It was announced in December 1965 by then Minister for Education Ong Pang Boon that a centralised "junior college" system would be established to optimise the use of teachers and laboratory facilities and to create more educational opportunities for pre-university students. This system replaced the previous pre-university education conducted at various secondary schools across the country. In 1967, construction began on the first institution that operated under this arrangement, which was named National Junior College. On 20 January 1969, an inaugural assembly was held with the pioneer batch of 572 students. The college was officially declared open by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 14 May 1970.