Schools Which Conducted Balloting at Phase 2A of 2023's Primary 1 Registration Exercise That Also Had Reduced Intake

Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Education what is the number of primary schools which required balloting for Primary 1 registration in Phase 2A in 2023 which also had its intake reduced compared to 2003.

Over the past two decades, the school landscape has evolved significantly to better support the educational needs of our students. Besides building new primary schools in growing towns, the Ministry of Education (MOE) also moved all primary schools from double session to single session and reduced class sizes at the Primary 1 and 2 levels to 30 per class. We also merged and relocated schools as well as reduced the intake of some schools, in line with the falling cohort size and demand in that area.

In recent years, MOE has been making changes to the Primary 1 Registration Framework. For example, from the 2018 Primary 1 Registration Exercise, children who were enrolled in the MOE Kindergarten located in the primary school became eligible for Phase 2A2 to facilitate their transition into that primary school; and from the 2022 Primary 1 Registration Exercise, we ring-fenced more places for Phase 2C and combined Phases 2A1 and 2A2 into a single Phase 2A. These changes were made to allow more children without prior connections, that is, children whose parents or siblings need not have studied in the school, a higher chance of gaining admission to the school at the Primary 1 Registration Exercise.

Therefore, to the Member's question, it would not be relevant to try to make links between one move and changes in balloting patterns over 20 years.