Sufficiency of 40 Places for Phase 2B and Phase 2C of Primary 1 Registration

Mdm Speaker, starting from the 2014 Primary 1 (P1) Registration Exercise, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has reserved 40 places in every school for registrants in Phases 2B and 2C. This is to ensure that our schools, especially the popular ones, remain open to children with no prior connections to the school. As a result of this change, five schools balloted in Phase 2A2 this year, but without the reservation of places in Phases 2B and 2C, there would have been fewer than 40 places in each of these five schools that are open to students without prior connections to the school. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Education", Official Report, 8 September 2014, Vol 92, Issue No 12.] In addition, without this 40 reserved places policy, some schools may in the future run the risk of not having any access at Phase 2B and 2C.

Home-school distance is already one key consideration during the allocation of P1 places, with priority for those who live within one kilometre of the school, followed by those who live between one kilometre and two kilometres from the school. As the number of children seeking admission in a particular year and the population in the area changes, we seek parents' understanding that even as we attempt to plan the location of schools and the number of vacancies carefully, it is not always possible to meet the changing number of students who will register within a particular school in a particular year. In addition, there needs to be a critical mass of students in an area before it is feasible for us to start a new school. But there will be sufficient places in schools that are within a reasonable distance of their homes. Our assessment is that the current criteria have met the needs of most parents well, and making further changes at this point would not be meaningful.

What is most important is that every pupil receives a good quality and holistic education, regardless of which school he or she attends. Therefore, we have been resourcing all our schools with well-trained teachers, high-quality education facilities and rigorous school programmes and will continue to do so. This is part of our commitment to make every school a good school, so that we can meet the educational needs of all children in Singapore.

Our ground feedback has been that the recent changes in our P1 registration framework and our outreach to parents on the programmes of schools in their neighbourhood have been met with good response from parents. We are pleased to see more parents taking the time to visit schools during open houses and to understand the programmes of the schools. They take the effort to see for themselves the quality of education provided in these schools. So, let us continue our efforts in this direction.

Mdm Speaker, every year, I have about 10 to 15 children all living within one kilometre of a school which are balloted out and they complain and say, "Well, look, I live near a school and I believe that the school is a good school. But yet, I can't get into the nearest school to my home. In contrast, they have parents who live further away, driving their children all the way to the school, also believing that that school

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is a good school." So, may I ask the Minister, what is MOE's stand to encourage children to study at a school near their home? Secondly, would MOE consider a policy to require parents to send their children to a school within, say, three to five kilometres of their home, so that their children do not have to travel very long distance, and that would give them adequate rest and sleep, and cut down on their travelling journey? Perhaps the Minister can clarify.

I thank Mr Lim for his supplementary question. Indeed, we do encourage parents to try and send their children to a school near their homes. And the planning is done in such a way that allows us to do so, within a reasonable distance. But the current framework of P1 registration has evolved over many years and taking into account many different needs of various parents. I think it has evolved in the right direction. As to his question as to whether we will encourage parents to send their children to a school within three to five kilometres of their home, so that the children do not have to travel a long distance, indeed, we hope that parents will do so, but I think we have to encourage parents to see the value of the schools in their neighbourhood, and this is exactly what we have been trying to do. To see the value of the schools in their neighbourhood, I am very encouraged that many more parents are doing so, taking the time and trouble to see for themselves what are the programmes that are being offered.

I would like to ask the Minister whether the Ministry would consider abolishing Phase 2B, given anecdotal evidence that many of the parents or grassroots volunteers ceased to provide services to the school or community once the child has been admitted to the school.

For every such case, I also hear many other cases where parent volunteers, for instance, have gone on to continue to volunteer many years of their lives in the school. So, I think a careful balance needs to be struck. As I have said, the system has evolved – and I think we are evolving in the right direction – let us do what matters most, rather than to try to think about how do we cut the lines further and how do we make further demarcations. Let us focus on the essential and the essential is to make every school a good school and to encourage parents to see for themselves what kind of school can best meet the needs of the children. So, let us not diffuse our effort into many different directions; just focus on doing this one thing well.