MOE Relooking P1 registration - Too much priority to alumni

[limlim]

rains:

Practicality - you said it. That's exactly why people want to register at phase 2A, so that we don't have to scramble for limited vacancies at phase 2C, so that we don't have to go through the stress of balloting and uncertainty of whether we would get that seat.

Oh, to answer the obvious, not everyone can afford a house at Bt Timah or other prime areas to be near their alma mater. Believe me, if I had four million dollars to burn, I'd shift immediately to save my kid the insufferable agony of traveling for an hour on public transport. Er that's sarcasm by the way.

You are missing the point here.

It is NOT a question of whether an alumni should pick their alma mater or a nearby school.

The question is WHY should alumni who stays far away be given the priority over someone who stays nearby, and this is a whole thread already debating on that.

Not everyone have $$$$, and so does not everyone desire to put their kid in their alma mater, as simple as that.

[limlim]

rains:

limlim:

[quote=\"rains\"]And what's wrong with wanting the best of both worlds?

Nothing wrong.. at all.

There is also absolutely nothing wrong in a citizen wanting to reserve/protect the precious resource such as education for their own kind.

so, if you are not a citizen and do not intend to be one..

Don't expect the citizens to welcome you for a piece of the pie at their precious resource and enjoy the \"best of both worlds\" at their expense.

That's underhanded, personal attack and I am not going to entertain that, just so that the ugliness of xenophobia doesn't take over this thread.

Just remember don't take advantage of the currency exchange to 'enjoy the best of both worlds'.[/quote]No it's not personal attack.

Probably I should not use the word \"you\". And when I typed that post, I am not aware whether you're a citizen, and I actually assumed you are.

Replace the word \"you\" with \"one\", if it bothers you.

\"so, if one is not a citizen and do not intend to be one..

Don't expect the citizens to welcome him/her for a piece of the pie at their precious resource and enjoy the \"best of both worlds\" at the citizen's expense.\"

[LOLMum]

Thanks for the replies. I just found this...On moe website


Question ..What are the guidelines to be used for balloting when the number of applications exceeds the number of vacancies from Phase 2A(1) to Phase 2C Supplementary?

Answers...With effect from the 2012 Primary One Registration Exercise, should the total number of applications exceed the number of vacancies for each phase from Phase 2A(1) to 2C Supplementary, priority will be given in the order of (1) children who are Singapore Citizens (SCs), followed by (2) children who are Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs). If the number of applicants within each category exceeds the number of vacancies, balloting will be conducted according to the home-school distance category in the following order of priority.

Children living within 1 km of the school of choice.
Children living between 1 km and 2 km of the school of choice.
Children living outside 2 km of the school of choice.


Go to Primary One Registration webpage

[dorisp]

rains:

There is no distance priority in phase 2A which is why the outcry.

Many here did not doubt that alumni should be given some degree of priority. But it should not be done over a limitless blanket at the expense of those who stay nearby and without connections.

IMHO, a national policy has to be fair, transparent and consistent to all.

A cap for P2A would be a reasonable proposal. It protects the interest, priority and PRIDE of the alumni, and it also at the same time give a fair chance of those staying near school to gain a place.

[rains]

dorisp:

The current system of P2A without taking into consideration the home school distance and admits all makes a mockery of the policy's intention of a child should study in a school near their house.


Over here, P2A children may come from 3km, 5km, maybe 8kms and the authority accepts that. Over there, for P2B and P2C, why is home school distance suddendly so relevant that everything is determined by that leh?

Just don't understand why over here and over there different treatment lor.

Discuss only hah, cannot fight one hah!

Maybe they feel that phase 2a people have fought the battle last time already, so now should rest mah. Phases 2b and 2c are the battleground. If don't go by distance, then how to ensure fairness? Can't be every phase also fight battle right? If not we also make phase 1 go by distance? Lagi best!

[limlim]

LOLMum:

Aiyoh, not everyone can afford the property next to the alma mater lah. What if the house he could best afford is 3km away from school.

So alumni phase is the only phase whereby pp who can't afford to move near to the school have the best chance to study in a good school which so happens to bethe alma mater. :boogie:

He is saying he find it incomprehensible why one don't want to go to their alma mater.

so, I post the same question, why don't he move near to his alma mater?

The answer is, because not everyone can or want to.

And because not everyone wants to enrol in the alma mater, why should alumni be given priority as compared to some who stays nearby?

[rains]

limlim:

He is saying he find it incomprehensible why one don't want to go to their alma mater.

so, I post the same question, why don't he move near to his alma mater?

The answer is, because not everyone can or want to.

And because not everyone wants to enrol in the alma mater, why should alumni be given priority as compared to some who stays nearby?

Eh, you know what I take offense at? That you refer to me as a 'he'! I'm a 'she'!

[LOLMum]

limlim:

LOLMum:

Aiyoh, not everyone can afford the property next to the alma mater lah. What if the house he could best afford is 3km away from school.

