FTrash Squeeze Out Sporeans from Primary School. Wonder How 60% Feel.

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[h=3]Jul 30, 2011[/h][h=1]Enlarging the popular primary schools won't work[/h]<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
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MR CHONG Foo Sin ('Enlarge popular primary schools'; July 20) argues that there is a grossly unequal distribution of vacancies among primary schools and uses two, Ai Tong and Horizon Primary, as examples.
The fact that Ai Tong and Horizon Primary each started out with 330 places shows that there is an equal distribution of vacancies. Just because one ran out of vacancies earlier does not make it unequal.
He suggests that new schools with dwindling enrolments would eventually close and that the Ministry of Education (MOE) should build extensions of popular schools instead of new schools.
If MOE were to close Punggol's Horizon Primary and rename it Ai Tong #2, who would staff this new school?
The options are: Ai Tong sends half its teachers to Ai Tong #2, and takes in half of Horizon's teachers, a move that parents of the original Ai Tong may protest.
Second, Ai Tong could replicate its pedagogy for Ai Tong #2. This means the same teachers currently teaching at Horizon would teach at Ai Tong #2. Would Mr Chong send his child to Ai Tong #2?
I suspect not, for the same reason that food lovers still travel to Katong for the original Katong laksa and Jalan Kayu for the original Jalan Kayu prata.
Copies just ain't the real McCoy.
Even if Ai Tong were extended to five campuses, parents would still plump for the original for its school history and culture. These take time to build and cannot be copied easily.
Ai Tong was once a new school too. Give schools like Horizon Primary a chance to build its own history.
Luke Seng Ling

 

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[h=3]Jul 30, 2011[/h][h=1]Fairer Primary 1 entry system[/h]<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
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THE current system adopted by popular schools in the registration of Primary 1 pupils is complex and, to a large extent, inequitable to children living close to such schools.
More than half the available vacancies in most of these schools would have been taken up in the first phase of the registration exercise. It is possible that before the completion of all subsequent phases of registration, all available places would have been filled.
This is unfair to children living near such schools who are not given a chance to gain entry.
The following criteria for Primary 1 admission of citizens may be fairer:
- Children who have siblings studying in the school are registered first;
- Children who live close to the school, say, within 2km, come next;
- Followed by all other applicants.
Should there be more children than vacancies, parents of these children would then take their chances through balloting.
Soon Kim Hock


[h=3]Jul 30, 2011[/h][h=1]More primary school admission suggestions[/h]<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
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THE present system of primary school admission is unfair to children from less-educated and lower-income families ("Enlarge popular primary schools" by Mr Chong Foo Sin; July 20).
Let's consider the ways parents can increase their chances currently.
The parent-volunteer route is available only to parents of means, who are usually better educated and in stable jobs and are able to take leave to volunteer.
As for location, well-off parents can afford to buy or rent accommodation near their schools of choice. For instance, there are no HDB flats within 1km of Raffles Girls' Primary School.
The alumni advantage breeds elitism and excludes those who do not come from families whose members attended "gifted" schools.
With no quota for Phase 2A, there could well be a year when, say, Ai Tong could have all its places taken up by the end of that phase - meaning that there is no room for "outsiders" not already part of the elite system. Ai Tong had only 38 places left this year.
Apart from enlarging popular schools and extending them to other areas, implement a quota for Phase 2A(2). Any remaining places after Phase 1 should be split into three: a third for Phase 2A (alumni), a third for Phase 2B (parents who have contributed to the school or society) and a third based on distance.
While the above solutions may not mitigate socio-economic disadvantage, it mitigates the risk that a class of elites would form, and if nothing else, would ameliorate the traffic congestion along Bukit Timah.
Li Xinyi (Ms)