Nanyang Girls' High School (NYGH) is an independent girls' secondary school in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Founded in 1917, it is one of the oldest schools in the country. NYGH offers a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations and proceed to take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of Year 6. Students would study in NYGH from Years 1 through 4, before proceeding to the College section of Hwa Chong Institution in Years 5 and 6.
History
Founding
NYGH was founded in 1917 as the Singapore Nanyang Girls' School by Tan Chu Nan and Teo Eng Hock. The first principal was Yu Pei Gao, and its first premises was a shophouse at 7 Dhoby Ghaut.
In 1921, Yu Pei Gao resigned as principal and six principals took occupancy of the post over a short period of time.
Lee Chin Tien, the chairman of the school's board of directors, and Liew Yuen Sien, the principal, developed the school further in 1927. The school was renamed Nanyang Girls' High School in 1930 and began operations at its new premises at King's Road in Bukit Timah the next year. The school system was altered to provide three-year Junior Middle and Senior Middle School courses.
During World War II, the school premises were taken over by the British military and became a field office. The Japanese military took control of the school premises during the Battle of Singapore in 1942 and caused great damage to its facilities.
Post-war development
After the war ended in 1945, the school's board of management, teachers, students and alumni worked together to rebuild the school and resume operations at the YMCA Building on Selegie Road.
In 1957, NYGH was chosen for the NJH Face Aided School Scheme. Subsequently, Nanyang Kindergarten began operating independently in 1960 as the Government-Aided School Scheme excluded the school's kindergarten section.
In 1978, the primary section of the school gained autonomy and became a separate but affiliated school, Nanyang Primary School.
Attainment of SAP status
In 1979, NYGH was designated as a Special Assistance Plan school, in which English and Chinese were offered as first-language subjects. The school was the first to implement the Art Elective Programme for artistically proficient students in 1984. NYGH became an independent school in 1993 and started offering the Gifted Education Programme in 1999. It moved to a new campus at Linden Drive on 6 June 1999. The school's chairperson, Ling Siew May, officiated the ceremony. Nanyang Girls' Boarding School on Linden Drive began operating in December 1999.
Launch of Integrated Programme
In 2005, the school began the six-year Integrated Programme in partnership with Hwa Chong Institution to enable academically able students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations and proceed to take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of Year 6.
In 2013, NYGH became the first girls' school in Singapore to be conferred the Singapore Quality Award (SQA). It was also named an Apple Distinguished School in 2015.
Nanyang Girls' High School introduced the Humanities Programme (HP) in 2008, training students who are identified to be talented in the humanities. HP students are offered Philosophy, Advanced Literature, Advanced Geography and Advanced History as well as the opportunity to participate in national and international humanities-based competitions and projects. Such competitions include the Humanities and Social Science Research Programme (HSSRP), Moot Parliament Programme (MPP), Leadership Development Programme (LDP) and various Model United Nations conferences (MUN).
The Science and Math Talent Program (SMTP) was introduced in 2009, for students who are gifted in Sciences and Mathematics. They are offered the Stanford EPGY Mathematics Course as part of the program.
In 2012, Nanyang Girls' High School initiated the formation of the Strategic Alliance of Global Educators (SAGE) with nine other schools from Singapore, the United States, Australia, China and the United Kingdom, and organised the inaugural SAGE conference for educators from all parts of the world in August 2012. In 2014, it initiated the Strategic Educational Alliance of Southeast Asia (SEA2) with nine other founding schools from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei, and hosted the inaugural three-day regional conference learning journey at NYGH. The National University of Singapore's Department of Southeast Asian Studies was the conference partner of the event.