RI principal to join SMU faculty in January

SINGAPORE - Raffles Institution's first woman principal, Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, will be joining the Singapore Management University as a faculty member in January next year.

The 49-year-old told The Straits Times on Thursday of her upcoming move at an education seminar held at the SMU Wee Kim Wee Centre but declined to elaborate.

As principal of RI for six years, she oversaw major changes, including the implementation of RI's six-year integrated programme after the former secondary school merged with Raffles Junior College in 2009.

Mrs Lim entered the education service in 1986 after completing an honours degree in English at Cambridge University.

For the last six years, she has been pursuing a dual-award doctorate in education at the National Institute of Education and the University of London, and will be completing it by the year end.

In an e-mail reply to The Straits Times, SMU president Arnoud De Meyer said: "We are pleased to confirm that Mrs Lim Lai Cheng will join SMU where she will be teaching, and help us in developing new methods in learning using digital media.

"She will also be spending some time in a new SMU initiative on leadership. We are very happy and enthusiastic that we can tap her rich educational experience and expertise," he added.

Mr Chan Poh Meng, current principal of Victoria Junior College, will be replacing Mrs Lim as the new head of RI.

ateng@sph.com.sg

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