S'poreans to get priority for P1 places during balloting

[xiaostar]

MrsSeah:

mypiggee:

I am just wondering...

Those PR will not have time to convert their citizenship as it may take 6mths if they are elligible.
How about in Yr 2013 registration? These people would have converted into citizenships. Isn't that the same?

At least they are Singaporean. To me, if they sacrifice their citizenship in their country, we should welcome them with OPEN arm. I feel we should try not to discriminate them.

Yeah, and for the new citizen boys, they'll have to serve NS ten years down the road, so I think it is right that they have the same benefits in applying for schools. Even if they have dual citizenship, they'll have to serve NS before renouncing at 21, unlike PRs who can renounce without doing NS. If they (new citizen boys) run away before doing NS, they'll be treated as defaulters just like other singapore citizens.

Anyway, nowadays, there are many applications to become SC being rejected. So even if they apply doesn't mean 100% will get approved.

[phtthp]

PRs make up about 10% of P1 cohort


Registration changes will mean more slots for Singaporeans
By Leonard Lim & Stacey Chia, The Straits Times, 27 Mar 2012


PERMANENT residents make up about 10 per cent of each primary school's cohort, and many of their places in popular schools could now go to Singaporeans after a policy change in the Primary 1 registration process.


So, for popular primary schools which have a Primary 1 cohort of about 300, this means that up to 30 more slots could go to Singaporeans.


'We must meet Singaporeans' needs, and the policy puts Singaporeans' needs first. All things being equal, we can expect to see more Singaporeans coming in,' said Mr Tan Chun Ming, principal of Nan Chiau Primary.


Nan Chiau, along with the likes of South View, Nan Hua, Rosyth and Northland, was among the few schools that were more than 21/2 times oversubscribed in Phase 2C last year.


This is the most competitive round in the Primary 1 registration exercise, open to all applicants who have no affiliations with the school.

The Ministry of Education's (MOE) announcement on Sunday to give Singaporeans absolute priority in the Primary 1 balloting process comes at a time when competition for places is rising.


Of a total of 179 primary schools, 87 held balloting exercises last year, among the highest figure in recent times. In previous years, the number hovered around 80.


Other school leaders also welcomed the policy change, though many declined to provide the breakdown of Singaporean and PR applicants in past years.


In a sign of how stiff competition has become, some perennial favourites among parents are also seeing more applicants balloting for fewer spots.


According to statistics on the school website, applicants to Rosyth School, for instance, have had lower success rates over the years during Phase 2C.


Only about a quarter of applicants who lived within 1km of the school in Serangoon snagged spots under Phase 2C last July, compared to about a third in 2010 and nearly 50 per cent the year before.
One concern, however, is that the new policy will lead to PRs being crowded out of popular schools over time.


But principals like Innova Primary's Michel Saw allayed such worries, stressing that a scenario where every student is Singaporean is nearly impossible. PRs can get a spot if, say, they have an elder sibling in the school.


Nan Chiau's Mr Tan said: 'Our students go for overseas trips to countries like Australia and China annually; this also exposes them to global cultures and gives them a global perspective.'

[phtthp]

Member of Parliament Lim Biow Chuan, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, said the committee had discussed with the ministry ways to tweak the Primary 1 registration process before. But deciding on which priority scheme had to go proved extremely difficult.


One suggestion was to give more priority to children living nearby, but that 'favours the rich who can afford to buy or rent', he said. Alumni would also be up in arms if the phase that allows their children to get in was scrapped.


'I don't think you can solve all the issues. Popular schools will still have more Singaporeans who want to go there than places,' said Mr Lim. 'It's really not easy to decide which phase to cut. Something's got to give.'


PRs interviewed seemed resigned to the fact that they will face more difficulties in securing places in schools near their homes.

source
http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.com/2012/03/singaporeans-first-in-new-p1.html

[phtthp]

SINGAPORE:


The more popular primary schools may have fewer Permanent Resident (PR) children from now on, said observers.

They said this is one possible outcome, following the government's move to tighten the Primary One (P1) registration exercise.

