MOE Relooking P1 registration - Too much priority to alumni
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It took me a fair bit of time to digest the various arguments put forth by many contrubutors in this hot and relatively sensitive topic.
I hve two kids and when my family first enrolled the elder one for admission in yr 2000, we knew that our kids were not be able to get into popular schs as our previous primary schs had ceased to exist. We knew about the alumni priority system but chose to ignore it as we understood the reasons behind it. Eventually, we enrolled the first one in a decent neigbourhood sch. We were satisfied by our decision and both my kids did well to be able to pick a sec sch of their choice. At no times we were envious of the fortunate ones who were able to study at better schs.
I have followed this thread closely and avoid to take a position earlier as i want to understand the arguments put forth by competing parties. Issues such as sentiment, core values, beliefs, distance and fairness were raised and hotly debated. My ds who studied at CHS(sec) frm 2006-2009 recalled his days whereby he had been requested to train the pri cohort in preparation for syf competitions. He was not frm the affailiated pri but was told to help that’s where he began to learn more about the school’s value system.
Obviously i concede that distant alone is an important factor in considering which sch a kid should study and i am a strong believer in this. Another factor such as diversity is also critical. Hence, i understand why many who are against alumni taking presidence over distance.
On the other hand, core values is a strong foundation in nation building. The popular schools with illustrious history emphasis alot in this area. On this occassion, i can emphatise why alumi priority exists. If alumni piority ceases to exists, the likes of schs like ACS,SCGS,MGS,CHS,ST Nicks,ST Andrews ST Magaret, Roysth, NYP,HPP etc may take a radical change at a much later stage. It’s virtually impossible to build back if all these schs lose its character.
On conclusion, the value system provides by the above schools are too valuable to be dismissed altogether. Once lost, the education landscape loses its character. -
really wasting so much ink on the topic
1001 for and against
so what’s next ? -
please enlighten which part of my post highlight that proximity priority is warranted? Maybe you know something that I don't know about myself?
Oh and suddenly out of no where, you create another \"head prefect\" example to obfuscate issues?
Nobody is an island in this world. Nature vs nurture.
If you do not have the genes, no amount of help will get you to the top.
Let's keep to one chain of thread to keep things from being obfuscated further.
I appreciate your hatred for the alumni system. I will not start to dissect where this hatred stems from, but by bringing up terms such as hereditary and monarchy is sensationalism. G6PD, Thalassemia, blood groups are hereditary. Period.
Alumni is simply old boys/girls club. Some may be top scorer, some may be top sportsperson, some may be prefect head, some maybe the truant king, some may have failed or retained, some may have been caught smoking in toilet, some just passed through the school system without even being noticed once......
non of these can deny the fact that they are the product of the school culture and system. Whether they turn out good or bad, they contribute to the overall standing of the school's in society's eyes. If the school produces more distinguished alumni than the mediocre, overall standing in the society will elevate. If the alumni consist mainly of mediocre achievers, the opposite holds true.
Obviously parents being parents will want their children to have the best and how do they assess which school to send their children to? (take out location for time being)
- Past PSLE results.
- Past School Sporting/Arts achievements.
- Word of mouth
- Distinguished alumni
These alumni (old boys/girls) contributed to the school during the time they are in the school via PSLE/Sports/Arts achievements. After they graduate, they CONTINUE to contribute INDIRECTLY by achieving further results/accolade via O' Levels, A'levels, Diploma, Degree, Post Grad degrees, masters, doctorates, sports medals, arts awards. Finally, these old boys/girls are ready to contribute back to society, some became distinguished professionals such as accountants, architects, doctors, lawyers, some became politicians, artist, social workers etc.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.......good PSLE results is nothing if it does not result in a well-rounded individual of good social standing.
Old Boys/Girls are Old Boys/Girls, whether they have not paid a single cent to the alumni fund or contributed in the activities of the alumni is inconsequential except differentiating between P2A1 vs P2A2. As mentioned above, all contributed to the school's standing and popularity in their own way outlined above. 前人种树，后人乘凉。
Alumni are useless? Why should they have priority over other SC? My answers can be found above.
Should a CEO pass the seat to his son? NO. As I mentioned, your analogy is skewed in more ways than one. Just to whet your appetite, CEO is an employee and being paid handsomely to do the job.
I have indulged you in your alumni priority bashing rant, how about you indugle me just a little to share your idea on how is proximity- priority beneficial over alumni-priority? I am not an sociologist, economist or property expert, but I foresee that a proximity priority system will drastically widen the rich-poor disparity favoring the rich in the long run.
I am talking from the alumni side of the fence and you are on the non-alumni side of the fence. We can never agree but we can agree to disagree.
