Opinions of the Primary School Registration System
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3Boys:
If it is such an abomination, please transfer your children out from the school. Why persist with the abomination? No good for your conscience to have benefited from such abomination of a policy.
Is it acceptable to have a semi-public institutions, who derive the majority (as I understand it, I stand corrected if there is evidence to the contrary) of their funding from the public, lock away >60% of the admission slots by the end of Phase 2A. For NYPS in 2010, its 82% TUR by 2A.
And oh, get rid of that abomination of a policy called Parent Coercion.....I mean Volunteer....
Why did not you enroll your children in your former school without doing PV - because it is not good enough ? producing such a person like you - that is why it is not popular and hence you needed to do PV in a popular school to get your offspring into that popular school ? and then said PV is such abomination ? Or was it that you did not manage to do PV in NYPS to get your offspring into NYPS, hence your harping on their high take up rate for Phase 1/2A ?
As for other primary schools which do not have such high take up rate at Phase 1 / 2A, go ask what the school and alumni has done that they remain less popular ?
Or is it that school with high take up rate means more productive parents with more kids and less popular schools have parents with less kids hence phase 1 take up rate is low ? Or they don't enroll the younger siblings in the same school so as not to put all eggs in same basket ?
semi-public funding ? you are rubbishing away past and present donations by founders, parents, alumni and existing students' parents ? mind you, these are no peanuts. By the way, government schools are fully paid from tax payers' money and parents do not need to fork out a single cent to enjoy new facilities while existing parents and alumni of NYPS must still pay 'loyalty fees' before new facilities are built. -
Then how about this - do the selection/balloting of the PV before they commenced on their duties; set aside a fixed % perhaps of vacancies for those who have made a commitment to do the PV chores and give their child a GUARANTEED place in the school - remaining vacancies for the subsequent phases.
My issue with the whole PV scheme is really how parents make that effort to spend time (and definitely in a way, MONEY in terms of time spent) and yet still cannot secure a place in the school. If that is not exploiting, I don't know what is. Its just plain ridiculous - almost like buying lottery; all based on luck! This at least takes away the heartache for many parents - not to be disappointed in the end.
to say that you need to put in a min of 100 hrs and then tell you that someone clocked 600+ hrs is almost like a 'threat'. make it level playing field and transparent. If a school needs 5,000 manhours for e.g. in terms of voluntary work, then split evenly amongst those selected to do PV.
For this to work, then I think registration will have to take place beginning of the year the child turns 6 so the parents have the whole year to do the PV duties and guarantee their child's place - anyone who doesn't fulfill the hours will then give up their space (which will then flow into the next phase). -
verykiasu2010:
I am merely helping you in your conscience.
No win hor? If I didn't do PV, then I am must be sour grapes and am bashing on that basis.....If I did PV, then I must withdraw my kids before I can voice an opinion....3Boys:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]
Withdraw the kids from the school first then come and throw bricks at the PV system.
In other words, the mighty PV system cannot be questioned or challenged under any circumstance...... :roll:
If it is your opinion that the 'mighty' (as you called it) PV system is such crap and abused by school principals & professional parents alike, as you called it 'parent coercion', then it must have pricked your conscience endless ever since your children were admitted to your desired school under the PV system -- then it would ease your conscience to bolster your argument against the PV system, by withdrawing your kids from the school. Who says you cannot challenge or question ?? By all means do so. I am just trying to help your argument.[/quote] :goodpost: -
absolut_vodka:
I didn't have time to read all the posts in this thread but I believe the TS's concern was that she felt that uncapping the vacancies for phase 2a severely limits the opportunity for phase 2b/c parents. I presume from her posts that she falls under phase 2c.Then how about this - do the selection/balloting of the PV before they commenced on their duties; set aside a fixed % perhaps of vacancies for those who have made a commitment to do the PV chores and give their child a GUARANTEED place in the school - remaining vacancies for the subsequent phases.
For parents who are under phase 2b, they would as mentioned above prefer that they be guaranteed a place especially after spending 100 hrs of PV work. Btw I believe the 100 hrs requirement is true as this is not the first time I'm hearing this. Phase 2b is complicated by church/clan affliation and GRL. Some schs like CHS has enough catholics to fill the phase 2b vacancies many times over. Even if they transfer the phase 2c vacancies to 2b, there would still be insufficient places to satisfy all phase 2b applicants.
Side track a bit, seems that PV is the favourite punching bag under phase 2b. Looks like church/clan affliation and GRL don't even deserve a whiff of mention here (I'm just highlighting the contrast here, I've absolutely no prob with these other 2 groups).
