Preserving Heritage and Identity after Merger of Primary and Secondary Schools

The following question stood in the name of Mr Christopher de Souza –

To ask the Minister for Education how have the heritage and identity of each Government school been preserved and passed on after the merger of primary and secondary schools.

Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Education (a) whether an update can be provided on how newly merged schools have begun to forge new identities; and (b) what is being done to actively live out the old traditions of each former school.

Mr Speaker, when merging schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) works with key stakeholders to preserve the schools’ heritage and identity. The history, traditions and values of the merging schools are displayed in a heritage space or retained in artefacts such as the school mascot.

Newly merged schools seek to forge new identities by unifying their school community around common values, songs and symbols such as the school crest. Stakeholders help to co-create these elements, fostering a greater sense of belonging to the school. Common experiences such as cohort camps and school-wide events are organised to build collective memories among the students. The forging of a new identity takes time and is an ongoing process for the newly merged schools.

Mr Speaker, Sir, may I ask the hon Minister of State how would MOE deal with situations where schools are merged to one entity and that merged entity also becomes defunct? Case in point is my alma mater, Monks Hill Secondary, which got merged to Balestier Hill Secondary, and then, that also disappeared. How do we preserve the heritage and identity of such schools?

For such situations, we look to what are the heritage components of the schools that have gone defunct, that need to be preserved. As far as possible, we will work with the stakeholders to capture and retain these heritage qualities that are deemed to be worthy of preserving.