Oversubscription of Primary 1 Places at Princess Elizabeth Primary School
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Murali Pillai’s inquiry regarding oversubscription at Princess Elizabeth Primary School and whether a new primary school will be built in the vicinity. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing explained that school planning is conducted regionally to avoid cannibalising existing schools, noting that vacancies currently exist at Lianhua and Bukit View Primary Schools. He stated that while regional capacity is currently adequate, the Ministry of Education is monitoring projected demand from upcoming housing developments in Bukit Batok. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing noted that these trends are factored into ongoing planning to address future demographic needs. He concluded that the Ministry is close to finalising plans for the area and will provide details once ready.
Transcript
33 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Education with regard to the persistently high levels of oversubscription for Primary 1 places at Princess Elizabeth Primary School after new housing developments in the area were completed leading to children of families within walking distance being balloted out, whether the Ministry will build an additional primary school in the vicinity soon.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: The Ministry of Education (MOE) studies the local demand and supply trends for primary school places carefully, taking into account current and projected changes in local demography, for example when significant new housing developments are added to existing estates. We are mindful not to create new schools too quickly, as they may end up cannibalising existing schools. Neither do we plan new schools on the basis of one or two existing schools with high levels of oversubscription, as school places have to be planned on a regional basis.
For Bukit Batok specifically, there were about 200 Primary 1 (P1) places remaining in Lianhua Primary and Bukit View Primary (around 14% of total planned P1 places in Bukit Batok) at the end of Phase 2C (Supplementary) in this year's P1 Registration Exercise, which is slightly higher than the 130 P1 places (or 10%) remaining in last year's P1 Registration Exercise. Both schools are about 1.5 kilometres away from Princess Elizabeth Primary. There are hence sufficient primary school places in the region for now.
Nonetheless, we would like to assure Mr Murali that we have been closely monitoring the trends, including the significant projected demand for P1 places from the planned housing developments in the coming years. We have factored this into our on-going planning process, and are close to finalising our plans and will provide details once ready.