The history of National Cadet Corps dates as far back as May 1901 when C M Philips, the acting principal of Raffles Institution formed a cadet corps which comprised existing and ex-Rafflesians.
By 1905, Raffles Institution Cadet Corps was formed.
In 1906, the St Joseph 's Institution Cadet Corps was formed.
The Cadet Corps in Singapore during those early years was aimed more at training the youths for the Local Volunteer Corps than at making it a youth organization. The inerest level and enthusiasm, however, began to wane during World War 1 and by the end of 1916, it was practically moribund.
In 1917, steps were taken by the Education authorities to revive the Cadet Corps on a new basis. It was decided that six schools (Raffles Institution, St Joseph 's Institution, Anglo-Chinese School , St Andrew's School, Outram Road School , and Victoria Bridge School ) should each form a Cadet Unit. This time, the Cadet Corps in school would be entirely separated from that of the volunteer Corps. The aim of the movement was to improve the physique and discipline of the boys, and to inspire them with ideals of esprit-de-corps and patriotism.
In 1918, all the six selected schools formed their Cadet Units under the command of their own Cadet Officers. NCOs from various military regiments in Singapore and Wardens from the Prisons helped in the training which included squad drill, parts of a riffle, signaling and military games.
The usefulness of the military training became apparent during the outbreak of the Second World War. A large number of cadets from St Joseph 's Institution, St Patrick's School and Raffles Institution joined the SVC and fought against the Japanese troops in the defence of Singapore .
The Cadet Corps movement was revived in the post-war years.
The Singapore Sea Cadet Corps was started in 1948 with the formation of a unit from the Junior Technical School . With its Training syllabus based on that of the UK Sea Cadet Corps, the corps soon expanded to include five more school units and two open units by 1951.
The Corps HQ was a converted Japanese Patrol Craft moored in Kallang Basin . It later shifted to a PWD office, then to a petrol kiosk and finally under the Merdeka Bridge .
The Air Cadet Training Corps was officially recongnised on 14 th July 1949, when the Singapore Legislative Assembly passed the “MATC Ordinance 1949 Bill” whereby all administration and training of the corps were governed by this Ordinance under the control of the Defence Ministry. This jurisdiction was transferred to the Education Ministry in 1963.
In 1965, the Ministry of Education launched its Cadet Corps expansion programme. The programme was launched by the Ministry to meet the demands of the Republic in preparation for National Service in 1967.
In 1989, the first girls' unit were formed in girls' and mixed secondary schools.
In 1969, the land, sea, air and girl cadets and the police cadets were integrated under one organistaion – the National Cadet Corps.
The year 1969 also saw the establishment of the NCC Headquarters which is responsible for the training, discipline and welfare of the cadet movements. In 1970, the Police arm left the NCC to form the NPCC under the Ministry of Home Affairs when the then Ministry of Interior and Defence was re-organised to form two separate ministries. NCC continued under the Ministry of Defence.
By 1971, there ware 82 Land (Boys) units, 52 Land (Girls) units, 3 Sea Training Centres and an Air Training Centre.
In 2004, the NCC has a total enrolment of 18,400 cades spread over 3 Land Districts with a total of 120 Land (Boys) Units and 22 Land (Girls) Units, 25 Sea Units and 17 Air Units.
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