Give citizens priority in Primary 1 registration

[schellen]

qms:

Actually, I am quite curious. If I had registered my child in Phase 2B, and I want to change to another school in Phase 2C, I need to withdraw my child's registration with the first school before I am allowed to register in the second school.


So, if MOE posts my child to a school that I don't want my child to be in after Phase 2CS, can I not withdraw his name from the school, and apply at another school in Phase 3? :?

You can't. You have to withdraw first. And Phase 3 is first-come-first-served so you can't wait-and-see like for the previous Phases.

[3Boys]

I hope no one is thinking that I am trivialising the concerns of parents with regards to getting a place at a good school and within a close distance. Its important to me so why would it not be important to someone else? The point I am making is that we should not be making the PRs the bogeyman in this exercise. At one level, if the rules are drawn up as such, they fully have the rights to play within them. Next, if one wishes to debate the merits of such a policy, then one needs to consider the whole picture and philosophy of PRs vs citizens rights, and not merely drill in on school admissions. If one, just because of an acute (and because of its immediacy, looms large and threatening) need, then tweaks a micro-policy without considering the macro, then it is a really lousy way of developing policy and strategy. This is what I mean by the big picture. Also, they are by no means the only people (and hardly the majority) who drive the perversion of the system. Think all the people who rent apartments and pay over the odds for houses just to get within range of schools. What about the folk who have been living there for years? Fair?

[cafelatte]

I completedly, wholeheartedly agree with 3boys. You worded it so well! My sentiments exactly!

[pinkie]

Penza:

BTW I wrote ths to ST but it never got posted:


In her letter, Mrs Agawal have hit the gist of why PR students should not be given equal chance for Primary 1 registration. She says that if her children were unable to secure a place in a good public school, why would her family to stay? A Singpore citizen will never be able to say that. We are here to stay and as such deserve the right to choose before a permanent resident.

Think about it, if her husband or herself cant get a job here ,do you think she can or will stay? For these ppl, jobs & money are the main priorities before education. I dont believe that they will go for a lower paying job or less prospective jobs so that their children can have better education in a foreign country. They will go to where there are greener grass & if it packages with good education, why not. And at the same time get to enjoy same priviledge as citizens like us.

For one thing, maybe you singaporeans will be happy to know that this citizen has got a place through balloting but my neighbour(PR) did not :celebrate:.

[drking]

KS_me:

one good example would be Jet Li 李连杰.. who knows \"Kung Fu\" and obtained Citizenship easily.


have you wonder which school will his kids ended up at? I bet all will be placed in the Top school..

she is attending american international school. do you really think he wants her daughter to attend local school? come on.

[drking]

mum03:

Its not only the PRC, there is also from India.

they are here to save us, seriously. if no new blood, all are sons/daughters of Mr and Mrs TAN.

[drking]

caroline3sg:

I don't agree with above. Many PRs jump queue by joining 2B. Someone already mentioned, PR wife can do PV while citizen mum has to jugle work, home, kids etc. 2B should omit PRs coz many citizens are from 2C.

because they are talents and their wives do not need to work.

[virus]

hello everyone,

I am new to this website & a PR at that.
this discussion is quite interesting & a lot of bashing of PR's all around.

I would like to put up few points inthe defence of the PR's

1. in not all cases it is true that wife will not be working, & as some have said that if both are working then grand parents will be here to take care of the kids. It is too generalised a statement & may not be true for more than 80% of times.

2. A new PR doesnt have a family Support or the contacts which a citizen has as he has been here all his life. also Most of the citizens will be having there parents around to take care of the grandchildren, but may be less than 5% of PR's have family support here. so if a PR does PV he/she is also juggling a lot of things together & is at a disadvantage of lack of social support structures. so I think it all boils down to what choice you are making & what do you prefer more career or children.!!

3. when a PR is putting his child in a local school most ,likely he wants to settle here & if he has to settle here his progeny will have to go for NS. Agreed i have not done NS but my child will be doing, so he should be eligible for equal rights.

4. also most of the citizens here would have already tried for places in phase 1 when children of alumni are given places without balloting. PR's dont have that option. so definitely citizens have more rights than PR's

5 some people dont take up citizenship coz of emotional issues, i know a few people who have been in singapore for more than 20 years, & have no plans to go back but dont want to take up citizenship as it is the only thing which reminds them of the motherland. So they are not exploiting singapore in any way!!!!

I hope it brings some sanity & calrifies a few issues.

Thanks

[Namie]

I am just going to comment on one point which may not be totally true.


"4. also most of the citizens here would have already tried for places in phase 1 when children of alumni are given places without balloting. PR’s dont have that option. so definitely citizens have more rights than PR’s "

Being an alumni doesn’t necessary mean being a citizen. I have fellow colleagues who are PR for a very long time. Their children are PR as well and had studied in Singapore schools. Being PR for so long, their children are already in their 20s and some are of marriageable age. That means, once they have children, they will be eligible for Phase 2A.

[marudine]

Althought we understand that by giving priority to citizen, we may be losing foreign talent.


However, this system may also work in a reverve manner. Not giving priority to citizen, we may lose local talent (e.g. migration) … perhaps.