SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PLAN SCHOOL IN NORTHERN PART OF SINGAPORE

Encik Harun A Ghani asked the Minister for Education whether his Ministry will build a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school in the northern part of Singapore.

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has recently announced the establishment of a 10th SAP school, Nan Hua Secondary School, in the west zone. This, and the existing

9 SAP schools, have sufficient capacity and geographical spread to meet the needs of students who qualify for and wish to study in SAP schools.

While there is currently no SAP school in the north zone, students living in the north can choose schools which are accessible by public transport, like Catholic High School and CHIJ St. Nicholas.

Encik Harun A Ghani (Hong Kah): Sir, why was Nan Hua Secondary School chosen and not some other schools in the northern part?

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: We did a study of the pattern of students who may be eligible to take Higher Chinese and we looked at where the current SAP schools are, and we decided that Nan Hua was the school which was in the correct geographical location to cater for these students as well as having the appropriate history, characteristics and community support which would help to make it successful as a SAP school.

Encik Harun A Ghani: Sir, how many non-Chinese students are there in that school and were they given a place in the school which they wanted to go?

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Nan Hua currently has 134 non-Chinese students studying in the school across all levels. This is about 10% of the entire population of the school. The existing students will not be disadvantaged in any way and the current arrangement for instruction in the other mother tongue languages will continue.