So alumni phase is the only phase whereby pp who can't afford to move near to the school have the best chance to study in a good school which so happens to bethe alma mater. :boogie:

He is saying he find it incomprehensible why one don't want to go to their alma mater.

so, I post the same question, why don't he move near to his alma mater?

The answer is, because not everyone can or want to.

And because not everyone wants to enrol in the alma mater, why should alumni be given priority as compared to some who stays nearby?

I am taking your question in general context lah...and my reply also in general chit chat.....not :nunchuk: you...

[dorisp]

rains:

If not we also make phase 1 go by distance? Lagi best!

Ok I have to disagree with you here. :evil:

P1 is sibling still there so the reason and logic is simple and clear = logistics.

No lah, I am not affected at all but I won't propose to touch this phase or you will really get a lot of :heresmyfish: :pokeeye: :nunchuk: :rant: and end up
:clubmyself: :clubmyself:

[verykiasu2010]

rains:

phtthp:

There are kids staying in JB, non SC.
They come out very early morning cross the busy causeway attend schools in SG. Schools located in Woodlands is one area. However, not all target only Woodlands schools - no doubt Woodlands is nearest to causeway. Some also attend Nanyang primary, + some other schools along Bukit Timah belt + some other parts of SG as well, including Tampines.

http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/news/news/531420/School_s_top_student_from_across_Causeway.html

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4406&start=730

issue is :-
after so many years, already close to nearly 30 years or even more, why didn't they convert their child into SC, by now ? Knowing that SCs are fighting over scare, limited seats, key important issue is - going forward, do fellow Singaporeans feel that they still deserve priority ?

After the Aristocare incident, I am not going to believe a one- or two-liner on the internet without actual evidence. I don't believe that there is a schoolbus from Malaysia taking the kids to Nanyang.

Firstly, if they live in Malaysia, the likelihood of them being SCs is not high. I know of a few SCs who live in JB for the low cost of living and bigger houses, but that's that - very few, and usually they are Malays.

Secondly, the post is implying that these kids' parents are ex-students of Nanyang (Phase 2A), which logically is not realistic (refer to Point 1). If the post does not mean that they are ex-students, then surely they have to come under Phase 2C or 3, which logistically would have ousted them from the P1 registration process already.

Thirdly, I checked with a student from Nanyang and she said she has never seen such a bus before in her five years plus of studying there, and although there are Malaysian students in her school, they live in Singapore.

Fourthly, there is a list of schoolbus vendors on Nanyang's website and I don't remember seeing a Bas Sekolah vendor or something like that on the list.

I didn't read in details but the boy featured in edvantage is a secondary school boy.

I do know of Woodlands schools having buses for children across the causeway and that's logical because of geographical reasons.

There are different reasons why people are not SCs even after a long time. It could be:

1) Best of both worlds
If I can be a Malaysian and hold Singapore PRship, why not? Just like if I can be a Singaporean and hold an American or Australian or Canadian PRship, why not? Why must they be compelled to give up their citizenship for another just because they prefer their education system?

2) Cost of living
If they become SCs, it would make more sense to live in Singapore. They might need to give up their big house in JB and live in a matchbox flat. It also means relocation and readapting to a new environment for the parents.

3) Not able to
You need to meet some criteria in order to apply for a SCship. Maybe they don't meet the criteria?

Back to the topic, I don't see why giving priority, and unlimited vacancies at that, to Phase 2A is wrong. Any normal, logical parent who takes pride in his own alma mater would want his kids to study at his own school. If I had lived in the east, I would want my own kid to study at my alma mater as well. I find it incomprehensible why parents want to register their kids in other schools unless their alma mater have been closed down or they are ashamed of their alma mater.

My husband could even chastise my kid based on his understanding of his alma mater's culture. He could support and explain the principal's rationale for certain ideals when my kid doesn't understand or follow it, even after he has left the school for decades. He could explain the trend, the tradition and the style of the school to my kid to make her see how the school has evolved or changed, and why the need for a change. It makes my kid in turn takes pride in being a student of the school.

As I type this, I can't help but wonder if most Singaporeans do not take pride in their alma mater. If they really do, there would not be an outcry against the Phase simply because one would be able to empathise with the sentiment and pride of an alma mater.

The fact is, every morning at around 6:45am, the yellow bas kilang drop the kids off at NYPS, and other schools, for as many years as I can remember. Have they stopped ?

This is Malaysian bus that sends kids and workers to Singapore and it does not need to be from the school bus \"pool\" from NYPS to send kids to NYPS or any other schools in Singapore. And I doubt these are Singapore kids living in Singapore riding a Malaysian bus.

Anyway, the school buses that serves NYPS are not belonging to NYPS and they are merely service providers with a fixed routings for the NYPS kids, with an overall coordinator who is also not NYPS staff.