A JUNIOR college (JC) that will open in 2017 forstudents from three new Integrated Programme(IP) schools will operate at an interim campus atthe current Institute of Technical EducationCollege Central (Bishan campus).

The new JC will also admit students fromother secondary schools who have completedtheir O levels, said the Education Ministry in

response to queries from The Straits Timesyesterday.

It will house IP students from Catholic HighSchool, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School andSingapore Chinese Girls’ School, who will spendtheir first four years in their respective secondaryschools. They will spend the final two years oftheir IP programme at the new JC.

“The interim campus will be fully furnishedand equipped with the necessary resources forstudents to fully benefit from an enriched IPcurriculum,” said a ministry spokesman.

More details will be released later.The new JC joins 12 others, with Innova JC in

Woodlands being the most recent addition in2005.

By KEZIA TOHand PRISCILLA GOY

AT HOME, 12-year-old Ryan Ang getsbusy with his hands – fiddling withcomic figurines and taking apart tele-phone sets – to the exasperation of hismother, secretary Shirley Ng, 39.

The New Town Primary pupil wastransfixed when he saw students tak-ing apart and fixing a bicycle at CrestSecondary’s open house.

“I like to fix things and movearound during class because it makeslessons interesting,” said Ryan, whohad a score of 141 in the PrimarySchool Leaving Examination this year.

Yesterday, he was one of 200 stu-dents who reported to Crest Second-ary, the first specialised school for stu-dents in the Normal (Technical)stream. The school in Jurong Eastreceived more than 300 applications.

The school is unusual because it isthe first to take in only Normal (Tech-nical) students, who include the leastacademically inclined.

At the end of four years at theschool, students will graduate with anN-level certificate. On top of that,they will also have an ITE Skills Certifi-cate which will enable them to take arelated course at the Institute of Tech-nical Education (ITE), or they canchoose to join the workforce.

Crest will offer English, mathemat-ics and ITE modules in lower second-ary classes. Students go on to special-ise in an ITE skills certification at theupper secondary level in one of fourareas – facility services, mechanicalservicing, retail services or hospitalityservices.

The school does not specify a PSLEcut-off score but evaluates an appli-cant’s potential to gain from askills-based, practice-oriented curricu-lum. Applicants had to state their in-terests and aspirations and how theywould achieve them. Some had writ-ten, for example, that they enjoy fix-ing objects, or shared their fear ofmathematics or love for music, saidCrest principal Frederick Yeo.

“We’re not looking for perfect Eng-lish... reading some of these reflectstheir sincerity and helped us to under-stand a bit more about a child,” he add-ed.

Teachers will visit each student’shome in the first term of the upcom-ing year to touch base with his family,said Mr Yeo. Class sizes are also small-er: about 20 per class, compared withmore than 30 in mainstream schools.

Yesterday also marked the firsttime that six schools were welcomingIntegrated Programme (IP) studentseven as they continue to offer thenon-IP route.

They are Catholic High School,CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, Meth-odist Girls’ School, Singapore ChineseGirls’ School, St Joseph’s Institutionand Temasek Junior College.

Academically stronger studentswho take the IP will proceed directlyto sit the A levels or the InternationalBaccalaureate (IB) diploma at the endof six years, skipping the O levels tospend more time on broader learning

experiences like research attachmentsand field trips.

The six schools join 12 otherschools which offer IP.

Of the 380 Secondary 1 students inSJI, 125 are in the IP batch, saidvice-principal Malcolm Wong. Theschool’s cut-off score is 245, up from242 last year.

The cut-off score has also risen atsome other popular schools. At RafflesInstitution, it rose from 261 last yearto 263. At Methodist Girls’ School, thecut-off score climbed by one point to251 for the non-IP course. It is 257 forthe IP course.

It took in 270 Secondary 1 studentsyesterday, of whom 60 are in the IP.

Some students said the allure of theIP is hard to resist. Gayle Ho, 12, whowill join the programme at MGS, said:“It’s more project-based and is moresuitable to my style, whereas othersmay not like working in teams withpeople.”

keziatoh@sph.com.sggoyshiyi@sph.com.sg

New junior college for IP students to open in 2017

Sec 1 student Haziq Isnin and hismother, Ms Haslina Muhamad, at CrestSecondary (left). MGS student GayleHo (above) is looking forward to her IPcourse. PHOTOS: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE

STRAITS TIMES, SEAH KWANG PENG

Crest Secondary all set for maiden intakeof Normal (Technical) students next year

Secondarystudentsreport totheir schools

F R I D A Y , D E C E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 HHOOMMEE B11