ChiefKiasu:

kitab:

I was also wondering aloud to my hubby just this morning.


I asked him how is it that there are 41 places and 46 registered for kh... and all sc gets in.... umean so coincidental.... 41 sc and 5 pr applied? that's why wanted to find out the breakdown but no one was able to help. same for the other schools... i also wondered. hope someone can enlighten us.

It's just good planning and management by the schools. Kudos to them.

But how exactly does a school plan for something like this? Limiting the number of PVs - yes. That works. But there are also clan and church and grassroots affiliations. You can't plan for those. I kinda have to agree with the person who said that MOE may be trying to minimise balloting, so as not to cause alarm and give the impression that the numbers are not out of control. I think in some cases, they must have let in more than the stipulated number of spaces available. Not that I particularly have any problems with that. But just saying.

stonston:

Fried chicken:

Honestly, I'm just nosy. lol. But I do have cousins who are enrolling their kids for P1 this year and friends who will be doing so in the next few years, so I just got really curious and starting reading up and just got really interested in the whole thing, even though it isn't applicable to me. Maybe I should just read silently... lol

Good to be curious even though you have no plans on sending your future kids to local schools.

I would also bring them overseas for schooling if we have the financial ability. Less stress for me. LOL!

Not so much financial ability. DH is Aussie (I actually met him there) and we have plans to go to Australia in the next year or so, after his job here wraps up. I lived in Australia for a few years, so I'm familiar with the country and all its ups and downs.

Iamstressed:

Fried chicken:

Does your DH feel strongly for his alma mater too? Or do you plan to send one kid to your school and one kid to his? Not just asking you in particular but to everyone who claims that 'memories' and 'ties' are so important. In most cases, one of you will lose out. How will you choose who gets to share memories with your kids?

FYI - I don't have kids. And I won't have them for a few years yet. And by the time I do have them, I plan to be out of Singapore. So all this alumni stuff doesn't affect me one way or the other. I just think it's a flawed policy.

Just out of curiosity, what brings u to this forum then?

Honestly, I'm just nosy. lol. But I do have cousins who are enrolling their kids for P1 this year and friends who will be doing so in the next few years, so I just got really curious and starting reading up and just got really interested in the whole thing, even though it isn't applicable to me. Maybe I should just read silently... lol

stonston:

millionaire394c:

who says alumni did nothing? we too contribute to the school building for 10 years in one way or another!! and whether or not it is out child benefit to travel long distance it is our own call!! I say why dun u apply why dun u apply under yr own alumni?

Your words are a bit strong but I have to agree with you.
I spent 10 years in my alma mater, fund raising after fund raising for new buildings, etc etc.
I would love for my girl (if I have one) to go back there to study and gain from all the nice subject corners, activity corners, etc.
And the garden is still the same as when I was schooling there! All the memories I can share with my girl, it's precious and it's something money cannot buy.

Similar, we are going to endure the long travelling for the next 6 years (will be 10 years if include my younger boy). It is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. I quit my job just to be there for them, to ferry them around and guide them at home. We are not rich, my hubby doesn't even earn half of what most parents here make alone (as in individual income).

We can't possibly fight with the high income people who can easily shift next to their preferred school. We just want somewhere our kids will enjoy school and of course, less headache for us to enrol.

Does your DH feel strongly for his alma mater too? Or do you plan to send one kid to your school and one kid to his? Not just asking you in particular but to everyone who claims that 'memories' and 'ties' are so important. In most cases, one of you will lose out. How will you choose who gets to share memories with your kids?

FYI - I don't have kids. And I won't have them for a few years yet. And by the time I do have them, I plan to be out of Singapore. So all this alumni stuff doesn't affect me one way or the other. I just think it's a flawed policy.

firefly38:

Why no one seems to care about Henry Park and Ai Tong, this time round? :scratchhead:

Probably because what do you do with four places and seven places? Unless those are your only schools nearby, it's probably better to hedge your bets elsewhere. It would have been better if there were 0 places. Then people wouldn't have to think about whether to ballot for a measly four places or go somewhere else. JMO.

limlim:

All things being equal, it is apparent that convenience greatly outweighs emotional attachment(if any) for majority of cases.


