Yishun Innova Junior College

Yishun Innova Junior College (YIJC) 义顺星烁初级学院 Maktab Rendah Yishun Innova
Address
3 Yishun Ring Road, Singapore 768675
Coordinates	1°25′28.7″N103°49′46.7″E / 1.424639°N 103.829639°E / 1.424639; 103.829639 Coordinates: 1°25′28.7″N103°49′46.7″E / 1.424639°N 103.829639°E / 1.424639; 103.829639
Information
Former names	Yishun Junior College Innova Junior College
Type	Government
Established	January 1986;37 years ago (1986-01) (As Yishun Junior College)
Session	Single-session
School code	0708
Principal	Mr Michael De Silva
Enrolment	1400+
Houses	Sagitar, Peirseus, Arius, Roquila, Kyra
Colour(s)	White, Maroon, Blue
Website	yijc.moe.edu.sg

Yishun Innova Junior College (YIJC) is one of the 14 junior colleges in Singapore, offering two-year pre-university programmes for students who graduate from secondary schools after their O-level examinations. The two-year A-Level programme prepares students for education in local or foreign universities.

History

Yishun Junior College

Yishun Junior College (YJC) started operations in January 1986, and was initially housed on the same premises as Yishun Secondary School and Yishun Town Secondary School, while its permanent campus was being built. ^[1] The campus was completed in December 1986 ^[2] and was officially declared open by Parliamentary Secretary for Education Tang Guan Seng on 28 May 1988. ^[3]

YJC was listed as one of the top-ten value added junior colleges in 2005 and 2006, and attained the gold academic value-added award for three consecutive years between 2007 and 2009. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

Innova Junior College

Innova Junior College

Innova Junior College crest

Innova Junior College, 2007

Innova Junior College was the third junior college to be established past the millennium after Pioneer Junior College and Meridian Junior College, and received the first cohort of students to its new campus in January 2005. ^[8] The college was officially declared open by Dr. Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, then Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of National Development on 2 February 2007. ^[9] The mission of the college then was "to nurture leaders and advocates with the passion to serve with honour and humility." ^[10]

Innova Junior College was accorded the Centre of Excellence for New Media in February 2007, taking on dual roles as a research centre and a new media centre. ^[11] The alumni association of Innova Junior College was officially registered as a non-profit organisation in 2015. ^[12]

School name

"Innova" derives from the word "Nova" which means new in Latin and also "supernova" which means blazing star. ^[13]

House system

The House System at Innova Junior College aims to promote espirit de corps, leadership and responsibility among students. There are four houses, each representing a constellation. The first letter of the name of each house forms the acronym "STAR", a key symbol in the college badge. ^[14]

The four houses are

• Sagittarius (Green)
• Taurus (Red)
• Aquila (Blue)
• Rasalas (Yellow)

Students represent their houses in academic, sporting and cultural activities and earn House Points. An Overall Challenge Trophy is awarded to the House with the most points annually.^{[ citation needed ]}

From 2015, the allocation of Year 1 students to houses was changed to a class-based system from the previous system of having students across different houses in each class. Each House is led by a House Captain, a Year 2 student, who leads the respective House Committee.^{[ citation needed ]}

Anthem

The college anthem of IJC is entitled, Ad Astra, meaning "to the stars". It was written by Singapore composer Dick Lee as pro bono service in 2005. Lyrics were written by a teacher at Innova Junior College, Mdm Chitrakala Arumugam, in 2006. ^[15]

Merger with Innova Junior College

On 20 April 2017, it was announced that YJC would merge with Innova Junior College (IJC), with the merged school located at the current campus of YJC. ^[16] This was in light of the declining cohort sizes since 2014, which was attributed to the fall in Singapore's birth rate. The class of 2018 was the last graduating batch of Yishun Junior College students, with 2019 being the year that Yishun Junior College ceased operations.

On 11 January 2018, it was announced that the new college would be named Yishun Innova Junior College, with Innova Junior College's principal Mr Michael De Silva being the new principal.

YIJC will move to the campus used by IJC once upgrading works have been completed. ^[17]

Principal

YJC

Name of Principal	Years Served
Francis Wu	1986–1992
Mohd Bin Said	1993–1997
Choy Say Chin	1998–2001
Ng-Gan Lay Choon	2002–2007
Koh Teck Siew	2008–2015
Edelweis Neo	2016–2018

IJC

Name	Years served
Yeo Hong Mui [8]	2005-2009
Marian Chia Siew Yong	2010–2012
Michael de Silva [18]	2013–2019

YIJC

Name of Principal	Years Served
Michael de Silva	2019–Present

Co-Curricular Activities

Yishun Junior College made sporting history in 1989 when its rugby team, formed a year before, finished runner-up to Saint Andrew's Junior College in the national school tournament. In the following year, Yishun Junior College was crowned champion by beating Raffles Junior College in the final. The debate team of 1989 beat Hwa Chong Junior College and National Junior College in earlier rounds, moving to defeat Catholic Junior College in the finals. Its clubs and societies have secured awards in the Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging 2011. ^[19]

Leadership (RaDiAL)

TheRaDiAL Leadership Development Structure (RLDS), reviewed in 2016, encapsulates the leadership training and experiential learning opportunities for YJC, now YIJC students. All students will have a place in one of twelve leadership groups. ^[20]

Achievements

IJC was recognised by the Ministry of Education, Singapore as a Centre of Excellence for New Media and New Media Arts. ^[11] Innova Junior College also offers the Singapore Ministry of Education Malay Language Elective Programme. ^[21]

Notable alumni

• Patricia Mok – actress, Mediacorp
• Margaret Lee – actress, Mediacorp
• Priyadarshini - playback singer ^[22]

See also

• Education in Singapore

References

1. Tan, June (3 January 1986). "Three schools in Yishun share same premises". The Straits Times. Singapore. Retrieved 25 December 2017– via NewspaperSG.
2. "JCs to have air-con rooms for staff". The Straits Times. Singapore. 9 December 1986. Retrieved 25 December 2017– via NewspaperSG.
3. "Praise for Yishun JC's pioneer spirit". The Straits Times. Singapore. 7 June 1988. Retrieved 25 December 2017– via NewspaperSG.
4. "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
5. "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
6. "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
7. "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
8. "NEW JUNIOR COLLEGE IN WOODLANDS". www.moe.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
9. "SINGAPORE: Innova JC goes big on new media". web.international.ucla.edu. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
10. "Innova JC". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 28 June 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
11. "Nurturing Talents in New Media Arts". Archived from the original on 3 December 2017.
12. "Innova Junior College Alumni". Facebook. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
13. Auto, Hermes (20 April 2017). "History of the 4 junior colleges moving out of their current sites | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
14. "HOUSE SYSTEM". innovajc.moe.edu.sg. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
15. "JC MERGERS: At Innova JC, a strong spirit forged from tough early days". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
16. "Anderson, Serangoon JCS among 8 junior colleges to merge - Channel NewsAsia". Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
17. Tan, Adeline (6 March 2019). "Four older JCs to be upgraded or rebuilt from 2022". The New Paper. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
18. "Appointment and Posting of Principals 2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2015.
19. "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found". Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
20. "yishunjc.moe.edu.sg/character-n-citizenship-education/student-leadership-n-development/radial-leadership-development-structure". yishunjc.moe.edu.sg. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
21. "Language Elective Scholarship (Malay)". www.moe.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
22. "குரல் இனிமையால் கூடிவந்த பெருமை". www.tamilmurasu.com.sg. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.