[Novena] Primary Schools

[jummo]

Oh please!!! Why all the drama about catching cheats…blah blah blah… Dont you have better things to do? Example: trying another school, or perhaps applying for a transfer to SC in year 2. It is not the end of the world and not that other schools are so bad that your girl cannot survive at all. Please be more sensible and think for your daughter and not the status of the school she will be in. You are giving unnecsssary stress to everyone and most of all- yourself.

[meekfreek]

Phtthp, that’s a good comment and worthy of a letter to the ST. Why not open it up for MOE to respond publicly on this matter. How and in what circumstances does the MOE handle "address cheats"?

[muffin]

Good luck to all balloting at SJI!

[Ninja Turtle]

jummo:

Oh please!!!! Why all the drama about catching cheats.....blah blah blah.. Dont you have better things to do? Example: trying another school, or perhaps applying for a transfer to SC in year 2. It is not the end of the world and not that other schools are so bad that your girl cannot survive at all. Please be more sensible and think for your daughter and not the status of the school she will be in. You are giving unnecsssary stress to everyone and most of all- yourself.

Nobody has to stress unless they have something to hide ofcos. Sounds to me that P1 mummy is cool as a cucumber Lol! Notice how she doesn't respond to every pathetic get dig at her?

[phtthp]

The new integrated programme at SCGS 2013 Sec 1 take off may cause the added attraction.

SCGS is one of the Top sec schools in GCE O Level, even if one can’t make it into IP programme.

so if your daughter gets into SCGS, is like for next 10 years can have some peace.
even when prepare PSLE less stressful, compared to other kids without any affliated Sec school to hop to.

balloting on Tues 7: ratio is like … for every 2 kids, 1 get in.

for those who fail to ballot in, only solution left is … prepare your daughter well for SCGS P1 Entrance Admission tests, seek transfer.

btw, can any SCGS parent share :-
roughly each year, how many vacancies were allocated for those coming in via P1 Entrance Proficiency tests ? how many seats were allocated, for those who sat tests in January 2012, beginning this year ?

[edgrace]

MMM:

Great to see that we've someone from MOE.


Is MOE putting in stringent controls on address cheats? It's really not that difficult to track for some. Eg. check with the school bus uncles as I believed they are good informants/ 1st trigger point. Are they going to do anything about it rather than just have a lay back approach which is perceived by the public now???

I don't mean to target you (pls do not take this personally) but seriously.... if MOE has better things to do and they are not clamping on address cheats, does that mean it's not a serious offence at all :?

Hi MMM,
No worries there. What i meant by MOE has better things to do is; They have more critical issues to take care of then to 'move Heaven and Earth' for one mum. As for stringent controls, let's just say, the rules are laid out but like everything else, there will always be loopholes and i believe these are what parents who 'cheat' exploit. MOE is not taking a laid-back approach for sure, but they cannot be monitoring every parent either, sadly. As long as the parents moved there and stayed there, what can MOE do, regardless of the years they stayed. Sad, but true. I knew of a case where there were whistle blowers who 'leaked' about a parent from a famous boy school. (Apparently), he used his friend's address. But upon investigation and visits, the friend cooperated with the parent to 'cover' his tracks and that was it. We can't expect MOE to send officials to play spy and haunt down every suspicious address. Don't make sense either... Investigations and tracking down people can be VERY VERY tricky.
We already know that this in NOT a new phenomenon. It's been going on every year and 'cheats' are aplenty. But, strangely, so far, there has only been ONE case where a mother was somehow caught red-handed? isn't that bizarre ? Of hundreds of 'suspicious' cases and thousands of disgruntled parents, only ONE? Something to think about

As for liaising with bus service operators, here's what parents can and have claimed... \"My kid goes to his grandma/aunt/guardian's house after school\" Neither the school nor MOE can enforce a rule where every kid must be sent back to the address registered with the school. Again, there's not much we can do...

Certainly MOE and even i personally, believe it IS a serious offence. It is a breach of trust, and definitely illegal. But like all other legal issues, we cannot expect punishments/sentencing to take place without credible facts and evidence. How is P1 mummy going to do that without abusing her power and dragging innocent people to be an accessory in her quest for justice, i don't know... How she is going to 'prove an intent' is even more puzzling. It is wrong ( no matter the reason) for anyone to divulge personal information that has been entrusted to you, what more civil servants... Such things may happen only if the relevant authorities (not mere mortals like us :razz: )open up investigations and principals and the rest of the world are expected to cooperate. Principals who extend 'favours' out of personal interest do not get away with it either. They will know better

Having said all that, I hope we can be more rational with our dealings. If we truly feel that injustice has been done, please approach relevant authorities; for a start, all complains to MOE can be directed to 68722220. You may also want to write a petition and state your case to MOE. This way, MOE knows you are really serious about what you're fighting about and it is a collective effort. Leave the rest to them; the legalities, the investigations... they will take necessary actions when proper procedures and protocols have been followed.

And no, im not joining all of you in the SCGS 29-side fight :nunchuk: but this thread really amuses me and I am so touched by all your drive and fighting spirit :udawoman: :udaman: I wish you all the very very best come 7 August, no matter the outcome.

p.s. i am on leave this week, but if there is anything i can do to help you to get across to MOE with, i'll try my best when i get back to work. Have a blessed day!

[edgrace]

phtthp:

dear edgrace,


if parents wish to report on genuine address cheaters < 1 km (be it SCGS or any other popular, hot school in Singapore), may we inquire which is the right MOE department that handle this, or to report to ? Or is there any specific email address one can write to ?

is it possible to help find out ?

Thank you for kind co-operation -
to create public awareness, let public know the clear procedure for handling genuine address cheaters transparently.

Hi there,
Sorry! i just saw your post after i posted mine which i believe kind of answered your question? As for email, i think there is an online feedback form on the website where you can fill up too. Alternatively, there's [email protected]
here's how they work. All complains, inquiries, feedback will be channeled to the relevant departments. You should get an auto reply after you submit in your first email. Depending on the case, someone from the relevant department will call you/email you for further clarification. It usually takes a 2-3 days.
In addition, to make the matter known on a bigger scale, isn't it best to write in the the Straits Times Forum? That's a sure way to get MOE to notice you and it will be great to know their reply too Good Luck!

[meekfreek]

Edgrace…awesome post woman!

[edgrace]

Just a thought:

Instead of fighting a ‘lost cause’ we can use this forum to brainstorm ideas how we can prevent ‘cheats’ instead. This way, we can suggest these ideas to the relevant authorities should anyone decide to write in.

Here’s an idea i had… Make changing addresses at the NPP more stringent. Anyone can change the address on one bill. Maybe we can suggest that prove of home ownership/rental is required during the process? So we can avoid people from using friends’ addresses… As for people MOVING IN one year, one month, one week or even one day before registration… Gee, that’s going to be a tough one. It may be immoral, but legally, there’s no discrepancies there…

Any ideas anyone?

[Laura02]

:goodpost: edgrace!