Petition to fire Raffles Institution principal surfaces online

A petition was started online on Oct. 24, calling for the removal of Aaron Loh, the principal of Raffles Institution (RI).

The petition, started anonymously by a person who claims to be an RI student, alleged that the principal "has continuously shown an alarming disregard for the welfare of the students".

It has over 800 signatures as of 1pm on Nov. 1, 2024.

Based on information culled from online threads, such as a detailed one on Reddit, the call to oust the principal stemmed from rumoured changes at the school slated to be implemented in 2025, which will involve changes to the curriculum, CCAs, as well as facilities.

The main gripe was that the welfare of students is purportedly overlooked, and there is an apparent lack of empathy.

Rumoured changes

For example, the rumoured changes are to existing curricula, such as Philosophy, Research Education (RE), and Raffles Academy, which will apparently see all of them removed.

There is also the rumoured removal of judo and other CCAs and the conversion of some of the merit CCAs, such as Chess and Math Club, to core CCAs.

This will purportedly cause students to lose specialised CCAs to participate in and potentially have an impact on providing students with a "holistic and well-rounded experience".

Wearing of full school uniform

Angst was also expressed over instituting the wearing of the full school uniform next year for four days a week for “identity-building”.

This apparently raised concerns that the policy focused on "superficial conformity" rather than addressing more pressing student needs.

This also led to the complaint that Singapore's increasingly warm tropical climate would be too uncomfortable for that.

Removing of air-conditioning

There was also the rumour that air-conditioning would be removed from certain areas in the school, such as the classrooms, which led to concerns about student comfort.

One comment on Reddit acknowledged that most schools in Singapore do not provide air-conditioning for students, but argued that a comfortable environment is needed to be conducive for studying.

The comment added: "RI students are very lucky to have air-con. So why the need to remove it? Does it promote national unity for all students to suffer in the heat together?"

Handling of 'racist incident' issue

Beyond these issues, there was also the gripe that the principal did not come off strongly enough in response to a "racist incident" in school.

This was after an RI student showed up to school on Racial Harmony Day in a food delivery rider outfit and a mask that showed a dark skin tone.

"The perceived lack of decisive action and genuine remorse has caused concern among the student body," the Reddit post claimed.

In the petition, the principal's response was described as "sitting on the fence".

Rumours of resignations

There are also rumours that several teachers are resigning under the current administration, likely due to discontentment, the Reddit post claimed.

This was raised as a legitimate concern that the school environment is becoming less supportive for both staff and students.

In defence of the principal

However, the online petition has not been met with much support.

As seen online, numerous comments spoke out against its effectiveness, and people questioned whether it was appropriate to put this matter on the internet instead of going to the administrators in school.

One Reddit commenter wrote that "most students in the cohort do believe that this hate against the principal is extremely unreasonable and disrespectful of Mr Loh".

Past RI students that Mothership spoke to said they would not have reacted to changes this way when they were in the school previously.

Current students were reportedly dismissive of the petition and its claims when interviewed, according to The New Paper.

RI principal's response

In response to Mothership's queries, Loh said:

The school is aware of online threads commenting on the school policies and leadership. Allegations by anonymous personalities are not uncommon in today’s media environment.

RI regularly consults our stakeholders and periodically reviews our programmes and initiatives to ensure that it continues to meet our students’ learning needs, supports our students’ holistic well-being, and remains in line with the school’s and MOE’s desired educational outcomes.

The school is currently conducting such a review in consultation with our stakeholders, including staff and student groups. RI will engage the school community on any changes when the review is completed. We welcome the school community to continue using established channels to share their feedback directly with us.

Top photos via Raffles Institution & Google Maps