Hwa Chong Institution
Hwa Chong Institution (simplified Chinese: 华侨中学; traditional Chinese: 華僑中學; pinyin: Húaqíao Zhōngxúe) (HCI) is an independent school in Singapore for students aged 12 to 18 covering both secondary and pre-university levels. A Ministry of Education-designated FutureSchool, it operates under the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) for bilingualism, and offers the Integrated Programme (IP) and also the School Based Gifted Education Programme (SBGEP), after the Secondary School Gifted Education Programme was phased out. The main campus, in Bukit Timah, covers 72 acres (29 ha) shared between Hwa Chong Institution, Hwa Chong International School, the institution's boarding school, and the Bukit Timah campus of SIM University. The campus is markedly larger than most schools in Singapore and the region.
Previously two separate but affiliated schools, The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College, HCI was the result of a merger on 1 January 2005. The change was in line with the Ministry of Education's introduction of the IP, whereby students undertake a six-year "through-train" education and bypass the traditional GCE 'O' levels. In spite of the merger, the secondary school section remains boys-only, while the pre-university section is co-educational. Approximately 4000 students are enrolled in the school, which has a student-teacher ratio of 13:1. HCI has produced 53 President's Scholars, and it has been cited as a leading Oxford and Cambridge entry centre outside of the United Kingdom. The school has produced championship-winning sports teams, while some of its research and leadership development programmes have gained international accolades.