24 schools conduct P1 balloting

24 schools conduct P1 balloting

    By Sharon See
    POSTED: 26 Jul 2013 7:12 PM
 
Phase 2B of the Primary 1 registration drew to a close on Friday, with balloting conducted at 24 schools.

SINGAPORE: Phase 2B of the Primary 1 registration drew to a close on Friday, with balloting conducted at 24 schools.

This phase is for children whose parents are volunteers, endorsed church or clan members, or community leaders.

St Joseph's Institution (SJI) Junior was one school which conducted balloting for Singaporean applicants living beyond two kilometres of the school.

Most of the applicants are Catholic Church members or grassroots leaders.

Balloting began at 9am, and the mood was a nerve-racking one for applicants because it determined where their children will study, learn and play for the next six years.

But with just six places left for the 28 applicants, competition was intense.

Mr Alvin Lee, a successful applicant who is a senior market development manager at a biotech firm living in Ang Mo Kio, said: "Very, very thankful, very excited and also very relieved, so we don't need to join the nail-biting experience next week again... We were always looking at the MOE website or kiasuparents.com to see the calculations, to calculate our odds."

Mr Daniel Setiadi, an IT specialist who was unsuccessful, said: "We have looked at the history of the balloting and normally, SJI Junior is balloting at Phase 2B, so we kind of expected it.

“We will look for another school for Phase 2C, probably closer to our place. So that's the plan so far."

Before the unsuccessful applicants left, SJI Junior also gave out pamphlets and information on nearby schools to help them choose another school during Phase 2C.

Channel NewsAsia spoke to a number of unsuccessful parents who had mixed views about the registration process, in particular the alumni priority phases.

One of them said she had no complaints even though her son did not get a place in the school, as she had previously benefited from the system when she enrolled her daughter in her former school.

But some other parents were visibly more upset and felt perhaps a quota should be placed on the number of vacancies given out at Phase 2A(2), where parents only have to present their school report books to enrol their children.

Over at Sembawang, Canberra Primary conducted balloting in Phase 2B for the first time.

Canberra invited representatives from nearby schools to provide more information for the unsuccessful applicants.

Mr Sam Wong, principal of Canberra Primary, said: “Parents who've gone through one balloting, I'm very sure they would not like to go for another. Therefore, if we can assist them to make a good choice where they don't have to go for another time of balloting… I think that would be delightful.”

Madam Theresa Ng, principal of Northoaks Primary, said: “We are a new school starting in 2014, so this is a good opportunity for us to reach out to another group of parents… to introduce to them our programmes, to help them understand what we will be doing in 2014.”

The next phase of registration -- Phase 2C, which is open to all children without affiliation -- opens on July 30.

- CNA/gn


- wong chee tat :)