National Junior College

National Junior College (NJC) is a government junior college located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Established in 1969, it was the first government junior college in Singapore. NJC offers a two-year course for pre-university students and a six-year Integrated Programme, both leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations. It is among top 5 junior colleges in the country in terms of minimum entry cut off points. Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong is among its notable alumni. History First announced by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in May 1965 as a "super secondary boarding school", it was the first specialised co-educational government school established in independent Singapore for top pre-university students. It was announced in December 1965 by then Minister for Education Ong Pang Boon that a centralised "junior college" system would be established to optimise the use of teachers and laboratory facilities and to create more educational opportunities for pre-university students. This system replaced the previous pre-university education conducted at various secondary schools across the country. In 1967, construction began on the first institution that operated under this arrangement, which was named National Junior College. On 20 January 1969, an inaugural assembly was held with the pioneer batch of 572 students. The college was officially declared open by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 14 May 1970. Unlike other pre-university schools of the time, students were given the freedom and flexibility to opt for their subjects under the college's lecture and tutorial system. This resulted in over 40 different subject combinations. Besides General Paper, which was compulsory, other subjects offered to students included Art, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, English Literature, Geography, History and Mathematics.