Tanjong Katong Girls' School 4.31

Tanjong Katong Girls' School is an autonomous girls' secondary school in Singapore. TKGS is one of the few schools in Singapore that offer the Music Elective Programme to students who wish to pursue Music as a subject in the Cambridge 'O' Level examinations. TKGS is also sometimes referred to as the "Premier School of the East".TKGS was established on 12 January 1953 with seven classes, 250 pupils, and ten teaching staff. The school was the first post-war government English girls' school built in colonial Singapore.HistoryEstablished in 1953, Tanjong Katong Girls' School was the very first English secondary school set up by the Singapore government after World War ||. The first intake of 250 students into the school were from Chinese schools and therefore had little knowledge of the English language.TKGS became a double-session school in 1960 to cater to the increased enrollment of 1,200. It was also the year Mrs Maude Scott, founding Principal of TKGS, was succeeded by Miss See Tin See. TKGS became an integrated school in 1962, with the Chinese language. Since its establishment, TKGS has hosted trainees from the Teachers' Training Course, and has served as a workshop for Home Economics students. In the late 1970s, TKGS conducted "immersion programmes" for students from the Special Assistance Plan schools, where students who had a Chinese medium of language were exposed to English lessons in an English environment. TKGS served as a Music Elective Programme centre for students who were taking music as an 'O' Level subject but whose schools did not have suitable facilities.In January 1966, the school was expanded to include another 4-storey block which housed Science laboratories, classrooms and special rooms. A new cookery room was added to the domestic Science block and the canteen was extended to cater to the increased number of students. In 1967, the first Pre-University classes were started, boosting the student enrollment to 2,000. In 1972, TKGS won the champion title at the School Band Competition, and clinched the title at the Inter-School Debate Series in 1973. In 1975, TKGS produced the top girl in the Singapore GCE 'O' Level Examination.