Under the change announced on Sunday, PRs will remain eligible for the same phases of the P1 registration exercise as citizens. However, when balloting is necessary in a specific phase of the registration exercise, citizens will be given absolute priority over PRs, even before home-to-school distance is considered.

The change will take place from the P1 registration exercise this July.

Last year, nearly half of all primary schools held ballots for the P1 registration exercise.

With the latest change, some popular schools told Channel NewsAsia they are expecting a much smaller intake of PR children.

Competition for the popular schools is already fierce, even among Singaporeans, and one MP said it would make sense for PRs to avoid \"brand name schools\" - where balloting will most likely take place.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan, chairman of Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, said: \"If they think that they want their child to go to a certain school, they have to consider whether that school would require balloting or not. If it does, quite honestly, they should put their efforts in volunteering in a school where balloting may not take place.\"

Property analysts also expect a slowdown in PRs going after HDB resale flats near popular schools.

Mr Eugene Lim, ERA Realty Network's key executive officer, said: \"The premium that buyers have been known to pay for being located near good schools is as much as 10, sometimes even 15 per cent.

\"So, if there are less buyers competing for these units near these good schools, technically the premium would go down. But it's still early days. It's very hard to say at this point if the prices will be affected, because for the gap that is vacated by the PRs, the locals will come in and fill it, as locals still have to compete for the 1km rule if there are more locals applying for the limited places available in each school.\"

Mr Lim added that buying a residential property with the intention of being near \"good schools\" is more prevalent among Singaporeans than PRs. He said HDB flats near \"good schools\" would likely be in greater demand than private properties.

According to Mr Lim, PRs currently make up about 20 percent of the HDB resale market and 13 percent of the private property resale market.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1191373/1/.html

[janet88]

phtthp:

One suggestion was to give more priority to children living nearby, but that 'favours the rich who can afford to buy or rent', he said. Alumni would also be up in arms if the phase that allows their children to get in was scrapped.

'I don't think you can solve all the issues. Popular schools will still have more Singaporeans who want to go there than places,' said Mr Lim. 'It's really not easy to decide which phase to cut.Something's got to give.'

it's definitely not easy for govt to decide which phase to cut without getting shot...the decision to give priority to Singaporeans may hit S'pore to some extent. But looking after needs of SC is most important at this point.

[dorisp]

janet_lee88:

it's definitely not easy for govt to decide which phase to cut without getting shot...the decision to give priority to Singaporeans may hit S'pore to some extent. But looking after needs of SC is most important at this point.

Well said.

[Chikadilly]

Why so many think that this will trigger a wave of PRs applying for citizenship for their kids? ( well, this is the kiasu forum, maybe that's why :)) . I think it may result in in PRs being forced to enroll into less popular schools. So some will become 'citizen' schools, and other will become 'PR and foreigner' schools. Wonder if MOE thought about this segregation happening.


I'm a PR, but my kids are citizens. Anyway was planning to send the kids to aschool next door (no history of balloting), so this does not affect me in any way.

[SandS]

Chikadilly:

Why so many think that this will trigger a wave of PRs applying for citizenship for their kids? ( well, this is the kiasu forum, maybe that's why :)) . I think it may result in in PRs being forced to enroll into less popular schools. So some will become 'citizen' schools, and other will become 'PR and foreigner' schools. Wonder if MOE thought about this segregation happening.

And what if down the road, those 'PR and foreigner' school scores better? *gasps* :siam:

[BlueBells]

Then the dynamics will shift every 6 years, maybe, and then it will be truly all schools are good schools. No?

[phtthp]

SandS:

And what if down the road, those 'PR and foreigner' school scores better? *gasps* :siam:

in future, if \"PR and foreigner\" schools score better, then it helps to work towards meeting the long term objective that \"All schools are good.\" I believe there are a number of bright PR kids from China, India, Malaysia, Hongkong, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. MOE will be glad to witness this.

Then more SG parents will flock back to such schools to enrol their P1 children, relieve the traffic jam at \"branded\", popular schools. Healthy sign!