Hence, other than priority schemes based on practical considerations (phase 1 etc..), all other phases should be scrapped and level the playing field.

Perhaps allocate a small number of vacancies for the exceptional cases if they insist on going far out.. for those alumni with distinguished contributions or recognized grassroots/affiliations etc.. (principle of meritocracy)

Other than these.. let distance be the sole factor..

The govt tries to sell the belief that all school are good schools. If they really meant what they say, walk the talk and scrap all unnecessary phases except for the factors mentioned above. If all schools are good schools, distance and practical considerations are all that matters. Isn't it?

I will only believe that all schools are good schools if MPs and other high-ranking, powerful people start forgoing schools like Nanyang and RGPS and start sending their kids to the less popular neighbourhood schools. Actions speak louder than words.

I've read in some threads (only read, so don't know for sure) about how for kids attending neighbourhood schools, a rough gauge of PSLE scores should be to minus, what, 15, 20 marks from their prelim scores? Whereas for the top schools, you might add five or 10 marks onto their prelims? How does that show that all schools are good schools if the lesser neighbourhood schools aren't teaching at PSLE standard?

pirate:

Well... it seems that the logical solution is to make room for larger enrolment in popular GEP schools by moving some of the GEP classes to schools with low enrolment. GEP is purely voluntary, and these low enrolment schools must have so many spare classrooms and underused facilities... :evil:

For example, the GEP classes at Nanyang Primary can be moved to Bukit Timah Primary; those at Henry Park to Queenstown Primary; Tao Nan to Bedok West Primary or Tanjong Katong Primary; ACS (Primary) to Stamford Primary; Catholic High to Guangyang; Nanhua to Yuhua etc. That will free up classrooms which will allow enrolment at those popular schools to be increased. You all like?

I like this. And I also like the idea is rotating the 'top' schools' principals to less desirable, lower performing schools. After all, any principal worth his or her salt, especially if they've had success in top schools, should be able to turn around a struggling school. And that might go some way in closing the gap between schools.

My solution: after phase one, divide the number of places left in half. Set aside one of the halves for 2C, and let 2A and 2B ballot it out for the other half. Scrap 2A(2). If alumni are really that passionate about their Alma mater, they can pay to join and be in 2A(1).

3Boys:

Logic?


You tell me.

HPPS take up at end of 2A1 is 75%. By end of 2A2 will be in excess of 90%.

In the top 10 schools, if you ain't got a child in already (probably via alumni route), or you ain't an alumni, you, as a a Singaporean, has been denied a fighting chance for your child to be placed because of a twisted and abused P-school admission scheme, which unfairly benefits one group at the expense of others.

Its that stark and simple.

It's not just Henry Park. Look at Ai Tong. There are 83 places left. At this rate it may not even make it to 2B, let alone 2C.

nms1:

While going purely on distance is an option it will play havoc with the property market.


I lived in the UK at a time when children were just allocated to the local school depending on where they lived. There were cases where house prices on one side of the road were totally different from the other side just because of the school that they were attached to.

Of course all schools were supposed to be \"good schools\" but if your school has a higher proportion of children who don't speak English at home, who come from broken families, whose parents are less well-educated then, even if the facilities and teachers are just as good, it will still impact the education that the children receive.

If we go down that route we have to be prepared for the consequences.

True, but what is the alternative? 'Neighbourhood' schools full of students who don't actually live in the neighbourhood and who only got in because their parents happened to be students 30 years ago? Students criss-crossing the island because their parents are scared they can't make it to the school next door? There is no ideal solution, except to make all schools the same, with no privileges, no extras, and that way there will no no more 'top' schools and all schools might be good schools. But that seems more like a pipe dream than anything else.