Hwa Chong Junior College 

From Singapore Hotels & Singapore Lifestyle

Hwa Chong Junior College (abbreviated HCJC; Chinese:华中初级学院) is a junior college in Singapore. It was founded in 1974. From 1 January 2005, Hwa Chong JC is renamed Hwa Chong Institution after merging with The Chinese High School.

A Brief Overview

Founded in 1974, Hwa Chong Junior College (HCJC) has, since its inception, been one of Singapore's premier learning institutions. It is the second oldest junior college to be founded, after National Junior College, and is the first Government aided junior college.

The college has an excellent track record in academia, sports, music, culture and the arts. It is assumed that alumni will go on to become leaders in research, industry and government. Hwa Chong Junior College was widely recognized as one of the top junior colleges in Singapore in the 1980s. In the late 1980s, Hwa Chong Junior College was forced to move out of its premises in Bukit Timah due to structural problems with the building, and it spent the next few years moving from place to place until the college premises were rebuilt in 1993.

Since moving back to its Bukit Timah premises, Hwa Chong Junior College has resumed her place as one of the top junior colleges in Singapore based on the official college rankings introduced in the 1990s - she is, ranked as one of the top colleges for Arts and Commerce, and she frequently trades pole position with its present key rival Raffles Junior College for the Science stream and the overall ranking.

In January 2004, it became the country's first junior college to turn independent.

To date, Hwa Chong Junior College has produced the highest number of President's scholars among all junior colleges in Singapore. The President's scholarship is the country's most prestigious undergraduate award offered by the Public Service Commission. Hwa Chong students also take an impressive share of government and private organisation undergraduate scholarships every year. Over 99% of each cohort go on to undergraduate study, with more than 15% going to renowned overseas universities.

Competition for places to the college is severe. Every year, about 25% of each cohort of students in Singapore are admitted to one of 16 junior colleges. Hwa Chong Junior College admits pre-university students who are within the top 5% of the cohort. All 1800 students are selected on the basis of academic merit, personal qualities, and excellence in a wide range of co-curricular activities. Hwa Chong Junior Collegealso has the distinction of being the top college for two elective programmes: namely, the Humanities Programme and the Chinese Language Elective Programme. Hwa Chong Junior College has the highest percentage of students awarded government scholarships for these two programmes amongst the colleges that offer either programme.

The 2-year Advanced-level (A-level) curriculum is most demanding. School is in session 5½ days per week, 40 weeks per year. Many students vying for prestigious overseas and local scholarships read S-level papers in 1 or 2 subjects in addition to the GCE core curriculum. The academic year begins in January and students sit for the GCE A-level and S-level examinations in November.

History

In 1970, then Singapore Minister for Education Ong Pang Boon approached a group of Chinese community leaders from the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCSI) to discuss the possibility of establishing 10 junior colleges to replace the pre-university classes in the senior high sections of Singapore's secondary schools.

Ong informed the Chinese community leaders that the construction cost of one junior colleges was estimated to be S$2.2 million, and the government hoped that the SCCCI would be able to raise half of the total costs i.e. S$11 million with the government matching the contributions. Ong subsequently appointed Chen Kong Choon, a prominent business leader and Managing Director on the Board of The Chinese High School to drive the issue.

After the SCCCI leaders had met and discussed among themselves, the Chinese community leaders informed Ong that with the current financial abilities, they found it rather difficult to raise such a huge amount of funds for the construction of 10 Junior Colleges although the establishment of one to two junior colleges were more likely to be realised.

Subsequently, the management board of The Chinese High School decided to stop the School's pre-university classes in preparation for the establishment of a new junior college. In 1974, Hwa Chong Junior College was established at the Bukit Timah Road campus of The Chinese High School, under the same management board with the latter school as its affiliated secondary school. The name Hwa Chong was an abbreviation of the Chinese name 'Hua Qiao Zhong Xue' (华侨中学) of The Chinese High School, to signify its roots and the close relationship between the two schools. Hwa Chong Junior College is the first government-aided junior college, and the second, after National Junior College.

Merger

The Chinese High School was merged with Hwa Chong Junior College on 1 January 2005 after 31 years of separation to become Hwa Chong Institution, offering a 6-year "Integrated Programme" from Secondary 1 to JC 2. The program allows students to skip the GCE 'O' Levels and directly take the GCE 'A' Levels examination at the end of their six years in the school, thus allowing them much more time to embark on various educational endeavours that will greatly benefit them. Nanyang Girls' High School also joined the programme but it is separate and independent.

Notable Alumni

• Ms Sharon Au, actress of MediaCorp Singapore, host at various events, currently pursuing higher education in Japan
• Mr Liang Wenfu, composer of "Xin Yao" (songs that reflect life in Singapore)
• Mr Warren Fernandez, editor of Foreign in the daily The Straits Times
• Ms Ng Hui, Actress of MediaCorp Singapore

Getting there

Contacts

661 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 269734

Tel: 6468 3955/6466 5912
Fax: 6467 4366
Email: admin@hc.edu.sg
Website: www.hwachong.edu.sg

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