{"id":898898,"date":"2026-04-13T13:17:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T18:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/montfort-junior-school-to-take-in-girls-from-2028-secondary-school-to-also-become-co-ed-singapore-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:17:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T18:17:53","slug":"montfort-junior-school-to-take-in-girls-from-2028-secondary-school-to-also-become-co-ed-singapore-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/montfort-junior-school-to-take-in-girls-from-2028-secondary-school-to-also-become-co-ed-singapore-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Montfort Junior School to take in girls from 2028, secondary school to also become co-ed , Singapore News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SINGAPORE \u2013 From 2028, the all-boys Montfort Junior School (MJS) will open its doors to accept girls.<\/p>\n

The first cohort of girls will be eligible to apply during the 2027 Primary 1 registration exercise.<\/p>\n

The school leadership informed parents and alumni of this development during a townhall meeting held at the school in Hougang on March 4.<\/p>\n

The plan is for the secondary school section \u2013 Montfort Secondary School (MSS) \u2013 to also become co-educational by 2034 or earlier.<\/p>\n

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on March 5 that it has been informed of\u00a0St Gabriel\u2019s Foundation\u2019s plans for\u00a0MJS and is discussing the details of implementation.<\/p>\n

The foundation oversees six schools including the Montfort institutions.<\/p>\n

MJS, in response to queries, confirmed it has informed MOE on its plans to turn co-ed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in discussion with MOE on the implementation details and have been engaging stakeholders on this,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

MOE and the school said more details will be available when ready. Both did not respond to queries on intake numbers or the reasons behind this transition.<\/p>\n

The Montfort schools join the list of single-sex schools in Singapore that have opened their doors to both sexes.<\/p>\n

Canossa Convent Primary became co-ed in 2019, while the primary section of Maris Stella High School is set to admit girls from 2027. Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) announced in 2023 that it will turn co-ed when it relocates to Tengah in 2030.<\/p>\n

Both MJS and MSS are government-aided Catholic all-boys schools in Hougang. The junior school has about\u00a0150 to 280 Primary 1 places annually.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MJS was established as Holy Innocents\u2019 English School in 1916 and renamed Montfort School in 1959.<\/p>\n

In 1961, the school opened its doors to female students in its pre-university classes, and the last batch of them graduated in 1975.<\/p>\n

In 1974, Montfort School split to become MJS and MSS before moving to their current premises in Hougang Avenue 8.<\/p>\n

Discussions about going co-ed had started in 2019, according to Mr Dennis Ho, a member of the MSS management committee who spoke at the townhall. The St Gabriel\u2019s Foundation had convened a committee to explore how its schools could better integrate and align with evolving educational needs, he said.<\/p>\n

Audience members asked how the school plans to help the boys with the transition, whether teaching methods will change and if teachers are prepared.<\/p>\n

Other questions they raised were about how discipline standards will be affected, how infrastructure like uniforms and toilets will change and how the school will manage alumni concerns.<\/p>\n

In response, the school leadership said there will be stronger pastoral support and checkpoints, pedagogy adjustments and infrastructure upgrades, among other reassurances to parents and alumni.<\/p>\n

Mr Mark Tay, chairman of the MSS management committee, said at the townhall that going co-ed will better reflect diversity at the workplaces and universities.<\/p>\n

In a co-ed environment, students would develop the emotional intelligence, communication skills and mutual respect necessary for a diverse society, he said.<\/p>\n

The change would allow students to \u201clearn to see beyond their own experiences\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Tay said the school is committed to discipline and high standards, even in this shift, and will ensure classrooms remained focused, respectful and safe for all students.<\/p>\n

Parents who attended the townhall said they were not surprised by the announcement.<\/p>\n

One parent of an upper secondary boy, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he was expecting the change, given the trend of other schools becoming co-ed and the dwindling total fertility rate.<\/p>\n

The parent said the all-boys environment, however, was a key reason for choosing Montfort for his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy expectation of an all-boys school and its boy-centric education with exposure to ruggedness was something I hoped for my son to experience, as I did in my schooling years,\u201d he said, adding that he hopes in this transition the school keeps its history and some of its key programmes like Montfort\u2019s sports excellence programme.<\/p>\n

Alumnus Ross Gomes, 29, who heard about the news on March 5 through friends, said the decision was \u201cinevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Gomes, who spent 10 years at Montfort and now works in sales operations for a cybersecurity firm, added: \u201cIt is a natural step forward to make the school more inclusive and collaborative.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

While he supports the move, Mr Gomes spoke fondly of the \u201cbrotherhood\u201d that defined his decade at Montfort, where he spent much of his time playing softball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have very good memories of growing up in an all-boys school,\u201d he said. \u201cThat camaraderie and brotherhood at that stage of life is important; I\u2019m still close friends with many of my schoolmates today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome traditions might change,\u201d he added. \u201cBut while I\u2019d be happy if it stayed all-boys, I don\u2019t see any real issues with going co-ed.\u201d<\/p>\n

This <\/em>article<\/em><\/a> was first published in <\/em>The Straits Times<\/em><\/a>. Permission required for reproduction.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SINGAPORE \u2013 From 2028, the all-boys Montfort Junior School (MJS) will open its doors to accept girls. The first cohort of girls will be eligible to apply during the 2027 Primary 1 registration exercise. The school leadership informed parents and alumni of this development during a townhall meeting held at the school in Hougang on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":898899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35916,111695],"tags":[19664,111694],"class_list":{"0":"post-898898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-junior","8":"category-montfort","9":"tag-junior","10":"tag-montfort"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}