture more,' he said.
By year's end, Hwa Chong Institution will also try out a virtual classroom, through which lessons will be taught online from anywhere in the world.
Its students will attend lectures from local universities and selected overseas schools without leaving their Bukit Timah campus; they will also mount research projects with students overseas and have mentors among eminent professors overseas and partners among industry professionals.
Hwa Chong principal Ang Wee Hiong said the school wants to strengthen alliances with leading universities, multinational companies and the global community.
'We also want teachers to work with doctors, lawyers, scientists and community leaders to customise lessons for our students,' he added.
JANE NG
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