PRIMARY 1 PHASE 2C REGISTRATION (Balloting)

Dr John Chen Seow Phun asked the Minister for Education (a) how many schools and what percentage of the total number of schools in the new towns had to conduct balloting in their Phase 2C registration for Primary I (1991); and (b) how many children and what percentage of the total number of children were unsuccessful in the balloting.

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Dr Tay Eng Soon) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I also use this opportunity to answer the next Question by Dr John Chen which is related to this Question?

Mr Speaker: Yes.

Dr Tay Eng Soon: Sir, Chongfu Primary School in Yishun New Town closed registration at Phase 2B. Parents of children who were eligible for later phases were directed to register their children at nearby schools.

The Ministry builds schools according to the national population level, its distribution across the island and the proportion that is of school-going age. Based on these parameters, there will be a sufficient number of schools for children seeking entry into Primary 1 in the coming years. However, the Ministry is studying the situation and intends to locate more schools in the newer HDB estates which have a higher concentration of young families.

Sir, in reply to Dr John Chen's Question on Phase 2C, 28 schools (23.7%) out of 118 schools in the 17 HDB new towns conducted balloting for children who registered in these schools under that phase.

Out of 5,768 children registered in the 28 schools under Phase 2C, 3,872 (67.1%) were admitted to the schools and 1,896 (32.9%) were unsuccessful in the balloting.