This shall be my last post on this topic. I'll let you have the last word on it.
3Boys:
So that proves that distance priority is warranted, it says ABSOLUTELY nothing above hereditary priority. ZIP, NADA, ZERO.vratenza:
well, glad you can appreciate the humour but I guess you missed the point as well.
School staff are accorded P1 priority on basis of 1) contribution 2) convenience as an active staff member so that the staff's logistic problem of sending and fetching the child to and fro school is alleviated especially when they are of same session. Similar to how some MNCs give priority to staff to their childcare centres they operate in the same building although they open it up to other building tenent staff. It is absolute priority.
Do not forget, these staff are fully paid. They are not performing national service. Once out of the system, their priviledge will be removed. How to account for teachers who transferred to 3 different schools during the stint in public service?
I shall not take on the CEO's example because it is totally skewed to begin with.
And so the school head prefect is there by dint of his own effort entirely? The teachers had nothing to do with helping him? His parents didn't pay or his school fees and enrichment classes? He is so 'deserving' of his massive effort that his legacy passes down multiple generations? Not his parents by the way, who benefit, but him and he himself.
How about the student that sleepwalked through school, he be given the same priority? (under the present scheme) -
Hi I am newbie… read the posts with much amazement.
Would like to seek advice from the experienced people here… there is NO primary school within 2km where I live… I do not really want to be a PV or grassroot helper. I also do not have the resources $$ to move to within 2km of a good school.
Does it mean the most direct way for my child to get into a primary school is to rely on my alumni link?
Thx a lot to anyone who can help! -
Wah... What did I missed? :razz:
:siam: -
verykiasu2010:
Not to worry.. These people have lots of 墨水 to spare!really wasting so much ink on the topic
1001 for and against
so what's next ?
One correction, though.. CHS has one principal, two vice-principals, and TWO canteens hor (one for Sec Sch and one for Pri Sch). The pupils are not supposed to visit each other's canteen, except after school hours. Btw, the Pri Sch kids seem to like to go to their big kor kors' canteen, coz they say the food is tastier and cheaper there!
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Daddy
Daddy D, you show tongue again I will :spank: !
Wah... What did I missed? :razz:
:siam:
:evil: -
vratenza:
Good point.
If one singaporean PREFERS to have his child study in a popular school, he bought a property <1km paying a premium for this proximity to increase his chance of entering the school. Now we are dealing with 1) Personal PREFERENCE and 2) Financial clout. And if you add PV to the mix, 3) luxury of time
If distance is made first priority above all else, it will lead to a situation where singapore has
1) popular public schools for the rich with luxury of time, and
2) other less popular public schools for less well off.
Damn, i hate to see our Pri.1 registration process become like the COE bidding process. -
Dino_Mummy:
Reducing the intake definitely will have impact, no doubt about it, no matter which way you look at it, left, right, up, down or center.
3boys,
On verykiasu2010's comment - \"BUT this is not because suddenly more alumni started to send kids to the schools -- this is because the school reduces the intake in order to switch to 100% single session / or in the process of converting to single session\" - i don't think its nonsense!
As long as a school converts from two (AM and PM) to single session, it is almost certain, the intake will be affected. Realistically, this does affect.
Capped on Alumni - i agree. But there are other factors that may affect the number of vacancies too.
If you did not get a place, it is surely a contributing factor.
However, it is irrelevant to the discussion on whether alumni should have priority.
When we debate about priority, we're almost always talking about limited resources. It does NOT matter WHY the resource is limited, whether due to reduction of places or bumper crop of dragon year babies or whatever reason.
If the resources is not limited, there is no need for any debate on priority.
If you're talking about increasing intake or whatever \"remedies\" (I say, \"IF\"), it only affects the need for priority, which is irrelevant to this discussion.
This discussion is mainly on why alumni should have priority over other factors, isn't it? -
What you posted are \"personal reasons\", Yes.
Let me share with you what is NOT personal reason, from the perspective of MOE/School/public.
\"We give priority to the kids nearest to the school so that he can sleep more and wake up later.
We give priority to the kids nearest to the school so that they don't have to pay the increasing school bus fee.
We give priority to the kids nearest to the school so that their grandparents can look after him while their parents is at work.
\" Govt encourages educated woman to join the workforce.vratenza:
I want to send my child to the nearest school so that he can sleep more and wake up later.vicki:
so i dont see why 'too much' benefit should be given to anyone group based on personal reasons...
I want to send my child to the nearest school so that don't have to pay the increasing school bus fee.
I want my child to enter this school so that my parents can look after him while I am at work.
Any of these are not PERSONAL reasons?
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