Opinions of the Primary School Registration System
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mummy168:
Imagine if your great grandmother, your grandmother and your mother, and you and your girl all go to the same primary school. And the primary school is filled with people with similar traits. No other person could get in because school is 100% filled up at P2A. The whole family tree will share the same value shaped by the school. And this scenerio is replicated in the whole school population and all sing the same song. There is no opportunity of cross fertilisation of ideas with people outside this group in the whole primary education. The end result will be an elitist group or an in group or an exclusive group, whatever term you wanna call it. And how could the parent who is a part of the equation guide the child in not having the 'elitist' value? Herein lies the entrenchment of classes in the current pri sch registration system.
:!: -
tankee:
Is it alright for top schools to be consistently >60% filled by end of 2A? Leaving the rest of the interested public to fight over the rest?mummy168:
Imagine if your great grandmother, your grandmother and your mother, and you and your girl all go to the same primary school. And the primary school is filled with people with similar traits. No other person could get in because school is 100% filled up at P2A. The whole family tree will share the same value shaped by the school. And this scenerio is replicated in the whole school population and all sing the same song. There is no opportunity of cross fertilisation of ideas with people outside this group in the whole primary education. The end result will be an elitist group or an in group or an exclusive group, whatever term you wanna call it. And how could the parent who is a part of the equation guide the child in not having the 'elitist' value? Herein lies the entrenchment of classes in the current pri sch registration system.
Your argument is hypothetical. First schools are not fully filled at phase 2a, secondly, children of staff are qualified for earlier phase too.
I'm not saying I know what the right number should be, but this seems uncomfortably high in my view. Has there been any public discourse on this issue? I don't think one should just sweep it under the carpet and say 'that's life, get on with it'. I use that phrase quite often, but here is a situation where I think more thought needs to be applied. -
janet_lee88:
I don't think there are many schools attended by great grandmother & grandmother are still around. In those days, not many families can afford to send children to school, not to say girls. Also, if you are staying far from the school, I don't think many parents will send the kids there either...there will still be, but they will consider the distance.
I am using girls for my example. It could jolly well be boys. If the pri school sy is to stay, the scenerio I paint could really happen in your great grandchildren time! -
mummy168:
I am using girls for my example. It could jolly well be boys. If the pri school sy is to stay, the scenerio I paint could really happen in your great grandchildren time!
Honestly, do you think it's worthwhile to think so far ?
Those parents who are old boys/girls may want to send their kids back to their former school, but let's say daddy wants to send his sons back to his former school but has 2 daughters ? -
hquek:
Govt can only do so much. One can argue that (for example) clan members shouldn't get priority to enter a school. But in the first place, how and why was the school set up in the past? Becos clan members got together.If one doesn't give say, catholics a 'better' chance to get into a catholic school - instead it becomes inundated with 'non-believers', does it not dilute their original purpose?May as well rename all schools to abc govt primary then. Why keep the history if there is no intention to recall the roots?.
The schools were set up by the clans, the religious groups to meet the needs of the community during the 60s. Then we were fighting for survival. Time has changed and with it our social structure. Policies set have also to change to accomodate the change in our society. Schools could not be run as a'religious' entity.
If the catholic schools are to be filled up with all catholic, the christian schools all christian and the buddhist schools all buddhist, that's when our fragile social cohesion may be broken. Experience from other coutries have shown that people fight and kill over religion....the riots, the burnings... With no interaction with the other religions coupled with the multi racial structure of our soceity, tensions could easily arise. -
mummy168:
If those institutions were entirely private entities, they are free (almost) to do what they wish with admissions policy. However, last time I checked, they are still at least partially funded from taxpayers monies, which implies that admissions should be non-discriminatory in the majority. Some special interest admissions, yes, but to have the majority of admissions slots locked away from the general public? TUR>60% at end of 2A? Even before application of church/clan based admissions? How is that fair?The schools were set up by the clans, the religious groups to meet the needs of the community during the 60s. Then we were fighting for survival. Time has changed and with it our social structure. Policies set have also to change to accomodate the change in our society. Schools could not be run as a'religious' entity.
If the catholic schools are to be filled up with all catholic, the christian schools all christian and the buddhist schools all buddhist, that's when our fragile social cohesion may be broken. Experience from other coutries have shown that people fight and kill over religion....the riots, the burnings... With no interaction with the other religions coupled with the multi racial structure of our soceity, tensions could easily arise. -
mummy168:
Imagine if your great grandmother, your grandmother and your mother, and you and your girl all go to the same primary school. And the primary school is filled with people with similar traits. No other person could get in because school is 100% filled up at P2A. The whole family tree will share the same value shaped by the school. And this scenerio is replicated in the whole school population and all sing the same song. There is no opportunity of cross fertilisation of ideas with people outside this group in the whole primary education. The end result will be an elitist group or an in group or an exclusive group, whatever term you wanna call it. And how could the parent who is a part of the equation guide the child in not having the 'elitist' value? Herein lies the entrenchment of classes in the current pri sch registration system.
Ok, so it might happen. But think about it - a good school is built by its former students' successes. Due credit should be given, and it is simply not right to take away their opportunity to continue proud traditions and walk in their father's or mother's footsteps in the name of equality. Frankly, if I am denied the opportunity to study in the same school as my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, I would be very sad.
There is a good reason for it too. Not only did I break with tradition through no fault of mine, I might be forced to enter a school that is totally unfamiliar to me, sharing none of the values that I have been brought up with, and be totally miserable. I'd be an outcast just because some others wanted a space in the perceived \"in\" group.
It's akin to the government declaring that in the name of equality and integration, some Chinese cannot celebrate CNY and must celebrate Hari Raya or Deepavali.
Yes, I acknowledge it's unfair from the point of view of someone who is trying to get in. But we cannot right a wrong with another wrong. -
3Boys:
If those institutions were entirely private entities, they are free (almost) to do what they wish with admissions policy. However, last time I checked, they are still at least partially funded from taxpayers monies, which implies that admissions should be non-discriminatory in the majority. Some special interest admissions, yes, but to have the majority of admissions slots locked away from the general public? TUR>60% at end of 2A? Even before application of church/clan based admissions? How is that fair?
Why is it unfair? As you mentioned, some schools (eg. mission-aided) are only partially funded by taxpayers monies. They rely on private donations to keep the school running, and many of the donors are ex-students. -
Perhaps a possible reason why the school-home distance factor is not given much weightage in the registration process is the difficulty, if not impossible, to different those who really stay near a school throughout the 6 years, and those just used the address to get in.
do we fault a family if they decided to shift after their child started pri 1? what if it is pr 3? 5? 6?
how do we tell whether the family is really staying there? do we fault them if they do stay there over the weekends? or only during schooldays? or ā¦
The other factors that are used, are much more certain and verifiable. -
mummy168:
Sharing my personal experience, I graduated from a catholic pri sch in the early 80s. I know that catholics were in fact the minority group in my alma mater. I believe this scenario still holds true for many mission schs today. So to me, the hypothesis that only christians will study in a christain sch and buddhists in a buddhists sch simply does not hold water based on my personal experience.
If the catholic schools are to be filled up with all catholic, the christian schools all christian and the buddhist schools all buddhist, that's when our fragile social cohesion may be broken. Experience from other coutries have shown that people fight and kill over religion....the riots, the burnings... With no interaction with the other religions coupled with the multi racial structure of our soceity, tensions could easily arise.
Secondly, the implied msg that students of mission schs do not mix with people with different religions outside of sch life also seems to be an over zealous interpretation of the situation to me.
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