Review of Priority Scheme in Primary 1 School Registration Exercise

Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider reviewing the priority scheme for Primary 1 school registration to set a limit on the number of places available under Phases 1 and

Page: 141

2A so that there are sufficient places available under Phases 2B and 2C.

The current Primary 1 (P1) Registration Framework sets out the order of priority in which P1 places are allocated. This takes into account several considerations, including siblings already studying in the school, parental or clan ties to the school, parent volunteer work, community involvement and proximity to the school.

MOE reviews the P1 Registration Framework regularly, and has refined the system over the years after taking into account feedback. For example, starting from the 2010 P1 Registration Exercise, Singapore Citizens were given two ballot slips per child, while Singapore Permanent Residents continued to get one ballot slip whenever balloting is conducted by any school during the P1 Registration Exercise. To further recognise citizenship privileges, starting from the 2012 P1 Registration Exercise, MOE gave Singapore Citizens absolute priority for admission over Singapore Permanent Residents whenever balloting is required in a specific phase.

Given that the demand for places in some schools exceeds the number of available places, the issue of P1 Registration continues to be topical. Indeed, this issue was discussed extensively in the education-related Our Singapore Conversation (OSC) discussions. This is not a simple issue, as shown by the range of feedback and suggestions from the different stakeholder groups, which is diverse and, at times, conflicting. Let me share some examples so that Members can appreciate some of the complexities and challenges in any review of the P1 registration framework.

One good example is distance. Those who live close to their choice schools prefer a strict distance-based criterion. However, others feel that this unfairly favours affluent families who can afford to live in properties near their school of choice. Some prefer random balloting so that all children, regardless of where they stay, will have an opportunity to be admitted into their school of choice.

For the various priority groups, there are similar complexities. Many schools count alumni support as a key strength. Many alumni parents want their children to experience the same ethos, values and school culture that they had as students and they feel strongly that alumni priority should remain. On the other hand, parents who are not alumni but who are keen to get their children into those schools argue that there should be more diversity within each school and, to realise this, we should give less priority or allocate fewer places to

Page: 142

children of alumni. Similar arguments would be made in respect of other priority groups.

We recognise that the current P1 registration framework has resulted in some popular schools having very few places left after the initial phases of registration. Parents, who wish to enrol their children in these schools but do not meet any of the priority criteria, feel that there are insufficient places for them in such schools. As such, reviewing the P1 Registration system is a complex exercise, given the competing and conflicting interests. MOE is currently giving this matter serious consideration to see what further refinements can be made.

What is more important, however, is that every pupil receives a good quality and holistic education, regardless of the school which he or she attends. Many more parents are now investing time to learn more about the various programmes offered by Primary schools and how they can partner the schools in bringing out the best in their children. We will concentrate our efforts on making every school a good school. To achieve this goal, MOE has been resourcing all our schools with well-trained teachers, investing in suitable education facilities and ensuring adequate financial support for good school programmes.