Primary School Question

[Oftheseas]

What if MOE decides 1 day to extend 1km to 2km to allow more families to have access to certain primary schools & make these school less ‘exclusive’ ?

Just looking at the risk factors, not that I think this will happen but I think Govt have something greater in mind (just testing sentiment) when they decide to change calculation to boundary instead of a fixed point….

Do away with 1km and extend to 2km ? You think Govt want primary school admission exercise to turn into an Annual Lottery Draw ?

Just look at schools like Ai Tong & Tao Nan. There’s hardly 50 block of HDB (and 30% are 30/40 years 3-room flats) and low density private residential within 1km. But yet, year after years it some how have 50-80 alumni kids within 1km for Phase 2A (and this is on top of those hundreds already got on phase 1). Mind boggling, right ?

If move to 2 km, things will not just simply even out. Instead, there might be 20-30 school conducting lucky draw in every phase ( like St Nick & Cat High now) and fatally have snowball effect on each later phase. Chaotic to say the least !

 

[CaptainSGP]

Do away with 1km and extend to 2km ? You think Govt want primary school admission exercise to turn into an Annual Lottery Draw ?

Just look at schools like Ai Tong & Tao Nan. There’s hardly 50 block of HDB (and 30% are 30/40 years 3-room flats) and low density private residential within 1km. But yet, year after years it some how have 50-80 alumni kids within 1km for Phase 2A (and this is on top of those hundreds already got on phase 1). Mind boggling, right ?

If move to 2 km, things will not just simply even out. Instead, there might be 20-30 school conducting lucky draw in every phase ( like St Nick & Cat High now) and fatally have snowball effect on each later phase. Chaotic to say the least !

Our BTO also lucky draw

 

[CaptainSGP]

It's ok... Most parents groups or forums only talk about schools in Northeast/East/Central, but you hardly see any discussion re the west. Well maybe like someone said West ah is the ulu ulu low SES area people don't bother

But West side produced a big winner in terms of new launch capital gains called Twin Vew.

 

[Oftheseas]

Our BTO also lucky draw

Buy new launch condos also lucky draw

 

[Clazav]

What if MOE decides 1 day to extend 1km to 2km to allow more families to have access to certain primary schools & make these school less ‘exclusive’ ?

Just looking at the risk factors, not that I think this will happen but I think Govt have something greater in mind (just testing sentiment) when they decide to change calculation to boundary instead of a fixed point….

I think they should have 4 tiers
1. Within 500m
2. 500m to 1km
3. 1 to 2 km
4. More than 2km

Within 500m is the truly-can-walk distance.

 

[Clazav]

The most impt exam is GCE A levels as it determines which Uni & courses you can get into.

Yes but psle leads to sec sch, and O level leads to JC/poly. So they are all related.

 

[Clazav]

But very few want to buy 11xx psf, 1.1x m 3b condo unit at North Gaia that would essentially give their kids a place in Chongfu

Because even if you are within 1km (assuming 2C), you still need to ballot. Based on last year, there 126 applications competing for 33 vacancies.

 

[BeerForBreakfast]

Will your head.
And I’m still here airing balls right now with no fantastic PSLE scores or from any excellent pri school.
Don’t feel like debating this topic. Impractical and boring.
.

You don't need to go to an excellent pri school but your PSLE determines what secondary school you went to and JC later, which is a big factor to what you do in university assuming your parents don't have the means for you to immigrate out of SG.

 

[BeerForBreakfast]

I will admit I’ve never heard of Rulang. Only Primary school I’ve heard in the west are Fairfield, Henry Park, Pei Hwa & Nan Hua

Henry Park is central rather than west.

 

[BeerForBreakfast]

I will admit I’ve never heard of Rulang.

Careful and look out for the hurt egos reacting in pain from this.

 

[NiShiZhu]

You don't need to go to an excellent pri school but your PSLE determines what your secondary school you went to and JC later, which is a big factor to what you do in university assuming your parents don't have the means for you to immigrate out of SG.

No leh, I was in a no name pri school and a chao ah beng sec school before I go JC and uni leh. Still alive and kicking and airing ball here leh

 

[Clazav]

Extending will have disappointed parents but also many happy parents. Dropping will have many very angry parents, and some slightly happier parents.

Extending may help PAP win some more votes, dropping will cost PAP a lot of votes.

if it is extended, those within 1km will be disappointed but generally not enough to make them change their votes

I don't think so, if u extend to 2km, there will be many ppl cursing Moe. Within 1km changes to within 2km, on average it is increasing the number of household captured by 4 times. That will mean on average you chance become 4 times lower.

 

[BeerForBreakfast]

I don’t know that many
But I know whole streets full of those PSLE<250 went on as expected to do ordinary at best in life

What about many people who made it to middle class and even upper middle class in terms of income by being property agents and insurance agents?

