Junior college enrolment has decreased since 2014

SINGAPORE - Junior college (JC) enrolment has decreased since 2014 but there are enough places for all eligible students who apply for a place.

The JC enrolment figures are 30,200 in 2014, 28,300 in 2015 and 27,100 in 2016, said Acting Minister for Education Ng Chee Meng in a written answer to questions asked by Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC Dr Lee Bee Wah at Parliament today.

These figures include both JC1 and JC2 students.

There is also enough capacity to cope with surge demand due to larger cohort sizes in particular years as well as places for returning Singaporeans, added Mr Ng.

"The falling cohort sizes in recent years, which we expect to generally continue to trend down over the next few years, would have implications for our JCs.

"We are therefore carefully studying the best option for the future JC landscape. Our priority is to ensure that our JCs continue to provide our students with a good range of educational programmes and learning experiences", said Mr Ng in his written statement.

He also pointed out that there are currently no new building plans for JCs in the next two years, and work on Eunoia JC's (EJC) interim and permanent sites are on track.

"The decision to establish EJC was made in 2010 when the Integrated Programme (IP) was expanded to benefit more students. EJC was also planned to provide the Year 5 and 6 programmes for the IP students from three feeder secondary schools", explained Mr Ng in the statement.

spanaech@sph.com.sg