Review of Primary 1 Registration Process
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the Ministry of Education's review of the Primary 1 registration framework, specifically Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis’s proposal to prioritize citizenship and home-school distance across all phases. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing announced the review's conclusion with changes for 2022, including merging Phases 2A1 and 2A2 and increasing Phase 2C reserved places to improve proximity access. He explained that Phases 2A and 2B remain necessary to preserve school heritage and community links, with balloting still prioritizing citizenship and distance. The Minister rejected the proposed major departure to avoid significant disruptions to parents while balancing various stakeholder interests. He concluded that the Ministry will continue refining the registration framework as society and circumstances evolve.
Transcript
106 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Education (a) when does the Ministry expect to conclude its review of the Primary 1 registration framework; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider using citizenship and home-school distance as a primary means of allocating vacancies for all three phases of the Primary 1 registration while retaining the existing Phases 2A and 2B criteria for determining balloting priority.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: MOE has concluded our review of the Primary 1 Registration Framework and will be making several changes that will take effect from the 2022 P1 Registration Exercise, as announced on 9 September 2021.
We will increase the number of reserved places in Phase 2C to ensure more children with no prior connection will be able to get a place in a school near their home. The current Phase 2A1 and 2A2 will be combined into a single Phase 2A. We have kept Phases 2A and 2B to recognise the importance of maintaining the heritage and ethos of our schools and building closer links between community and school. Where the number of applicants exceeds vacancies in a phase, balloting will continue to be based on citizenship first, then Home-School Distance categories.
This fine-tuning of our P1 Registration Framework seeks to strike a careful balance of many different considerations, where we are careful not to drastically affect the groups given priority under the current Framework. So, while we are now placing greater weight on giving our children access to a school near to their homes, we continue to recognise the efforts of our community, including school alumni who have contributed to the development of a school and its culture.
What Mr Chua has proposed is a major departure from the current system and would cause significant disruptions to parents and the community, which we should avoid.
Nevertheless, as circumstances and our society evolve, we will continue to refine our P1 Registration Framework.