No Sec 1 students in 2016 for 7 secondary schools due to 'insufficient demand': MOE

Students from Eunos Primary School receiving their PSLE results on Nov 25, 2015. ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

SINGAPORE - Seven secondary schools were not posted any Secondary 1 students for the upcoming year as there was insufficient demand in their respective areas to open classes, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 23).

The seven schools are Balestier Hill Secondary, Henderson Secondary, MacPherson Secondary, North View Secondary, Pioneer Secondary, Siglap Secondary and Si Ling Secondary.

MOE attributed this to the trend of falling cohort sizes of secondary school-going children, which has resulted in fewer students being posted to some secondary schools this year.

It added that it was looking at the possible need to merge a number of low enrolment schools with another school as it may be challenging for them to offer a wide range of educational programmes and co-curricular activities.

More details will be provided in early 2016.

With the 2015 Secondary One Posting Exercise completed on Tuesday (Dec 22), MOE said around 38,600 students have been successfully posted to secondary schools based on their merit and choice.

Classes are due to begin on Jan 4, 2016.

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