SINGAPORE - Upgrading and construction works at two primary schools, two secondary schools and four junior colleges (JCs) will have delays of up to two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Monday (July 26).
The ministry chalked the delays down to the pandemic, which resulted in severe manpower constraints in the construction sector, disrupted the supply of construction materials, and impacted progress of a number of school infrastructure projects.
Three JCs in the JC Rejuvenation Programme, which involves upgrading or rebuilding older JC campuses to support more interactive models of teaching and learning, will see the longest delays.
Anderson Serangoon JC (ASRJC), Temasek JC (TJC) and Jurong Pioneer JC will have their new rebuilt campuses ready only from January 2028, instead of end-2025 as planned.
This is because more time is required for the sprucing-up and construction works at their holding sites and rebuilding at their permanent campuses, said the ministry.
"For ASRJC and TJC, their shift to their respective holding sites at the former Serangoon JC and Tampines JC will now take place in January 2024, where they would be holding for four years."
The move was previously slated for 2023.
Yishun Innova JC, the remaining affected JC, will have its upgrading works delayed by one year. It will relocate to the upgraded campus, which is located at the former Innova JC site in Woodlands, in January 2027.
Meanwhile, the two affected secondary schools - Woodlands Ring Secondary School (WRSS) and Hai Sing Catholic School (HSCS) - will both see a delay of a year.
WRSS' permanent site was scheduled to be upgraded from January 2022 to December 2023 under MOE's Programme for Rebuilding and Improving Existing schools (Prime).
During that time, the school was to use the former North View Secondary School as its holding site.
As more time is now required to prepare the holding site, the school will make the move to the holding site in January 2023 and be there till December 2024.
The school's upgraded permanent site is now scheduled to be ready from January 2025.
The school's merger with Fuchun Secondary School has also been pushed back a year, from January 2024 to January 2025, to minimise disruption to students and staff of the merged school, said the ministry.
Meanwhile, HSCS was scheduled to undergo Prime upgrading from January 2022 to December 2023.
During that time, the school was to move to the former Greenview Secondary School site.
As more time is also required to prepare the holding site for HSCS, it will move to the holding site in January 2023 and operate there till December 2024.
The school's upgraded permanent site is now scheduled to be ready from January 2025.
As for primary schools, Angsana and Mayflower primary schools will both see delays of up to six months.
Angsana Primary School (APS) was scheduled to relocate to a new campus in Tampines North in January 2022, with a new MOE kindergarten (MK) slated to open at the new campus at the same time.
The ministry said the kindergarten would be able to open on time, but the rest of the new campus would be delayed.
Hence, APS is expected to relocate from its current site to the new campus up to six months later, during the 2022 June holidays.
The ministry added that it would ensure the safety of all kindergarten students at the new Angsana site while final works go on for the rest of the campus.
The measures taken include providing a designated, safe walking route to the kindergarten, cordoning off other parts of the campus from the kindergarten and its activities, as well as other mitigation measures to minimise disruptions to the kindergarten pupils, such as protection against dust and noise, said MOE.
Meanwhile, Mayflower Primary School's (MFPS) permanent site is currently being upgraded. The school and MK @ Mayflower attached to it are currently operating at the former Kebun Baru Primary School site.
The school and the kindergarten were scheduled to move back to the permanent site in January 2022.
As more time is required to complete the school's upgrading, MFPS and MK @ Mayflower will delay their move back to the permanent site by up to six months, during the 2022 June holidays.
