page_title: The Chinese High School (Singapore)
section_title: Transformation into a top school
hierarchical_section_title: The Chinese High School (Singapore) / History / Transformation into a top school
caption_attribution_description: English: The entrance archway of The Chinese High School, now known as Hwa Chong Institution, with same logo on left side.Singapore. 中文（简体）‎: 华侨中学校门与校徽
context_page_description: The Chinese High School was a former independent school in Singapore offering secondary education. The school merged with Hwa Chong Junior College on 1 January 2005 to form the integrated Hwa Chong Institution.
  Founded on 21 March 1919, The Chinese High School was the first high school in Southeast Asia to cater to different dialect groups among overseas Chinese in the region. After Singapore gained independence in 1965, the school came under the purview of the Ministry of Education and was accorded the Special Assistance Plan status in 1979. It has the unique distinction of having the Independent School status in 1988, a scheme that the ministry perceived had proven successful and was extended to other top schools in Singapore. The Chinese High School remained as one of the best performing schools in Singapore, both in academic achievements and extracurricular activities.
context_section_description: In 1987, the school was granted the status of an independent school by the Ministry of Education and proceeded to implement changes to its curriculum that were unprecedented in other Singapore schools. The changes include the abolition of mid-year examinations in favour of camping trips for the school, as well as the introduction of numerous enrichment programmes in place of lessons.
  In the early 1990s, the school underwent an extensive renovation, which saw the construction of a new hall, named after the school's founder, a gymnasium, a renovated clock tower block and new classrooms. In the late 1990s, the school embarked on a consortium scheme to improve the quality of education for students. It started with the establishment of the Quest and Aphelion consortiums, followed by ProEd and Radix. In 2000, the iSpark consortium was set up for students in the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). In 2002, Quest and Radix merged to form the Ortus consortium.
  On 19 March 1999, the school's clock tower was gazetted as a national monument to mark the significance of the institution as the first Chinese medium school to be built in Southeast Asia to cater to the education of overseas Chinese. As part of the school's 80th anniversary celebration in 1999, the school's heritage centre was formally opened by Ong Teng Cheong, President of Singapore from 1993 to 1999, who was also an alumnus of the school. In addition, artist and alumnus Tan Swie Hian presented the school with a giant sculpture of a horse, which currently stands near the school field.
  In recent years, the school's reputation as a premier high school in Singapore has been increasing. In 2000, Richard Riley, the then United States Secretary of Education visited the school. Edward de Bono also once called the school "Eton of the east".
caption: Entrance archway of former The Chinese High School, and the current Hwa Chong Institution.
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