They become elite schools because they are popular. They did not become popular because they were elite schools.
And because they are popular, they get to pick the better students of each cohort because more students apply to these schools than are places available.
And because they get to pick the better performing students, they tend to also produce better results.
Merger smacks of elitism?
It is inevitable that when schools are merged or even shut down, it is the not-so-popular schools. This is a natural consequence of events.
This is because not-so-popular schools attract fewer applicants to their schools - because they are not-so-popular with students! Consequently enrolment falls when there are more places all around (in all schools taken together) than there are students. This follows from a falling or low birth rate.
In 1991, 49,114 babies were born.
In 2011, 39, 654 babies were born.
In 2015, 33,725 babies were born.
It does not make sense at all to say that the merger exercise smacks of elitism because only the not-so-popular schools are merged.
Why would you want to merge a school that is still attracting a lot of applicants in each cohort? Would you merge an elite school with a not-so-popular school when the elite school is getting more applicants than places available?
Is there a better time for merger?
There is no better time for merger. Any time is a bad time. Any time, there will always be a cohort of students preparing for a national exam who may feel the impending loss.
No merger is popular
No merger is ever popular because of the emotional attachment and sentiments involved. A merger is not a decision taken lightly with a clinical approach. You hear the announcement but you do not know what went before the decision, how policy-makers agonized over the difficult decision they have to make. You assume it was just clinical and business.
Leaders are called upon not to make popular decisions all the time. Sometimes they have to make difficult and very unpopular decision for the good of people.
Alternative to merger and easy way out
A leader that does not want to make the unpopular decision of merging schools and colleges could take the easy way out and allow time to take care of it by just leaving schools and colleges with falling enrolments to die a slow death.
Eventually enrolment is so small, no one makes a whimper when the school is shut down.
The leader will then be the winner at the expense of students who cannot reap the best out of the system because a small school population means a less vibrant school environment, fewer subjects options, and fewer CCA options.
But that would be an irresponsible leader.
No winners in a merger?
There are winners but there are no 'happy' winners in a merger exercise but there are many losers if schools are left to be (see above: Alternative to merger)
What next? How to preserve history and culture?
Between now and the 2019 is a precious time for schools and colleges about to be merged. Alumni of schools and colleges may want to make their way back to school, perhaps even don their school uniform and have a time of reunion and capture their moments in school in videos for posterity sake.
A montage of their school could be made.
Our paths meet and we journey together.
Make history together
Instead of being spectators and helplessly watching your college 'disappear into history', why not make history together?
Current students of two schools or colleges to be merged could come together to design the uniform for the future merged college, a uniform that is a reminder of the two colleges. They could come together to write the future college song that sings of their separate history and now a shared destiny.
