River Valley High Principal removed from his position

River Valley High School has been making the headlines lately, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. According to an article published on the todayonline website, the principal of River Valley High has been removed from his position. The reason behind it is that the principal is suspected of committing white-collar crime and is currently assisting the Corruption Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) with investigations. White collar crimes are crimes which are financially motivated and are non-violent. Common examples of white collar crime are bribery and corruption.

The principal, Mr Steven Koh Yong Chiah, 58 was formerly the principal of Jurong Junior College for 9 years. Mr Koh has been replaced by Mrs Teo Khin Hiang, 54, who was formerly the Deputy Director of the Programme Coordination Office in MOE HQ, and once served as the Principal of the Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the Arts (STAR). So far, no one is clear what Mr Steven Koh is being investigated for as the authorities have not released many details regarding the matter.

Making the news but not for the right reasons

Located in Jurong West, River Valley High School is one of the top schools in Singapore. It has produced numerous notable alumni ranging from politicians such as Ang Mong Seng and Goh Meng Seng to actors like Kym Ng and Marcus Chin and even Singapore’s top blogger Xiaxue. However the school has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. Earlier in the year, Chua Ren Cheng, a former Head of Department at River Valley High school made the headlines for having sex with an underage prostitute. Now, the scandal involving Mr Steven Koh deals another heavy blow to the school’s reputation. However despite the controversy, River Valley High seems to be coping well. MOE Cluster Superintendent Priscilla Chan has assured the parents and students of River Valley High that the school will function as per normal.

Not your conventional principal

This is however not the first time Mr Steven Koh has raised eyebrows. During his stint as the principal, he made some rather controversial decisions after being appointed as the principal in December 2009. At the start of the year, Mr Koh caused controversy when he introduced an initiative for every teacher and student to get an iPad for school. This raised concerns among parents as some of them were worried about the cost of the pricey Apple gadget. Mr Koh did say however that it was not a must to get the iPad and students with financial difficulties can be granted subsidies or lent an iPad for free.

Mr Steven Koh also introduced commercialisation into the school when he secured an agreement with a sporting goods company called Li-Ning. This agreement resulted in the school’s Physical Education T-shirts displaying the Li Ning logo and banners and other forms of advertisement were placed within the school’s premises.

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