PRIMARY 1 REGISTRATION (Criteria)

PRIMARY 1 REGISTRATION

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(Criteria): **

19.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Education with respect to the primary 1 registration exercise, (a) what are the factors considered; (b) what is the importance and priority given to the students' welfare, travelling time and expenses, with respect to other factors; (c) for the last three years, what is the number of primary 1 students who have to travel more than 1 km, 2 km and 3 km to their schools because they were not allocated a place in the schools in the vicinity of their homes; and (d) what are the measures taken to ensure that students within a certain radius of the schools can be enrolled in the schools, to ensure minimum travelling time, expense and inconvenience for these students.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The Primary One Registration framework gives children priority according to factors such as the distance of the home from the school, the convenience of being in the same school as a sibling and parents' preference with regard to the ethos and traditions of the school. In addition, it gives appropriate recognition to parents who are alumni or connected to the school through the founding community of the school, and to parents who provide voluntary service in the school. Doing so allows us to build stronger bonds within the community.

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The framework strikes a balance between these factors. Phase 1 of the Primary One Registration Exercise is for children with a sibling studying in the school for the convenience of the family. Phase 2A and 2B recognise the services contributed by the parents to the school community and parents' preference to place their children in the school that either they or their other children have attended. Phase 2C provides places for the remaining children who are Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents.

Priority within each phase is accorded to children living nearer to the school. For instance, within Phase 2A and 2B, a child living within 1 km of the school will have higher priority compared to another living beyond 1 km from the school. For eligible children who have been unsuccessful in registering by Phase 2C, MOE will help them look for a school near their home.

In the last three Primary One Registration Exercises, for admission between 2004 and 2006, most children got a place in a school within 2 km from their home unless their parents chose to send them to a school further away. About 21% of parents specifically chose to send their children to schools beyond 2 km from their homes. This is not surprising. For some parents, distance is not the deciding factor. Choosing a school for its traditions/ethos and having siblings in the same school are often more important considerations. For parents who did not opt for a first choice school outside of 2 km from the home, the vast majority (95%) obtained places for their children within 2 km from home.

In total, over 98% of the children in the last three years' registration exercises were either admitted to a school within 2 km from their home or admitted to a first-choice school outside 2 km. Some of the remaining 2% would however have been cases where the parents chose a second choice school outside of 2 km, in preference to a school within 2 km.

Even though the Primary One Registration Exercise, for admission in 2006, has ended, there are still about 5,000 Primary One places available. The 5,000 places are spread out across some 50% of our primary schools all over Singapore. Most parents who wish to register their children in a school near their home would have a school to choose from.

MOE will continue to ensure that there are sufficient places in our schools, both on a nationwide and regional basis, for all our children. We monitor closely the trends in the number of school-going children in each area. Where there is a build-up of potential demand, new schools will be built - although this can never be a precise exercise as population movements are not always predictable a number of years in advance. We are currently building six new schools in various estates with a growing school-going population, such as Sengkang, Punggol, Bukit Panjang, Woodlands and Sembawang.

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