20 October 2006, Straits Times

For the past 154 years, St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) has been a male bastion.

However , in three months’ time, girls will wear the badge, too – but only at the new SJI (International) school in Thomson Road.

About a third of the 30 students who have been offered places are girls, said SJI (International) principal Andrew Bennett.

The privately funded school, which got the green light from the Ministry of Education (MOE) last month, had received 40 applications, mostly from within the 300,000-member Catholic community here.

But a few places have also been offered to students from Canada, Britain and India, said Mr Bennett.

He expects another 50 places to be taken up after the PSLE results are released late next month.

Classes will start in January with 100 to 150 students joining Grades 7 to 9 (equivalent to Secondary 1 to 3).

Like Singapore’s other two privately funded schools – Anglo-Chinese School (International) and Hwa Chong International - SJI (International ) will offer a seamless six-year post-primary, pre-university course.

SJI (International) and ACS (International) will offer the International Baccalaureate (IB), while Hwa Chong International will follow the A levels. The three schools do not get funding from the MOE but still come under its purview.

They enjoy more autonomy – in designing their curriculum, recruiting students and staff and setting fees – than the MOE’s four other types of schools: government, government-aided, autonomous and independent.

Fees at these privately funded schools are considerably higher.

SJI (International) will charge $15,000 a year, similar to what the other two privately funded schools charge.

In contrast, independent schools charge about $3,000 a year and mainstream schools about $300 a year.

SJI (International) has 20 scholarships available for students starting Grade 9 next year.

Each is valued at $10,000 a year and will see students through Grades 9 to 12.

Mrs Lena Quek, in her early 50s, is thrilled that her 13-year old daughter Louisa will begin Grade 8 at SJI (International) next year.

Said the financial adviser: “With a more flexible curriculum, Louisa can pursue all her interests, not just academic ones, and develop more holistically. Plus, she will be well steeped in her Catholic faith.”

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