ACS (International)
Another Milestone In ACS History!
January 2005 will mark another significant milestone in our history when the privately funded ACS (International) opens its doors to welcome students from Singapore and around the region. This will be the sixth ACS institution since Bishop William Oldham planted ‘the beacon of truth and light’ 118 years ago.
Plans for ACS (International) were recently announced at a Signing of Memorandum for Privately Funded Schools Ceremony held at the Economic Development Board office on 12 April 2004. According to Mr Tan Wah Thong, Chairman, ACS Board of Governors, ACS (International) will embrace the traditions of ACS and be benchmarked against the high standards the ACS family of schools is known for.
The school will offer students an alternative course of study to the conventional Singapore-Cambridge GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level system. It will have no streaming and will offer a broad-based curriculum, with students encouraged to combine science subjects with traditional arts courses.
Its course comprises two levels - the first four years leading to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and the second of two years for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).
ACS (International) will uphold the bilingual policy of the Singapore education system, and Singaporean students will be required to take their Mother Tongue as a subject. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) will also be offered to students intending to enroll in American universities.
Public speaking, deportment and time-management skills will be emphasised to develop young adults with leadership skills who can carry themselves well.
Mr Tan Wah Thong (Chairman, ACS
Board of Governors) at the Signing Ceremony.
Pictured here from left to
right are: Mr Teo Ming Kian (Chairman, EDB), Mr Tan Wah Thong,
Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan (Minister of State for Trade & Industry
and National Development), Mr Peter Yeo
(Chinese High School) & Mr Ko Kheng Hwa (Managing Director, EDB)
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As with the other ACS schools, students will receive the Anglo-Chinese School brand of education – one that focuses on developing leadership skills and character building. Equally important would be the emphasis on Christian values and teachings. Two top educationists have been appointed to spearhead ACS (International). They are the Rev. Dr. John C. A. Barrett as Principal and Mrs Goh Chi Lan as the Executive Director. The Rev Barrett has 14 years’ experience as Headmaster of The Leys School, the prestigious Methodist private school in Cambridge, UK. An ordained minister he is currently serving as the Vice-Chairman of the World Methodist Council and Chairman of the British World Methodist Committee. Mrs Goh, comes with a vast wealth of knowledge of the Singapore education system. She was a member of the fact-finding team that went to the United Kingdom and the United States in 1987 with the then Education Minister, Dr Tony Tan, to look at schools of excellence in the two countries. During her stints as Principal of Temasek Junior College in 1986 and Principal of the National Junior College in 1989, she saw to the re-development of the NJC and guided both colleges to achieve consistent academic and CCA excellence. The timely establishment of ACS (International) is in tandem with the Government’s aim of making Singapore an educational centre of excellence, and adding diversity to Singapore’s education system. It is also an important move that paves the way for a network of satellite branch schools throughout the world. Choo Teck Long |
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Dr. John C. A. Barrett |
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Mrs Goh Chi Lan |
