http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...-2018-20120826

RGS to move to premises across Raffles Institution in 2018

Published on Aug 26, 2012

By Stacey Chia

The new RGS campus

Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) will move to a new $50 million campus opposite Raffles Institution in 2018, finally bringing together Singapore's premier boys and girls' schools.

Yesterday's announcement ends at least two years of speculation over whether the all-girls school would move from Anderson Road, where it has been since 1959.

Their new campus will be built on the site of the former Braddell-Westlake Secondary School.

The announcement was made by Justice Judith Prakash, chairman of the RGS board of governors, at its Speech Day yesterday.

The school issued a statement saying the new premises would provide space and facilities for "innovative curriculum and programmes".

"Being located opposite RI will also allow for more synergy in collaborations between the two schools," the spokesman said.

About 90 per cent of the cost, or $45 million, will be paid by the Government.

The announcement comes two years after RGS said its present location was no longer adequate.

The 133-year-old school has been at its location off Stevens Road since 1959, and took over the premises of the former Anderson Secondary School when it rebuilt in 1993.

The campus was built for about 1,700 students, but enrolment in recent years has been around 1,800. It now has 1,850 girls.

At about 7.4ha, the new Braddell Road campus will be about 1.5 times bigger.

RGS girls have already been using the vacant Braddell-Westlake location for some co-curricular activities.

The spokesman said the new school will be a "green campus that is sustainable, flexible and future-oriented", and may be used for community engagement projects.

RGS is also planning to meet alumni, students, parents and staff over the next few months to discuss the move.

Students and alumni contacted yesterday expressed mixed views about the move.

Secondary 2 student Melvina Yeo, 14, said that although she will no longer be a student of the school in 2018, the move is necessary as the school is now too small.

"The Sec 1 students have lessons in containers because there are not enough classrooms in the building," she said.

Madam M.L. Ong, an RGS student from 1963 to 1969, felt that the move was "not good news". "When you move a school, you lose memories," said the 62-year-old teacher.

"Soon, I will no longer be able to show my children or grandchildren where I went to school," she said.

Former student and housewife Sajini Apok, 38, had this advice for the school's planners: "What I remember most is the simplicity of the school, so I hope they don't go all high-tech with the new building."

Other school families that have come together include the Hwa Chong family, comprising Nanyang Girls' High School and Hwa Chong Institution in Bukit Timah Road; and the Saint Andrew's family of schools in Potong Pasir, where its junior and secondary schools, and junior college, are located.