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Queue for Hello Kitty, queue for pre-school places, and now, queue for the chance to be a parent volunteer at a popular school.
This was how The Straits Times reported in 2014 on the popularity of parent volunteering. Back then, more than 80 people had lined up outside a popular Punggol primary school to register as parent volunteers.
Only about 50 volunteer places were available on a first-come, first-served basis and those who got the place - and completed a minimum of 40 hours of service would get priority to register their child in that school for Primary 1.
It's been more than a decade since then, and the physical queues may be no more. But the fierce competition for a spot as a parent volunteer has remained, although there are no guarantees their child will eventually get a spot in the school.
Social media is rife with anecdotes on this score. In one public Facebook group for local parents with more than 80,000 members, posters regularly ask questions about various schools' parent volunteer schemes and the likelihood of getting in.
One parent cited how she had to compete against more than 100 other parents to get one of 12 volunteer slots in a school.
It is clear that parents are willing, some even desperate, to volunteer. What's more important is whether the schools want them.
With demand for volunteer spots outstripping supply, schools have had to raise the bar over the years to keep the numbers manageable. Some schools increased the minimum volunteering commitment to 60 or even 80 hours.
They also look for parents with the skills to work on more sophisticated volunteering projects beyond simply directing traffic. One school's approved project, as reported by this newspaper in 2012, involved making a mounted map of the world, with sample currencies of every country.
Some schools no longer accept parent volunteers, citing the administrative workload and challenges of managing parents whose children did not eventually get a spot in the school.
The situation has become, to quote an unfortunate term oft cited in relation to Singapore's education system, an arms race. How did we get here, and where should we go from here?
More at https://www.domainofexperts.com/2015/05/singapore-education-news-updates.html
This was how The Straits Times reported in 2014 on the popularity of parent volunteering. Back then, more than 80 people had lined up outside a popular Punggol primary school to register as parent volunteers.
Only about 50 volunteer places were available on a first-come, first-served basis and those who got the place - and completed a minimum of 40 hours of service would get priority to register their child in that school for Primary 1.
It's been more than a decade since then, and the physical queues may be no more. But the fierce competition for a spot as a parent volunteer has remained, although there are no guarantees their child will eventually get a spot in the school.
Social media is rife with anecdotes on this score. In one public Facebook group for local parents with more than 80,000 members, posters regularly ask questions about various schools' parent volunteer schemes and the likelihood of getting in.
One parent cited how she had to compete against more than 100 other parents to get one of 12 volunteer slots in a school.
It is clear that parents are willing, some even desperate, to volunteer. What's more important is whether the schools want them.
With demand for volunteer spots outstripping supply, schools have had to raise the bar over the years to keep the numbers manageable. Some schools increased the minimum volunteering commitment to 60 or even 80 hours.
They also look for parents with the skills to work on more sophisticated volunteering projects beyond simply directing traffic. One school's approved project, as reported by this newspaper in 2012, involved making a mounted map of the world, with sample currencies of every country.
Some schools no longer accept parent volunteers, citing the administrative workload and challenges of managing parents whose children did not eventually get a spot in the school.
The situation has become, to quote an unfortunate term oft cited in relation to Singapore's education system, an arms race. How did we get here, and where should we go from here?
More at https://www.domainofexperts.com/2015/05/singapore-education-news-updates.html