 

[Clazav]

Once there was an expert who suggest to use a wider area instead of 2km, by clustering town together (eg. Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Punggol, Sengkang and Serangoon as a cluster). See https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna...=internal_sharetool_androidphone_10062022_cna

I dunno how many phases we need to have if we implement this.

 

[䏣炆玧示老太]

What about many people who made it to middle class and even upper middle class in terms of income by being property agents and insurance agents?

Those confirm PSLE<250 don’t need to ask
Feel free to let your kids grow up work in such field and good luck to them

 

[katenash]

No leh, I was in a no name pri school and a chao ah beng sec school before I go JC and uni leh. Still alive and kicking and airing ball here leh

Yes yes, uncle. Now PSLE and primary school are different ball games. Even 12 years ago, what I learnt for P4 Chinese was what the kids then learnt at P1. What I learnt for Sec 1 Math was found in P5 or 6. Now if you go to chao ah beng sec sch, you are unlikely to stand any chance to go JC. Not sure if poly can even. ITE definitely can.

 

[BeerForBreakfast]

P1 registration is not your BTO registration. There are different reasons why some schools are not more popular than others even tho they are supposed to be more popular. You only have one chance and parents won’t risk messing up that chance by joining Phase 2C if they think their chance is low. I have a friend who could enrol her kid in the school she was teaching in, and it’s a top school, but instead, she enrolled her kid in her alma mater because it’s a safe choice at Phase 2A. She might get balloted out if she were to enrol her child in her school as it’s Phase 2B. Then she would have to go to Phase 2C where the fight is even fiercer. I did something similar - enrolled in 2A because I didn’t want to risk the chance at 2C. Many people do the same thing.

Maybe you should just have a kid and try out P1 registration yourself to understand all the works and psychology behind it.

To enroll a child in a school that your friend is teaching in, is phase 2A2, not 2B as per your story so your story does not check out. 2B is Parent volunteer/Church association.

The likelihood of being out-balloted in 2AB in the pre-merger days is close to zero. Teacher would know who are the other teachers who are also applying for 2AB since in any primary school the number of teachers that happen to have children that are enrolling in the same year is limited to a small number.


https://tnp.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/how-will-changes-primary-1-registration-affect-my-child

Q: WHY DID MOE COMBINE PHASES 2A1 AND 2A2?​

A: Priority for alumni members was introduced in Phase 2A1 in 1999 to encourage stronger alumni and community support for schools.

The MOE says it is timely to review the fine differentiation of priority between Phases 2A1 and 2A2 as, over time, more former students and alumni associations have been actively contributing to their schools.

It adds: "The increase in reserved places for Phase 2C will result in fewer places in earlier phases. Several schools may end up with relatively few or no places left for Phase 2A2 registrants if priority between Phase 2A1 and Phase 2A2 registrants continued to be differentiated."

Hence, combining both phases into a simplified Phase 2A would help to preserve access for Phase 2A2 registrants, who might otherwise have no spots left.

 

[BeerForBreakfast]

Being a top school in any neighbourhood means one thing: their PSLE result is the best among the schools in the neighbourhood. I do know the stats so Chongfu is very impressive for a neighbourhood school. It doesn’t have any GEP class and most kids from Chongfu, if selected for GEP, are likely to join a GEP school. So unlike schools like Nanyang, Nanhua and the likes, Chongfu’s cohorts are neighbourhood kids who shoot to the moon and stars during psle by their own effort.

When I compare results, I compare using the non-GEP classes as GEP kids’ results tilt the scale unfavourably against the non-GEP schools. Some GEP schools don’t even produce the same percentage of students scoring more than 250 among their non-GEP classes.

Chong Fu is ranked #19 among non-GEP schools. Not in the top 10 of non-GEP.

 

[katenash]

I find that those who say things like “I went to a neighbourhood school but also got degree/Masters” are usually in their 40s and 50s and don’t have kids.

Even neighbourhood schools also have different standards. Northland is a neighbourhood school but there are a fair number of students who do very well so these kids would go JC/uni for sure. But if you go to gangster sec schs these days, chances of you going uni is low, unless you go via poly.

 

[NiShiZhu]

Yes yes, uncle. Now PSLE and primary school are different ball games. Even 12 years ago, what I learnt for P4 Chinese was what the kids then learnt at P1. What I learnt for Sec 1 Math was found in P5 or 6. Now if you go to chao ah beng sec sch, you are unlikely to stand any chance to go JC. Not sure if poly can even. ITE definitely can.

U seems to be completely out of touch with sg education.. There are so many multiple pathways in secondary schools (PFP, DPP, EAE). No doubt some late developer may not be going jc directly from sec but they can still enter Uni if they r doing fine in ITE or poly then uni. And what’s wrong with that?