I believe parents under phase 2a will also have their justification why they should be given higher priority than later phases. In summary, everyone maintains his/her own personal view which most likely gives them some advantage over others. Since we're at it, I'm just curious why nobody questioned the need for guarantee places under phase 1a (this is a tongue-in-cheek input to close the loop only, pls don't whack me for it). -
Phase 2B is NOT just for PVs…grassroots, religious groups fall under this phase too.
Given the unhappiness about PV, it’s very simple. Either you put aside the professional status and do it or else, DON’T. Some Catholic schools do not accept PVs, reserving the Phase 2B strictly for Catholics.
Phase 1 is GUARANTEED. Parents who have successfully done PV before or else gone through the heart-pumping stress of balloting can successfully get guaranteed place for younger kids. -
verykiasu2010:
Very true. Many schools were founded/co-funded by religious groups, clan associations, parents of students, alumni, staff etc those days when there were, I believe, limited fundings from govt or the public. Without those funds, the efforts and the sacrifice from these private groups, the school may not have survived, not to mention becoming \"popular\" today that everyone wants a part of it.
semi-public funding ? you are rubbishing away past and present donations by founders, parents, alumni and existing students' parents ? mind you, these are no peanuts. By the way, government schools are fully paid from tax payers' money and parents do not need to fork out a single cent to enjoy new facilities while existing parents and alumni of NYPS must still pay 'loyalty fees' before new facilities are built.
It is easy these days to identify a \"good\" school and say I want that school for my children. While it is understandable that every parent wants the best possible for their child, it would seem logical to me that priorities should still be given to offsprings of the group of people that have helped make the school \"popular\" today.
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janet_lee88:
Yeah, the only PV I've done is as an actual parent of a child that is already in the schools. Afterall, doing PV is only to qualify the child to be given the privilege of applying under Phase 2B, not the privilege of a guaranteed place. Same for all children applying under Phase 2B - it's only a chance, not an absolute.Phase 2B is NOT just for PVs...grassroots, religious groups fall under this phase too.
Given the unhappiness about PV, it's very simple. Either you put aside the professional status and do it or else, DON'T. Some Catholic schools do not accept PVs, reserving the Phase 2B strictly for Catholics.
Phase 1 is GUARANTEED. Parents who have successfully done PV before or else gone through the heart-pumping stress of balloting can successfully get guaranteed place for younger kids. -
phankao:
So its absolutely alright for schools to 'abuse' this system and exploit those willing parties - Such a good argument! Yes, the current system says tat it is a privilege (though I can't see how), not a right but who is to say that it cannot be changed in the future.
Yeah, the only PV I've done is as an actual parent of a child that is already in the schools. Afterall, doing PV is only to qualify the child to be given the privilege of applying under Phase 2B, not the privilege of a guaranteed place. Same for all children applying under Phase 2B - it's only a chance, not an absolute.janet_lee88:
Phase 2B is NOT just for PVs...grassroots, religious groups fall under this phase too.
Given the unhappiness about PV, it's very simple. Either you put aside the professional status and do it or else, DON'T. Some Catholic schools do not accept PVs, reserving the Phase 2B strictly for Catholics.
Phase 1 is GUARANTEED. Parents who have successfully done PV before or else gone through the heart-pumping stress of balloting can successfully get guaranteed place for younger kids.
It's sad that those in the ministry are unable to think out of the box and resolve these unnecessary problems.
And going by the comments made, I assume that you are all successful PVs and thus see the merits of the system. -
absolut_vodka:
Already said that I've not done a day nor Hour of PV BEFORE my kids went to school. No point, since they qualify under phase 2B. Thankfully all got in.
And going by the comments made, I assume that you are all successful PVs and thus see the merits of the system.phankao:
Yeah, the only PV I've done is as an actual parent of a child that is already in the schools. Afterall, doing PV is only to qualify the child to be given the privilege of applying under Phase 2B, not the privilege of a guaranteed place. Same for all children applying under Phase 2B - it's only a chance, not an absolute. -
foreverj:
hi 3boys, i think u made a lot of sense and i hear the points u have put forward. however until the day someone is able to propose an alternative system and prove that the current system is not workable/ extremely unfair, i doubt MOE will do anything to change the system.
Any system/policy is subject to change or improvements......but i agree with foreverj that this is unlikely till a better alternative fairer system is found.
Somehow, experience tells me that there isn't a system that pleases everybody. It all depends on which side you belong.
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