Merger

"It's good news," he intoned to the 600 or so gathered at 0730 hr this morning. "We are not closing down and they are not closing down. It's a merger."

The staff had already been briefed a day earlier with the key personnel getting an earful even earlier that day. To the unbelieving ears of the 500 students, the 'good news' came like a bolt of alienating thunder. But of course, the good-natured principal reminded them, "I know you are very excited!" Excited about ... ?


... better bus services, an indoor sports hall, better and more varied programmes, but what about our popular street soccer court, textbooks? Our interactive whiteboards (IBW) can be relocated to the new school but not both principals - a new one will be appointed by MOE. What about uniforms? Do we have to give up our uniforms and put on a different looking one? Or could it be a totally new design? 

Questions aplenty swirled in the heads of those present. The merged school cannot accommodate all our teachers and that's finite. Many of us will have to be dispersed to unfamiliar surroundings and start all over again building up friendships, learning a new school culture, working with new colleagues and key personnel. Not many of us will welcome the new challenges or the insecurity, I'm sure, though there are others who will welcome the change in environment, new horizons and an opportunity at career advancement.

While enjoying my bowl of prawn noodles in the canteen, I suddenly thought about the canteen vendors, some of who have been with us for many years. What will become of them? How many can be absorbed into the new location? And the rest? They have families, bills and mortgages to pay. Did I hear you saying this is Singapore?

That's true, it's our beloved Singapore and MOE would have thought through all these nagging questions. I'm confident the solutions are already in their briefcases so that no one will lose out. 

Merging of schools is not something new. Maximising our limited resources strikes a chord with many of us. In this case, it's the huge dip in our population that has driven MOE to sit up and take a critical and look at the figures. Projections are grim - though there is balloting for Primary I places in several popular schools, the fact of the matter is that the declining enrolment in many others spread across the island is a stark reminder why we need to import talent and people.

Have a good day!