EDUCATION SINGAPORE BOOK OF RECORDS


Schools/JCs First Schools


Sir Stamford Raffl es founded the Singapore Institution in 1823, at Bras Basah Road. The fi rst students were six boys and six girls. The school’s name was changed to Raffl es Institu- tion in 1868. Prior to Raffl es’ initiative, there were Malay schools, a small missionary school, three small Chinese schools and an English school with an enrolment of 48. Raffl es said he was ‘thoroughly dissatisfi ed with these meagre facilities’, which made him start the school.


First Methodist Girls’ School


Sophia Blackmore, an Australian, was the fi rst single female missionary to be sent to Singapore by the Methodist Episcopal Church. She came to Singapore in 1887. She started the Methodist Girls’ School in Short Street with nine Indian girls and a year later, the Fairfi eld Methodist Girls’ School. In 1890, she opened the Nind Home for Women’s Work. She left Singapore in 1928 and died in Australia in 1946.


First Girls’ School First Convent School


The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) on Victoria Street was founded in 1852 by Father Jean-Marie Beurel to provide a proper education for girls in the settlement, a refuge for orphans and to teach them the Catholic faith. The very fi rst teachers came from France, under the leadership of Mother St Mathilde.


St Margaret’s School was founded in 1842 by Mrs Maria Dyer, a missionary with the London Missionary Society. The school which began as a shelter for young girls sold in the streets, and gave girls from poor families the opportunity to have a free education. Originally located at a shophouse in North Bridge Road, the primary school moved to River Valley Road and later Sophia Road. A secondary school was built in Farrer Road in 1957.


First Individual Sponsor Of A School


The Chui Eng Free School for boys in the Hok- kien community was also known as the Chi- nese Free School. It was built in 1854 at Amoy Street, endowed by Tan Kim Seng, a wealthy local merchant. It closed down in 1954.


First English-Medium Boys’ School Founded By Chinese


First Methodist Boys’ School


Anglo-Chinese School was founded on 1 Mar 1886 by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham, as an extension of the Protestant Church. Its fi rst location was a shophouse at 70 Amoy Street with a total of 13 pupils. The name of the school came from the fact that it conducted lessons in English of night and Chinese in the afternoon.


Anglican School For Boys was fi rst founded in the 1850s as a private school in Chin Chew Street by Sim Quee and Tye Kim. On 8 Sep 1862, it became St Andrew’s School and func- tioned with Sim Quee as the fi rst headmaster. The next year St Andrew’s Church Mission took over the school and it moved to its new premises at Upper Hokkien Street.


First English-Medium Girls’ School Founded By Chinese


The Singapore Chinese Girls’ School is an all-girls school, founded in July 1899 by some Straits Chinese, including Dr Lim Boon Keng and Sir Song Ong Siang, who struggled for English education amongst the conservative Chinese community. It started at premises in Hill Street, which later became the Central Fire Station. In 1923, the school moved to Emerald Hill, originally the family home of Dr Lim.


First Bilingual School


Gan Eng Seng,


a Chinese ethnic leader, labour contractor and a landed proprietor began the Anglo- Chinese Free School in 1885. In 1889, he paid for the construction of a new building at the Junction of Telok Ayer Street and Cecil Street. Anglo-Chinese Free School was renamed Gan Eng Seng School in 1893 and became a government school in 1938. The school was the only one established and maintained by a local citizen with a gift of freehold property, and adequate funding until his death. It was the fi rst school to provide boys with a bilingual education. It was also the fi rst to form a parent-teacher association.


First Chinese Stream Government Secondary School


Founded in 1956, River Valley High School was the fi rst Chinese secondary school set up by the government. It was initially known as the Singapore Government Chinese Middle School.


First Chinese Stream Secondary School


In 1918, Tan Kah Kee founded the fi rst Chinese secondary school in Singapore - the Nanyang Chinese High School. It opened in Mar 1919. Originally located at Niven Road, it moved to a bigger premise at Bukit Timah Road six years later.


First School To Use Mandarin


Tao Nan School is the fi rst Chinese school to change the medium of instruction from dialect to Mandarin. The Hokkien Clan Association started Tao Nan School on 18 Nov 1906. With generous support from the Hokkien com- munity, a school was constructed at Armenian Street in 1911. Among the teachers were philanthropist Lee Kong Chian and artist Pan Shou. In 1982, the school moved to Marine Parade, while the Armenian Street premise was converted into the Asian Civilisations Museum.


Founder Of Most Schools


Tan Kah Kee, one of Singapore’s fi rst rubber barons, was a champion of education. Among the schools he


founded in Singapore are Chinese High (now Hwa Chong Institution), Tao Nan, Ai Tong, Chong Fu, Kong Hwa and Nan Chiau. He also founded and fi nanced several schools in his native Jimei in China. In 1921, he set up the Xiamen University.


First School With Centralised Clock And PA System


The Tuan Mong School at Tank Road was the fi rst to have a ‘master clock system’ in 1960, which controlled clocks in 48 classrooms, can- teens and halls, setting off chimes according to the school timetable. Initiated by public- spirited Teochew clan leaders with an aim to provide free education, the school building was the fi rst school in Malaya to include a built-in two-way public address system with an inter-communication unit, which enabling communication between the headmaster and his students. The school was closed in 1994 due to falling enrolment.


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