JUNIOR COLLEGES AND MILLENNIA INSTITUTE

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JUNIOR COLLEGES AND MILLENNIA INSTITUTE:

(Single intake of students in 2009): 8.

Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for Education in view of the single intake in January 2009 for students of Junior Colleges (JCs) and Millennia Institute (a) whether the JCs and Millennia Institute are ready for the students; (b) what differences will the single intake have on the students' curriculum; and (c) whether the five polytechnics will also be similarly ready to admit students earlier.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, we wish to assure our hon. Member, Mr Ong, that the Ministry of Education has been working closely with the Junior Colleges (JCs) and Millennia Institute (MI) to ensure that they are ready for the single intake in February 2009.

The move to a single intake will not affect the curriculum. The duration of the new academic calendar is comparable to the existing one, and will provide teachers with sufficient time to cover the same curriculum.

Unlike the JCs and Millennia Institute, the academic year of the polytechnics currently commences in April. We have no immediate plans to change this as the current arrangement allows the polytechnics to conduct several smaller admissions exercises after the main Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) so that they can cater to other groups of applicants, including ITE upgraders.